From Flames, I Soar
by Kurenaino
Summary: With the Empire at the height of its power and the shadow of a greater threat hanging above all those who would oppose Palpatine, the Specters, led by former Jedi Padawan Kanan Jarrus, are forced to contend with the Sith Lord that set the galaxy ablaze. Sequel to In Chaos, I Thrive.
1. Awakening

**AN:** **Well helllllo...I'll make this quick. WELCOME BACK! This is the sequel to a whole mess of stories, but most of you will be here from my previous work, From Darkness, I Rise. The last one, In Chaos, I Thrive, is something of an extended interlude and CAN be skipped, if you want and if you don't mind just accepting that fourteen to fifteen years pass between stories, and a lot of character things happen in that time.**

 **This baby here is going to be covering a great deal of Star Wars Rebels, a show I love, but...well, we'll be adulting that show up, for your reading pleasure. Hope you like it when things get messed up, because it's gonna get messed up!**

 **Alright, let's get this party started!**

 _Chapter 1: Awakening_

Ezra Bridger sat in the cold, drab cell, his hands folded before him as he considered his situation. These Imperials weren't anything like the Imperials on Lothal. For the eight years since his parents were captured by the Empire, Ezra had turned messing with and avoiding the local Imperial authority into an art. As a thief and something of a con artist, Ezra stole technology and resold it on the black market, by far the most profitable enterprise for a young... _entrepreneur_ , and that often put him at odds with the Empire. After all, on impoverished Lothal, it was the Imperials that had the best stuff.

He was _very_ good at getting away from them, which is why he was still around, and he seemed to have something of extreme luck when situations got _very_ bad. Making jumps he didn't think he could make, sudden bursts of speed, the... _feeling_ that he needed to go somewhere, do something that had allowed him to avoid capture for all these years. Ezra never questioned it. Once you started questioning luck, it had a nasty habit of suddenly leaving you.

Of course, none of that mattered now. Now, he sat in a cell on an Imperial Star Destroyer, and as of right now, there was no good way out. His throat was sore from yelling, vain attempts to get the stormtroopers on guard to open the door for _him_ , grandson of the Emperor _himself_ , wouldn't you know, but...they didn't seem to have bought it. He didn't buy it himself. As far as lies went, it wasn't a convincing one, certainly not one of his best. He always found it easier to lie to someone's face anyway, and behind sealed prison doors, he was struggling to figure out the right things to say to secure his release.

Or at least get the door opened. He could work with that.

But that was the trouble, wasn't it? The Empire hadn't imprisoned him for anything _he'd_ done. No, he was there as _bait_. A lure to draw out the rebels that he had _accidentally_ fallen in with. Ezra thought the plan was a stupid one. People didn't stick their necks out for others. They never did, and those that believed there were people like that...well, those were the types that Ezra conned out of their stuff. If anyone should have known that, it was the Empire, the undisputed kings of selfishness and self-interest. But they didn't. They thought these rebels would return to save him, a boy they just met. A boy they didn't know. A boy they had already betrayed. He wouldn't have been captured at all if it weren't for them. He served as a way for them to get away clean, and that was all. They wouldn't risk their lives walking into an obvious trap to save _him_. Especially since the leaders of their little gang had already caught him snooping around their rooms and stealing their stuff.

He reached into the pouch on his belt and pulled out a cube, the gold and light blue device fitting snugly in the palm of his hand. When the Imperials searched him and took his things, he had been lucky they hadn't found this. He hadn't the faintest idea of what it was, but he had found it on the rebel ship on a whim, a lucky find, to be sure, since it looked like it could be sold for a high price. It looked valuable, at the very least. It _had_ to be, since it was well hidden in the room of the man he had stolen it from. He just...knew where to look for it. There was something else in the secret drawer where the cube had been found. Something he couldn't explain. Something he had certainly never seen or heard about. A...sword. Or something. But instead of an _actual_ blade, it sported a blue beam of light. A laser, maybe. He wasn't sure, but he knew he wanted it.

He didn't get to keep it, of course. The man it belonged to had caught him with it, demanded it back, and Ezra was forced to leave the room, but _not_ without the cube in his possession. The man hadn't seen him take that, and Ezra planned on keeping it. He didn't owe these rebels anything, _especially_ not since his imprisonment was _their fault_. Their Twi'lek pilot had been the one to convince him to stick his neck out, board the Imperial ship to let the rebels know that the slave ship transporting Wookies to Kessel was a trap. And it had been their big, purple cat... _thing_ that had thrown him at the Imperial agents to secure his own escape, trading Ezra's life for his. It was exactly the sort of backstabbing selfishness that Ezra had come to expect from literally everyone. That was just the sort of galaxy this was. So _no_ , he wasn't going to feel bad about keeping the little cube, worthless as it was to him in the situation.

Still, he couldn't be _too_ mad at them, mostly because their _other_ crew member was a _girl_. A beautiful girl. A _Mandalorian_ girl that Ezra just so _happened_ to be smitten with the moment he saw her. True, experience had taught him to avoid Mandalorians. They were agents of the Empire, and not the bumbling, undertrained soldiers that comprised the stormtrooper corps. No, they were _dangerous_ , and if you saw one, there was nothing to do but run far and run fast. They were either there to enforce order, or they were bounty hunters, which was _almost_ worse. Lawless Mandalorians were almost as bad as the ones that enforced the laws. They were no less likely to shoot someone, but the bounty hunters were a bit more random about it. But he didn't get that feeling from the rebel on the ship. She was dangerous, yeah, but she felt... _right_. Just. _Noble_. Something that Ezra rarely felt from anyone. Yup, he was going to _marry_ that one.

If he ever got out. He frowned, looked at the cube in his hand, and carelessly tossed it to the side, watched it as it clattered and rolled across the steel floor, and sighed when it came to rest. He was on his own, and he needed a plan. A good one, and it wasn't anything that pacing and yelling could solve. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm his mind, his fingers pressed to his lips as he thought. He was... _bait_ , but that didn't mean he needed to be alive. As soon as they figured out that the rebels weren't coming for him, they'd come for him to kill him, most likely. He _had_ been caught aiding the rebels, after all, and he'd already been questioned about who they were. He actually told the truth about that one. He didn't know _anything_.

But when they came, when the door opened...that was his chance to slip out. It was a small window, and it would be a harried escape for certain, but he'd been out of tight spots before. He knew that one day, his luck would run out eventually, but he _was_ still alive, so he suspected it hadn't yet.

So deep was his concentration that Ezra had barely heard the faint click. Then another. Then another, followed by a smooth, clear humming, like the sound of a small repulsor. He tuned it out. Something frm above or below or outside his cell, some machine brought to life, some droid going about its work. _Something_ , but nothing that would help him.

"This is Master Luminara Unduli," a calm, soft, female voice said over what sounded like a holorecording. "The Republic has fallen, and the Jedi Order has come to an end, with the Empire, a thing born from the Dark Side, rising in their place." With a sigh, Ezra slowly opened his eyes, looked out before him, and gasped, eyes widening in shock as he found himself staring at the cube that once sat motionless upon the ground and now lay _hovering_ in the air, the gold trimmings detached, the cube _opened_ as the light blue of the glass shone brilliantly, casting the entire cell in a ghostly light. Above the floating, glowing device was projected the image of a woman, her face calm and serene, a large, crescent headdress upon her head, her thin body clad in long, black robes. Ezra leaned in, his eyes fixed intently upon the image, as if looking away for only a moment would cause it to fade.

"From this moment on," the woman continued, "the Jedi Order as we know it is over, lost to Sith treachery and ambition and...our own shortsightedness." Ezra felt a stab of pain within him, though he wasn't sure why. The woman seemed...immeasurably sad, heartbroken, like her life was over, and yet she somehow still seemed strong. Brave. Like she had a mission that meant more than herself. "But that doesn't mean it is the end," she said, stronger this time. "We will be hunted. We will be killed. Our extermination is the goal, but in this, they have failed. Avoid Coruscant. Avoid detection. Trust in each other, and above all else, trust in the Force. It may come to lead you places you do not understand, lead you to allies you...may not expect," she said, a soft, wry smile on her face, like she held a secret that she couldn't share, "but to follow its will is the path to victory, and we _will_ prevail. May the Force be with you, my friends. _Always_."

The image flickered as it disappeared, and with a gasp, Ezra dove forward, moving his hand through the air as if he could grab the image, bring it back, but it was already gone. The golden pieces of the cube, floating out around the pale, blue glass suddenly snapped shut around it, the cube not quite reforming correctly, the vibrancy of the blue lost, and Ezra caught it in his hands, staring at it in disbelief. What _was_ this thing? Who was that woman? And why did that rebel guy have it? The _Jedi_? Ezra snorted. The Jedi were a _myth_ , a legend that people with way too much time believed in. There were no such thing as Jedi, fabled superheroes that roamed the galaxy, righting wrongs and triumphing over evil in all its forms. If such a thing _really_ existed, than the Empire would never have come to power, and even if they were real once, they were all gone now, wiped out by the Empire, so the stories went. Some heroes they turned out to be.

And the Force...he shrugged. He never heard of it.

But he _did_ hear new voices outside the door, the whirring of the door mechanisms as an identification cylinder was inserted, the beeping of the console as the door unlocked, and Ezra dove behind the small set of stairs that led into his cell, and he grinned when the harsh, clinical lighting of the Star Destroyer's hallways filtered in, and two oblivious stormtroopers entered. He gripped the cube tightly in his hand. It seemed his luck had returned.

* * *

Ezra sprinted across the fields and plains toward the abandoned LothalNet com tower that had been his home since his parents were taken away by the Empire, the coveted, stolen cylinder clutched tightly in his grip. Turns out, the cube _was_ missed, and Ezra had been forced to return it, but had swiped the...that _thing_ from the man as he left. That man. Kanan.

 _A Jedi_.

A real, live Jedi. Ezra wouldn't have believed it if he didn't see it for himself. It was... _amazing_. Like every story ever heard, just as miraculous a thing as anything in the galaxy. Stormtroopers had shot at him, but _nothing_ could hit him, like he saw everything before it happened, like he knew _exactly_ where every blaster bolt fired would be, and he simply...stepped out of the way, a slight tilt of his head causing shots to narrowly miss, but miss all the same, the precise moves of his... _laser sword thing_ not just blocking the shots fired, but deflecting them _away_ from him and back at the people shooting. Kanan had transformed before his very eyes, his posture, his attitude, _everything_ Ezra knew him to be faded away into cold, intense focus, noble and proud and _unreal_. He was stunned, and he couldn't look away. He was a _Jedi_ , a thing that meant nothing to him before, and in a moment, it suddenly meant _everything_.

Ezra...was wrong, which was difficult to admit. The rebels _had_ returned for him, had rescued him from the Star Destroyer he was imprisoned on, and with little time to spare to save the _actual_ imprisoned Wookies, Ezra found himself tagging along on the mission That's when _it_ happened. When Kanan revealed himself. When he stepped out of hiding and showed the Empire that he was a _Jedi_ , a thing, he gathered, that was expressly forbidden, nothing more to the Imperials than something to hunt, like a rare and valuable beast. And it had saved them all. And it was _amazing_. And helping the Wookies, saving them from the Empire...it felt _good_. Even if it was only a few of them, even just a handful fewer to stand among the _millions_ enslaved, hardly even a thing of note to the Empire, each one was a life saved, each one a _person_ , unlike him and _just_ like him all at once, and Ezra knew that each life saved mattered. It mattered more than he could say.

And then it was over. The mission was a success, and it was time to go home. It...didn't feel good. He was bitter, and he was angry, but he had no place there with them, had _stolen_ from them, wasn't meant for a life where he would sacrifice his own life for someone else, even if it felt as good, meant as much as helping the Wookies did. So he stole Kanan's miraculous weapon from his belt as the ship jolted when it landed, and when the Jedi had confronted him about his theft, he returned the cube and ran before the man could say a word, could notice that his laser sword was gone. And that was the end of it.

Ezra entered his home high above the outskirts of town and looked around at his belongings, the few gadgets he kept, the valuables he had decided to keep instead of sell, his collection of Imperial helmets along his wall that he kept as trophies after he had managed to acquire them, either through besting them or stealing them off their heads or from their barracks, or...anything, really. As long as he had them. They felt like defiance. Like _rebellion_ , his own small victories against the Empire that had taken his family and destroyed his life. It wasn't anything like saving Wookies from slavery, but at least it was his.

He held the stolen weapon in his hands as he looked at his collection of Imperial things and felt it just...didn't belong there. This thing was different. This thing was...well, he didn't know what it was, but he felt something. _Something_...behind him, something that the weapon almost seemed to be pulling toward.

"What's the Force?" Ezra asked, knowing the one that could answer, and _would_ answer, was standing behind him.

"The Force," Kanan said softly, "is everywhere. It surrounds us, penetrates us, binds us all together." Ezra turned to look at the man, the weapon held tightly, _defensively_ in his grip. "And it's _strong_ with you, Ezra," the Jedi said, looking at the boy pointedly. "You wouldn't have been able to open the holocron if you weren't." Ezra's eyes narrowed suspiciously at the man. He had _so_ many questions. How could _he_ have the Force? What did that even mean? Who was the woman he saw? What did any of what she said mean? Did Kanan _know_ he had stolen the cube? Did he allow it? Was it...was it some kind of test? Ezra didn't like that at all. And how had he gotten up here so quickly, so silently, especially when he hadn't heard anyone following him. But he settled on the most important question of all.

"What do you want?" he asked coldly, but Kanan seemed unaffected by his frosty demeanor, his hand on his hip as he leaned back against the doorway.

"I'm here to offer you a choice," he said softly. "You can keep the lightsaber you stole, let it become just some...dusty relic of another time on your shelf, or you can give it back and come with us." Kanan took a deep breath. "Come with _me_. Be trained in the ways of the Force. You can...learn. What it means to be a Jedi."

"I thought the Empire wiped out the Jedi," Ezra drawled, rolling his eyes. He could almost not believe what he was saying, but he had seen _crazy_ things today, things right out of the stories of his childhood. If the Jedi were real, than maybe all the other stories were too.

"Not all of us," Kanan said with a carefree smirk, and Ezra looked down at the weapon, the _lightsaber_ he held in his hands. It was _crazy_. This whole thing was crazy, all of it. Going with them meant abandoning his old life, a life that admittedly wasn't much, but at least it was his. It meant doing things to help, sticking his neck out for others, and that meant getting hurt. Getting betrayed. It meant things going wrong, it meant that his life would be in danger. But it also meant making a difference, even if it was small. It meant learning about the Force, this mystical thing he didn't know existed until this moment, until today, when everything he knew had changed. But even still, he couldn't give it all up. Not now. Not without knowing more. He took a deep breath, a hundred questions on the tip of his tongue and...

Kanan was gone.

 _How_? Ezra ran out of the tower to the balcony that surrounded the domed transmission hub, and he gripped the railing, looking far beneath him for sign of Kanan, but he was gone. No sign, no trace, no _nothing_. Ezra shut his eyes tight and pressed his fingers to his temple. Had he...imagined the whole thing? He couldn't see how it was possible, _none of this_ was possible. Could...the Force have made him see things? Could the Force even do that? He didn't know. Kanan would know, but...well, it was possible that the rebels in their miraculous ship were gone.

There was a sound from behind him coming from inside his home, a scrape as things were moved, shifted, and Ezra swiftly turned looked inside, his hands on the edges of the doorway to stop any possible escape by whatever it was that was going through his things, most likely a wayward Loth-cat, which happened with some frequency. Instead, Ezra's eyes widened and his breath caught in his throat as he looked at not a creature, but a _person_ , a young, handsome blond man with a neatly trimmed beard, clad in fine black robes and a tunic with seams lined in red. In his hands was one of his collection, a jet black TIE Fighter helmet, a recent acquisition that Ezra had been particularly proud of.

"Ah..." the man said with wonder, observing the helmet. "This is a fine collection you have, but I think _this_ is your finest piece. How _did_ you manage to obtain it?" Ezra ground his teeth together as he felt his temper flare, even though the smooth, clipped accent of the man was somehow... _soothing_. It wasn't enough.

"What are you doing in my house?!" Ezra snapped, taking the lightsaber in his hands and turning it on, the blue blade extending with a hiss, and the blond man's eyes snapped to look at it with glowing, golden eyes, and Ezra could feel his chest tighten, his limbs shaking with a sudden chill. "How did you even get up here? How did you even get _in_ here without me knowing about it?!" He gripped the saber tighter, his teeth chattering from the sudden cold. "I-I'm warning you, I'm armed, and I'm _not_ afraid to use this!"

The man placed the helmet upon the table, one hand still resting on the polished black surface, and with his other hand extended, fingers splayed, the lightsaber in Ezra's hands was torn from his grasp, the blue blade retracting as the hilt spun toward the man's palm, and his fingers delicately closed around it. Ezra stared at the man in disbelief, unable to move from his spot as he watched the intruder almost reverently examine the lightsaber in his hands. Swallowing hard, Ezra looked the man over, his eyes drifting over the almost predatory elegance of the man, and saw that on his belt, hung not one, but _three_ hilts just like the weapon Ezra had stolen from Kanan. _Lightsabers_.

This man was a Jedi.

"Who are you?" Ezra gasped, clutching his arms as he walked cautiously into the house, and the man indifferently tossed the lightsaber back to him.

"Who I am is of little consequence," he said softly, those strange, glowing eyes fixed with Ezra's, and the boy stared defiantly back.

"Well it's of consequence to _me_!" he snapped. "Who are you?"

"My name is unimportant," he said, soft and calm, without emotion or expression as he gently passed his hand through the air, and Ezra sucked in a sharp breath, his eyes narrowing in sudden focus and-

"Your name isn't important..." Ezra mindlessly repeated, and the man smiled and patted the dazed boy's cheek.

"There's a good boy..."

Air rushed back into Ezra's lungs, suddenly slammed back into himself as if he was simply...out of his body for a time, and he shook his head, watching the intruder carefully as he took the TIE helmet off the table and replaced it upon the shelf, all without touching it at all. "I don't understand..." he said slowly. "Are you...a Jedi?"

The man smirked, his gold eyes lighting with amusement, and Ezra couldn't help but wonder what exactly he was. No human had eyes like that. They felt... _dangerous_. "A Jedi...no, but I am... _something_ like that." He straightened up. "But there _was_ a Jedi here not too long ago. Kanan Jarrus." Ezra kept his mouth shut. He wasn't sure he trusted this guy, and he didn't want to endanger Kanan. The golden eyes simply rolled. "Oh, come now, I know he was here. If I wanted to go after him, I would have. I saw him as he left, and _without_ his lightsaber, so if killing the Jedi was my goal, I would have already done so."

It...made sense, but Ezra didn't move anyway. The man scoffed and rolled his eyes, took one of the lightsabers from his belt and lit it, the blade filling the room with soft blue light, the same as the one that belonged to Kanan. This man _said_ he wasn't a Jedi, but...well, Ezra was usually pretty good at telling if someone was up to something, and while this guy was _definitely_ up to something, it didn't feel...wrong, or dangerous, or anything like that. At the very least, he had a lightsaber, had moved things without touching them, and maybe, _just maybe_ , he could answer some of the questions that he had. Ezra had a big, life changing decision to make. He wasn't going to go into it uninformed.

"You know Kanan?" Ezra ventured carefully, and the man nodded, the blue blade hissing as it shut off and he attached the hilt back to his belt.

"I do. _Very_ well, as it so happens."

"And he knows you?" A sly, devious smirk crossed the man's lips.

"Oh, he most _certainly_ does..." Disbelief and suspicion flashed across the boy's face, and the man leaned in toward him. "Your name?"

Ezra crossed his arms over his chest. "Jabba the Hutt." Gold eyes widened, his face hard and focused for a moment before he grinned, chuckling softly under his breath.

"You'll need to come up with a better lie," he said, amused. "I know Jabba, and you look very little like that oversized, corpulent, lascivious slug." He paused to look the boy over. "...however, you smell very much the same."

" _Hey_! I've been around a Lasal all day, it's not my fault!" He paused. "Wait, you _know_ Jabba?" The man rolled his eyes.

" _Everyone_ knows Jabba. Get a new alias, Ezra Bridger, you aren't fooling anyone." Ezra's jaw dropped and he stared in disbelief at the man, gaping and gasping as he struggled to figure out if he somehow knew this man from somewhere.

"How-"

"With the Force," he said, smirking, " _anything_ is possible." He drew closer, and Ezra was too stunned to move. "The Jedi. What did he want?"

"H-he wanted me to come with him. So he could train me as a Jedi, to teach me the ways of the Force." Ezra frowned. "He says I'm strong in it."

"He's right," the man said softly. "You are. Stronger than some, in any case."

"But I don't even know what the Force is!" Ezra cried, becoming increasingly frustrated. The man just smiled.

"Did he not tell you?"

"Well, _sort of_ , he said it was this... _thing_ that binds everything together." The man scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Oh, how like a Jedi to speak in riddles." He shrugged. "He's not wrong, of course, but to put it simply...the Force is life. The Force exists in _everything_ , and those who have the ability to sense it, to feel its flow, those who are sensitive to its call like you, like Kanan, like _me_..." He stood up tall. "There is where true power lies."

"...power to do what?" Ezra asked, and a faint, almost cruel smile tugged at the edge of his lips.

" _Anything_ ," he whispered. "Anything you could _possibly_ want, if you just have the will to reach out and take it." Gold eyes searched him, and Ezra tried to back away, but found he was rooted to the spot. He _couldn't move_. "There's so much... _anger_ in you, Ezra. So much fear. It's a wonder the Empire hasn't found you with the way you have made yourself vulnerable to the Dark Side." The man sighed and drew away, and Ezra was released, breathing fast as his lungs burned with rushing oxygen.

"Why would the Empire be looking for me?!" Ezra asked, but he had his answer before he had even finished answering the question. "The cube," he muttered, and when he felt those unnatural eyes burning upon him, he looked back up at the man. "The holo... _something_."

"Holocron."

"Yes! I saw a woman, she-"

" _Luminara_." Ezra looked at the man curiously and nodded, a low, hungry growl in his voice filled with desperation and...something else that Ezra couldn't place. "...I came because I sensed her, but I thought..." He hissed. "I thought the Jedi had found her, I thought..." He ran a hand through his hair and turned away from the boy. " _Why_. I can feel her, just out of reach, she's so close..."

"Look, I don't know _what_ you're talking about, but that woman? She wasn't real. It was just a recording." The man looked over his shoulder at him, carefully appraising him, and the chill returned worse than before. Ezra put a hand to his head. He was starting to get a headache.

"Your friend Kanan has made an error," the man said softly, his eyes closed and his voice distant like he was somehow...lost. "He's exposed himself. He's shown the Empire that the rebel cell that has been such an irritant the past year is being led by a _Jedi_. It's only a matter of time before the Inquisitors show up. Perhaps...it is this I have been waiting for..."

"Does that mean he's in danger?" Ezra asked, far more worried than he thought he would have been over someone that was a stranger. A wonderful, _miraculous_ stranger.

"Perhaps..." he softly drawled. "But I think, perhaps, you will be in danger as well. With an Inquisitor on Lothal, they will almost certainly sense you within the Force. They will find you, they will capture you. For you, without training, there will be no escape."

"W-well, you can teach me!" Ezra said, desperate and nervous, a cold chill suddenly gripping him. "You have this Force thing, don't you?! You could teach me!"

"...I could," the man confessed. "My knowledge of the Force is extensive. You could grow powerful under my guidance." He stroked his beard thoughtfully. "I wonder..." He was silent for a long while, those strange eyes distant as he looked beyond where they stood, and slowly, he shook his head. "The finest art is made from the purest material. What I have to offer you would _drown_ you. You would be consumed and torn apart. I don't know what path will be yours to take. Your future is clouded, uncertain, and if you are to walk my path, you will come to me." He touched the lightsaber in Ezra's hand, and the boy tightened his grip around the object. "But not now. Not yet. You already _have_ a teacher, in any case."

He did? He...did. Ezra looked at the lightsaber in his hands, his path suddenly clear, his wants and desires converging on a singular point. He wanted to train with Kanan. He _needed_ to, and for the life of him, he couldn't figure out when he had made the decision. It was almost like it had happened without him. He smiled at the blond man, that strange, powerful being that had stepped into his home completely unnoticed, the same as Kanan had so effortlessly stepped away.

"Thank you!" he said enthusiastically, shoving his few essential belongings into his backpack. "I was conflicted before. I don't know how, but you helped me find clarity."

"Mm, I did nothing of the sort," he said, an amused smile on his lips. "Your answers came from within, not from me."

"Well, thanks anyway!" Ezra said swiftly, turning to rush out the door, but was stopped when his feet left the ground and he found himself suspended in the air by the collar of his shirt. The blond casually strolled up to the irritated boy and smiled.

"Will you give Kanan a message from me?" he softly asked, and before Ezra could answer, he leaned over, whispered something in his ear, and a moment later, Ezra's feet were on the ground, grabbing the ladder and sliding down to the ground below, so quickly that he didn't see the blond man step back into the shadows and melt into them, vanishing from sight.

He ran as fast as his legs could take him, hoping that the ship was still where it landed, and to his relief, he could see the vessel slowly come into view as he ran up the hill. On the boarding ramp sat Kanan, as if he was waiting for him. When he saw Ezra, he quickly rose and walked out into the field to meet the out of breath boy. Gasping, Ezra took the lightsaber and held it out to him.

"Please," Ezra said softly. "I want to learn. I want you to teach me about the Force. About being a Jedi." With a nod, Kanan took his lightsaber back.

"I'm glad you decided to come back," Kanan said, twisting the lightsaber and hanging the two pieces off his belt.

"Yeah, well..." Ezra rubbed the back of his neck and smiled sheepishly at the Jedi. "I had a little help from a friend of yours." Kanan arched an eyebrow and looked at him suspiciously, a sudden sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Friend?" he asked. "What friend?"

"You know, the other guy like you!" His smile dropped from his face when Kanan showed no signs of recognition. "You know...the _guy_. Your age, blond, beard, wore black, yellow eyes." This time, Ezra _did_ get a reaction out of Kanan, but not the one that he expected. The Jedi's ruddy skin went positively ashen, and he staggered back, his hand on the hull of the ship for support. "C-come on!" Ezra said, trying to be light but suddenly very _, very_ nervous. "He said you knew him _very_ well. He said he knew _you_."

"N-no..." Kanan whispered, slowly shaking his head. "That isn't possible, he _couldn't_ -"

"He had a message for you," Ezra said . "But I didn't understand it." Kanan said nothing. He just looked at the boy, his teal eyes wide with fear that Ezra could feel in the air. "He said the Sithkiller says hello."

" _Obi-Wan_ ," Kanan whimpered, his hand trembling as he felt tightness grip his chest, cold and unforgiving. "It can't be. It _can't_ , he's supposed to be dead! The Empire caught him almost a year ago, they publically executed him!" Kanan looked up into the sky, the sun setting behind them as night slowly began to creep across the sky, and in the twilight, Kanan thought he could see a ship flying low, a sleek, beautiful thing of jet black and red, and deep within him, Kanan heard a smooth, aristocratic drawl calling his name.


	2. Shadows

**AN:** **Hey! Alright, I forgot to mention things in the last note, since I was tired and it was really late and I had work in the morning. So here it is now!  
**

 **NO! You don't need to have seen Star Wars Rebels to enjoy this story! I will be touching on most of the episodes at least VERY briefly, but they'll be sort of side notes. I will be covering the larger episodes, but since we're seeing the changes from the previous stories really start happening now, stuff is going to start changing in a big way. Now, just for character, yeah, sure, knowing Rebels might help, but if you can't enjoy this story without the supplementary material, well, I'm just not doing my job as an author.**

 **I should also mention this, since it sort of snowballs off the last few stories, and it addresses my view of changing things. I don't believe in the butterfly effect AT ALL. I have always believed that time is, in effect, a river, and while things may diverge, in the end, it's all flowing toward the ocean. We will see changes here, bigger than in previous stories, but don't expect me to jump the shark because Han Solo sneezed in Chewbacca's blue milk, and now he got a human virus and died because of it. No. Just no.**

 **All that being said, should you watch Rebels? I don't know, if you want to. I really like the show. Not all of it, not everything, but the characters are solid, when the plot happens, BOY does it happen, and the show will forever have permission to fuck me against a wall whenever it wants for the creation of Kanan Jarrus and for bringing Thrawn into canon.**

 **I might get the next chapter out tomorrow, but it's a big one and...yeah, Zelda's eating my time. That is all. Enjoy, kids!**

 _Chapter 2: Shadows_

In all her years of knowing him, Hera had never seen Kanan so tense, so stressed, so... _unlike_ himself. Gone was his carefree attitude, replaced by something nervous and uneasy, the young Jedi jumping at nearly every shadow. Whatever it was that was bothering him, Kanan wasn't talking about it. It wasn't like they had a chance to, in any case. With the addition of Ezra to the crew of the _Ghost_ , it brought their child count up to three, if she didn't include the droid. So really...four. Four kids, and between that and a galaxy to save, they hadn't managed to find a second to be alone, and while they both recognized that their work came first and their relationship was conditional on that fact, Hera still loved him and looked for every opportunity to create some space for them. After all, they had to tend to their own needs as well, emotional and otherwise, if they were to remain at their best.

It wasn't just the kids that had been keeping them busy. For the past few months, Hera had been in contact with... _someone_. Someone whose identity she did not know. Someone who was part of something greater than just one ship harassing the Empire in small ways. A greater, united cause. _A rebellion_. She had never met Fulcrum, and she had been put in touch with him, her, _it_ through a long, complicated network of spies and recruitment agents. Ever since, Fulcrum would pass along missions to Hera, whispers and suggestions about Imperial activity, ways to strike them more effectively. Hera took the missions every chance she got, though she knew the secretive nature of the information and the agent that provided it irked the ever suspicious Sabine, the Mandalorian didn't seem to mind _that_ much. It was good work. It was _lots_ of work. And it was eating all her time.

Not that it mattered, but it had been a few weeks since they had last been intimate, and Hera was aching for him as well. All those times that light, covert touches promising later passions had fallen flat because of a mission gone wrong or interruptions from the other members of the crew was starting to leave her irritated and frustrated. They _really_ needed some time alone.

She suspected that a great deal of Kanan's unease came from Ezra. Not _because_ of the boy, but because of the burden of teaching, a thing that the Jedi had never thought he'd have to do. He had only been a student when he survived the Jedi Purge, had still been learning under a Master of his own, and it seemed to be no secret that Kanan felt terribly unprepared to _teach_ when he himself had barely begun to truly learn. As powerful as Hera thought he was, Kanan was only just above a novice when it came to his skills, and being forced to hide his abilities for over fifteen years had left him rusty and under-practiced.

And yet...there had been very little _actual_ teaching, as far as Hera saw. Ezra was eager, yes, and newly awakened to a new world of opportunities, given a chance to be something other than just a thief, and _everything_ was a wonder to him. He and Zeb didn't get along, since it was Zeb that had left him behind to be detained by the Empire, but they sure seemed to like fighting with each other. And the young Jedi hopeful was absolutely infatuated with Sabine and just wouldn't leave the solitary Mandalorian alone. She didn't seem to mind terribly, as the girl was clearly used to attracting that sort of attention, but she was too free a spirit to take any of it seriously. Which made Zeb, big brother that he was, stand between her and Ezra. Which started yet more fighting...

That fighting had finally come to a head when Ezra reached out through the Force and saved Zeb's life on a simple smuggling mission for credits that had gone very wrong and ended up being _very_ personal for the Lasal. Unfortunately, it took credits to keep the _Ghost_ in the air, to feed the crew, and to continue their fight against the Empire, and as such, Hera and Kanan often did smuggling jobs for credits, if the cargo was right and the buyer wasn't _completely_ awful. It was on such a mission that things had gone south very badly, as they seemed to so often do. The buyer was a Devanonian crime lord operating out of Lothal, one that Kanan and Hera had dealt with multiple times in the past because he was greedy, driven only by credits, and therefore very predictable. It also helped that he had an extensive criminal network that pulled in a lot of information that could be bought, and often times, that information proved vital to finding Imperial shipments, learning their routines, and armed with knowledge, they could make a plan.

The trouble was the cargo they were smuggling, cargo inbound for Imperial hands that _happened_ to be weapons, and those weapons _happened_ to be T-7 ion disruptor rifles, a weapon so atrocious, so _awful_ that the Imperial Senate, despite the cruelty of the Empire, had banned the weapons outright. Such a weapon could disable starships, but when used against organics, it _disintegrated_ them, atm by atom, a slow process that the victim felt until their lives were mercifully over. What the weapon did wasn't common knowledge. Hera knew because that very same weapon was the one that had been used on Zeb's people in the genocide of Lasan.

It was made worse when the theft of the Imperial shipment had put ISB's Agent Kallus on their trail, a man best avoided, as all Imperial officers were, but they didn't know this one too well, and Hera wanted to keep it that way. _Unfortunately_ , Kallus had specifically asked for the assignment to crush the rebels out of Lothal because he had heard there was a Lasal on board the crew, and Kallus had been there on Lasan when the massacre took place. _He_ had given the order to use the disruptors.

Suffice it to say, the day ended up being something of a mess, only paid half what the crime lord had promised because the Imperial presence prevented them from making the full exchange. Worse, Kallus had goaded Zeb _extremely_ successfully, and after being stirred into a blind rage, the Imperial Agent bested Zeb, would have killed him, until Ezra saved his life.

And the boy _wouldn't_ shut up about it.

Zeb was taking it as well as could be expected.

Hera grit her teeth, her hands clenching tightly around the yoke in the cockpit as she heard something large and metallic come loudly crashing down, followed by Zeb's outraged screams and the scuttling of Ezra as he tried to get away. Hera tried to be patient, tried to remember what she was like when she was a child, and where she usually succeeded in being calm and temperate in all things, today, Zeb and Ezra's constant conflict was getting on her last nerve. _She_ hadn't been like this at Ezra's age, she was following in her father's footsteps and fighting for something greater. She yanked the yoke hard and swung the ship around, setting in new coordinates as she did so. She had a solution to this problem that could see all the current issues resolved.

The boarding ramp extended as soon as the _Ghost_ set down on Lothal, and Zeb and Ezra were unceremoniously thrown out of the ship, landing on the dusty ground outside. When they scrambled to their feet, they stood face to face with a _very_ cross Hera, her hands on her hips and her foot tapping on the boarding ramp. Zeb's ears flattened against his head in embarrassment. It wasn't often that Hera lost her patience.

"You're throwing us out?" Ezra asked in disbelief, and the Twilik rolled her eyes as she walked out to the pair and put a datapad in Ezra's hands.

"No, but if you two are resolved to _destroying my ship_ , then you're going to stay outside." She tapped the datapad. "You two are going on a supply run. That's the list of everything we need."

"What, with him?!" both Ezra and Zeb said together, shooting each other a vicious glare.

"Yes, _together_ ," Hera said forcefully, her tone leaving no room for arguement. "It's a lot of supplies, and you're going to need two hands to get it done." Zeb cracked his knuckles, started to say something, and a finger swiftly pointed at him shut him up. "Yes, _I know_ you can carry most of it, but since you are breaking the _Ghost_ together, you're going to be _shopping together._ "

"Understood, boss," Ezra said, saluting and looking the list over. "This will take us no time at all. Anything else you need?"

Hera was silent for a moment before a small, secretive smile spread across her face. "Yes, actually. Bring me back at least one meiloorun."

"Meiloorun, got it," Ezra said, tossing the datapad in the air and deftly catching it. "Back soon, Hera, don't you worry." Hera watched the two walk away, look at each other, and then begin sprinting in toward town. She _almost_ felt bad about sending the two out together, especially since the meiloorun fruit didn't grow on Lothal and was considered to be _very_ rare. But then, they _had_ broken the bunks in the room, and they did need supplies, not to mention that getting them out of the ship and chasing after rare, difficult to find produce would keep them out most of the day. Zeb and Ezra were both too competitive and too stubborn to simply quit, and forced extended time together may help them overcome their troubles.

With a sigh, Hera walked back inside the ship, her hands rubbing her temples to stave off her oncoming headache. With any luck, Kanan would be pen to talking. Something had happened when he took Ezra on as his student, but so far, the man hadn't said what, and when asked, he'd simply smile and say that everything was fine. It wasn't, of course. Hera could always tell when Kanan was lying. It could have been personal, something that the Jedi saw as irrelevant or a distraction to their ultimate goal, but Kanan being as unfocused as he had been was a greater detriment to their cause than anything he may have been worried about. They had time to talk now, and Hera was fairly certain she could convince him to open up.

She slowly made her way through the _Ghost_ , checking the cargo holds for the other members of the crew and finding nobody. With a sigh, she climbed the ladder, bringing her into the cockpit where Chopper sat plugged into the central console as it recharged. Her fingers quickly ran over the console as she powered down the engines and ran all the proper landing checks she had neglected to do in her haste to get Zeb and Ezra out. When everything was set, she left for the hall behind the cockpit where their living quarters were located so she could survey the damage that Ezra and Zeb had managed to inflict upon the ship.

The door to Zeb and Ezra's room was open, which it _shouldn't_ have been, and Hera carefully peered inside to see Sabine, a spray paint canister in hand as she happily sprayed the walls. "Run out of space in your own room again?" Hera asked, leaning in the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest. Sabine smirked and chuckled softly, but didn't look away from her work.

"No, but inspiration struck, and when it does, you can't ignore it."

"Ah." Hera patted the doorframe. "Don't go too wild. I don't want to hear it from Zeb later."

"It will take as much space as it takes," she muttered. "I can't stop until it's perfect, you know how it is."

"...well, better their room than mine," Hera said softly as she turned away, and she stopped suddenly when she realized what a rare, _beautiful_ thing she had. _Everyone_ was occupied. She quickly walked the short distance to Kanan's room, swiftly opened the door, and slipped inside, locking it behind her. Kanan sat on the bed, peaceful and serene in his meditations, hardly even seeming to be aware that she had entered, but that was fine. Hera quickly crossed the room, took the Jedi's face in her hands, and fiercely kissed him, smiling against his lips when she felt him tense with shock, and then _very_ quickly relax into it, returning her passion with a needy, reckless abandon, desperate and hungry as he threw away his usual restraint.

It was Kanan that pulled back first with a soft, wanting moan, his eyes dilated with desire, but his face showed the return of his cautious nature as he focused for his control. However, Hera knew _exactly_ what he was going to say, and managed to beat him to speaking first as she muttered a soft, husky, "Guess what I managed to do?"

"I dunno..." Kanan mumbled, smiling softly as he relaxed once again, his thoughts diverted away from being caught and back to the woman in his arms. "I bet it's amazing, though."

"More than you know." She kissed at his neck as her long, deft fingers undid the armor on his arm. "Zeb and Ezra are out on a supply run and looking for an item I don't think they'll find, and Sabine is painting, so..." She flashed him a wicked smirk. "I have you _all_ to myself..."

Kanan ran his hands over his lekku and groaned softly when the Twi'lek gasped, the head tails squirming to press into his touch. "What are they looking for?"

She shrugged. "Meilooruns."

Kanan chuckled deeply. "You really _are_ devious, aren't you?"

"It's just been so long since we've been together..." she whispered, running her hand along Kanan's hip and feeling her own blood rush with desire when the Jedi's involuntarily bucked against her. He was in just as much need as she was.

"Almost a month..." Kanan groaned softly. "And I can't even blame it on Ezra, he hasn't been with us that long. And that last time," he said, frowning, "that didn't count."

"Too fast for your taste?" she asked as she very, _very_ slowly shrugged off her flight suit and laid back, pulling her breathless lover with her. "We _were_ a bit pressed for time, weren't we?"

" _Hardly_ satisfying."

"I agree," she whispered, a crooked smile on her lips as she watched Kanan quickly disrobe, nudge her legs apart with his knee, and settle above her. "Remember..." she said softly, locking her hands behind his neck. "We won't have many opportunities to be like this."

"I'll make the most of it, don't you worry..." He kissed her, slow and deep as he entered her, and Hera didn't realize how much she missed this. It was a shame, really, that they didn't live in a time where they could put their relationship first, allow themselves to be carried away by the deep passion between them. Kanan was...perfect. Perfect for her, in any case, even if he had started out a bit rough around the edges. Compared to the Kanan Jarrus she had met on Gorse, _her_ Kanan was a different man, a _better_ man, a peerless warrior, a caring lover. He had said in the past that the Jedi didn't condone love or romantic entanglements because it led to the Dark Side, but it had been a guideline that Kanan had quickly forgotten when the Jedi were executed. Even still, Hera thought the Jedi must have made fine men, if Kanan was any indication.

True to his word, Kanan _really_ made the most of their time, setting a slow and intimate pace that more than made up for their recent, infrequent string of quickies tucked away in quiet corners of the ship when they ha a few minutes and a burning urge for union, though it was _far_ from intimate, and only physically satiating, and for them, that wasn't close to enough. But...such as it was, that was what they got, and it would have to do. They _didn't_ live in a time or place where they could truly be together, not like they wanted, not when the Empire that destroyed everything still clutched the galaxy in its iron grip. Some things were just more important, far bigger than them, no matter how much they yearned for it to be otherwise. The fact that Kanan understood that and agreed was part of why Hera loved him as she did. Duty before all else, until there came a time when they would be free to do as they wished.

They finished together, the lovers shuddering and moaning softly, their names on each other's lips as he pressed as deep within her as he could, his hips rolling gently against hers as they reached completion, and Hera could feel all the tension of before vanish in an instant. With a sigh of satisfaction, Kanan rolled to lay beside her and gently drew the Twi'lek against him, kissing her neck gently as they reveled in the warmth and relaxed laziness that ambled through them.

"I didn't realize how badly I needed that..." Kanan muttered, his voice low and tired, and Hera thought the man might fall asleep right there, which...wouldn't do. Not at all.

"Kanan," she said softly, stroking at his jaw line and making the bliss-hazed eyes look at her. "Are you having second thoughts about Ezra?" That seemed to wake him up, his focus snapping back to him and the haze clearing from his mind.

"W-what? N-no! I'm not, I'm fine..." He smiled weakly. "Everything's fine." She gave him a withering look, and the Jedi winced, knowing full well that there was no hiding the truth from Hera Syndulla. "Alright, it's not fine...but it's not Ezra, he's not the problem."

"It's you," she said softly, laying her hand on his heart, and he slowly nodded, his gaze shifting away from her.

"It's me, yeah, and..." He stopped and shook his head. "No, it's me." She frowned. There was something else. She'd have to ask about it later. "I'm not a teacher. I was _never_ a teacher. My training was far from complete and, well..." Kanan absently ran one of Hera's lekku through his hand and kissed the end of the long, green tendril. "Jedi started training young. _Very_ young. They always said that the training failed past a certain age because they became..." He frowned, looking for the appropriate word. "Attached. Those attachments could lead to dangerous emotions that could cause a Jedi to fall to the Dark Side."

"And Ezra is too old," Hera said, beginning to understand his concern, and the Jedi nodded.

"Much too old. It... _can_ be done, but the only case I ever heard of was Anakin Skywalker, and he needed one of the greatest Masters in the Order to train him." He shrugged indifferently. "It wasn't enough, though. I heard he died on Mustafar, and..." He trailed off, his eyes becoming distant once again, and Hera frowned, touched his cheek, and brought his attention back to her. "Ezra deserves a teacher. A _real_ teacher. Someone who can deal with all the problems that come with training an older student. He needs a Master, not a Padawan."

"I think," Hera said, dragging her finger in circles on the man's chest, "the fact that you care as much as you do is going to be enough."

"It won't be if someone else has his eye on him..." Kanan mumbled, and _that_ got Hera's attention. She carefully studied Kanan's face, watching as the concern from before crept back on to his fine features. "...I've been having... _dreams_ ," he said after a long pause. " _Nightmares_. About Obi-Wan."

"...the Separatist?!"

"The _Sith Lord_ ," Kanan corrected. "I know he's dead, we watched the broadcast of his execution, but..." He shook his head. "I don't know. Something's off. Something's _very_ wrong."

"Are you sensing something else?" she asked softly, smiling at him when he just looked confused. "Or maybe you're just having nightmares because you're _stressed_. You're feeling inadequate, you think your student might be susceptable to the Dark Side..." She patted his shoulder. "What better form for your nightmares to take than the face of the Sith?" Kanan chuckled softly and kissed her cheek. It was as good an explanation as any, and he would have just left it at that if not for...

"Ezra saw him." He said it so quietly that Hera had to strain to hear him, and she thought she had misunderstood until she saw the abject terror in her lover's eyes. "Back when we first brought him on," he continued when Hera said nothing. "After I left his home, Ezra said he saw a blond man roughly my age with glowing yellow eyes that carried a lightsaber and could use the Force." Kanan shivered. "He said I knew him. He said _he_ knew _me_."

 _That_ was it. Hera couldn't explain that one, but she suspected that Kanan had the same sinking feeling in his stomach that she did. "And you think it's Obi-Wan? Did Ezra say it was him?"

"Ezra didn't get his name. Ezra said he called himself Sithkiller, which is what the Jedi called Obi-Wan after he killed a Sith Lord on Naboo." He growled and ran a hand through his hair. "Every Jedi knows that story. Obi-Wan was a legend before he was a traitor, and if he was my age..." He shook his head. "I don't know. Maybe another Padawan survived the Jedi Purge. Maybe it's someone I know, maybe...maybe it _is_ Obi-Wan and they caught the wrong man."

"It can't be him, love..." Hera said softly. "You're talking about someone much younger than Obi-Wan."

"...maybe." Kanan took a deep breath. "Regardless, I'm being watched. Or worse, Ezra's being watched, and what he described was an agent of the Dark Side. If something like that has an eye on him, then they must have sensed something within Ezra that's drawing the Dark Side to him. In which case...I-I'm really not prepared. He needs a real teacher to show him how to defend himself against that sort of thing!"

"All the real teachers are dead, Kanan," she said softly, though not unkindly. "All he has is you."

"...y-yeah _._ " He kissed her cheek. "Thanks, Hera. I'm feeling a bit better about this whole thing."

"I've been told I have that effect on people," she said as she hit his shoulder. " _Two weeks, Kanan_. Two weeks of undue stress because you didn't want to talk!"

"Ow, alright, _alright_!" he said, laughing as he kissed her cheek. "I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

"Better not..." she grumbled, but caressed the place she hit. "I need you at your best, Kanan. You're no good to me when you're jumping at shadows and ghosts." He leaned over to kiss her and was stopped when the comlink on Hera's flight suit went off, and with a sigh, the Twi'lek slid off the bed, riffled through her pile of clothing, and took the device in her hand.

"Specter Four to _Ghost_ ," Zeb said, his voice sounding strangely nervous, over some sort of background noise, but then we found them again. "We've got a bit of a problem." Hera rolled her eyes as she snuggled in next to Kanan again, the Jedi's arms wrapping around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder.

"Time to grow up," she said quietly to Kanan before answering the com. "Look, don't worry about the meilooruns," she started gently, but Ezra quickly cut her off, his voice sounding just as tense and nervous as Zeb's.

"Meilooruns, right!" he said swiftly. "We found some! And then we lost them, but we smashed them, and..." A piercing scream sounded over the com, not from either of their crew, but from someone else, and both Kanan and Hera shot up, suddenly _very_ nervous.

" _What_ was that noise?" Kanan asked, snatching the com from Hera's hand as she began dressing. "What exactly am I hearing?"

"Yeah, about that..." Ezra said nervously. "We, uh...we... _we stole a TIE Fighter_."

"... _you what_?!" Kanan snapped, jumping off the bed and throwing his clothes on as well. "Get rid of it!"

"...do we _have_ to?" Ezra and Zeb asked together, and Hera rolled her eyes.

"Sounds like they're getting along," she said with a smile on her lips. "Mission accomplished."

"Wait, _that_ was the mission?!" Kanan asked, his jaw dropping in disbelief. "Rendevous at shadow site two," Kanan snapped into the com. "Fly directly there, and _don't do anything_." He threw the comlink on the bed, aggressively tucked in his shirt and strapped his blaster holster to his belt and leg. "I'm going to go save those idiots," he said, kissing Hera on the cheek and running a hand over his lekku. "Business as usual, hmm?"

"Go save the day, hero," she said, playfully hitting the armor on his shoulder, watching him leave and flopping back on the bed with a sigh. There was nothing like a successful mission.

* * *

The room was dim, the only lighting in use specifically to illuminate the paintings upon the walls. And there were _dozens_ of them. Old and new, impressionist reliefs and paintings so realistic it looked as though the subject may begin moving with life. There were landscapes, portraits, scenes depicting battles and celebrations, executions and crowning, life and death from dozens of worlds in endless styles. It was... _chaotic_ , without order, and that was...highly upsetting.

The Grand Inquisitor did _not_ like it here. The Emperor himself did not approve of art, considered it a breeding ground for treason, individualistic expression that defied the imposed order of the Empire. Without the will of the individual, there was one mind governing the galaxy, which was the only way to move forward, the only way to achieve progress, the only way to serve the glory of the Empire. Which is why, in this place, with this man, he was... _offended_. He couldn't understand why Sidious had allowed this creature to exist. He had repressed all other alien life as inferior to his own species, save for those with talent in the Force, which answered to his call and bowed to his might anyway. Worse still, his Masters had demanded of him that he... _obey_ , and that was the most insulting thing about it.

Admiral Thrawn sat in a command chair in the center of the room, his hands pressed together and his fingers to his thin lips as he observed the paintings. He paid no mind to the Inquisitor when he entered. _Another insult_.

"Do you recognize any of the pieces I have on display here, Inquisitor?" Thrawn asked in his eerie monotone, though the man hadn't moved at all. Grinding his teeth, the Inquisitor made his way to stand beside the command chair the Admiral sat in. The room was _enormous_ , the entire floor beneath the command bridge of the Star Destroyer _Chimera_ converted into the Chiss' personal art gallery.

"Art holds no importance to us," the Inquisitor said, and Thrawn's red eyes moved to look at him, observing and appraising for a moment before they returned to his previous relaxed state. Save for his eyes, he still hadn't moved.

"A pity," he said quietly. "Should you find the time, I highly recommend it."

"The _Emperor_ does not approve of such things," the Inquisitor said in a frosty tone, and the hint of a smile tugged at Thrawn's lips.

"No, he does not."

"So I find your fascination _treasonous_." The faint smile became a cunning smirk.

"What can you tell me about the man called Obi-Wan Kenobi?" Thrawn said, smoothly changing the subject. The Inquisitor was having none of it.

"I am not here to indulge your idle curiosity, Admiral," he snarled, quickly losing the little patience he had for this man. As an Inquisitor, he was outside the chain of Imperial command, answering only to the Sith Lords themselves. As _Grand Inquisitor_ , he was entitled to _respect_. He felt like the Chiss was quizzing him. Like he was a _child_. Like he was a youngling back in the Jedi Temple. He felt himself burning with hatred, his fist clenched tightly at his side as he suppressed the desire to kill this man.

"I have collected here an assortment from across the galaxy through all its history," Thrawn said almost reverently, again changing the subject, and the Inquisitor rolled his eyes. "Here," he said, pointing to a piece to his left, "is a depiction of the formation of the Order of the Je'daii on the planet Tython and their worship of the moons, Bogan and Ashla, which would shape the philosophies regarding the nature of what you know as the Force. And here," he said, pointing to another, "the first war between the Jedi Order and their feuding brothers, the Sith."

The Inquisitor scoffed. "Jealous of our power, Admiral?" A faint smile touched Thrawn's lips.

"I confess, such an ability would be of great use, but as I have never felt the touch of the Force, nor ever will, it is fruitless to express envy. And there are more valuable assets than simply the faith in what cannot be seen." The Inquisitor scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Spoken like one who is ignorant of its powers."

"On the contrary..." Thrawn said softly. "I have devoted a great deal of the past few years to the study of the Force. I understand what those with talent are capable of. I have acquired an understanding of the forms of lightsaber combat, and have managed to procure a Clone Wars era droid specifically to practice my understanding." The Inquisitor rolled his eyes.

"Practice... _you_ could never wield a lightsaber, and nor could a droid."

"No, you are correct on that matter," Thrawn droned. "The droid in my possession is an IG-100 MagnaGuard, favored by the cyborg General Grievous, and they use the electrostaff, _not_ the lightsaber." The Inquisitor's superior attitude deflated immediately as he recognized the... _possibility_ that Admiral Thrawn _might_ know what he was talking about. "Of course, information that pertains to the Jedi and the Force in general is becoming increasingly difficult to come by, thanks to the efforts of you and your brothers and sisters," the Admiral said, a touch of praise in his voice. "It has made my job difficult, but I do appreciate the challenge. The desire to complete the task has allowed me to observe every angle, consider every possibility, a thing, I fear, that would not be present were I simply given the information." He gestured to the wall. "Yes, the Force is vastly important to our subject. What else?"

This time, the Inquisitor really looked at the paintings on the walls, the Admiral's obvious study of the Force despite his lack of affinity for it making him rise in the Inquisitor's esteem. "Battles," he said softly as he pointed to one. "That's the Mandalorian Wars."

"Quite right," Thrawn said softly. "And the others?" The Inquisitor peered closer.

"That's the Mandalorian Civil War. And that's..." He looked closer. "...the liberation of Naboo."

"Over there is a piece by a Separatist painter, a propaganda artist, really, depicting the Battle of Geonosis and the start of the Clone Wars," Thrawn said softly. "Here, an ancient ceremony of adoption, inducting a warrior into the Mandalorian culture. And here, the burning of Sundari. There, the destruction of Ord Mantell." Thrawn pointed to the painting across from him. "And the pride of my collection..." he said softly. "The likeness of Mand'alor Satine Kryze..." This time, he actually smiled for a moment before turning his blood red eyes on the Inquisitor. "Do you see the pattern yet?"

He looked at it again, closer this time and saw...nothing. "It is a varied collection, Admiral," he said, and Thrawn straightened up in his chair, the avoidance of the question not going unnoticed.

"This, Inquisitor," he said soft, _pleased_ , "is the personal history of our mutual enemy, the renegade Separatist Negotiator, Lord of the Sith and esteemed Shadow King of Mandalore, Obi-Wan Kenobi." The Inquisitor stared at the Admiral for a long moment as he allowed the realization to sink in, and then looked back at the artwork. If that was true, the Admiral's knowledge of Kenobi was _extensive_ , far more than anything the Inquisitor knew. He felt foolish for not seeing the connection before.

"...how does this help?" he asked, and Thrawn hissed softly.

"This is everything," the Admiral calmly explained. " _Everything_. His part in the Mandalorian Civil War, where he met the Duchess Satine, his return to her years later, her eventual death during the fall of Sundari, the destruction of Ord Mantell..." He steepled his fingers together. "In this, we learn nearly everything we need to know about Kenobi as a _person_. He is...attached. _Sentimental_. He has shown time and time again that he will always return for his friends and loved ones, no matter the cost and regardless of the threat to himself. Placing those people in immediate danger makes him protective, _defensive_ , his natural state, while seeing to their deaths makes him violently aggressive."

"It is then he is his most dangerous," the Inquisitor pointed out. "The Dark Side feeds on anger and intense emotion."

"Ah, but does not the will to protect inspire emotions just as strong?" Thrawn asked, a slight smile on his lips. "No, I feel it is too early to determine when he is at his most formidable. Further observations are necessary." He gestured to the art. "The rest of it is a testament to his skills. The Force, his victory on Naboo against our... _friend_ , Maul," he said with a smirk. "An analysis of his lightsaber skills shows him to be proficient in all the forms, but he heavily favors Form Three, Soresu, the defensive posture. A style for the cautious, the careful, the strategist, for one that would analyze their opponent in the heat of combat, wear them down, and strike with deadly precision the moment an opening is presented." He looked at the Inquisitor. "Can you defeat such an opponent? Be it through lightsaber combat or skill in the Force?"

"...no."

"Then it would seem to me that the key to victory against him is not in the hands of those who rely on the Force for victory." Thrawn took a deep breath, held it for a moment, and slowly exhaled. "The Negotiator...he is intelligent enough to be persuasive, powerful enough to destroy a planet, and yet, he has spent the past fifteen years engaging in..." He sneered. " _Pranks_. And after his imposter's execution, he all but disappeared, as I suspected."

"And you know what that means, I take it?"

"It so happens that I do..." Thrawn drawled. "He's protecting something, and keeping Imperial attention away from him is allowing him to hide. In the open, he is one _very_ large opponent, a threat, and a target. But should he keep to the shadows..." He cleared his throat. "I would ask you again, Inquisitor. What is it you see in my collection? What feelings does it inspire?"

"...I see chaos," the Inquisitor said softly. "You have shown me what it means, but there are...too many colors. Too many styles, no unison, no _order_ within it."

"Just so," Thrawn said, nodding. "Such it is with Obi-Wan Kenobi. A man with no culture, no heritage, no family but the ones he creates himself. So desperate for connection that he returned for his lover after years of being apart, refused to see harm come to his friends, even when they stood on opposite sides of a war. He has adopted the Mandalorian culture, held it close, treasured it because of his involvement with their leader, and holds it closer now in memory of her, I suspect." He smirked. " _Sentimental_ , as you can see, and fitting that a man with no heritage should come to identify with a people with a cultural affinity for adoption, which makes their ranks diverse, hailing from different places, and all looking for the same familial connection."

"Mandalore is Imperial, Admiral," the Inquisitor said softly, and he nodded.

"Yes...though I would seriously call to question their loyalty, specifically the loyalty of Bo-Katan Kryze, sister to Kenobi's fallen."

The Inquisitor snickered. "Grand Moff Tarkin will not like that."

"I care nothing for the offense he may feel. The woman has avoided scrutiny because of her use to the Empire, but now, she may serve in another way. Aliit ori'shya tal'din, the Mandalorians say. Family is more than blood, and Kenobi's adherence to Mandalorian principles may make this paramount in our success in his capture and execution."

"And if you're wrong?" the Inquisitor asked, and Thrawn shot him a frigid glare.

"I am not."

"I'll concede your point when he _had_ family in Mandalore during the Clone Wars," the Inquisitor softly challenged. "But now, everything he loved is dead. What makes you so certain?" A slow, clever smile spread across the Admiral's lips.

"The answer is twofold, Inquisitor," the Admiral said, finally standing from his seat and folding his arms behind his back. "First is his method of fighting since the Empire came to power. Small things, far below his capabilities, even when fighting against a force of our size. The method is derived from another Mandalorian saying, better one big enemy that you can see than many small ones you can't. In an Empire of this size and strength, it is easy for one man to get lost, but far more difficult if one leaves a path of destruction in their wake."

"But he is, isn't he?" the Inquisitor growled. "Not as himself, as the Shadow King." Thrawn scoffed and waved a dismissive hand.

"A message, signaling that he knows he is being watched. He has moved his piece, and it is my turn. His actions as Shadow King have no bearing on my analysis. They are meant to confuse."

The Inquisitor shifted his weight from foot to foot. "And the other reason?" he asked, drawing up taller when Thrawn's eyes fell on him. "You said there were two reasons. What's the other?" Thrawn's face suddenly grew... _dangerous_ Triumphant.

"He _does_ still have family," the Admiral said in his chilling monotone. "We have seen what he does when he loses everything. He burns planets. His actions now are not the actions of a man that has nothing left to lose. These are the actions of a _cautious_ man, one who is sitting and waiting while he protects what's dear to him, occasionally harassing the Empire when he feels what he is defending is absolutely safe." Red eyes swept over the art in the room. "Child of Mandalore...he has family still, I can assure you, or those he considers family. Bo-Katan Kryze, sister of his lover, Luminara Unduli, his last surviving friend from within the Jedi, given his habit of always being there when she calls..." His eyes narrowed. "Among others, I am certain, and I will find those as well when we draw him out." He looked at the Inquisitor. "On that note, is our trap set?"

"It is," the Inquisitor said softly, his respect for the Admiral considerably elevated. "Are you certain this is how you intend to proceed?"

"It is," he said firmly. "Remember, Inquisitor. Every loss is a lesson, and should we fail to capture him this time, Obi-Wan has only drawn the noose tighter around his own neck." Thrawn took a deep breath and relaxed his shoulders as he sat back down in his command chair. "If not this time, then the next. Or the next. Mark my word, Inquisitor. In the end, I will not lose."

"I'm beginning to understand why, Admiral."

Thrawn nodded. "Good. Ready our trap."


	3. Rise of the Old Masters

**AN:** **Uh...ok. This chapter was going to include next chapter also, making it one big, huge, enormous thing, but...well, the tone of the next chapter doesn't match the tone of this one, and I feel tone dissonance is really jarring. So here! Have some shit! Can you tell we're getting into it now? We're fast flying away from kid territory. Rejoice.**

 _Chapter 3: Rise of the Old Masters_

Kanan sighed as yet _another_ empty bottle hit Ezra's head. The air was filled with the sound of Zeb's raucous laughter and the amused electronic chortling of Chopper as they threw another and yet another bottle at the frustrated boy, and were given full permission to do so. With Kanan's lightsaber in hand, the boy drew up tall again, ready for the next volley, and swung as the bottle was thrown, only to miss and have it strike his head yet again. Zeb had complained earlier about wanting to be amused, and...well, now he was getting it. Throwing things at Ezra and watching him fail was _exactly_ Zeb's idea of a good time, even though the two got along far better now.

Ezra's Jedi training...wasn't going well, as Kanan had feared. The boy was too impatient, too reckless, too afraid, too...too much of a lot of things, most of which got in the way of his focus and clouded his connection with the Force. Kanan hadn't been like him at his age. At fourteen, Kanan had been Padawan to a Master, fought in a war, was extremely capable with a lightsaber, but Ezra...he was struggling to understand the basics. No...the comparison was unfair. Their circumstances were entirely different. Caleb Dume had been raised to be a Jedi, and Ezra was born when the Order was already dead. Until a few weeks ago, he hadn't even known that the Force _existed_ , let alone sense that he was strongly connected to it. He'd have to keep that in mind going forward.

Kanan winced as the boy was struck again. At some point, Ezra was sure to hit _something_ just by randomly swinging the weapon...right? Perhaps it was the lightsaber, used to Kanan's touch and objecting to the hands of a child...

Kanan ran his hand through his hair, No, that wasn't it. _Of course_ it wasn't it. The problem lay in the fact that Ezra was a difficult student. He was stubborn, a good quality that could prove itself to be a detriment when calm patience was needed, though Kanan suspected that he would struggle with _any_ student, regardless of how patient or skilled. He just...wasn't a good teacher, as today's training session was proving. Ezra liked the lightsaber well enough, but saw no point in practicing the slow, precise motions of the katas, the basics that would make him better and stronger. He lacked the patience to meditate and expressed little interest in deepening his connection with the Force, a process that he found both boring and frustrating because when he tried to make it move to his command, nothing happened. It was because he was frustrated, of course, and his failure made him more frustrated, which clouded his mind and made him fail. Which frustrated him...

It was a cycle that Kanan didn't believe he had the skill to break. Ezra was improving on his own, becoming stronger, his simple recognition that the Force existed unconsciously strengthening his connection to it, but he had no control at all. He would continue to grow stronger, would continue to become frustrated, and therein was the path to the Dark Side. Perhaps Ezra's mystery visitor saw the dangerous slope Ezra stood upon. Perhaps that was why he had been drawn to the boy. Perhaps...Kanan just wasn't strong enough to really do this.

Ezra needed teacher. A _real_ teacher, not him. But there were no real teachers left. They had all died. All of them. Not just the teachers, but the students, the children, all of them...gone. For the hundredth time that day, Kanan wonders why he ran, why he didn't stay and fight like a warrior instead of fleeing like a coward, why he didn't have the good sense to die with the rest of them. There was...always a reason for things, the Jedi said, but if that was true, what was the reason they all died? And why was Kanan still alive? Could it have been that he had lived to train Ezra? Maybe the boy had some great destiny, but...that seemed unlikely. The only thing left of the Force was darkness.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts. Poisonous thoughts, he knew, but he couldn't help it. Training a student of his own made Kanan think a great deal of the past, of the Jedi, of all the things he lost. It was a silly thing to do. They were all dead and gone, and the only thing left was the way forward.

If Zeb and Chopper didn't give Ezra a concussion first.

"Alright you two, that's enough," Kanan said, reaching out with his hand and calling the thrown bottle to him right before it struck Ezra in the head. "You've had enough fun for one day."

"Aw, come on, Kanan!" Zeb whined. "I'm sure the kid will get it eventually! Just a few more, I think he's really close!"

"Really close to traumatic brain injury, maybe..." Kanan muttered as he helped Ezra to his feet and examined the large lumps that were forming on the boy's head. Ezra gave an embarrassed chuckle.

"Don't think I can do it, huh?" the boy sheepishly asked, and Kanan shook his head, taking his lightsaber back when Ezra handed it to him. He didn't wait for Kanan to answer. "Does he _have_ to be here?" he asked, pointing at a laughing Zeb. "He's _really_ distracting!"

"There will always be distractions, but you need to learn to focus through it." Kanan sighed when he felt Ezra's frustration, not just with himself, but with his _teacher_. Kanan was getting frustrated with his student as well. Too old, too emotional, too unbalanced, too impatient, too angry, too afraid, too-

"Hey, when am I going to get my own lightsaber?" Ezra asked when Kanan took his saber apart and clipped the two pieces on his belt.

"You know, having a laser sword isn't what makes you a Jedi."

"No, but it'll bring me closer," Ezra mumbled, and Kanan just groaned.

" _No_ , being a Jedi is about the Force, and you won't be able to channel it without _focus_. You lack focus, Ezra, that's your problem." Ezra just rolled his eyes.

"You know, it's hard to have focus when I'm being _hit in the head_."

"You wouldn't be getting hit in the head if you had _focus_!" Kanan said firmly. "You lack discipline, and you are filled with self doubt."

"And who's fault is that, _Master_?" Ezra snapped, and Kanan took a deep, calming breath as he ran his hand over his face. He was tired and frustrated and on edge. This role didn't suit him.

"It's difficult to teach..." the Jedi muttered as he passed by his student and left the room, leaving Ezra standing there both guilty and disheartened. Significantly subdued, Ezra followed the Jedi down the hall and toward one of the cargo bays the crew had converted into a recreational space where they could comfortably pass time with each other during their off time. Hera and Sabine were sitting on the couch around a table where Chopper was projecting a holotransmission, and as soon as she saw them, Hera grabbed Kanan's arm and pulled him to the couch.

"Chopper, start the broadcast over," the Twi'lek said quickly, voice more tense than Kanan had ever heard, and the broadcast was rewound, swiftly moving to the moment that Hera indicated. "Another broadcast from Senator Trayvis. You'll never guess what's happening," she said, nervous and excited all at once. Chopper began the playback, and the group kept a close eye on the hologram.

"After nearly fifteen years of running," the voice said, "Imperial forces have captured the Jedi Master Luminara Unduli. She awaits her judgement in the Spire on Stygeon Prime. The people of the galaxy demand the release of this exalted hero of the Clone Wars. Forces-"

Kanan didn't hear anything past that, his eyes focusing on the image of the captured Jedi, a woman that he had seen more than once around the Jedi Temple, had heard her speak in the Council during the war, and his heart ached. He could use her wisdom now. They _had_ to save her.

"Hey..." Ezra said softly. "I've seen her, that's the girl from your cube!" Kanan absently nodded. "She a friend of yours?"

"No...but I know her. There wasn't a Jedi alive that didn't respect the wisdom of Master Luminara..." He patted Chopper on his flay head, and the droid stopped playing the recording. "She was brave. Compassionate. _Disciplined_. Powerful and patient, all the things a Jedi Master should be." Kanan stroked the hair on his chin and looked at the teenager next to him. "She'd be a perfect teacher for you."

"M-me?" Ezra asked, fighting to hold back shock and hurt. He felt like Kanan was trying to get rid of him.

"Yes, you," Kanan said softly. "I'm unqualified to take on a student." Ezra's face fell. "Look, you _do_ need to be trained, Ezra, but I was just a student myself when the Jedi were killed. I thought I could do it but..." He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "You deserve better than what I can give you." Kanan breathed a sigh of relief. This was _exactly_ what Ezra needed. Training by a real Jedi Master. "Hera, this is too important to pass up," he said to the pilot, and a clever smirk came to the woman's face.

"I was hoping you'd say that," she drawled, patting his cheek as she turned toward the cockpit. "I'll set a corse for the Stygeon system, the rest of you, get ready for a mission."

"Great..." Sabine said, laying back on the couch and putting her feet on the table as she thrust her helmet on her head. "Breaking into an impregnable prison. That is _exactly_ what I wanted to do with my day." And she meant it.

* * *

He could _feel_ her. The unique, powerful presence of a Jedi Master, something he thought he'd never feel again. It was a beautiful thing, bright and radiant in the Force, like a beacon to all those that would only open themselves to it. Breaking into the Spire had been...remarkably easy. So easy, in fact, that Kanan was certain it was a trap. They all knew it was a trap, and prepared accordingly, putting Zeb and Sabine on securing their escape, Hera on keeping the _Ghost_ ready and waiting for a quick exit, and Kanan and Ezra on the rescue team. Even knowing it was a trap, the attempt was worth it. Luminara would be a valuable asset, and if she could train Ezra to be a real Jedi...hell, _Kanan_ wanted training. He was far from being even close to a Jedi Knight, and he wanted to complete his training, especially now when real Jedi could be a great help in the fight against the Empire.

"Do you sense her?" Ezra asked softly, scooting closer to Kanan while Sabine broke into one of the prison's information terminals. Kanan nodded.

"I do, she's here, but it's..." He rubbed his temple, looking down the hallways for any sign of patrolling stormtroopers, but there was nothing. "Her presence is clouded. We need to get her out of here."

"Kanan, her cell is _definitely_ on this floor," Sabine said quickly, pointing at the screen, and the Jedi strode over to carefully study it. "Zeb and I will keep the elevators clear. Our entry is going to he heavily guarded when we return, so I'm thinking the main hangar is going to be our best chance at escape."

"You think?" Sabine nodded.

"Without a doubt. And if I'm wrong, we'll think of something else." She punched his shoulder, and Kanan hissed, rubbing at the spot she hit. She was far stronger than she looked. "We'll have another Jedi on the team once you get her out of there so, you know...no problem."

Kanan chuckled softly. "Right. Keep in touch." The Mandalorian saluted as Kanan and Ezra ran down the hallway, peered around the corner to make certain it was clear, and ran off. There were several patrols along the way, but Kanan quickly dispatched them, using the Force to tear their weapons away and throw them against walls, swiftly knocking them unconscious. Ezra stared in awe at the Jedi. He had never seen anyone do such things, and for Kanan, who usually didn't use the Force at all, it was a stunning display of power.

"Wow, you're really not messing around, are you..."

"There's more at stake than you realize..." the Jedi mumbled.

"When am I going to learn how to do all of this?" Ezra asked, his step quick to keep up with the much taller man as they quickly made their way toward their target at the end of the hall, the stormtroopers on guard quickly dispatched with a wave of Kanan's hand that sent them crashing hard on the ceiling and then slammed down upon the ground in an unconscious heap.

"Luminara will teach you," Kanan said softly, his hand extended toward the lock and using the Force to disengage it, and the door slid open with a smooth, even hiss. "Much better than I could." Ezra sighed, defeated, and looked down at the ground as he followed the Jedi into the cell.

She hung suspended upon the wall by her wrists in the dimly lit cell, and Kanan tensed as soon as he entered, swiftly putting his arm out to keep Ezra from moving forward. "It's her..." he whispered, his hand slightly shaking. "That's her, that's Luminara, but...something's wrong..."

"Kanan..." Ezra whispered, drawing closer to the Jedi and keeping behind him as he slowly inched forward. "I feel...cold."

"...yeah, me too." He looked up at the suspended woman, squinting at her face through the dark, the poor, red lighting casting everything in a twisted, sinister light. "Master?" There was no answer, no stirring, no nothing. Kanan crept closer, reaching out to grasp at her presence, and suddenly recoiled with a gasp of horror. He felt her in the Force, yes, but it had been hazy, and now that he was close, the proximity allowed him to cut through the veil to find her...lifeless. One look at her face confirmed it. She was dead, and from the look of it, had been for some time.

"Kanan..." Ezra said, his voice high with panic as he gripped the Jedi's are, the pair slowly backing away. "What happened! I don't understand, you sensed her!"

"I don't know, Ezra, but we need to leave _now_."

"Oh, I don't think that will be happening," a calm, smooth voice said behind them, and Kanan and Ezra quickly turned and found themselves staring at a tall, pale man dressed in gray and black blocking their exit, his hands folded behind his back and staring at them with eyes that shone yellow and red. Kanan couldn't look away. Those were _Sith eyes_ , the first he had ever seen in person. He didn't know if this creature _was_ Sith or not, but he could feel the Dark Side flowing off of him in waves, cold and violent and cruel, his eye merely the visible sign of the corruption within him.

"This _is_ an unexpected surprise..." the creature continued, slowly making his way down the stairs into the cell, and Kanan placed himself between him and Ezra, slowly backing up as he took the two pieces of his lightsaber into his hands. "It seems our trap has drawn in more than just our intended prey," he said softly, chuckling softly like this was all _terribly_ amusing. With a flourish, he extended his arm, a half circle shaped device clutched in his hand, and with a hiss, a red blade extended from the guarded hilt. "I am the Inquisitor," he said proudly. "Welcome, rebels."

Kanan ignited his lightsaber, holding it out in front of him, his jaw clenched tightly in focus, a difficult take with the buzzing, distracting presence of the diseased Luminara behind him. "You did this!" Kanan growled, pointing behind him at the Jedi Master. The Inquisitor simply chuckled in response, his sharp eyes darting over his prey.

"Yes..." he said softly. "And with her fall will come the death of others. A fitting end for a Jedi Master, wouldn't you say?" He grinned wickedly when Kanan bristled, showing a row of sharp, pointed teeth. "I would usually draw this out a bit longer, but I need you dead before my target arrives. I suspect Agent Kallus will be disappointed that I killed you, he was _so_ looking forward to doing it himself." He grinned wickedly as he advanced. "Don't worry. This will only take a moment."

Before Kanan could say anything, the creature lunged at him, the red blade speeding toward his chest with alarming speed, and Kanan only just barely managed to block it. His opponent pressed forward, swiftly stabbing and effortlessly blocking every strike Kanan threw, and with very little room to maneuver, he found himself slipping into his Master's preferred Soresu, a form she always used in close quarters. It was like the Inquisitor was expecting him to do exactly that, and he responded in turn by increasing his speed and testing the strength of Kanan's defenses. The Inquisitor was...good. _Very_ good, and it became clear to Kanan that he was outmatched. This wasn't a fight he was going to win, and all he could hope for was getting Ezra to safety and escaping with his life, a thing that was proving to be very difficult as the Inquisitor made certain that he was always blocking their escape.

Once, Kanan had been very good with a lightsaber, but now, he was fifteen years out of practice. Walking through the forms was no substitute for actually practicing against an opponent, and it was clear the Kanan that the Inquisitor was not only well practiced, but trained by someone that was _excellent_. Over in the corner, Ezra grabbed his comlink to call the rest of the crew, but only got static. Communications were jammed. The Inquisitor grinned as he pressed Kanan back toward Ezra's corner.

"There will be no reenforcements..." he drawled, immensely satisfied as he watched his offensive slowly wear away at Kanan's defense, his eyes darting over Kanan as he stood his ground to protect his student. "Interesting..." the Inquisitor said softly. "It seems you have trained with Jedi Master Depa Billaba."

"W-what?!" Kanan's eyes widened in shock, his blade wavering for just a moment and allowing the Inquisitor's red weapon to slip inside his guard. He managed to twist out of the way at the last moment and resumed his defense. "Who _are_ you?"

He grinned, his blade flashing before him, testing Kanan's movements with a simple, easy grace. "The Temple records are quite complete," he softly explained. "In close quarters, Master Billaba put a strong emphasis on Form Three, which made her stand out among her peers, and you favor the style to a _ridiculous_ degree..." He jumped over Kanan when the Jedi stabbed at him, flipping before he landed and kicking Kanan in the back with enough force to send him flying into the wall. Ezra ducked under the Inquisitor's blade when he swung at him to rush to Kanan's side, the Jedi out of breath upon the ground.

"Clearly," the Inquisitor said softly as he drew near, "you were a _poor student_." He rose his blade, angled the tip at Kanan as the Jedi called his lightsaber back to his hand, knowing it would be too late, but determined to give it a try anyway. He was going to die. He knew it the moment he saw that Luminara was dead. If she, one of the great Masters of the Council, couldn't survive, then what hope did he have?

But the end never came.

Instead, the Inquisitor went flying through the air, striking the opposite wall with such force that Kanan could feel the impact in the floor, the pale man falling unceremoniously to the ground, his lightsaber tumbling uselessly out of his hand. Kanan looked in shock at Ezra, thinking that somehow, the boy had done it, but he looked just as confused as Kanan did. Slowly, his eyes drifted to the door to see a man in robes of the darkest black, his hood pulled over his head, the shadows concealing his face, and as he crossed the cell, Kanan could see a flash of gold from his eyes.

 _Oh no_...

Fear gripped Kanan so intensely that he couldn't move, could hardly even breathe as he watched the man stride with purpose to the Jedi Master on the wall, ignoring everyone else in the room, focused on his task at the exclusion of all else, though he had a sinking feeling that it was more than that. He took no notice because _nobody_ here was a threat.

"Luminara," the man said, soft and gentle and kind, his tone affected with a crisp, aristocratic Coruscanti accent, and in the next moment, Kanan saw the man tense, heard the sharp intake of breath. "Oh, _no_ ," he gasped softly. "No, no, no, no, no..." The man reached up, ran his hand over the Master's face, and Kanan shivered when he felt pain rush through the Force. It was intense, persistent and consuming, and Kanan felt like he was drowning, and he quickly reached out and grabbed Ezra, the boy shaking so hard his teeth were chattering. He ignited his lightsaber, the tip shaking in his unsteady hand, his eyes never leaving the hooded man, the cause of the violent disturbance in the Force.

Slowly, the man drew something out from under his cloak, and a red lightsaber thrummed to life, a smooth flick of his wrist sending the blade across the restraints that held the Jedi's body up, and he caught her with the Force and carefully lowered her to the floor. Kanan didn't understand. This creature was a dark Force user, perhaps Sith, and he was... _upset_ at the death of a Jedi? It didn't make sense, but Kanan felt his chest tighten as he watched, moved by the tenderness the man handled her with. He only took his eyes away when Ezra tugged on his arm, his shaking hand pointing toward the door where two more people stood, dressed in the same uniform as the Inquisitor.

"There's _more_ of them?" Ezra whispered, and Kanan slowly nodded, crouching down and eyes darting between the two newcomers, the Inquisitor, the hooded man as he cradled Luminara's body.

"Seems like it..." He scooted closer to Ezra. "Keep quiet and stay low, I think their target just arrived, if we're lucky, they'll be too distracted to notice us leaving."

"We're going to run?" Ezra hissed, and Kanan simply nodded. "Shouldn't we help him?"

"Red blade, beware," Kanan whispered. "This isn't the sort we want to help and...I don't suspect he needs it."

"Darth Lumis..." the Inquisitor said as he rose to his feet and _very_ swiftly backed up toward the door, his lightsaber ignited and pointed at the man, and Kanan felt a chill grip his stomach, his eyes darting back to look at the hooded man. Darth Lumis...that made him a Sith Lord, and he was _very_ familiar with that name. Somehow, _somehow_ , that was Obi-Wan Kenobi. But...it didn't make any sense. He should have been dead, and the pain in the Force when he saw Luminara...that was _grief_ , not anger. It was gone now, replaced by...Kanan blinked, shook his head and looked again. He couldn't sense him. He couldn't feel him _at all._

The Inquisitor rushed out of the cell, the other two quickly tapping the consoles outside the doors, and a red wall of energy covered the opening, the humming of the plasma filling the cell, and panic gripped Kanan for just a moment before a loud, irritating buzz erupted in the back of his mind, filling the void that now existed in him where the Force should have been. His eyes widened in understanding, and he looked at the grinning Inquisitors. This cell was a _containment room_. They couldn't use the Force. Not any of them.

"You aren't so mighty without your prodigious strength, are you, Sith Lord?" the Inquisitor gloated. Lumis said nothing. He didn't even move, save to caress the cheek of the dead Jedi Master he held.

"What are we going to do?" Ezra whispered to Kanan, the Jedi keeping his eyes fixed on the man they shared a cell with. "I'm really feeling...weird, I don't know what's going on..."

"They're blocking our ability to feel the Force," he whispered, and he inhaled sharply when Lumis removed his cloak and draped it over Luminara, and the man was... _young_. _Very_ young, younger than Kanan, if only by a little, the previous glow of his eyes gone, the gold faded to a dull, drab yellow. This... _couldn't_ be Obi-Wan...even if his death was faked, this man had to be half the age of the infamous Sith Lord. But...he looked _just like him_. When Ezra looked away from the Inquisitors and back at Kanan, his eyes widened in recognition and he pointed at the man.

"Kanan, that's him!" the boy almost shouted. "That's him, that's the guy that came to my house!" Ezra looked at Kanan and found him paler than he'd ever seen, the lightsaber in his hand shaking violently, his eyes locked on Lumis, and he said nothing at all.

"Since the entire Inquisitorius is made up of cowards, who's idea was it to kill my friend?" Lumis asked, his voice calm, smooth and _dripping_ with hatred.

"Don't answer him," the Grand Inquisitor quickly said. "Don't even _speak_ to him. They didn't call him the Negotiator for nothing."

"It wasn't dear, sweet Vader," he continued, as if the Inquisitor hadn't spoken at all. "He knows from personal experience what happens when the people close to me get _murdered_."

"Lord Vader isn't afraid of you!" one of the others said, and the Grand Inquisitor shot him a withering glare.

"Don't speak to him, First Brother, that is an _order_ ," he hissed, and a cruel smile came to Lumis' lips.

"Ah, _First Brother_..." the Sith Lord said quietly, his muted, dull eyes looking over the man in question. "You brought your top agent just for me, Inquisitor?" he said sweetly, laying a hand on his chest. "I'm touched. Really." His eyes darted to the other. "That would make _you_ the Second Sister, yes?" She didn't answer or respond in any way, which confirmed it for Lumis, and the Sith Lord smiled warmly, a thing that sent a shiver down Kanan's spine. "Oh, _now_ you're just being rude! You invite me to your home, but you don't introduce yourselves or give me the tour."

"Keep watch on him while I inform high command about our capture," the Grand Inquisitor whispered to his companions, but Lumis' sharp ears picked up on it, and he gasped, looked in shock at the trio.

"You're _leaving_?" he said, feigned surprise in his voice. "But I came here _just_ for you." He shrugged when the Inquisitor simply scoffed and turned away. "That's alright. I'll see myself out."

It happened fast, almost too fast for Kanan to see, but in the span of a second, the Sith Lord pulled two lightsabers off his belt, and no sooner had they touched his hand did they go flying through the air, spinning rapidly as red and blue plasma extended from the twin hilts, the blades slicing deep into the walls on opposite sides of the energy field. The walls sparked and hissed as metal melted and wires were severed, and a moment later, Kanan felt a rush of air fill his lungs as the Force returned to him, and he saw the energy field blink out of existence. Suddenly keenly aware of the danger they were in, Kanan looked back at the Sith Lord just in time to see dull yellow catch fire and blaze with glowing gold.

Lumis reached out with both his hands, and before they could move, the First Brother and the Second Sister were grabbed by the Force and were violently pulled inside the cell to the Sith's waiting hands, his fingers wrapping around their throats alongside the strangling claws of the Dark Side. They could hear the sound of the Grand Inquisitor's voice in the halls, shouting for immediate reenforcements and a lockdown of the entire facility. Ezra groaned as he heard the blast doors in the hallway slamming shut. They were _stuck_ , but then, they knew escape was going to be difficult.

Eyes blazing with hatred, Darth Lumis looked between the two beings he held, observed them carefully, and unceremoniously crushed the Second Sister's throat beneath his hand, a sickening crunch filling the air as her trachea snapped, and he tossed the body to the side as he slammed the First Brother on the ground.

"Who's watching me?!" he snarled, his previous calm gone and replaced with savage fury, his fingers digging into the man's neck and keeping him from answering. The First Brother extended his hand, tried to call his fallen sister's lightsaber to him, and lightning surged through his body, making him writhe and convulse with pain and Ezra watched with fascination until Kanan took his arm and dragged him out of the cell, sprinting toward the blast door that blocked them in. Without wasting a moment, Kanan thrust his saber through the thick steel and began cuttting through it, his teeth grit with effort as he pressed harder and willed the hear-resistant door to cut faster. It wouldn't.

"Communications are still jammed," Ezra said quickly, thrusting the comlink back in his pocket. "Can't thing cut any faster?!" Kanan didn't respond, only ground his teeth harder. "...what _was_ that guy?! At my house, he said he knew you!"

"I don't know how, but that doesn't sit well _at all_ ," Kanan said just as he finished cutting through the door, using the Force to push the piece through, and he groaned loudly when another pair of blast doors stood not twenty meters away. He rushed through and thrust his lightsaber through the next one.

"But you know him?" Ezra asked, and Kanan nodded.

"Yeah...that's Darth Lumis, a Lord of the Sith."

"...what's a Sith?"

"Someone who uses the Dark Side," Kanan said through grit teeth. "Someone who uses the Force for evil, to destroy instead of protect."

"Such a _simplistic_ view of things..." came the soft, smooth, sad voice from behind them, and the two of them quickly turned to look upon Darth Lumis, the Sith Lord carrying the covered body of Luminara in his arms. Kanan turned his blade on Lumis, and the golden eyes narrowed. "Careful, Jedi..." he calmly warned. "You can't fight against me _and_ the Empire at the same time." Kanan glared at him, but said nothing, keeping his lightsaber trained on the Sith Lord, but he couldn't keep his eyes off the body of the Jedi Master he carried in his arms. Something...wasn't right. This wasn't how the Sith were supposed to be. This man _destroyed_ his Master! He was evil, he couldn't be trusted. And yet...

" _What do I do if orders never come_?" Caleb Dume asked his Master once, so very, very long ago.

" _Who knows?_ " Depa Billaba had said. " _Maybe the answer will come to you in a different form_."

Her words rang through Kanan's mind as he looked at the melancholy Sith, the burning flames of his rage dampened by grief, and he couldn't help but think that maybe there was something more to this corrupted creature. If he was Obi-Wan Kenobi, then the man had been a Jedi once. The very best of them. A _hero_ , someone to look up to in his valiant fight against the Sith. And here he was. A Sith Lord. Standing... _against_ the Empire.

...Hera would never let him hear the end of this.

He lowered his lightsaber. "We have a ship," Kanan said quickly. "If we can-"

" _I_ have a ship..." the Sith Lord drawled, closing his eyes and muttering under his breath, and a moment later, the blast doors creaked and groaned as they bent, pried apart and folded against the walls. Ezra looked at him dumbstruck.

"That's _way_ faster than a lightsaber!" the boy said in awe, keeping close to Kanan, but his attention was on the Sith. "Can you do that, Kanan?"

"Not with my limited training..." he mumbled. "Hey!" he called to Lumis. "If you have a ship _and_ you can open the doors, why the hell are you bringing us along?"

"I don't know..." was the smooth, disinterested reply. "Maybe I'm just having a bad day and want some company." Another blast door parted as he drew near. "But were I you, Jedi, I'd shut up so the _Sith Lord_ doesn't stop to think about it." It was a good point. Kanan snapped his mouth shut.

Alarms were blaring through the halls, but to Kanan, it felt like they were walking in complete silence. He didn't like this at all, and every time he tried to get a feel for their new, terrifying companion, he got nothing at all. Not mental defenses that kept him out, he got _nothing_. His presence in the Force was completely concealed. No wonder the Jedi couldn't fight him, he was impossible to detect. _If_ this was Obi-Wan. He was still debating that one. But for now, he was just glad that he wasn't on the receiving end of powers that made thick durasteel bend as if it were sheet metal and made an Inquisitor run. That was another thing. _Inquisitors_? He hadn't heard of them before, but the one he fought was...far more than he could have handled. It was fortunate this Sith Lord showed up when he did.

Saved by a Lord of the Sith...what was this galaxy coming to?

When Lumis tore off the doors leading to the main hangar bay, they found it a smouldering ruin, TIE Fighters burning in heaps of scrapped metal, walls blasted through, and the bodies of stormtroopers littering the ground in pieces. Before them, clean and pristine like it was brand new, was a single ship, an elegant black ship accented with red, its forward cannons humming with energy as they readied to shoot again. Just in front of the boarding ramp sat a _huge_ , white rancor with long, sweeping horns on its head and the bodies of half a dozen stormtroopers in its mighty clawed hand, its jaw working furiously as it chewed, its teeth dripping with blood.

When the beast saw the trio, it three the handful of Imperials into the air and rushed forward, and Kana drew his lightsaber, knowing full well that the tough skin of the rancor easily resisted plasma. But the Sith Lord simply continued to calmly walk forward, and when it was close, the rancor skidded to a stop, its claws scraping the ground and sending up a shower of sparks, it long tongue lolling out its mouth as it lowered its head to the ground. Lumis touched the beast on the nose, and for a moment, the large, dark eyes swirled with reds and yellows, the colors fading away when the Sith removed his hand. The creature sat back on its haunches and wailed mournfully, and Kanan thought his heart would break, the natural Jedi empathy making him immediately identify with the stricken beast.

"He won't hurt you..." Lumis said, his voice echoing over the sounds of the fires, and Kanan's attention returned to the present. He and Ezra jogged after the Sith Lord toward the waiting ship, the rancor slowly dragging itself behind them.

"Your Inquisitor left in a hurry!" a man called from the top of the boarding ramp as they drew near. As they got closer, Kanan could see the Mandalorian armor he wore, the red and black of the Death Watch, and the Jedi knew that this was the same man he and Hera had met on Gorse a few years back. Cody. _A clone_. He stopped in his tracks, unable to move as horrors from the night the Jedi died filled his mind. "I would have gone after him, but the ship he left in was big, and you told me to be safe."

Lumis offered him a weak smile as he walked up the ramp, clutching the small, thin, tightly wrapped body closer to him, and the clone froze. "Good work, Cody," he said softly, and the Mandalorian shook his head.

"Oh no..." he gasped, putting a hand on the man's shoulder. "Brother, I-"

"Take her..." the Sith said, pushing the body against the clone's chest, and the man quickly grabbed hold of her. "I need to slaughter everyone in this kriffing fortress..."

" _Everyone_?!" Ezra cried, quickly running forward despite Kanan's cries to stop. "Our friends are inside, you can't just-"

Golden eyes blazed with rage, piercing and intense, and Ezra found him lifted from the ground by the Force and pulled to float at Lumis' eye level. "You _dare_ tell me what I can and cannot do?!" the man snarled, jagged blue lines of electricity dancing around his clenched fists, and before he knew what he was doing, Kanan rushed forward and charged at the Sith Lord, his blue saber raised to strike. His mind suddenly filled with pain, the angry roar of the rancor filled his ears, his vision narrowing until all he could see were two points of burning, golden fire, and then Kanan Jarrus saw nothing.


	4. Umbra

_Chapter 4: Umbra_

Kanan awoke to a throbbing headache and the bitter cold, his face pressed against fine, polished black metal, and he slowly opened his eyes and instantly regretted it. _Everything_ hurt, not just his head. It was easily worse than any of the numerous occasions he had woken up on the floor of a cantina after a night of drunken brawls and _far_ too much alcohol. His ear pressed to the ground, he could feel the soft vibrations, could hear the smooth hum of sophisticated engines under the sound of a low, sad howling, and when he realized where he was, he sat bolt upright, his eyes wide and his entire body objecting to the sudden movement. He was suddenly knocked back when warm arms wrapped tightly around him, the body on top of him breathing fast and irregular with intense emotion.

"I thought you were dead..." Ezra mumbled into Kanan's chest, and with a groan, the Jedi pushed himself up, his student swiftly detaching himself to help the man stand. "You _looked_ dead, Kanan, when I woke up and saw you, I just..." He turned away from the Jedi, sniffling and wiping his arm across his eyes. When he turned back, he was smiling brightly, but the streaks on his face made it abundantly clear that he had been crying. "I'm glad you're alright."

"Did they hurt you?" Kanan asked softly, grabbing Ezra's wrists and making certain that everything moved right as he checked for injuries. There gratefully wasn't anything, or nothing he could see, in any case.

"I'm fine, stop it..." the boy said after a moment, wresting his hands back and smiling. Looking over his shoulder, he leaned in closer to the Jedi. "We're out of communications range, but I activated the tracker on our comlink," Ezra whispered. "Hera will find us."

"She always does..." Kanan muttered. "How long was I out?"

"Not long," Ezra said as he shrugged. "Or...I don't _think_ it was long. I only recently woke up myself, but it doesn't _feel_ like it's been long." He tugged on Kanan's arm as the Jedi wearily looked around and observed his surroundings with slack-jawed wonder. He had become accustomed to the _Ghost_ , Hera's beauty of a ship, a heavily modified freighter that, despite its bulky appearance, was a fast, powerful machine that would make any of the smugglers he had known kill just to have a chance to fly it. But _this_ ship...this was a yacht, a thing of sleek elegance designed for luxury, and from the smooth, nearly silent purr of the engines, it was clear the inner workings were no joke either.

He _badly_ wanted to see Hera flying a ship like this.

"That guy, the Mandalorian..." Ezra said as he pulled Kanan toward a table in the room. "He's...kind of an old guy. He stopped by earlier with food, he said we needed to eat after what happened."

"Is it poisoned..." Kanan said flatly, looking at the food on the table with suspicion. This was a clone, after all, and clones weren't to be trusted. Especially since this clone was likely part of the Shadow Legion, the first traitors to the Republic. His resolve didn't last too long, though. It looked and smelled _amazing_.

"Uh, no, why would it be?" Ezra asked, looking the Jedi over with confusion. "If they were going to kill us, they would have. It's not like that didn't have the chance to _many_ times."

"Sorry..." Kanan softly muttered. "You're right, I know, I know...have you seen the other guy? The Sith Lord?"

Ezra shook his head. "Not since we've been in the ship, no." He took a deep breath, his heart beating fast in his chest at the memory of that the man had been able to do, how quickly his temperament went from calm to murderous, the violence with which he used the Force, a chasm of difference from Kanan's own gentle, subtle use. "He's dangerous, Kanan, and he doesn't even think twice about killing people. We need to get out of here, but if there are escape pods on this ship, I couldn't find them. I didn't look very far, though. I'm..." He bit his bottom lip. "I'm afraid. If he finds us snooping...Kanan, he almost _killed us_ for nothing at all." He gasped suddenly, eyes flying wide open. "Do you think he actually killed everyone in the Spire? Zeb and Sabine were in there, what if they didn't get out?" He grabbed Kanan's arms in a hard grip, panic quickly taking hold of him. "What if they're _dead_?!"

"Calm down, Ezra," Kanan said softly, the panic of the boy somehow calming him. "There's more going on here than we know, and worrying about them isn't going to help us _now_." He took a deep breath as he silently resolved himself to a corse of action. "Not when are answers are on this ship..."

"W-what are we going to do?" Ezra asked softly, and Kanan sighed as he shoveled one of the cut cubes of soft, pink meat on the plate into his mouth. His eyes involuntarily fluttered in satisfaction. It _was_ good, probably the best food he'd had in...well, ever.

"You said the tracking signal is on, right?" Ezra nodded. "Then all we can do is wait for Hera to come get us." He quickly shoveled more food into his mouth, chewing it slowly and savoring each second. "We need to find the Sith Lord. He's going to have the answers we're looking for."

"Uh..." Ezra looked at the Jedi with confusion as the man quickly cleared the plate. "Are you crazy? Maybe he didn't kill us, but he _could_. This guy's dangerous, Kanan, you said so yourself!"

"There's something going on that we don't understand," Kanan said softly. "Things aren't adding up, nothing makes sense,and a good deal of what I knew before has suddenly been called into question." He rubbed at the back of his neck, his face drawn in concentration. "Or maybe I never knew anything. Maybe the Jedi didn't know anything. If they did, they wouldn't all be dead now."

"So, what, we're just going to walk up and introduce ourselves?" Ezra asked, shaking his head in disbelief.

"No, we don't have to. He already knows us."

"Ugh, this is _nuts_! Did you forget that he has a rancor that _eats people_?" He stubbornly crossed his arms and stared at the thoughtful Jedi. "I say we hide. We pick a spot and keep our heads down until Hera gets here."

"Then what?" Kanan scoffed. "Wait for her to try and dock with a ship that _might not_ want to be boarded? Sounds like a good way to make someone violent, and you saw what he does in the face of hostility. And we can't hide anyway, he can sense us." He groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. "If he's who I think he is, they called him the Negotiator. Maybe he'll want to talk."

"And if he _doesn't?_ "

Kanan shrugged. "At least our last meal was excellent." Ezra groaned loudly and followed Kanan as he walked to a door on the other side of the room, took a deep breath, and touched the controls, the door sliding open so effortless he could almost not hear it. At least they weren't locked up. They may have been prisoners, but at least they had a certain degree of freedom.

Like the room they had been in, the room they now entered was elegant and luxurious, a large space with a dining area and a fully furnished kitchen, where a man stood with his hands in the sink. Kanan tensed immediately and steeled himself as he walked forward. In his armor, it hadn't been so bad, but now it was plain to see that the man that stood there was a clone, his face like so many, identical to the clones he had served with in the war, the same clones that killed the Jedi when they were commanded without a single thought or objection. This one though looked... _different_ , his black hair peppered with gray, his face drawn and worried as he diligently scrubbed at dishes.

He looked up at the pair as they approached, a large knife held tightly in his hand, and Kanan froze, his hand drifting to his blaster and felt that the holster was empty. His lightsaber wasn't on him either, _naturally_. The clone quickly relaxed though, dropping the knife into the sink and carefully washing it. "You're a long way from Gorse, Kanan," the clone said, a soft smirk on his face.

"I thought it was you," Kanan said, his voice tight with tension. "Never heard of a clone betraying the Empire, though, since you all are _so good_ at following orders." If the clone was insulted, he didn't show it, but Ezra was offended enough for the both of them.

"Kanan, what are you doing?" the boy hissed, and Cody simply scoffed as he dried his recently cleaned skillet.

"It's fine, kid. My brothers betrayed him. I'd be sore too." He shrugged, tossing his towel on to the counter and walking around to meet them. "But I wasn't a part of that. I betrayed the Republic _much_ earlier when Lord Kenobi showed me I was a _slave_."

"The Shadow Legion..." Kanan mumbled under his breath, and with a smile, the clone saluted.

"Commander Cody, at your service. Though..." He sighed as he stretched out his shoulders and started to slowly walk toward another door. "But you aren't going to want to talk to me. You're here for Obi-Wan."

"It's really him?" Kanan asked quietly, moving quickly to walk beside the clone, Ezra following close behind. "The _actual_ Obi-Wan Kenobi?"

"The one and only," Cody said softly, placing his hand on the button and the doors slid open, not into another room, but to an elevator, and the clone held the door open as the other two walked in. Kanan finally managed to formulate a response, but was quickly cut off when Cody raised his hand for silence. "I know you have questions, but I can't answer any of them. He'll tell you what you need to know, just..." The door hissed open and Cody blocked their exit with his arm, the worry and concern back on his face. "...don't judge him too harshly, alright?" He pointed to the door at the end of the short hall. "And tell him I saved food for him if he ever decides to eat again."

"...I will," Kanan said, turning toward the door, but he stopped and quickly reeled around. "Wait, _you_ made that?!" he asked, but the doors were already closed, and Cody was gone.

"Kanan, does all of this seem really weird to you?" Ezra asked, looking at the Jedi's hand hovering over the button, but not touching it, as if he were battling with himself on if they should go through with this.

"Yeah, it's all really weird." He sighed and dropped his hand, the tension returning to his shoulders. "This guy used to be a Jedi, Ezra," he said, keeping his voice low in the event that Kenobi could hear them from beyond the door. Even now, he could feel the darkness coming from within the room, a cold, swirling mist of rage and hate and grief. "He may be Sith now, but he knows more about the Jedi way than I do." He laughed bitterly. "Sorry, kid. With Luminara dead, I guess you're stuck with me. Even if he is a better teacher, I can't hand you over to the Dark Side."

"I don't _want_ another teacher, Kanan!" Ezra cried, raising his voice and letting all his previous frustrations out. "I don't want the best, I want _you_." Kanan stared at him in silence for a moment and slowly began shaking his head.

"I-I can barely teach you..." he said, but Ezra just crossed his arms over his chest and smirked.

"I'm a pretty lousy student," he drawled. "I'll...try harder, Master." Kanan took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he swallowed the sudden lump in his throat. The close proximity to such overwhelming emotions must have been effecting him.

"Y-yeah," he whispered, a faint smile on his lips. "Me too." He took a deep breath. "Let me do the talking in there." Ezra nodded and sighed in relief, grateful that there was someone to take charge in this dangerous situation, and with the air now clear between them, he felt closer to the Jedi than ever before.

With that, he pressed the button, and the doors hissed open. The room was a large one, a cargo hold that had been converted into a training arena of sorts, if the presence of shot up targets and small, spherical remote droids was any indication. It the corner was the large, white mass of the rancor, the beast laying despondently on its side and periodically emitting a long, low, mournful whine. If it had noticed the pair enter, it made no indication of it, the beast clearly unconcerned with the presence of the strangers. But their quarry stood hunched over a makeshift table, and as Kanan and Ezra carefully crept closer, the could see the thin form of Luminara Unduli laid out before the Sith Lord, the man almost lovingly brushing back her black hair.

"We were younglings together," Kenobi said as the two approached, not moving or looking away from the woman on the table, and Kanan and Ezra slowly came to stand opposite the Sith. "We were in the same group, me and her and Quinlan Vos." He laughed bitterly and shook his head, and it was only now that Kanan heard how raw his voice was, the depth of the loss permeating his entire being. "We were all so different, but it was impossible to separate us, even though we were always arguing." He scoffed. "I _never_ won those debates."

"Never?" Kanan quietly ventured. "I'd think that the man that would come to be the Negotiator would have a natural knack for debate."

"No..." he said softly, stroking the withered face before him. "No, not me. I always preferred quiet contemplation and solitude. The talking..." He waved his hand dismissively. "That came later." He sighed, a slight, sad chuckle in his throat. "But not Quinlan and Luminara. They'd go on for _hours_. They never agreed on a single thing, and I never stood a chance, and not just because they were a few years older than me." The nostalgia faded, leaving the Sith Lord looking positively miserable as his fingers traced the Mirialan's lips. "They were Padawans before me. _Long_ before me. They were picked up young, as young as was allowed, and I...was left behind." His hand trembled, golden eyes never leaving the woman before him. "Just like now. I'm the last one left..."

" _You_ were left behind?" Kanan gasped, but the Sith Lord didn't acknowledge him. "You were the _Sithkiller_. You were a hero! The first Jedi to kill a Sith Lord in a thousand years!"

"I'm _still_ the only one to have killed a Sith Lord..." he mumbled, sighing heavily. "And I was decidedly untalented. Mediocre at best, until I embraced the Dark Side. No, Quinlan and Luminara surpassed me in everything. I was chosen to be a Padawan much later than my peers, but my Master Qui-Gon..." He grit his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut, the air around him shimmering with raw fury. " _No_ , we aren't talking about him, not when he failed as much as I did to save her..." With a soft, pained whimper, he pressed his forehead to the Mirialan's and didn't move.

Kanan didn't understand that either. Any of that. How could the Jedi Masters pass up the man that would become the Sithkiller? Did they not see the raw potential of a living nexus in the Force? Or did they sense the Dark Side within him and pass him up because of it? And there were other Sith killed during the Clone Wars, weren't there? Most notable was Count Dooku, struck dead during the Battle of Coruscant, but information on what happened aborad the _Invisible Hand_ was unclear at best. Kanan had heard that it was the young Jedi hero, Anakin Skywalker, that killed the Sith Lord. Others still said that it was Qui-Gon Jinn, slaying his old, fallen Master as he was struck down. Some claimed it had been Obi-Wan himself, consumed with madness and gripped by Sith greed, but Kanan never believed that. But now the man himself said he was the only one to ever slay a Sith Lord. And Qui-Gon Jinn was _dead_ , so...why was he talking about him like he was alive?

He filed all those questions away. He'd have to ask him later, and Kanan visibly winced when he realized that his mind had naturally assumed he'd be seeing Obi-Wan again, but...well, the Force had some strange ideas of how things should be.

"I don't understand," Kanan said softly after a long silence. "You're a _Sith Lord_. The pain you feel for her loss is obvious, but why should a Sith care this deeply about a Jedi?"

Kenobi finally looked up at Kanan, his eyes blazing with fury. "We were friends," he said simply. "Why else?" Kanan stared at him, expecting more, but Kenobi said nothing, his pained gaze returning to the Jedi he so obviously cared about.

"...and that's all there is to it?"

Obi-Wan sighed and ran a hand over his face. "We were friends for fifty years, boy, and for the last few of those years, we were lovers. An ideological difference does not get in the way of that. I didn't abandon my old friends when I joined the Sith, I abandoned the Jedi as an Order of sloth, stagnation and complacency. I abandoned the corrupt and greedy Republic so that something stronger, lasting and progressive could be established in its place." The irritation in his faded away, stroking Luminara's cheek once more before tearing himself from the table and walking purposefully out of the room. Ezra and Kanan looked at each other for a moment before quickly following him. Kanan was right. There was _lots_ he didn't know.

"She was your _lover_?" Kanan asked, very skeptical and _very_ interested. A sad, faint smile came to Kenobi's lips.

"It that so hard to believe?"

"Uh, _yes_. She was a Jedi Master, one of the greatest, she lived by the Code, she wouldn't-"

"The Jedi Order is gone, Kanan," the Sith said harshly as the elevator slid open, the three men stepping inside. "The weakness of your ideals saw to that. The Jedi abandoned the will of the Force to serve the Republic, and now the Jedi are _dead_." His eyes narrowed as he looked the man over, the Jedi's chest tight and his heart pounding. "You tell me, how quickly did _you_ abandon that particular rule? With the Jedi gone, how easy was it for you to forget that a Jedi shall have no romantic relationships?" He smirked when Kanan blushed furiously, his young student grinning broadly at his discomfort, and Kenobi stepped out of the elevator as soon as the doors slid open, entering the dining area, and Cody quickly stood and rushed to the Sith, concern written on his face.

"I thought you'd never come up," the clone said, clearly relieved. "Are you hungry? I made your favorite. Did you sleep at all, do you want to sleep first? The food's still warm, I can-"

"I'm not hungry," Kenobi said in a voice that left no room for argument, and the clone's face visibly fell. Ezra sheepishly raised his hand.

" _I'm_ hungry," he said, and the clone shot him a vicious glare.

"Bic cuyir nayc par gar, mir'osik," Cody snapped, and Kenobi smiled faintly and walked to the dining table, sat down in the comfortable seat at the head, and folded his hands before him expectantly. He didn't need to say a thing for Kanan and Ezra to know what was being demanded of them, and but neither of them complied. Kenobi rolled his eyes.

"Cody, if you would, get that child something to eat." Cody looked _offended_.

"Brother, I already fed that ravenous child! He eats more than the rancor!" The Sith Lord stared at him, the faintest touch of irritation on his face as the clone challenged him.

" _Really_. Are we low on food? Take him down to the hold, let him go through the crates, let him eat _next_ to Yoda for all I care." Kanan looked at the Sith Lord in slack-jawed disbelief and swiftly shook his head, trying to make sense of a situation that made _no sense_. Kenobi checked his comlink. "We have time, Cody, I don't suspect the _Ghost_ will be here for another two hours at least, we _did_ pull quite a lead, and we're a faster ship."

"Wait, how do you know the _Ghost_ is coming?!" Ezra cried, finally breaking his silence, and Kanan groaned and smacked his forehead when a lazy smirk spread across the Sith Lord's face, his student confirming what Kenobi was guessing at.

"I believe," Obi-Wan drawled, leaning back in his seat, "that about an hour ago, upon failing to establish contact with your crew, you activated the homing beacon on your comlink." He simply shrugged when Ezra looked at him with utter disbelief. "And your crew _always_ will return for each other. You're... _family_." He smiled softly, a light, easy, _sad_ thing, Kanan saw, filled with longing and pain. "The whole lot of you. It's very...Mandalorian. I bet your little Mando'a likes that. Just her and her weird brother, your smelly purple pet cat and your grumpy droid, all watched over by Space Dad over here in Space Mom's house." He grinned when the two looked _completely_ flabbergasted. "It's sweet, really. I'd be touched if I weren't so close to vomiting."

"T-the Spire," Ezra said, swiftly rushing to the Sith Lord, and he held up a hand, holding the boy in place and preventing him from coming closer. Ezra became frantic, thrashing in the invisible grasp. " _Please_! You said you'd kill everyone inside, our friends were in there! Did you do it?! Did you kill everyone?"

He pressed his hands together, his fingers on his lips as sharp golden eyes observed the boy, taking the measure of him, feeling his strength in the Force and his own awareness, and while he _was_ strong, the boy was barely awake. Nothing worthy of note. For now. "I did," he said, his voice a low, sinister whisper, and he held up a hand when Ezra's face fell, his entire being clenched with sudden rage and sadness. "But your friends are alive. I didn't see them inside when I slaughtered the lot of them." A wry smirk tugged at his lips as he released the relieved boy. "These days, it seems, I _only_ kill Imperials. Cody." The clone snapped to attention. "Te verda linibar at jorhaa'ir. Get the kid something to eat."

"...understood," the clone said, taking Ezra by the arm, the boy looking expectantly at Kanan, and when the man nodded, Ezra happily followed, the Sith Lord watching him carefully until he disappeared into the elevator, and for just a moment, Kanan felt as though he were looking at someone else.

"...know a teenager?" Kanan asked quietly, and the gold eyes swiftly darted to him, cold and hard and angry, like he was offended to be disturbed. The feeling faded fast, though, the fierce gaze softening considerably as he looked again to the distance.

"I would have..." the Sith Lord said slowly, carefully, as if he were testing what it would be like to say the words out loud. "If my own son had lived." He smiled softly, _sadly_ at the suddenly stricken Jedi. "He would have been fifteen by now...not much older than your student."

"I'm sorry..." Kanan said softly, sympathy pulled within him, as reluctant as he was to feel it for this man, but he slowly let his anger and resentment go. Obi-Wan Kenobi was proving to be far more human than he was expecting, a great deal different than the soulless monster the Jedi made him out to be.

Obi-Wan gestured to the chair opposite him. "Please, sit." Obi-Wan rolled his eyes when Kanan didn't move, the Jedi reluctant, conflicted, a beautiful mess of old ideals, new information, and the confusion that came from having to question _everything_. "Kanan..." The man simply shook his head, and moving his fingers through the air, the power of the Force in his grasp, Obi-Wan commanded, "You _will_ sit." Kanan's entire body suddenly tensed, and he felt the weight of the Force fall upon him, his legs moving against his will as he slowly moved to the indicated chair and sat, his jaw clenched tightly in his futile resistance.

"I think you will find that we get along better when you do as I tell you," Kenobi drawled, and Kanan shot him a hateful look as he felt the Force lift off of him. Despite the sudden urge, he stayed in his seat.

"What, you can't get along with anyone that doesn't listen to you?" he snapped, and the Sith Lord simply sat back, amused and thoughtful.

"I do confess, I am accustomed to being obeyed." He folded his hands in front of him and leaned in toward the Jedi. "I am through talking about Luminara," Kenobi softly said, a mix of anger and grief and pain dripping from his words, and Kanan couldn't help but shiver. "You already know all I have to say about her. She was my friend, my lover, I helped her escape when I could, and when she needed me most, I couldn't sense her. I failed her, and she is dead with all the rest. The matter will _never_ be put to rest for me, but between us, it is _done_. Understood?"

"No." Golden eyes narrowed in rage, and Kanan could feel the Force suddenly become oppressively cold, and a moment later, he could _sense_ the Sith Lord in the Force, not a disturbance, but a savage tear, simultaneously bright with the flames of destruction and infinitely dark with insurmountable power. He brought his hands up, as if that would somehow protect him. "I mean, she was _important_. Not just to you, but to the Jedi, to the _Republic_. Understanding what happened with her may help me understand your place in this! If she trusted you...I-I have to as well." He felt the intensity of the eyes upon him soften, the murderous intent gone and replaced by curiosity. "There's so much I don't know," Kanan said softly. "I want to learn. I _need_ to learn."

Obi-Wan studied him for a long time, reached out with the Force to touch his mind and felt the Jedi's mental resistance swiftly fly to his defense, the teal eyes focused, his resolve strong, and slowly, Obi-Wan smiled. "As you wish. What do you need to know?"

Kanan breathed a sigh of relief. The man was emotional, yes, and certainly grieving, but he responded to reason. He could work with emotional. "She trusted you," he said, scrambling to think of what to say as the Sith slowly nodded. During the war-"

"I won't talk about the war," Obi-Wan interrupted. "Too much has happened since then, and I am...not the same man." He smiled sardonically. "But I will say this. I aided in the destruction of the Republic and the Jedi Order, and my service to the Sith was pain in betrayal." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "I am, and always will be, Sith. I believe in their ideals, their teachings, their philosophies." He looked at the Jedi. "But I also believe in the Force. I trust its whims, obey its call. It is my friend, my ally, my constant companion, and it is _against_ this Empire. Sidious will pay for what he's done. Those pieces have been set into motion long ago. The Force bites back, Kanan, and Sidious has it coming."

"Luminara knew this?" Kenobi bit his lip and looked away, quietly processing the question through a stab of pain.

"Yes..." he finally said. "Yes, Luminara understood my desire to kill my former Master. Presumably, she remembered that I stood against him after the Empire was established, because when I came to her rescue, she came with me _very_ quickly." He smiled warmly as he looked up to the ceiling, laughing softly to himself. "She was so close to death, she had been on the run for _so long_ , and boy was she angry when she first saw me." He pointed to his shoulder. "The little minx _stabbed me_! The nerve of some people...she quickly remembered I was on her side, though, and we-" He stopped suddenly, his voice catching in his throat when he looked to Luminara within him and found a void, an open gash that freely bled, and Kanan shivered at the intense rush of emotion. That was enough for Kanan. It was clear that he cared for her, clear that she trusted him, because he _wasn't_ lying, the level of pain and sincerity impossible to fake.

"So, you're what, fifty?" Kanan asked, an eyebrow arched at the miserable Sith Lord. "You're uh...looking pretty good there. You know, for an old guy." A small smile tugged on the edge of Kenobi's lips, grateful for the change of subject.

"Sith secret," he said with a sly smile. "You wouldn't like it. Eternal youth isn't the way of the Jedi."

"Mm, didn't you say there were no Jedi anymore?" Kanan drawled, leaning back in his chair and pointing an accusing finger at the Sith Lord. "Not that I don't try, but I'm embarrassingly undertrained. I was just a Padawan when the purge happened." Sudden anger falshed through Kanan, quick and unexpected, but he was gripped with the sudden gravity of this situation. He was sitting here _chatting_ with Obi-Wan Kenobi, Sith Lord and traitor to the Jedi Order. Everything, _everything_ was ruined in part because of him. And the worst thing of all was that Kenobi looked _amused_.

"Oh, _look at this_..." Obi-Wan drawled, leaning in and watching as Kanan struggled to repress his suddenly violent anger. "The Jedi has a spine after all...I was wondering when this would happen, the shock _always_ fades."

" _You_!" Kanan snarled, his hands grasping the edge of the table. "You _destroyed_ my Master!"

"Mm, I've destroyed a lot of Jedi," the Sith Lord said, his casual tone setting Kanan's nerves on edge. "Which one was your Master?"

" _Depa Billaba_!"

" _Depa Billaba_!" Kenobi repeated, genuinely impressed. "Oh, she recovered enough to take a _student_! The resilience of the Jedi _never_ fails to impress..."

"You _ruined her_ , Kenobi!" Kanan snarled. "She said you tore her apart from the inside! She had _scars_ from your lightsaber, and she said they were the _same wounds_ you inflicted on her sister right before you killed her!" Obi-Wan drew back slightly at that, his amusement gone and replaced by a blank expression.

"Yes, Sar Labooda...I only ever met her once," Obi-Wan said thoughtfully. "She was the first Jedi I killed. The first task I completed for my Sith Master." He drummed his fingers against the table as he watched the Jedi struggle with his rising anger. "I had nothing against your Master, of course, beyond her part in the Council's terrible decision making..." He shrugged. "But it was war, and every Jedi in the Order wanted me dead before they even knew I had done anything. You know how it is. It was her or me."

"My... _entire life_ was ruined when the Jedi died!" Kanan growled, his focus narrowing as he felt rage and fear and hatred, all things he had felt when the Purge happened that he had put away because it was too painful. "All of it! I could have been a _Knight_. A Master! But you and the Sith took it all away! I'm a _Padawan_. What chance did I ever have!"

"Such anger, Kanan..." Obi-Wan whispered, leaning in close and breathing deeply of the raging emotions that called upon the Dark Side. Kanan hadn't reached for it, but Kenobi could feel the darkness within himself rearing up in response, ready to come to the call of another, ready to catch another Jedi as they fell swiftly into the abyss. " _Embrace it_. Take it, make it your own..." He smirked when the Jedi's eyes fluttered, his breath coming faster as darkness called to him, that sweet, soothing voice that beaconed the unaware, the unguarded and quietly seduced them. "There aren't any Jedi left to judge you for it, Kanan. No rules but your own. Wonoksh Qyâsik nun, free yourself..."

Obi-Wan watched with rapt attention as Kanan slowly shook his head, trying to clear the thick haze from his mind, swaying in his chair like he had too much to drink. And a moment later, it was gone, his unfocused eyes clearing as he gasped, his hand to his chest as he struggled to calm his heart, only now realizing how narrow the ledge he stood upon was. _This_ was a Jedi. A real one, not some slave that grew to be a mindless slave of the Order. This one had struggled, suffered, had been forced to survive, had abandoned all the trivialities of his broken Code, but held on tightly to the most important things. Perhaps this is why the Force had been showing him visions of Kanan for so many years. Ahsoka to raise a Rebellion, and Kanan to raise new Jedi.

"Was this your plan?" Kanan gasped, eyeing the Sith Lord warily. "To make me embrace the Dark Side? So you can make more Sith? That's _never_ going to happen!"

"I believe you..." Kenobi said softly. "But no, that wasn't my plan, that's not why you're here. And you wouldn't be Sith anyway. Most people can't. It's a rare monster indeed that can rise above and become _Sith_." He shrugged. "And it's not you. To be Sith, one must want the darkness, and I sense you do not."

Kanan slowly nodded, but didn't dare look away. "There's another question. Why am I here? I'm not a friend to you like Luminara, you've no cause to save me or keep me alive, so _why_. You're a Jedi killer, you helped destroy them all, so...I don't understand."

Obi-Wan sat quietly for a moment, stroking his beard as he carefully considered his next move. "I saw you in a vision," he finally said. "Many years ago, and the Force doesn't give me bad information. A lone boy standing among the bodies of a thousand dead Jedi..." He chuckled softly as he leaned back in his seat, amused at Kanan's horrified expression. "At first, I thought it was a warning, showing me my next targets, Jedi I needed to kill for the purge to be complete."

"If you thought that now, you'd have killed me as soon as you saw me," Kanan said, and the Sith Lord nodded.

"You're right. I would have. But as I was betrayed, my understanding of the vision changed. It wasn't about who to kill, it was about who to look for, who would survive to fight again." Kenobi flashed Kanan an easy smile. "Imagine my delight when I discovered it was you, and that you were a _rebel_." He shrugged easily and ran a hand through his hair. "So I started keeping an eye on you and your activities, because when the time's right, we're all going to have to strike back against the Empire, and it takes a special sort to help lead a rebellion."

"Is there something bigger out there?" Kanan asked as he leaned in, lowering his voice to be secretive. "Hera thinks there's a greater rebellion, but we haven't seen or heard anything about something larger. It's just...tips from some shadow operative through a voice only secure channel. Some guy that calls himself Fulcrum."

"Hm, you don't say..." Kenobi said lazily as he yawned, and Kanan couldn't shake the feeling that this guy might know something about this. He didn't know _why_ this was important, but he felt it was.

"Are you the Shadow King?" he asked quickly before he could stop himself, but the Sith Lord just smirked.

"Yes." He flashed the Jedi a wicked grin. "My turn. Why were you in the Spire? That was a trap tailored specifically to me, so _why_."

"We heard Luminara was being held there..." Kanan said, trying to decide exactly what to share, and he settled on hiding nothing. He had seen this Sith Lord at his most raw, grieving over the death of a friend and lover. At the every least, he owed him honesty. "If I could save _any_ Jedi, any at all, I had to try, and this was one of our great Masters. And..." He sighed wearily. "Ezra...I've tried teaching him, but he's stubborn and difficult, he lacks focus, and I...I'm not a teacher. I'm a Padawan, my own training isn't complete."

"...you were looking for a teacher for your student." Kanan nodded, and Kenobi softly scoffed. "You were wasting your time. Luminara only ever had one student, and Barriss fell to the Dark Side. I didn't even have a hand in that one." He tilted his head as he observed the Jedi, the man's eyes downcast, his entire being screaming with self-doubt. It was a lack of confidence that came from a lack of practice and training, a student forced to teach, and it was... _pitiful_.

"Why were you at the Spire..." Kanan muttered, eager to change the subject, but knowing full well what the answer would be. He just couldn't think of anything else. "You must have known it was a trap..."

"You're right, I did." Kanan looked up, suddenly curious, and instead of the sorrow he had expected, Kenobi was _all_ business, his face focused and determined. "I went to save Luminara. I sensed her in the Force, and like always, that meant it was time to go to her. When I found out _where_ she was, I knew it was a trap." He leaned in, those golden eyes on fire, and Kanan followed suit, feeling like what Kenobi had to say was some great secret. "I'm being watched. For _years_ , someone's been watching me, _testing_ me, and as soon as I knew where it was, I knew it was another test, and it was one I _knew_ I would lose, no matter what I did."

"So...if you knew, why did you go?" The sadness crept back into the Sith Lord's eyes.

"...it was Luminara. I couldn't leave her, even if it meant exposing myself." His face hardened once again as he pushed aside his pain, his anger giving him dangerous focus. "But knowing it was a trap before I went gave me a chance to prepare. A trap exposes not just the prey, but the predator as well, and I've found mine." He grinned wickedly. " _Thrawn_."

"...who's that?" Kanan asked, feeling like he should have known, from the way the Sith Lord said it, but Kenobi shrugged.

"No idea, but a name is a hell of a lot more than what I had before. I'll know him soon enough."

"You're getting involved with some dangerous stuff..." Kanan said, then laughed under his breath when the Sith cocked an eyebrow. "Who am I kidding, you've _been_ involved with it. Must be lonely doing it all on your own."

"I'm not on my own, I have Cody and Yoda." A look of confusion passed over Kanan's face. "...the rancor, stupid. Come on, get with it..." Kenobi smirked. "Why? You going to miss me?"

"N-no, I just..." Kanan cleared his throat and drew himself up. "I'm committed to teaching Ezra, but I'm..." He sighed heavily. "I'm just a student. I'm _worse_ than a student, I'm a student who hasn't practiced the Force with a teacher for _fifteen years_."

"You need a teacher..." Obi-Wan said, nodding in understanding. "There's nothing I can teach the boy, Kanan, you-"

"Not for him, for _me_!" The golden eyes widened as he looked at him. Kanan. The last Padawan. He _was_ powerful, to be sure, and he resisted the Dark Side better than some of the Jedi that Obi-Wan had fought during the war.

"You want training in the light, Kanan, but all I know is darkness. It's been a _very_ long time since I was a Jedi."

"Yeah, me too," the man said, a smooth, cocky smile on his face, and deep within him, Obi-Wan could feel the tug of the Force, pointing him toward where he needed to be. The rebellion would be happening soon. He'd need Jedi like Kanan beside him.

Kenobi checked his comlink and frowned. "Your girlfriend still has at least an hour before she's due." He slipped a hand inside his robes, and pulled out the two pieces of Kanan's lightsaber and tossed them to him. "That display against the Inquisitor was _pitiful_. Truly, a shameful showing of Soresu. If Luminara were alive to see it, she would have been _embarrassed_. She's the one that taught _me_ the basics of the form, and since..." He spread his arms out, a cocky smirk on his face. "The Jedi considered me _the_ Master of Soresu." His lightsaber flew to his hand and ignited in a burst of red, his long fingers lowering the setting to the safety of training levels. "So...at least you'll learn from the best. Care to test yourself?"

With a determined grin on his face, Kanan quickly twisted his lightsaber together, lit the blue blade and readied himself.


	5. The Spectres

**AN:** **Oh my god you guys, my work has been a nightmare. Not much time to write. Also, I should say this, just because it made me had the feels. Every now and again, you write something and go, "Shit, I don't know, man...are people going to like this? Am I doing a good? What am I even writing for?" That was me this morning. Work stress plus no sleep plus oh my god I'M AT 80 HOURS AND ITS NOT EVEN FRIDAY YET. And then I got a really lovely review from an anonymous reviewer, and it just made my day. Just so you know, you guys mean a lot to me, I like writing things that you like, and I hope to keep entertaining you for a while to come. I read all your comments, and even though I don't respond NEARLY as much as I should, I really take that shit to heart. So thank you, my lovelies. Enjoy this one. Things are going to start getting all kinds of weird now!**

 _Chapter 5: The Specters_

Hera sat in the pilot's seat, her gaze fixed out the viewport at the calming blue and white of hyperspace, but she was _not_ calm. Her shoulders were tense, she was _exhausted_ , but sleep would not take her. She was far too worried to sleep, and she wondered if she's ever sleep again if the worst had come to pass, as she feared it may have. Nothing good ever came from going where they were headed, and while Hera always considered it baseless superstition, there _was_ something wrong with the Bright Jewel system, a system in the Mid Rim that sat along intersecting hyperspace routes, which should have made it a hub for business, legitimate or not. It was dead, the entire system, and travelers went to great lengths to avoid passing through.

Ord Mantell was there, and Ord Mantell had burned, along with the four billion people living there. Hera had passed through once, taking a long route to avoid the extremely militant Empire in the sector, and while she didn't believe in the curse, it _was_ eerie and unsettling to be so near a place where billions had burned to death. Even now, fifteen years after the disaster, the planet was still uninhabitable, the ground still smouldering and covered in ash, the seas still boiling, its numerous, previously extinct volcanoes actively erupting and filling the atmosphere with toxic gasses. This was a place where people went to die. There was no other use for Ord Mantell any longer.

Kanan and Ezra were there. Or, she had _hoped_ they were there. Like the events at the Spire, this could have been a trap as well, a clever ploy using their tracking beacon to lure the remainder of the rebels to whoever it was that had set the trap for the Jedi and his apprentice. Hera had locked on to their signal a few hours after things had gone wrong at the Spire, and there had been no debate about whether or not they should be going. Everyone just knew what they had to do. Kanan would have done the same for any of them.

Everything had gone wrong the moment the sleek, black ship had shown up, an intimidating, beauty of a starship that looked hellishly fast, and Hera prayed wasn't Imperial. She hadn't gotten a chance to get a really good look at it, because no sooner had it circled around the fortress, it had disappeared, and Hera wasn't about to sacrifice the mission to get a look at a ship that may or may not be hostile. As it turns out, the ship _was_ hostile, as the main hangar just above Hera's hidden position erupted in a ball of flames, showering debris and TIE Fighter scraps and bodies down to the ground below. Hera tried to contact her crew inside the Spire, only to find that communications had been jammed, and that was when the panic began.

Communications were reestablished when Zeb, holding Sabine tightly against his chest, had jumped from a hole that had been torn in one of the fortress' walls and landed on the forward viewport of the _Ghost_ with such force that Hear was _certain_ the transparisteel had been compromised. After getting the two safely on board and running the pre-flight checks to find the viewport _wasn't_ damaged after all, the black ship left had backed out of the hangar and shot toward the stars, faster than Hear had ever seen a ship fly. The Spire's communications hub had been hopelessly destroyed, and with the jamming signal off-like, Hera attempted to contact Kanan and Ezra, the two Jedi still inside. Despite their best efforts, Zeb and Sabine had been unable to find them, though chaos erupted pretty quickly, and with a fortress-wide lock down in effect, traversing the Imperial compound was...ill-advised. Kanan could take care of himself. Everyone knew that.

But they didn't answer. They weren't even in range. Hera felt _sick_. This was her crew, her people, her _family_ , and that made this her fault. But...it was too important to pass up, not just for her cause, but for Kanan personally, and the well-being of Kanan, Specter One, their fearless leader, was important to their success. And now, her good intentions had led to _this_. Kanan and Ezra, _gone_. Not inside the fortress somewhere, dead or captured, but _gone_ , their comlinks registering as out of range. They could be anywhere, captured or worse, they could be-

 _No_. Hera shook her head. They weren't dead. She couldn't allow herself to even entertain the notion. They were with a Jedi Master, Kanan had been certain he sensed her. They must have escaped on one of the Imperial ships that had left earlier, or on the black ship. Contacting them must have been dangerous, or impossible or...it didn't matter why, they were _fine_. They had to be. They had activated the tracking beacon so she could come and find them, and they were on the way, as fast as the _Ghost_ was able. They'd be there soon. _Soon_. All there was to do now was stare at the lines of hyperspace and _wait_.

It was intolerable.

The cockpit doors slid open, and Sabine solemnly entered, seating herself at her own painted seat behind the copilot's chair, respectfully left vacant when Kanan should have been there. She looked over her shoulder behind her to the empty seat that was Ezra's, still new to the crew, but already like family, like she couldn't imagine him being anywhere else. Sabine sighed heavily. "Are we there yet?" the teen asked, and Hera leaned back and rubbed her temples, her already thin patience straining.

"Not yet."

Another heavy sigh from the Mandalorian, and Hera swivelled her chair around to face her, the girl lightly stroking the painted helmet in her lap. "...we need to talk." She paused, took a deep breath when the Twi'lek looked reluctant and unimpressed. "It's important."

Hera gave a long suffering sigh and rubbed her weary eyes. Sabine wouldn't waste her time, not when their friends were in danger. There was nothing to do other than wait anyway. "Does it have to do with Kanan?" she asked, and Sabine bit her lip and looked away.

"...it might." _Now_ she had Hera's attention. The Twi'lek pressed her fingers to her lips, her eyes wide awake and alert, her patience suddenly restored as she stared intently at the Mandalorian. "Zeb and I made it to the main hangar..." she said slowly. "Right when things were getting bad and we didn't hear from Kanan. We thought maybe he'd be waiting there with you." Her eyebrows drew together, suddenly _very_ serious. "But we left _very_ quickly. The hangar was in ruins, and the Imperials were too busy fighting a rancor to see us." She paused to shake her head in disbelief, ignoring the questioning look Hera was giving her. "A huge, horned _white rancor_ , and it was _eating them_." She scoffed. "Good work, for a beast, but you can imagine that Zeb and I left in a hurry."

"A rancor..." Hera repeated, running her hand over her face. " _How_ , exactly, did a rancor manage to get itself into the Spire?"

"...it came on a ship," Sabine said, quiet and thoughtful, her voice straining with barely contained excitement. "There was a black ship in the hangar. Luxury ship, not Imperial, black and red and made for speed." She whistled in admiration of the memory of it. " _That_ is the ship that brought the rancor. I'm sure of it." She leaned in closer toward the Twi'lek. "It was the _Shadow King_."

Hera held her breath as she looked at the Mandalorian. _Again_ with this mysterious rebel. The past few years had seen an increase in his activities, each effort bigger and louder than the last. The point, it seemed, hadn't been to cause damage, as not all of his activities were as violent or destructive as what had happened on the Spire, but to draw attention, and Hera had been watching his actions _very_ carefully. She knew Kanan was wary of the man, suspicious, certain that he was a Force sensitive creature of darkness, a fallen Jedi, a traitor to the Republic that once stood for the freedom and peace in the galaxy. But the Republic had become the Empire, the Jedi had been slain, and the Separatists routed and defeated, the worlds they once held brutally subjugated under the Empire's yoke. Worlds that were once Separatist naturally stood against their old enemies, the Republic's new form doing nothing to damper their defiance, and it was on these worlds where Hera was always most likely to find those most likely to rebel.

Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Separatist leader at the end of the war, was dead, but _if_ he was alive, _if_ he had taken a new form as well, transforming from the Negotiator to the Shadow King...despite Kanan's objections, Hera saw nothing but a potential ally, a natural leader to rally a rebellion around. As it was now, rebel cells were fractured, without unity, spread out across the galaxy doing _exactly_ what she and her crew were doing, with no prospect of uniting into something greater, so far as she could tell. They needed a _leader_ , a rallying cry to bring them all together, and if nothing else, Mandalore's self-proclaimed Shadow King was nothing if not loud.

Kanan was in grave danger, yes, _especially_ if this man was who Sabine had said he was, but this rescue would, at the very least, give Hera a chance to see exactly what they were dealing with.

"Are you sure?" Hera finally asked, and Sabine nodded, a thoughtful look on her face as she let go the breath she was holding.

"Things on Mandalore are..." She frowned, her eyes cast toward the ground and hugging her helmet to her chest. " _Complicated_ ," she decided, looking back to the Twi'lek once again. "We were an Empire once, before our Mand'alor sold us out to _the_ Empire. And I believed in it. All children of Mandalore do. We are respected in the Empire, we're given positions of power, of _honor_ , far greater than serving as bounty hunters to the criminal filth that brought us down before. It...was a chance for us to be great again..." She shook her head sadly and looked at the helmet in her hands. "I never thought that we were just slaves like all the rest."

"That's what the Empire does, isn't it?" Hera said softly, a kind smile on her face. "Just look what happened on Lothal. They _welcomed_ the Empire, it looked like it would be good for them. The Imperials promised economic growth for the planet, but all they do is take and take until there's nothing left. The Empire exists to serve itself. People just didn't realize it until it was too late."

Sabine nodded. "I know I didn't..." She traced the T-shaped visor of her helmet with her finger. "I was raised," she said softly, as if she were divulging a secret, "hearing stories about our Mand'alor Satine, about her rise to power, about how she united our warring clans under a banner of peace, a warrior who used words and compromise instead of weapons." She wrinkled her nose. " _Very_ un-Mandalorian."

"Given your people's history, it's a wonder she accomplished what she did," Hera said, and Sabine laughed lightly, shaking her head.

"I know! I thought so too, and of course, there were those who opposed her rule. My clan, Wren, of House Vizsla. We led the opposition under the banner of the Death Watch so we could protect our old ways, our _history_. They called her a traitor to Mandalore for abandoning everything our culture stood for. She was a pacifist, and she made us weak when we were strong." Sabine sighed heavily. "And when Death Watch rose to oppose her, she drew her sword."

Hera gasped softly as she understood. "The Shadow King."

"Yeah," Sabine said, almost proudly, Hera thought. "He showed us _why_ Satine was Mand'alor, why she was strong, why she must be followed, and we were united under the banner of House Kryze and the Shadow King that ruled completely unseen beside her. And I was taught that when the Shadow King comes to call, all of Mandalore are to stand beside him. _All_ of us are taught this."

"But Mandalore is Imperial," Hera said, leaning forward and completely focused on the girl before her. "Surely they don't just _accept_ this, it's treason against the Empire's rule."

"It's not like we just go around _talking_ about it," Sabine scoffed. "They're family stories, our history, and like the Shadow King himself, it's... _secret_. Hidden. You know...behind the throne, not beside it." She waved a hand dismissively. "And it's not like he's around. When I grew up, there was only the Empire and just... _stories_ about the king that made us a galactic power. Our Shadow King, our secret Mand'alor." She laughed lightly as she leaned back in her seat. "My brother and I used to play when we were children, pretending to serve beside the Shadow King when he came to call again, going with him as he conquered the galaxy and united everyone under the banner of Mandalore."

"And now he _is_ back," Hera said excitedly. She may have been getting ahead of herself, but this was beginning to look like more than a rebellion. This was an _army_. More than mere detractors, these were soldiers, warriors, people that sat in the Empire's elite, and their loss would damage the Empire. Even if it wasn't _every_ Mandalorian, this could potentially destabilize the hold that the Imperials had on the significant territory of Mandalore Space. At the very least, this could be civil war.

"Yeah," Sabine said, her voice distant. "Yeah, that appears to be the case."

"How are the Mandalorians reacting to this?" Hera asked quickly. "His message to your people last year wasn't a call to arms, it was an announcement of his return to ready Mandalore for when he _did_ call."

"That's probably why the Empire is cracking down on Mandalore now," Sabine grumbled. "And I don't know how the Mandalorians are taking this. I haven't been back since I left."

"One more question," Hera said, the scepticism returning to her face. "What makes you think it was him at the Spire?"

"It was the rancor," Sabine said without delay, like she was waiting for th question, and she seemed relieved to finally answer it. "Huge and horned and white and far more vicious than others of its kind. The Shadow King had tamed one and kept it as a pet. I've heard Death Watch's Shadow Legion talking about it, and they're old enough to have served with him back when we were an Empire." She held up her helmet. "It was his symbol, his helmet had _horns_ on it for his connection to the beast."

Hera quickly turned around when she felt the ship shudder and lurch forward, the lines of hyperspace gone from the viewport, and a planet hung in space before them, swirling red and black and yellow, a beautiful thing to behold that inspired awe and terror, a shiver running up both their spines as they observed the dead world. There was nothing there.. With a frown, Hera spun her seat back around to monitor the readouts and displays, the scanners picking up nothing as they brought the ship in closer to Ord Mantell, though Hera didn't dare fly in too close. The curse was a fabrication, of course, and she didn't believe in it, but she thought it best not to press her luck when it already seemed to be wearing thin.

The scanners suddenly began flashing, the proximity alarm going off, and Hera thought it was a malfunction. Nothing could have gotten that close to the _Ghost_ without appearing on the scanner's readouts first, but from the looks of it, whatever it was sat right above them. She looked up...and saw it. The jet black underbelly of a sleek ship, trailing, intricate, glowing red lines running along the wings sat _directly_ above them. It never appeared on any scanners, Hera had never detected its approach. It could only mean one thing. This ship had a stealth drive, and from the way it flew before, it was unlikely she could outrun it. She quickly began devising a plan, quietly entering new coordinates into the navicomputer and calculating their next just should they need to get away quickly. The shipboard com suddenly crackled to life, the ship automatically switching over to the other ship's channel. Whoever was on that ship had overridden their communications. It didn't bode well.

" _Ghost_ ," a voice on the other end said, and Hera tensed. "This is the _Umbra_. Thank you for coming."

"No, thank _you_ for calling," Hera said in a mocking tone. "I never refuse an invitation from someone that _happens_ to have something that belongs to me."

"Well!" the voice said swiftly in feigned offense. "If you didn't leave your things everywhere, there wouldn't be need to return them to you. _Especially_ with such rare, _valuable_ things. The Empire's paying a great deal for things like these, you know."

Hera held her breath. They _knew_ Kanan and Ezra were Jedi. _Not_ good. "So, what..." she asked, trying to sound as collected as she could. "You're going to make us pay to get our cargo back?"

There was silence for a moment, only the sound of crackling static hanging tense and heavy in the cockpit. Hera hadn't even noticed that Zeb had entered, his large hands gripping the back of his and Sabine's chairs as he stood in the aisle listening. "No," the voice finally said. "It would seem as though my Master has already collected payment."

"Gar ru'kel din'waadar mhi dayn?" Sabine growled in her native Mando'a, a language she didn't know if the other would even understand, but she had always found the Mandalorian language best at expressing anger and frustration. "Ganar gar nayc ijaat?" _You would sell them to the Empire? Have you no honor?_

"Vaabir gar copad at takisir ni, Sabine Wren?" the voice said, his tone suddenly frosty, and Sabine felt the blood drain out of her face. _Do you mean to insult me_ , he had said, and the young Mandalorian shut her mouth. The consoles beeped, in the silence. "I've sent you the docking codes," he said, the chill in his voice gone. "Were I you, I'd leave your weapons behind on your ship. You don't want to cause an incident with my boss, he doesn't take well to being shot at..."

"Noted, _Umbra_ ," Hera said tersely, her fingers running over the console as she punched in her commands, and the ship slowly moved into position. The voice chuckled softly on the other end.

"Come get your cargo, _Ghost_." The com cut, and not a second later, all three of them were rushing to grab every weapon on the ship, fixing them to their backs, their legs, their hips, anywhere they could conceivably put a blaster.

"Chopper," Hera commanded to her droid as she, Sabine, and Zeb waited at the docking port for the airlock to fix. "I need you in the cockpit, make sure the ship is ready for a quick escape. We might need to get out of here _very_ quickly." A few electronic whirrs of acknowledgment, and the droid rolled quickly down the corridor toward the cockpit. Hera turned to her heavily armed companions. "Remember, this is about Kanan and Ezra," she said firmly. "They may be in trouble, and our priority is getting them out of there."

"If they're hurt," Zeb growled, cracking his knuckles against his palm, "if they're so much as _scratched_ , I'm going to-"

"You're going to do _nothing_ ," Hera commanded. "I can deal with hurt. I can deal with injured. I can deal with emotionally scarred, but there's no coming back from death, Zeb." She took a deep breath, her hand clenched tightly at her side. "We can't risk them, not for anything. _They_ are the mission, and the mission won't be compromised..." She noticed she was shaking. This was the trouble with getting romantically involved with someone. They had a funny way of sneaking in, and now...she loved Kanan far more than she had thought. She couldn't do this without him, not anymore.

The airlock hissed, and a moment later, the docking bridge opened, and the Twi'lek, the Lasal, and the Mandalorian crossed over with their hands on thei weapons. Taking deep breathes, they hit the button and entered the other ship, and Hera was swept away at the fine craftsmanship, the elegance, the soft purr of the powerful engines... _everything_. There was nothing industrial or military about the vessel. This ship was made for comfort. This ship wasn't just a ship, it was a _home_. Like the _Ghost_ was to her. Her hand dropped from her weapon. There was obvious time, obvious care put into this custom ship, and she felt immediate kinship with the man that owned it.

A man wearing tight black suit typically worn under armor entered the docking bay from a side door, took one look at the heavily armed, extremely jumpy trio, and frowned. "Oh..." he said his tone affected with mild irritation as he rolled his eyes. "It's _fantastic_ that you decided to come unarmed."

"You have our friends captured on this ship!" Zeb snarled. His hand tightening around his bo rifle. "Did you _really_ expect us to come unarmed?"

" _I'm_ Mandalorian," Sabine said quickly. "You _don't_ ask a Mandalorian to leave their weapon behind. We are _always_ armed."

"Uh huh..." he said softly, crossing his arms over his chest, and Hera saw that _he_ was unarmed. She felt more at ease already. He looked right at her and smiled softly. "Been a long time since that mess with Cynda. How are you doing, Hera?"

The Twi'lek's jaw dropped. There was only one person this could be. " _Cody_." He smiled softly and saluted. He was...older than Hera had expected, his black hair graying with age. This man was a _clone_. Sudden panic gripped her, though she knew she had no cause for it. Kanan had said that the clones had gone crazy, that they suddenly turned on and killed the Jedi, and now, Kanan and Ezra both were captured with one. True, she and Kanan had worked with this one, Cody, before, but he hadn't known Kanan was a Jedi at the time.

"Cody," Hera said softly, cautiously approaching the man, "are my friends here? Are they safe?"

"Come on," Cody said, indicating with his head toward the door. "I'll take you to them." He smiled, leaning in toward the other two. " _Really_. I'd put my weapons away if I were you. The boss has had a pretty bad day, and he's...well, on his best days, he's decidedly unfriendly and _completely_ insane."

"All the more reason to _stay armed_ ," Zeb growled, and Cody just shrugged.

"Suit yourself..." the clone said as he turned and walked from the room, the other three following close behind him and looking in wonder at the ship as they walked through it. Sabine quietly managed to move beside the clone, her eyes narrowed as she thoughtfully looked over him.

"Is the Shadow King here?" she asked, and Cody scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Shadow King..." he said mockingly. "It's just so _dramatic_..."

"But is he _here_?" she asked again, more insistent this time, and the clone simply chuckled.

"You'll have to ask the boss when you see him." Sabine frowned when the man said nothing more than that, and they walked the rest of the way in silence. After a moment, they found themselves in a short corridor, faint, muffled humming and hissing coming from the door at the end, and then the clone hit the button, the sounds intensified as they gained access to the large, dark room beyond.

It was a large, spacious cargo hold, so far as Hera could tell, but it may as well have been an observation deck. The far wall was made of transparisteel, and through the long window, they could see Ord Mantell, big and bright and ominous and bathing the room in an eerie glow. And inside the room, fighting by the light of a world killed by flames, were two men, lightsabers blazing and sparking as they clashed against each other, fast and unrelenting, the blue choppy and almost frantic, the red moving with practiced ease. It was... _beautiful_. Stunning, an inspiring display of color and light as red and blue cut the air with blazing ribbons of energy. The three stood, looking in wonder at the display before them, and it took Hera a moment to realize that these were lightsabers, a dangerous weapon, and it was _Kanan_ that wielded one of them. The other was held by a dark, shadowed figure, but even through the darkness, Hera could see his eyes glowing in the darkness with golden fire.

Hera couldn't move, her eyes wide and fearful as she watched the silhouetted figures against the light of Ord Mantell duel, a dangerous, strikingly beautiful dance that she knew all too well could end in death. She tried to find her voice, but couldn't, not even as the red blade effortlessly circled the blue, sending the weapon flying from Kanan's grasp and clattering to the floor. Not even as Zeb and Sabine drew their weapons and rushed to his aid, only to be lifted in the air by some unseen force and thrown hard against the walls to slide motionless to the ground. She only found her voice when the red blade, poised behind the man's shoulder, plunged down into the pit of Kanan's throat, and legs giving out from under her, Hera sank to the ground, Kanan's name on her lips as she screamed for him.

The red lightsaber retracted as the Jedi fell to the ground, and with an irritated hiss, the man snapped his fingers, the lights within the room slowly brightening, and as things became more clear, Hera could see Kanan struggling to his knees, breathing hard and pained as he rubbed at the place he had been struck. He was...alive? The man before him, a very young man dressed in black robes, extended his hand and Kanan's lightsaber flew from across the room to rest in his grasp.

"Not good enough," he said firmly as he tossed the lightsaber back to the Jedi, and Kanan caught it in a shaking grasp. "You became distracted the moment you felt your lady love there enter the ship," he said, pointing at the frightened, disbelieving Hera as she slowly rose to her feet on shaking legs. "You focus too much on your own motions, your own actions. It's making your movements choppy and stiff.

"I'm doing what I was taught," Kanan growled between grit teeth, his eyes darting over to Hera and giving her a soft, reassuring smile as he rose to his feet. Against the wall, Zeb and Sabine were being helped to their feet by a profoundly excited Ezra, and Kanan frowned slightly. He didn't yet understand the nature of the creature that was Obi-Wan Kenobi. All he saw was someone with the Force, someone young and agile and _powerful_ , a master swordsman, a man unafraid to fully use the powers he was born with, excising none of the restraint that Kanan did. For a teenager who knew no better, Kanan saw how impressive that truly was.

Kenobi scoffed. "Depa Billaba did _not_ teach you that," the Sith drawled in satisfied amusement as he rolled and stretched his shoulders. "I never _knew_ her, but I fought her, and you learn more about a person when you face them in battle than in any other way. She was a student of Mace Windu himself, she was a master of Soresu and Vaapad, and she did _not_ teach you to swing that lightsaber around like some _butcher_." He breathed deeply, closing his eyes as he focused, reached out through the Force to feel everyone in the ship, no further because he knew there was no life beyond it. Not here, not in this system. "You need to open yourself to the Force, let it move through you, control your actions, surrender yourself to its will so you can focus on your opponent."

"How am I supposed to do that here, the Force is... _wounded_ ," Kanan sighed, running a hand through his hair, his attention continuously drifting to Hera, the Twi'lek standing beside the other members of the _Ghost_ and half-heartedly listening to Ezra fill them in on all that had happened since they were separated. "It's clouded and distracting and _dark_ , I-"

"All things you must learn to push past," Kenobi said firmly. "You will _never_ be in a fight when the Force won't be turbulent and distracting, and your opponents will all make liberal use of the Dark Side." He frowned. "As insignificant as their influence may be. You have cut yourself off from the Force for too long. It will take some time to fully immerse yourself once again." He looked at the Jedi, the man listening, but his attention was constantly being pulled by the striking Twi'lek. Kenobi sighed and waved his hand dismissively. "Take five minutes for recovery before we begin again. You have much to learn, and we have little time."

Flashing him a quick, grateful smile, Kanan ran to the rest of his team, stopping just before Hera, the pilot relieved and concerned, the muscles in her shoulders twitching as she withheld from throwing herself into his arms. Instead, she simply flashed him a lopsided smile. "This _wasn't_ part of the plan," she said, light and easy, and the Jedi laughed and rubbed his neck.

"No, it wasn't..." Kanan chuckled in embarrassment. "We'll be more careful next time."

"Ezra told us about Luminara," Hera said quietly, looking around Kanan at the black robed man as he stood quietly at the viewport looking out on the burning planet, the clone at his side with a datapad and quietly speaking to him. "I'm so sorry. I know what it would have meant to have her with us. But..." she pointed at the man. "It seems as though you found _another_ Master."

"Oh, he's a Master alright..." Kanan said softly, looking back at the Sith Lord. "Not the one I wanted, but...well, the Force gives us what we need. We don't always get to choose what form the answers to our problems takes."

Hera moved closer to the Jedi, so close they were almost touching, and she could _feel_ the eyes of the others on her. They all knew there was something going on between their two leaders, but they had always been quiet and secretive and discrete, and the kids especially were eager for something more than idle gossip. "Is that him?" Hera whispered. "Is that Obi-Wan?"

"Oh yes, that's him." Kanan looked back at the Sith and rubbed the spot the red blade had sunk into. Despite the sabers being set to their lowest setting, it _still_ stung terribly. "Sith Lord and everything, more powerful than I was ever led to believe." He sighed. "He's...not what he seemed. You were right. He _is_ worth knowing."

Hera's eyes raked over the man, now holding a small holodisc and talking softly to two Mandalorians, the soldiers in full armor, and though the volume had been turned down and she couldn't hear what was being said, the tone was excited. _Young_. He was Force sensitive, perhaps he had a student or two. The Sith was listening intently, but to Hera, something about him seemed sad, lonely, like he'd rather be anywhere than where he was, like he had lost something dear and knew he wouldn't ever find it. They were the eyes of a man that had seen far too much, eyes that didn't belong on a man that looked so young as he did, but then, this man was _supposed_ to be over fifty.

"So the Empire..." Hera began, and Kanan swiftly nodded.

"Killed someone that looked like him and looked his age, yeah. You can't just explain away the fact that he doesn't age." He flicked his wrist when Hera gave him a look that demanded an answer. "Trick of the Force. He didn't tell me how, but...well, knowing the Dark Side, it ain't good."

"And he's _training_ you?" she asked in disbelief. "You said he's _Sith_ , and from what you told me-"

"Don't get me wrong, Hera, that is _not_ a good man," Kanan said, pointing toward the Sith. "He's been completely corrupted by the Dark Side, he is _everything_ the Jedi used to warn us about. He's a walking cautionary tale." He shook his head. "But in the Spire...the Imperials are using Force sensitive people that have been turned to the Dark Side. Inquisitors, and they _hunt_ Jedi, they sense them, they draw them out, and they destroy them. I fought one, Hera, and I was _completely_ outclassed. I'm only alive because Obi-Wan showed up."

She looked at Kenobi, then back at Kanan. " _Him_?" The Jedi nodded.

"There were three of them, and he killed two. He may be a monster, Hera, but he's a monster that wants the Emperor dead. And before you get _any_ ideas," Kanan said firmly, pointing at her, "I don't think he's rebel material. We want to be better than the Empire, but that's not a path he walks." Hera's expression didn't change, that clever, devious smirk on her face, and Kanan knew she was already thinking about it. "Hera..."

"That was _amazing_!" Ezra almost shouted, his conversation with Sabine concluded, bounding up to Kanan and unconsciously putting himself between the Jedi and the pilot. "I didn't think someone could move so fast!" He put his hands up, pretending to hold a lightsaber and mimicking the motions, making a humming sound in his throat.

"Well, he _is_ a Master..." Kanan grumbled, rubbing at his neck, and Ezra looked up at him almost as though he was offended.

"Not _him_ , _you_ , Kanan!" He grinned broadly when the Jedi blushed. "Sure, you lost. _A lot_. But I never knew you could fight like that!"

"I didn't either..."

Ezra started gushing again, but stopped quickly when Sabine walked toward them...and then right past, crossing the room with purpose and determination, and, looking on at their bold Mandalorian in horror, the _Ghost_ crew quickly rushed after her as she stood before the Sith Lord. Gold eyes observed her warily, and he shut off the holodisc and handed it to Cody, drawing back slightly as Sabine crossed her arms over her chest and raked her eyes over him.

"Little Mandalorian..." Kenobi said softly, an almost nervous tension in his voice, and Sabine's eyes narrowed.

"Are you the Shadow King?" she asked in a demanding tone, and Kanan placed his hand over his lightsaber when Kenobi reached behind him and unclipped the strange hilt from the back of his belt.

"That depends on who you ask," he said softly, but Sabine was not having it. She drew her blasters and pointed them at the Sith's chest, her eyes narrowed in anger, and all emotion fell away from the Sith's face, but the golden eyes blazed with interest, amusement and anger.

"I am Sabine Wren," she said, strongly, "and you _will_ answer my question."

The weapon in Kenobi's hand ignited with a sharp hiss, the blade extending and thrumming with power, and Sabine's eyes widened in shock as she looked upon the black blade. "Adiik be Manda'yaim, susulur ner jor'chaajir bal cetar at gar alor." _Child of Mandalore, hear my call and kneel before your king._ He was calm, his voice smooth and commanding, and with a gasp, Sabine dropped to one knee, her head bowed and her eyes fixed upon the floor.

"You see," Kanan said, leaning over toward Hera, " _this_ is what I was worried about when she joined us..." A quick jab to his ribs with the Twi'lek's elbow silenced him.

" _Sabine_..." Kenobi said, drawing the name out, his eyes closed as he seemed to test the feel of the name, almost like he knew it but hadn't used in a _very_ long time, his tone almost wistful and nostalgic.

"I-I was named after her," the Mandalorian said, tripping over her tongue. "A lot of girls were, we-" She stopped talking quickly when rage suddenly flashed in the golden eyes, and she swallowed hard. "Where have you been?" she asked after she swallowed her sudden fear. "Mandalore _needed_ you, the entire galaxy did, and when the Empire came, you were _gone_."

"Just because you cannot see me doesn't mean I'm not there," Kenobi said softly, deactivating the darksaber and returning it to his belt. "There's a reason they call me the Shadow King. I ruled unseen beside Satine for years."

"But the _Empire_!"

"Would you rather me stand at the head of Mandalore and openly fight the Empire?" he asked softly. "Mandalore alone against the might of the Imperial war machine. We would be _crushed_. There wouldn't be a Mandalore to speak of."

"We're being crushed _now_!" Sabine insisted, and Obi–Wan sighed.

"Mandalore has enjoyed relative independence because of Bo-Katan's open support and cooperation with the Empire, and when she joined them, Mandalore only became stronger."

"At the cost of our _soul_!" Sabine spat. "We have forgotten what it means to be Mandalorian! We are Imperial slaves, just like everyone else!"

"And yet..." Kenobi drawled. "When I called, you _knelt before me_." Hera gasped, her green eyes widening with understanding.

"Moff Bo-Katan," the Twi'lek said softly. "She's loyal to _you_."

"Aliit ori'shya tal'din," Kenobi said softly. "She is family, and she is _Mandalorian_. Family above all else. She did as I asked and what needed to be done for her people, as any good Mand'alor would. As her _sister would._ " He shot Sabine a quick look before turning from the group. "That was more than five minutes, Kanan," he said softly, drawing his lightsaber, and with a hiss, the red blade ignited. "We have work to do, assume the ready stance for Soresu kata four." With a quick nod, the Jedi lit his blue blade and stood next to the Sith Lord, both blades spinning in unison as they raised the weapons behind their shoulders, the tips angled down, their stance low as they readied themselves and slowly, they began moving together, the blades moving in gentle, sweeping arcs and smooth, small movements of the wrist.

Watching Kanan and this man, this Sith Lord move together in perfect unison never made her more sure of what she had to do in her entire life. Taking a deep breath and looking at Ezra and Zeb, staring in wonder at the two as they trained, and Sabine, who still looked completely dumbfounded, Hera resolved herself, stood up tall, and marched toward the men. She felt gold eyes on her as soon as she drew near, saw Kanan look at her, concerned, out of the corner of his eye, and quickly closed his eyes in focus when the glowing gaze swiftly shot to him. Both men continued to move through the motions of their drill, but the Sith Lord didn't look away from Hera.

"Can I help you?" the Sith said softly, mild annoyance in his voice, but Hera was undeterred. "On my ship, your lover is mine. You may have him back when we're finished."

"This isn't about Kanan," she said swiftly, her voice firm and unwavering. "This is about something greater. This is about the galaxy."

"Of course it is..." he drawled, exhaling and relaxing as he slowed the movements of his lightsaber as it spun around his wrist, and Kanan hissed in irritation as he fell out of sync, but quickly managed to get back on target. "Ever the revolutionary, aren't you, Syndulla? So much like your father..."

Hera drew back slightly. "You...know my father?" she asked, holding her breath as if the simple act of breathing would make her miss something. Kenobi's lips turned up in a knowing smirk.

"I do, as it so happens. An _idiot_." Hera bristled slightly. Her relationship with her father was...complicated, but it didn't give the Sith the right to say what he wished about her family. The Sith's smirk grew wider. "Ah, don't be offended, Syndulla. Your father killed his Free Ryloth movement because he wouldn't listen to me. And now..." He swept the light saber up in a slow, sweeping arch, the blue blade matching his movements exactly. "Ryloth is under tight Imperial control, your people enslaved _again_ , and they no longer have hope for rebellion since their fearless rebel movement was _extinguished_. A flame that died before it truly burned because he was _impatient_."

"I'm not my father," Hera said cooly, and the gold eyes fell back on her, appraising and amused. She felt... _funny_ , like her brain itched. The Sith Lord chuckled, his saber sweeping up and he held it before him, finishing the form. "I believe you," he said softly, tapping his blade against Kanan's, the plasma sparking as it touched. "Run through the kata four motions, use that time to surrender yourself to the Force. When the motions are done. Its free sparring." He grinned. "And I'm not going to make you look good just because your _girlfriend_ is watching."

"Yeah, yeah, you're a _funny man_ , Kenobi," Kanan muttered, assuming the ready stance for the form once again, and this time, the Sith Lord brought his weapon down upon him, the offensive counterpoint to the form's defensive motions.

"My father," Hera said over the sound of the hissing lightsabers, "could _never_ see the bigger picture. For him, it was always about Ryloth and the rest of the galaxy be damned." She stood up taller. "I'm not like him. I want to rid the galaxy of this Empire. This isn't just about me, or a single planet, this is about _everyone_."

"How very noble of you," he said, rolling his eyes.

"And you are _against_ the Empire, and when you call, you'll have an _army_."

"Oh no," Kenobi said, diverting his attention away from the Jedi for a moment to glance over his shoulder at her. "No, no, no, no, no. One Syndulla is enough for me."

"But you don't _have_ a Syndulla," she said slyly.

"I don't _want_ a Syndulla..." Kenobi grumbled, and Kanan chuckled softly, moving the blade to parry the practiced strikes.

"Yeah you do," the Jedi drawled. "You just don't know it yet."

"There's something bigger out there," Hera said swiftly. "I'm on the fringes of it. I have...a contact inside a larger movement. I'm...not a part of it, not yet. I don't know if Fulcrum trusts me yet, but when he does, we're going to be a part of it. We're going to fight the Empire, and with _your_ resources..." She smiled brightly when the Sith Lord shot her an irritated glance. A little rebel group could become a _rebellion_. Not like what my father made, but a _real_ one. One that stands a chance against the Empire."

"No." The response was harsh and final, but Hera would not be deterred.

"You are _already_ fighting!" she gasped, beginning to become frustrated. "How can a rebellion ever hope to work if all the different rebel factions don't unite!"

"Suppose for a minute that I joined you," Kenobi snapped. "Suppose you had my army at your beck and call _today_. What would you do?"

"...nothing," Hera said after a moment, her gaze fixed on the lightsabers as they slowly sparked together. "It's too soon. There is unrest, and it is growing by the day, but it isn't enough. Not yet. We are too fractured, too divided. We need a leader, a group of people the galaxy can unite behind." She smiled. "We need _you_."

Obi-Wan breathed deeply as he slowed his movements, forcing the Jedi to slow and match him. He was, of course, already a part of this rebellion, and if they were in touch with a Fulcrum agent, they were in Ahsoka's sights. That they hadn't bee brought into the larger rebellion yet couldn't have been an accident. Hera and her little crew were promising, yes, but like so many other things, one slip was all it took to expose Bail, shed light on the growing rebellion, put the twins in danger...

"I can't," he said softly, his blade lazily circling Kanan's while the Jedi slowly went through the motions of the counter, the move he had missed before when Kenobi had disarmed him. "If for nothing else, I will draw attention to you. I'm the most wanted man in the galaxy."

"You're right," she said softly. "The Shadow King of Mandalore is hunted everywhere." She pointed at him. "But Obi-Wan Kenobi isn't. He's _dead_. That makes you _invisible_ , so long as you keep your armor off." The Sith Lord said nothing, only absently moved his blade against Kanan's as he moved toward the end of the kata. "Fine," Hera conceded. "Fine, we won't be ready for a few years. But it isn't just the galaxy tat needs you, _Kanan_ needs you, or he wouldn't be training with you now. He never finished his studies. He needs a teacher, and with Luminara dead, you seem to be the only one left. _Please_."

Obi-Wan shut his eyes and breathed deeply, repressing the sudden surge of pain at the thought of his friend, her body laying upon the makeshift table, now respectfully covered in the room beyond. Is this why Kanan appeared in his visions? Was he supposed to train this former Jedi, this Padawan to be... _what_? Not Sith, certainly. Kanan was far too gentle a temperament to be a Sith Lord, and far too wild to be a Jedi, so...what? He frowned, his thought of a new Jedi Order resurfacing. He didn't _want_ the Jedi to return, the ancient enemies of the Sith rising only to start the cycle over again. But if _he_ had a hand in their creation...perhaps they could maintain the balance that the Force constantly strived for.

Luminara would have taught Kanan and Ezra, and while Obi-Wan knew he was to have no hand in training the boy, he _could_ help Kanan. Luminara would have, and they had come for her. In any case, if it wasn't for him and his close connection with the Jedi Master...well, it was likely she'd still be alive. Beyond doing this for Ahsoka, keeping an eye out for promising recruits like he had promised, he could do this in memory of dear, sweet Luminara.

"Tell you what..." Kenobi said softly. "If your Jedi can strike me with his lightsaber before I end the fight, I'll join your little rebel crew." Kanan looked at Hera with wide, nervous eyes, his pace slowing significantly as he tried to delay the start of the sparring match.

"Hera, I can't-"

"Done," Hera said, flashing Kanan a soft smile. "I believe in you, Kanan."

"Oh, _wonderful_..." Kanan groaned as he brought the blade up in its ready position, the kata complete, and a wicked grin spread across the Sith Lord's face as he raised his blade and struck _hard_ , Kanan's own lightsaber nearly flying out of his hands as he quickly begun a retreat. There was no chance of winning, no chance of even coming close to touching him with the blade, and yet, Hera had pinned her hopes on him. Perhaps, in a way, she trusted the Force more than he did. For Hera...for Hera, he could do this. Kanan breathed deeply and forced his heart to calm, and opened himself up to the Force.

It was a rush unlike anything he had ever felt, like a river long dammed suddenly unblocked, the steady stream he always felt suddenly swelling with a mighty roar, and all the distractions, all the tension, all the worries and fears faded away into nothing as focus overtook him. Obi-Wan had been a Padawan when he defeated a Sith Lord, and while Kanan harbored no illusions about being able to do the same, but so help him, if this is what was needed to defeat the Empire, then so help him, Kanan Jarrus would pull through.

The red blade whipped around at blinding speeds, the previous slow, graceful moves replaced by long streaks of red in the air, the blade moving so fast that Kanan could almost not see it, but he didn't need to. He could _feel_ it. All he could do was lock eyes with the Sith Lord's, golden and glowing and... _amused_ , not alight with the focus and the fury of battle, but with... _interest_. Curiosity, looking at the Jedi expectantly, as if he were waiting for him to do something to entertain him. Kenobi swung low, high, stabbed and slashed, highly athletic as he flipped and jumped, switching his grip on the fly and attacking front hand, back hand, with defensive Soresu when Kanan managed to counter, with fast and deadly Makashi when Kanan retreated. It was a nightmare, just as it had been the few other times they had sparred, but unlike before, it wasn't so frightening now.

Without warning, Kenobi spun, ducking under Kanan's horizontal slash, his hands planted on th ground as his leg shot out, sweeping Kanan off of his feet, and with a last, frantic effort, Kanan twisted as he fell, stabbing out with his lightsaber when he caught the Sith Lord out of the corner of his eye. Kenobi spun away from the ground, his blade extended and touching Kanan on the chest, and when the Jedi gasped in pain, Obi-Wan lunged forward, the blade impaling Kanan and the hilt slamming him to the ground when it pressed against his skin. It was over, and Kanan gasped for breath when he felt the red blade switch off, the painful pressure in his lungs easing. He ran his hands over his face, groaning in frustration, and when he looked up and saw the Sith offer his hand to help him up, Kanan saw a small, smoking hole in Kenobi's fine, black robes.

Obi-Wan had been _touched_.

When Kanan was on his feet, the Sith Lord frowned, his finger poking at the slightly smouldering hole. "Hm..." the Sith softly sighed. "Well struck, Kanan..." He shrugged indifferently. "It seems you may be worth training after all..."

"Does that mean you'll be joining us?" Hera asked expectantly, and the Sith Lord slowly nodded.

"I suppose so...not right away, of course. I need to bring Luminara's body to..." He shook his head. "I have someone who will want to know what happened to her," he said softly. "But when she has been laid to rest...yes, I'll meet you on Lothal, and I'll begin your Jedi's formal training."

Kanan sighed in relief, smiling softly as he looked upon Hera's absolutely glowing face, and before he could say anything, she quickly threw her arms around his neck and kissed him, soft and sweet and short, but it was enough to start Sabine and Ezra gossiping.

"Hey!" Obi-Wan shouted at them, startling the two lovers enough that they jumped and parted, their faces flushed and unable to look at each other. "No sex in the _Umbra_!" he and Cody said in unison, causing the two to blush even brighter than before, the both of them stuttering and tongue-tied as they swiftly agreed to the rule. Kenobi simply rolled his eyes, muttering to himself under his breath in ancient Sith. It had been a long time since he had been part of a group. Not like the slowly growing rebel alliance, but like what he used to have as a Jedi and then again as a Sith apprentice. For so long, it had just been him and Cody and the rancor, and the existence had been a lonely one. Despite all his actions against the Empire, it was something of a lonely existence, his thoughts often left to drift to those he had lost when he wasn't actively missing his children. And now, he had to add Luminara to the long list of those he had lost.

He turned and left the room without saying anything to anyone, mindlessly wandering to the cargo hold where his friend lay upon the makeshift table. He stayed by the wall, almost afraid to go any closer, and slowly, Yoda crawled on his belly to his Master and laid beside him, sniffing at the small burn in his robes and purring in contentment when Obi-Wan laid his hand between his eyes. As soon as the Specters were gone, he'd set course for Dagobah and deliver her body to Grandmaster Yoda, and after that, it was off to Lotahl to join the ragtag crew, to offer his assistance to the rebellion, to help train a former Jedi so that he may stand against the Inquisitors that would now be ferociously hunting him.

Once again, he'd be off to grow close to people he knew he would lose, just like he had lost so many others, but his need for companionship had always been strong, driving him to it again and again and again.

The tides of the Force were changing. Perhaps this time, it would be different.


	6. Dagobah

_Chapter 6: Dagobah_

Obi-Wan thought Yoda's heart would break when the tiny Jedi looked upon the body of Luminara Unduli, one of the last of the Jedi trained in the old ways left in the galaxy. There was only Yoda left now, all the others either having abandoned the Jedi ways, as Ahsoka and Kanan, or never knew them to begin with, like the younglings that had been raised as Mandalorians. He was alone, the Jedi gone, the Force stained black with the Dark Side, and Yoda was growing _impossibly_ old. By the Master's own admission, soon enough, he would be dead, passed on into the Force, and with him, the old ways of the Jedi would be gone.

He seemed strangely at peace with this, Kenobi thought. Perhaps Yoda understood now the simple truth that the Jedi as they had become were a _relic_ , ancient and outdated, done in by their own blindness to the tides of the Force, bound in service to a Republic that no longer existed. Their extinction was inevitable, and had been for a thousand years, but the Force could never be destroyed, and in time, new warriors of the light would rise to maintain the tenuous balance that the Force eternally struggled for. It happened to the Sith as well, destroyed by their own ambition, their own greed, the Dark Side itself slaughtering its servants in order to force them to change, to begin anew, different than before, but stronger. The Jedi now suffered the same fate. Perhaps the new Jedi would be different, just as Darth Lumis' new Sith would be different. That had yet to be seen.

Or perhaps Yoda's peace of mind was simply because the insufferable Master had developed the same, blindingly bright presence that Qui-Gon had acquired in his final years. Perhaps the little wretch was at peace because he was _stupidly immortal_. Kenobi didn't bother to check. He _couldn't_. He couldn't even look at the little Master without being blinded by searing, painful light. He didn't want this. The last thing Obi-Wan needed was _another_ ghost haunting him, though he suspected it would make it far easier to train the Mandalorian Force sensitives were Yoda able to simply go to Carlac any time he wanted. Kenobi briefly considered striking the Master down specifically for that reason, but eventually decided against it. He wasn't sure how much influence the Jedi had, and didn't want him influencing his Mandalorians toward the light to stand against the Sith. It would make the formation of his own Sith Empire significantly more difficult.

Obi-Wan winced as flames crackled, and quickly looked over his shoulder to look at Yoda, Ahsoka, and the ghostly Qui-Gon standing before the pyre where Luminara burned. He hissed and quickly looked away, resuming his predatory pacing, his movements graceful in their fury, his golden eyes periodically looking back toward the flames, each time sending pain tearing through him, the bleeding wound torn open again and again, the gash becoming wider, deeper, more gruesome with every glance, a constant reminder that his last friend and lover was dead.

The Dark Side howled and pulsed within him, powerful and vicious and wrathful, the darkness amplified by the cave he paced in front of. For a place as pure in the Force as Dagobah, it was both ironic and logical that a place of such intense darkness should exist here. A nexus of the Dark Side, swirling with cold and fear and anger, with lust and hatred, terrifying to thise that stood in the light, seductive to those that already walked the dark path, and Obi-Wan reveled in it as it amplified his pain, his anger, his hatred, two vergences resonating with each other and allowing the darkness to pulse stronger. Yoda's presence dampened its reach, however, and the strength of the Dark Side emanating from within the cave concealed the Master's presence in the Force. In his own way, Yoda had made the Dark Side his ally.

"You know, father," Luke said softly when Kenobi once again looked in the direction of the pyre, "you _are_ allowed to be over there."

"I'm aware of that, Luke, thank you," Obi-Wan glowered, his attention snapping to his son, the teen's face warm and welcoming as it always was. Luke smiled knowingly.

"Because it _really_ looks like you want to be over there."

" _I don't_." Obi-Wan hissed in frustration as he renewed his pacing. " _Leia_!"

"Patience, father," she said in a singsong, almost admonishing tone, her eyes closed in focus and a clever smile on her lips, a black, tattered cloth held reverently in her hands. Her smile grew wider when her father began to curse. "You're disrupting my focus with your _pacing_. Luke's right. You should go be with the others."

" _No_." The response was harsh, almost petulant, but the pacing stopped. "What if you find something? I need to be here."

"Father, the pyre is _right over there_ ," Luke said, gesturing with his hand to the clearing in the swamp not a hundred meters away from their place by the cave. "It would take _literally_ less than ten seconds to get to you if we used the Force to aid our speed!"

"And I'm not getting anything anyway..." Leia muttered, sighing in frustration and opening her eyes to look at the cloth in her hands. "I'm sorry, father, I'm not-"

"Leia, sweetie, you _are_ strong enough," Obi-Wan said, kneeling in front of the girl and laying his hand on her cheek, his anger and tension not forgotten, but put to the side so he could father his child. "It's not your fault I lack your talent, I've no ability to teach you this..." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I never asked Quinlan _how_ he used his powers, we all just knew he did. He'd know what to do..."

"...I'll keep trying," Leia said softly, shifting slightly as she settled, her eyes closed and reaching through the Force to the cloth once again, her face drawn in concentration as she tried to remember how she had done this before. Obi-Wan moved to resume his pacing, but stopped when Luke reached out and took his hand.

"Father..." Luke said softly, sending warmth and comfort through the Force to the Sith Lord, and Obi-Wan shivered, the sensation of sympathy and understanding still foreign to him from the darkness in which he sat. "I'm so sorry about your friend. I can sense how much she means to you, even now..."

"How much _exactly_ can you sense..." he asked dryly, an eyebrow arched in the boy's direction, and Luke _furiously_ blushed.

"E-enough..." he mumbled, his eyes cast to the ground, and the Sith Lord chuckled softly, looking the boy over carefully. When had Luke gotten so tall? It seemed like not so long ago that he stood just beneath his waist. He'd be a man soon enough. It felt like...an accomplishment. For nearly fifteen years, he had raised two children, kept them safe and hidden from the grasp of the Empire, and now, Luke and Leia were nearly fully grown, a few months shy of fifteen, their powers in the Force considerable, their training going better than anyone could have ever expected.

"Luke's just embarrassed because the other day, a girl in town was making _eyes_ at him..." Leia said softly, an amused smile on her lips, her eyes closed as she tried to feel the memories of the cloth.

"I _know_ what to do, Leia!" Luke said in a tone that seemed to suggest they had this conversation before, and the boy turned a brilliant shade of red when his sister flashed him a victorious smile, and his father gave him _the look_. He may be in trouble, and Luke was in no hurry to return there again, not after their last misadventure. He and Leia had ended up stranded on Tatooine for nearly two weeks doing nothing but Uncle Owen's bidding. It was a nightmare, and Luke was _certain_ that their father had given their Uncle additional things to add to their chores. "But I _haven't_ done anything!"

Obi-Wan frowned, gold eyes looking right through his son, and Luke turned his gaze toward the ground as he felt his father's presence gather around him. Slowly, the Sith Lord nodded, and returned to his pacing, and Luke breathed a sigh of relief, his eyes drifting to the pyre where the Jedi were gathered. They were talking now, huddled close together by the fire as it burned, and even from here, Luke could feel the grief hanging heavy in the air, all of them having forged a deep, close connection to the woman. It was a profound sadness for the loss of life, the extinguishing of such a bright, beautiful presence in the Force, but unlike his father, the grief didn't cling to them, didn't tear into them like a thousand razor sharp knives, didn't leave them broken and bleeding and hopelessly angry.

After a few moments, Luke could see Ahsoka leave the group, the Togruta slowly making her way through the swamp toward them, and Obi-Wan stopped his predatory pacing, his glowing eyes narrowed as he watched her approach. She moved almost completely silently, passing through the waters of the swamp with hardly a splash, the result of years of training under the guidance of one of the greatest trackers and hunters the Jedi Order ever had. Even her presence in the Force had been significantly reduced, a mere ripple on a lake instead of the waves a woman of her talent should have caused.

"It's safe to go back now, if you want," the Togruta said softly as she entered the Sith Lord's clearing beside the mouth of the cave, her orange and white face streaked with barely visible lines, and to anyone that looked close enough, it was obvious that she had been crying. It took Luke a moment to remember that she was trained by an emotional Master, and even before the Jedi fell, she had left them. This wasn't a Jedi.

"Why would I want to be there?" Obi-Wan snapped. "Do _you_ want to be there?"

"...no." She smiled sadly, and with a sigh, Obi-Wan took her hand and sat her down next to Leia, the Sith Lord sinking to the ground in front of her. Luke sat on the Togruta's other side and gently took her hand, sending her all the sympathy he could, and he felt her slowly begin to relax. "Do you think Vader killed her?" she whispered after a long silence. Kenobi didn't move, didn't even look at her, but he could feel three pairs of eyes on him, the kids looking at each other nervously.

"I don't know," Obi-Wan said softly, giving the kids a reassuring smile. "It's possible, but that's what I'm trying to find out." He held out his hand to Leia, and the girl put the cloth in to his hand. "It's a piece of the robes Luminara was wearing, I was hoping Leia would be able to tell us what happened, but..."

"I can't do it..." the princess said softly, her tone regretful and disappointed in herself, and Obi-Wan quietly cursed under his breath.

" _I_ cannot teach her. I lack the talent." He looked at the Togruta intently. "Did Quinlan ever say anything to you about _how_ he used his powers? About how they worked?" The Togruta looked at Leia, carefully studying her.

"...she's like Quinlan?" Ahsoka asked softly, and Obi-Wan nodded when his daughter looked to him to answer. "It's a rare gift," Ahsoka said, a pained smile on her face. "Take caution how you use it. Master Quinlan often felt emotions through the objects he touched, and depending on what it was, there could be rage and hate and pain, as I suspect you'll find in that," she said, pointing to the cloth in Kenobi's hand. Leia looked at her defiantly.

"I'm not afraid of the Dark Side," Leia strongly proclaimed, taking the cloth back from her father. "And if I can help father find out who did this, I'll endure _anything_."

"Someone's hunting our father," Luke quickly cut in. "He thinks this is his work, and we need to know how he managed to do this." Ahsoka nodded.

"Yes, I've heard..."

" _Thrawn_..." Kenobi growled, his jaw clenching as golden eyes fixed on the pyre. "I got the name out of the head of one of the Inquisitors I killed today..."

"Thrawn?" Ahsoka repeated, her eyes widening and looking at the Sith Lord. " _Admiral_ Thrawn?"

"...you know him." It wasn't a question. Ahsoka nodded, and Kenobi could feel the change in her, the rising concern, the sudden hint of fear.

"I know him..." she quietly repeated. There was no point asking Kenobi if he was sure about his conclusion. There was no doubt he was. Everything about this situation screamed the work of the Imperial Admiral. "He's a Chiss," Ahsoka said in a light, airy tone, a slight smirk on her lips when Kenobi frowned and looked at her in confusion. "I know," she said, nodding knowingly. "Our friend the Emperor doesn't elevate anyone but humans into positions of power."

"So what's a _Chiss_ doing in the Imperial Admiralty?" He paused, the edge of his mouth twitching in a repressed sneer. "What even _is_ a Chiss?"

"You wouldn't have heard of them," she said softly. "Blue skinned, near-human, hail from the Unknown Regions." Kenobi whistled.

"What's a man like that doing _here_? And in service to the Empire, no less, they aren't touched by Sidious' reach, so _why_?"

"I don't know," Ahsoka said softly. "We don't know much about Thrawn, actually. He's difficult to pin down. But we _do_ know that he's a tactical genius, and for an alien species to achieve such high rank in the Imperial military, you _know_ he has to be something special."

"A dangerous thing, to be sure..." Obi-Wan mused. "And we really know nothing?"

"I'm sorry, Obi-Wan," Ahsoka sighed. "I wish I could be of more help." She frowned. "I _should_ be of more help. We need an inside man. We need someone to infiltrate his ranks."

"I can-"

"You _can't_ ," Ahsoka said firmly, poking the Sith Lord in the chest. "Obi-Wan, he knows _everything_ about you, and it seems very likely he captured and killed Luminara. Maybe she's not your equal, but she was _strong_. Talented. Smart and resourceful, and it _wasn't enough_."

"Is he Force sensitive?" Kenobi glowered. "Or is he just so smart that he's _precognicient_."

"I don't know!" she cried. " _We_ don't know, and he's too dangerous to approach directly, not until we know more." Ahsoka sighed heavily. "For now, you need to keep low and avoid whatever bait he throws your way while we gather information."

"What else could he _possibly_ bait me with..." Obi-Wan growled, and Ahsoka held her breath and subtly indicated to the twins beside her. The blood drained out of Obi-Wan's face. "No..." he whispered, shaking his head. "No, he can't know about them. If he did, Sidious himself would come after them."

"Then we need to keep it that way," Ahsoka said firmly, and with a sigh of bitter resignation, Kenobi nodded. She was right, of course, but Luke looked horrified.

"Father, you _can't_ just do nothing!" the boy cried. "Leia and can take care of ourselves, you don't need to worry about us!"

"I _always_ worry about you, Luke, no matter how capable you may be." Obi-Wan sighed and looked at the three before him, Leia's face drawn in concentration, Luke a mix of indignant and worried, and Ahsoka calm and collected, the Fulcrum knowing _exactly_ what needed to be done. "In any case, she's right," Kenobi said. "Until we know more, going after him is only going to play into his hands. We will be patient, and while we are waiting, we will learn."

"I'll start seeing if I can get a spy close to him," Ahsoka said, taking a small datapad out of a pouch on her belt and quickly running her fingers over it. "It might be difficult, though. We'll need someone of high rank within the Imperial hierarchy if we want to get close enough to learn something of value."

"Contact Bo-Katan," Kenobi said quickly. "She-"

"Is connected to _you_ , oh great and mighty Shadow King, it's unreasonable to believe that she isn't under investigation." Obi-Wan's jaw clenched tightly, and Ahsoka reached out to lay a comforting hand on his arm. "She is vital to the Empire, they aren't going to hurt her. Not yet, in any case...but we can't trust information we get from her. It could be fed to us specifically to lead us into traps, and she's been under tight watch for a few years now."

"Well, Tarkin _does_ like her..." Obi-Wan grumbled. "If not Bo-Katan, then who?"

"I don't know..." Ahsoka sighed heavily. "I may have to start from the ground up, it could take some time." She groaned, rubbing at the protrusions on her montrails. "This Admiral Thrawn has very quickly made himself my top priority. A man like this could very quickly pick apart the entire rebellion." She took a deep breath and looked at Kenobi, her eyes searching him as she quickly thought of what to do next. "Do you have a plan?" she quietly asked, and Obi-Wan nodded.

"Yes. I've been looking for people to add to our cause. I think I have someone for you, though..." He smirked deviously. "I think you may already be in contact with them. They fly aboard the _Ghost_." Ahsoka's eyes lit up with recognition.

"Hera Syndulla," she said, smiling softly. "Yes, I have been in contact with her. We've been watching her for a time. It seems she's expanded her crew quite a bit the past year. The Specters, they call themselves."

"Mm." Kenobi grinned wickedly. "I've joined their crew."

"...you what," Ahsoka asked, completely deadpan. " _You_ joined a team? _You_? The lone, solitary Lord of the Sith?" She reached out and laid a hand on her forehead, her eyes narrowed in concentration and her face drawl with concern. "...are you feeling well?" Kenobi hissed and waved her hand away.

" _Stop it_! I'm not a child, Lady Tano!"

"No? You look like it." Ahsoka grinned at Luke when the boy snorted with laughter he desperately tried to repress. Obi-Wan rolled his eyes.

"It's not like I joined them because I'm _lonely_ , you twit," Obi-Wan grumbled, his arms crossed over his chest and glaring at Luke and Ahsoka as they laughed. At least _Leia_ wasn't a traitor. Leia was _meditating_. "Do you even know what's _on_ that crew?"

"I do, as a matter of fact," Ahsoka said, her tone cocky as she turned her nose up into the air. "Spectre 1, Kanan Jarrus, designated leader. Previously a bounty hunter, thief, and drifter, motivated to action after the events on Gorse and Cynda a few years back." Slowly, Obi-Wan began to smirk. The Fulcrum _didn't know_. Kanan had been _very_ good at keeping himself hidden. "Spectre 2, Hera Syndulla, pilot of the _Ghost_ ," Ahsoka continued, oblivious to the change in the Sith Lord. "We were alerted about her through your attempted work with her father, Cham Syndulla. She's the one really driving their rebel activities, which is why she's the only one we have contact with." Ahsoka frowned when she saw the smug grin upon Kenobi's face. "What..."

"Oh, nothing..." Obi-Wan casually drawled, satisfaction rushing through him when he felt the Fulcrum's irritation. "You've been busy, I know, I can't expect you to know _everything_ about your potential recruits..."

"What is it, Kenobi."

Obi-Wan grinned. "Kanan Jarrus," he said, leaning in toward the unamused Togruta, "is a _Jedi_." Ahsoka's face was cold, impassive, expressionless for a long while before she slowly began to process the words the Sith had said. Irritation faded away into disbelief, shock, and then finally, elation.

"A _Jedi_?" she asked, shaking her head. "An _actual_ Jedi?"

"Not exactly. He was a Padawan, but he was in the field when Order 66 was executed."

"He was a _purge_ survivor..." Ahsoka gasped. "How could I have missed this?!"

"Kanan is, admittedly, _very_ good," Kenobi said. "He-"

"Who was his Master?" Ahsoka quickly interrupted, almost frantic in her excitement, her usual cool completely forgotten.

"Depa Billaba," Obi-Wan said quietly, observing the Togruta carefully as she sucked in a sharp breath and held it, her lips trembling slightly before they curled upwards into a joyous smile, her blue eyes wide and wet with tears as she reached into her memories and found exactly what she was looking for.

"Caleb Dume..." Ahsoka whispered, her hands covering her mouth as she swallowed an excited laugh. "Kanan Jarrus...is _Caleb Dume_." She imagined him in her mind, the young Padawan she had barely known, his dark hair messy and his teal eyes curious far beyond comfort for the tradition-bound Masters. She could see that teenager now in the image of Kanan Jarrus, so different, and yet, she didn't know how she hadn't seen it before. She looked at Obi-Wan, the Sith Lord's eyebrow arched as he studied the emotions that rushed through her.

"You knew him, then?" he asked, and the Togruta shook her head.

"Not well, no. I saw him occasionally with Master Billaba in the Council meetings, but we only spoke once. When I was leaving the Jedi." She rubbed the back of her neck and looked away from Obi-Wan. It wasn't his fault that she had left. There was tension between her and the rest of the Jedi since they accused her of the Temple Bombing that she was innocent of. She stayed for Master Quinlan, and when he fell to the Dark Side, when he rushed to the Sith of the Sith Lord Darth Lumis...her reason for staying was gone. She was afraid, trained by a Master that embraced the Dark Side, and no amount of Jedi training could have saved him. The Jedi couldn't save _anyone,_ least of all her, not when she felt susceptible to darkness as well. But times like this made it _feel_ like it was Obi-Wan's fault.

"An awfully emotional response for someone you only spoke to once..." Obi-Wan gently prodded, and Ahsoka took a deep breath to arrange her thoughts.

"The conversation we had...stuck with me, I suppose. He had a dream, about you and me. The three of us, _together_." She closed her eyes and imagined that day, her younger self so lost, so confused, so hurt, and young Caleb, bright and inquisitive, his enthusiasm catching, his belief in the dream he had so sincere that even she almost believed it was a vision. _This isn't goodbye, Ahsoka Tano_ , Caleb had said. _I feel like we'll meet again. We're going to get to know each other really well. I can feel it._ She wondered if Kanan remembered the dream - no, the _vision_ \- if he even remembered her. She supposed that soon enough, she'd find out. The Spectres on the _Ghost_ suddenly became _much_ more interesting.

"A vision," Obi-Wan said softly, and Ahsoka nodded.

"He said he got the feeling that you could see him," she said. "He saidyou were looking at him, that it wasn't part of a vision, that it was _you_."

"A linked vision," Obi-Wan said, sitting back and highly amused. "Yes, we have had those in the past. The Force has been showing me visions of him for a _very_ long time. It's possible I was lost in the Force when he had this vision of his." Ahsoka wiped her eyes and grinned at the Sith Lord.

"Funny how these things seem to work out, isn't it?"

"It is," Kenobi whispered, looking over his shoulder at the pyre as it slowly began to burn out, and he felt his heart ache. "I just wish that us coming together wasn't at the cost of Luminara's life." His hand tightened around his robes. "She deserved better than this. She deserved better than _me_ ," he hissed, the glow of the golden eyes intensifying as the Dark Side was drawn to him. "I should have been able to save her, how could I have failed _again_?!"

Ahsoka reached out and gently took the Sith Lord's hand when Leia gasped softly, her body tensing and shaking for just a moment, her eyes flying open and looking at her suddenly concerned father, the Sith Lord quickly grabbing hold of her shoulders.

"I saw it, father..." Leia whispered, excited and frightened all at once, her limbs shaking with emotions that weren't her own. "I saw what happened."

" _Good girl_ ," Kenobi gushed, kissing his daughter's cheek, and she wrinkled her nose, but couldn't conceal the smile on her lips. "What did you see, princess?"

"It was..." Leia frowned, her eyes drifting upwards in thought. "It was clouded, father. _Very_ hazy, for the most part." She frowned, a very serious expression on her face. "I think she's been dead for a long time. I'm sorry..."

"I had hoped I wasn't so blind..." he muttered. "I thought I couldn't sense her because...I-I thought-"

"You don't need to explain yourself, Obi-Wan," Ahsoka said softly. "Yoda didn't sense it either."

"She wasn't Yoda's to protect..." Ahsoka reached out and grabbed the Sith Lord's hands in her own, felt pain and guilt and hatred rushing through his blood, thick, strong cords of the Dark Side wrapped around his entire being. She could understand why he so often reached for darkness, though she would never do it herself. Such tight bonds were difficult to escape, and it made her all the more grateful that Quinlan had managed to break free in his final moments.

"I don't have to tell you if it's too much, father," Leia said as she dropped the cloth and pinched the bridge of her nose, her eyes closed as she willed the Force to take away the pain in her head. The flood of emotions and memories she got from the torn bit of the Jedi's robe was overwhelming. "We could wait until-"

"No," Kenobi said swiftly. "No, I need to know." Leia nodded and took a few deep breaths, calming her heart as she settled back into herself.

"It's vague, but it looks like she was helping to smuggle supplies to a village in...I-I don't know where." She shifted uncomfortably, her brow furrowing in concentration as she tried to recall exactly what she saw. "Then...I-I don't know, father, it's so unclear, I don't understand exactly what's happening..."

"Try, sweetheart," Obi-Wan said softly, reaching out through the Force to lend her strength, and with a sigh of relief, Leia slowly nodded.

"She walked into a room and was... _caught_." She frowned. "In a stasis field, but it wasn't just stasis, everything is... _hazy_. From this moment on, _nothing_ is clear." Obi-Wan and Ahsoka gave each other a knowing look.

"It's a containment field..." Kenobi whispered, leaning back on his hands and looking up to see the stars through the willowy trees. "No wonder I couldn't sense her, she was completely cut off from the Force."

"Did you see how she got trapped?" Ahsoka asked the girl, and Leia frowned.

"No, but I felt it. She was running to help villagers that were taken as hostages when the Empire arrived. She was leaving, but...she couldn't leave them."

"That sounds familiar..." Ahsoka grumbled. "The same thing happened to me on Raada but...I left. A lot of people I had come to care about died. Figures that a Jedi Master couldn't bring herself to leave."

"Surely she sensed the danger..." Obi-Wan said sadly. "She was better than blundering into traps."

"The Force is dark, Obi-Wan," Ahsoka said patiently. "You walk the darkness, but for one so in the light as Luminara Unduli, to remain hidden means limiting the use of the Force. She may have sensed the disturbance, but she wouldn't have been able to sense _where_ it was coming from."

"And she wouldn't have left the people to suffer anyway..." Obi-Wan sighed. "Jedi are _so_ predictable..."

"You _did_ kill them easy enough..." Ahsoka said sardonically, and Obi-Wan rolled his eyes.

"But it didn't matter," Leia said, her voice trembling with anger. "When they caught her, the Empire killed them anyway." Leia looked away from her father. "Then they killed her..."

" _Who_ ," Kenobi snarled, and both twins winced, the Dark Side suddenly swelling, devoid of grief and filled with nothing but pure, cold hatred.

"I-I don't know," Leia said, her voice shaking with the chill. "I've never seen him. He isn't human, maybe...Pau'an? But I've never seen a Pau'an like this one before."

"Eyes like mine?" Obi-Wan asked, and Leia nodded.

"Not exactly, but...yeah."

"Red lightsaber? Sharp, pointy teeth?" She nodded, and Obi-Wan could feel the rage course within his blood like poison. "Nu sua'bukle kiazudyti anas su'musiv zo geisti'moteris! The _Grand Inquisitor_." He quickly kissed the top of Leia's head. "You're wonderful, my princess. Thank you." He took a deep breath and ran his hand through his hair. "It's seems very possible that the Inquisitors are working with Thrawn. The Admiral may be out of my reach, but the Inquisitors aren't."

"If they're working with Thrawn, you can't go hunt them, Obi-Wan, we talked about this," Ahsoka firmly commanded, but the Sith Lord just flashed her a devilish smile.

"I won't need to. The Grand Inquisitor has been made aware of _another_ Jedi that escaped the purge." Ahsoka could feel her heart stop in her chest.

"Oh, _no_..."

"And lucky me, I _just_ joined their crew." He flashed Ahsoka a mad grin. "My friend, the Force. _Always_ taking me where I need to be. I stick with the Specters long enough, and I'm bound to run into the Inquisitors, and that will lead me right to Thrawn."

"It may also lead Thrawn right to the _Ghost_ ," Ahsoka pointed out. "You need to be careful, or it's going to be _much_ more than just Thrawn you have to deal with."

"I'll be careful..." Obi-Wan said softly, his attention elsewhere. "I'm beginning to have a _very_ good idea about my next move..."

"Obi-Wan..." Ahsoka warned, and the Sith Lord put his hands up.

"I'm well aware of the danger. My children are at stake, I'm not fooling around," Kenobi said, his voice low, serious and dangerous. "As we discussed, I will continue my actions as the Shadow King, and between attacks, I will be on the _Ghost_ so I can train Kanan." Obi-Wan rolled his eyes when Ahsoka glared at him. "Not in the ways of the Sith, _Fulcrum_ , in the basics! He's out of practice, his training is incomplete, and if I didn't show up when I did, Kanan Jarrus would be _dead_ right now."

"You know..." the Togruta said with a sly smile. "For a Lord of the Sith, you sure do save a lot of Jedi."

"There aren't any Jedi anymore, Ahsoka. You, Kanan, my Mandalorian younglings...you're all something different. Something better and stronger. It's going to be a new galaxy when we kill Sidious, and with him dead, gone will be the ways of the Sith as they were for a thousand years. Perhaps the new Jedi and my new Sith can...coexist. To ensure that balance is maintained."

"Quinlan always said you were touched," Ahsoka said with a smile on her lips. "It'll _never_ work."

"And yet here we are, Ahsoka Tano!" Kenobi said, throwing his arm around her shoulder. "Jedi and Sith. _Working together_!"

"I'm not a Jedi!"

"I'm not you're average Sith!" Before she could stop him, Obi-Wan quickly kissed the top of her head and ducked under her arm when she moved to push him away. "Come on, kids," he said to the twins, and the two got up and brushed themselves off. "We have a great deal that needs to be done before I bring you home." Grumbling, the twins gathered their things and rushed toward the clearing where the pyre had been and Yoda and Qui-Gon stood speaking, the kids using the Force to throw swamp water and logs and stones to slow the other down. Obi-Wan sighed and shook his head, extending his own hand and calling the piece of cloth from Luminara's robes to his hand.

"...she was always kind to me," Ahsoka whispered, touching the edge of the cloth, and Obi-Wan's hand tightened around it.

"That kindness is what got her killed." His hand began shaking slightly from the tension that gripped him. "But she wouldn't have had it any other way. I-I just wish..." Obi-Wan bit his lip, shook his head, and looked away from Ahsoka. The Togruta's hand resting on his shaking shoulder. "Luminara Unduli, Quinlan Vos, Satine Kryze..."

"...Plo Koon," Ahsoka said softly. "Asajj Ventress, Barriss Offee." A sad smile tugged at the edge of Obi-Wan's lips, and he silently pulled Ahsoka into his arms, and for a long while, neither moved, the only sound in the air that of the wildlife and the distance, excited chattering of the twins as they talked to Yoda and Qui-Gon. "...we've lost so many."

"...I know." Ahsoka leaned back and looked into his eyes.

"Don't let them have anyone else. You keep those Spectres safe." He didn't say anything, but Ahsoka could feel his resolve through the Force, a silent promise to her that all would be well in his care. "I've got news regarding that... _other_ matter," she said, laying her head on his chest, and relaxing to the sound of his strong, slow heartbeat. "You were right. Scarif is impossible to get close to, as is Orson Krennic."

"Damn it, really?" He held her tighter, placing his chin upon the top of her montrails. "Oh, I was so hoping that he'd be an idiot...we have nothing, then?"

"Mm, didn't say that." Ahsoka smiled against his chest when he gently began stroking the lekku that ran down her back, a deep and persistent longing within him for physical affection. That last of his lovers was gone. There wouldn't be anyone else. The Togruta moved even closer to him. "It's not much, but I have a name. The lead scientist on the project. Galen Erzo."

"Hmm..." Obi-Wan kissed the top of Ahsoka's head and let her go, the two walking close to teach other through the swamp toward the twins. "Do we know his location?"

"No, but we know a little about him." She smirked softly. "Turns out, it's nice to have Separatist allies. Go figure." Ahsoka punched the Sith in the arm when he flashed her a superior smirk. "Our allies on Vallt gave us everything we need to know about him, since he was imprisoned there during the Clone Wars." Kenobi hissed.

"You know, one would think that, as leader of the Separatists, I'd know more about what was going on in my territories than I do."

"You were leader of the Separatists for less than a year, Obi-Wan, nobody's holding it against you," Ahsoka said as she patted him on the back, and she smiled when he rolled his eyes. "He's an energy researcher," she continued. "And you get one guess as to the focus of his research."

"I'm willing to bet it's kyber crystals."

"You'd be right." Obi-Wan groaned loudly and grabbed his hair in frustration.

"Sounds like a man we need dead."

"I'd be inclined to agree if it weren't for a few things. First," she said, counting off on her fingers, "he has a daughter that's wrapped up with Saw Gerrera."

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes. "Oh, _great_. More crazy. Gerrera's worse than Cham, you know, why are we even letting him close to our rebellion?" A lazy, mischievous smile crossed Ahsoka's lips.

"Oh, you know it's bad when Mad Darth Lumis, Destroyer of Worlds, says you're crazy."

"Oh, _ha, ha_ , you're very funny, Lady Tano." Kenobi shrugged. "So his daughter's a rebel, so what? What is _he_?" Ahsoka leaned in closer to the Sith Lord.

"A _pacifist_..."

"Is this a kriffing joke?" Kenobi asked, and with an amused smile, Ahsoka shook her head. "He's got a funny way of showing he's a pacifist if he's gone to make weapons for the Empire... _unless_..."

"Unless he was forced to, which is what Bail was thinking too." She grinned. " _That_ sounds like the perfect ingredients to make a saboteur."

"This...is good," Obi-Wan said slowly, a faint smile coming to his face as he thought on the idea and liked it more and more each second. "I don't know how possible it will be to get to him, but I'll keep an ear to the ground for more information about him. If we can find where he's stationed, perhaps we can find a way to get to him."

"I'm sorry I don't have more," Ahsoka said, extending a hand toward the Sith Master. "I'll keep working on it." Obi-Wan tightly clasped her hand.

"Little as it may be, all your information was extremely valuable. Thank you." He gently kissed her hand, a playful, mocking look in his eye, and the Togruta very quickly tore her hand away from him.

"You're worse than my Master _ever_ was," Ahsoka drawled, and Kenobi just laughed.

"And wouldn't he be _so_ proud. _Luke! Leia_!" The twins quickly looked over to where their father stood, their lightsabers extended in their hands as they practiced under the supervision of Qui-Gon and Yoda. They looked toward the Jedi and the spirit, and Yoda gave them a quick nod, and the twins bounded off, their sabers swinging at each other all the way back to the _Umbra_. With the kids gone, Yoda waddled through the swamp and climbed up on Ahsoka's back. If she minded, she didn't show it.

"Fine children, they have become," Yoda said softly, looking at the Sith warmly. Kenobi averted his eyes. He couldn't look at him, not with how blinding he had become. It was worse than Qui-God had been. "Raised them well, you have. Worried, was I, that lead them to the Dark Side, you would."

Obi-Wan scoffed. "If they want real power, they can reach for it themselves. I've already inflicted this pain on Anakin Skywalker. I won't force it upon another." Yoda closed his eyes, then softly grunted in approval. "You go next week to train the Mandalorians?" The Jedi nodded.

"Younglings, they are no longer. Warriors of the Force, they have become."

"And one day soon, they will topple an Empire..." Obi-Wan sighed in satisfaction and turned toward his ship. "I'll be back next month with the kids for their birthday. I'll see you then." He didn't wait to hear what any of them had to say. He wanted off this planet. The air smelled faintly of smoke and death, and while such things didn't bother him, it _did_ when it was his friend's lingering presence could be felt all around him. Obi-Wan was certain he was going to be sick.

"Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon said, appearing next to him in a soft, blue glow. He felt... _distraught_. "I'm sorry. I should have sensed her, I should have-"

" _Shut up_ ," Kenobi growled through grit teeth. "It's over. There's nothing left to be said."

"Please, if you would just-" Obi-Wan held up a hand to silence him, and the spirit complied.

"She was being held in containment," Kenobi quietly explained. "Until I felt her, the other day, her body was cut off from the Force. You can't expect to be where the Force is not."

"Her absence should have alerted me that something was wrong. I should have been more vigilant."

"...yes," Obi-Wan growled. "Perhaps you should have. But then, nobody ever expected you to babysit Luminara Unduli. She was...strong. Capable. She didn't need someone to mind her." He lowered his head when he reached the _Umbra's_ boarding ramp. "...but I should have."

"So..." Qui-Gon asked softly. "Are we good?" Obi-Wan stood for a long moment in silence, his hand clenched tightly against the roaring swell of darkness within him, all pain and anger and bitter, bitter hatred. Qui-Gon had failed Luminara, yes, but not so much as Kenobi did, and he had _never_ failed the twins...

"Yeah..." Obi-Wan said softly. "Yeah, we're good." Qui-Gon closed his eyes, a relieved smile on his lips as he vanished, leaving Obi-Wan to enter his ship, and set course for anywhere else but Dagobah.


	7. Breaking Ranks

**AN:** **Oh my god you guys, I have been SO BUSY. Work has been killing me, and a winter storm killed my power today. But! I'm back up and running. So here, have a longer chapter. This one is my favorite in this one so far. Also, I think I'm hitting my stride here, I'm getting ideas all the time, and you guys have been amazingly supportive, which really helps. Hope you guys like this one. I don't think I'll get a chapter out tomorrow, but Thursday for sure. Enjoy, my lovelies!**

 _Chapter 7: Breaking Ranks_

Kanan Jarrus dropped his lightsaber, his hands flying to his neck as he was lifted into the air. He couldn't breathe, could feel his lungs already burning from lack of oxygen, his heart pounding in his chest as fear and panic slowly crept into his mind. Pain followed shortly after, the edges of his vision darkening with oncoming unconsciousness, his legs flailing in an attempt to free himself, but it was for nothing. He was going to die, cruel, glowing eyes the only witness to his end. At least Master Billaba's death had been quick. It didn't seem as if Kanan would be so lucky. He'd never see the end of the Empire, would never be free enough of his crushing obligations to love Hera the way she deserved, would never see Ezra grow into a powerful Jedi. All he had now was the frigid cold and the promise of death by the hands of the Dark Side.

Just as his vision left him, Kanan felt himself thrown back, striking against the wall so hard that his darkening sight flashed white, what little air he had in his lungs forcefully expelled, and he tumbled to the ground, coughing and gasping as his throat was released, each breath burning as he inhaled. A moment later, he froze when he heard the thrum of a lightsaber right next to his ear, and when his sight returned, all he could see was red.

"Not good enough." Kanan groaned when the lightsaber hissed off, and he sat on the ground, rubbing at his neck as he watched Obi-Wan clip his lightsaber back on his belt. It was the third beating he had received that day, and each one had grown steadily worse. This one was _far_ more severe than the one before it, and Kanan was beginning to think that the Sith Lord agreed to practice with him specifically so he could torture a Jedi. As a pastime, Kanan couldn't say he was a fan of it.

"You know..." Kanan said between clenched teeth as he rose to his feet, his hand extended to call his lightsaber to him, but the Sith Lord reached out and snatched it out of the air. Kanan rolled his eyes. "Maybe I keep failing because you keep making the fights _harder_ each time I fail. The Jedi-"

"How the Jedi trained their students is irrelevant because the Jedi are _dead_ , and _I_ am still alive," Kenobi said as he clipped his lightsaber back on his belt. "Huh. Funny how that works, isn't it?"

"Yeah, real funny..." Kanan grumbled, grabbing his lightsaber from the air when Kenobi floated it over to him. "I just don't see how beating me senseless is helping me."

"Would treating you like a child be more to your liking?" Obi-Wan asked, but the tone of the question indicated that he wasn't looking for a response. "You are distracted. _Unfocused_. Making it easier will only give your mind more time to wander. The fact that you are _still_ unfocused means I'm not going hard enough to keep your attention, which is...impressive, actually."

"That...makes a weird amount of sense..." Kanan said thoughtfully. "No, wait, _pain_ is a distraction!"

"And it happens to be the greatest teaching tool there is," Obi-Wan said, a wicked grin on his face. "Rare is the fight that is not painful. Learn to focus through the pain, and there won't be many that can defeat you."

"It's _really_ hard to be focused when you're swinging that lightsaber around the way you do!" Kanan said as he dropped on to the couch, his hand running over his face. "How am I supposed to focus on the fight when you aren't giving me a blade to focus on!"

"You think this is about _lightsabers?_ " Obi-Wan laughed. "Oh, Kanan, you poor idiot, this has _nothing_ to do with lightsabers and _everything_ to do with the Force. You should know that. Your Master Yoda was perhaps the strongest Jedi that ever lived, and _he_ never used a lightsaber."

"Yeah, lot of good the Force did him..." Kanan grumbled as he looked away from the Sith Lord. "Lot of good the Force did _all_ of them, since the Jedi are all dead..." He waited for Kenobi to answer, to gloat, to brag about the Sith victory over the betrayal and deaths of the Jedi, but to his surprise, Obi-Wan stayed silent. Kanan looked up at the man and found him...pensive, perhaps, lost within his own mind, traversing his memories, and Kanan could feel the Force surge with gentle, rolling waves, threatening to carry him away if he didn't stay focused.

"Your troubles are in your mind," Kenobi finally said. "And until they are cleared, you will _stagnate_. You dam the river of the Force. You must take your fears, your troubles, the source of your lack of focus, and you must either take them within yourself and harness them for power, as the Sith do, or you must release them to the Force, as is the way of the Jedi." Golden eyes shifted to him, and Kanan met them head-on. They suddenly weren't as frightening as they had been before. "What will you do?"

"You _know_ which path I will take, Kenobi," Kanan snapped, running his hand through his hair and ignoring the irritation of the Sith Lord before him. "...I'm sorry," Kanan said softly, rubbing the welt on his arm from where the red blade had touched him earlier. "You're right, I know..."

"Hmm..." Obi-Wan looked the man over carefully. Kanan had been distracted and unfocused since they had begun their training nearly three weeks ago, and each time they met, he became more and more unfocused. It was a huge difference from the man that he had trained with aboard the _Umbra_ the day they recovered Luminara, the man who had touched him with his lightsaber. If he knew that Kanan would be this difficult to train, this unfocused, this _uncentered_ within the Force, then he would have let him die on the Spire, were it not for his visions and his promise to Ahsoka and...many other things. Luke and Leia were easier students. Luke and Leia were _better_ students. And it was their birthday in just a few weeks. They were turning fifteen, he'd have to think of something special for them.

"It's Ezra," Kanan blurted out, and Obi-Wan was pulled out of his thoughts and looked at the distressed Jedi. "He's on an undercover mission in the Imperial Academy on Lothal. He's been there for weeks, and I'm worried."

"Do you not trust your apprentice?" Obi-Wan asked softly.

"No, I do," Kanan answered quickly. "Ezra's clever and resourceful, but..." He growled and shook his head. "He's not ready for something like this. If he gets caught, the entire mission is blown and the rest of the crew could be compromised!"

"Well, I've got good news on that front." Both men looked up at Hera, the woman leaning on the railing and looking down into the cargo hold they had been using for training. "Seems like Ezra's passed the first test to get him inside the Imperial HQ. At least for now, he's in."

"What _is_ the mission, if I may ask," Obi-Wan said, watching as the woman climbed down the ladder to join them, a soft smile on her lips as she stood a bit too close to Kanan. It made Kenobi miss his Twi'lek slaves he kept on Mustafar, and he felt the surge of desire pull at him, the Dark Side beast kept tightly caged beginning to pace restlessly as it snarled and hissed and demanded satisfaction and freedom. It had been _weeks_ since he had been with someone. Perhaps it wasn't only Kanan that was disturbing the waters of the Force. When the _Umbra_ parted ways with the _Ghost_ tonight, he and Cody were going to have to stop somewhere for seduction purposes. He could feel himself tense with anger, the grief of his losses coming to the front of his mind as he looked at the two lovers, and he had to look away. The sudden change in the Sith Lord was not lost on Kanan. The Jedi tucked the information away for later. He'd have to ask what that was all about.

"You _may_ ask," Hera said after a moment's consideration. "We've intercepted an Imperial message about a shipment of kyber crystals." Just as Hera had hoped, _that_ got Kenobi's attention, his golden eyes fixating on her with such intensity she could feel a shiver of cold run down her spine. "Kanan says they're sources of incredible power, and if they stay in Imperial hands, nothing good can come of it."

"He's right..." Kenobi whispered, his hands pressing together and his fingers at his lips, and Hera secretly smiled.

"We have Ezra infiltrating the Imperial HQ so he can get hold of the decoder that will lead us to where this shipment is," Hera continued. "Once we have the location, we're going to destroy it."

" _What_?!" Obi-Wan snapped, the intensity startling Hera, and before she could even see him move, Kanan had but himself between him and the Sith Lord, his hand tightly grasping his lightsaber. " _Kyber crystals_ ," Obi-Wan slowly explained, "are a valuable, limited resource."

"With _no_ use to us, since the Jedi are gone," Kanan quickly cut in, earning him a disdainful glare from the Sith. "I don't know what the Empire wants with them, but whatever it is, it can't be good. They're better off destroyed than in their possession."

"They're better off _serving us_!" Obi-Wan growled, his eyes focused on the pair and his anger rising when Kanan very slowly intertwined his fingers with Hera's. He was doing this on _purpose_. Gritting his teeth and shutting his eyes, Kenobi swiftly brought himself under control. "Does Fulcrum know about this mission?" He asked casually, and both Kanan and Hera's jaws dropped, their eyes wide as they stared at him, their interlocking hands falling apart. _Perfect_. The situation was back in his control. Obi-Wan decided he liked this new breed of Jedi. They played _very_ dirty.

"You know Fulcrum?" Hera tentatively asked, and Obi-Wan swiftly nodded. " _How_?"

"Hera Syndulla.." Obi-Wan said sweetly. "Since the birth of the Empire, I've been fighting against it. It would be _irresponsible_ to not know Fulcrum." He held up his hand when Hera started to speak. "This isn't about Fulcrum, or my involvement in the rebellion, or any of that. This is about two _very_ separate, very important things, the first of which is finding not just where that shipment is, but _where_ it's being delivered."

"Do you mean to find out what they're being used for?" Hera asked. "I'm sorry, but if we allow that, then the Empire may end up with the shipment. It's too risky."

"We know what they're building," Obi-Wan said, again drawing looks of disbelief from the others. "Or, we have an idea. The only logical use for the kyber crystals is as weapons, and with what they've done to Illum, I don't think they're lacking for crystals. No, this is about their lead researcher, and his location is a tightly guarded secret. If this shipment is going to him for research purposes..."

"You aren't attacking the project, you're attacking their ability to even _create_ the project," Hera said in absolute wonder. "Obi-Wan, you might just be my hero."

"Mm, I can think of a few ways you can show that..." Obi-Wan drawled, leaning in toward the woman, and Kanan quickly stepped between them once again.

"Oh, no you don't, not this girl..." Kenobi simply grinned, put his hands up and retreated. "That's one plan," Kanan said when the Sith gave him some distance. "What's the other."

"It involves your student, actually." Through the Force, Kenobi could feel Kanan's forgotten tension return in full force. "Our friend the Grand Inquisitor got a _real_ good look at the two of you, and with Ezra now in the Imperial records, it's not going to be long before they find out _exactly_ what he is. The Inquisitors are trained to recognize the pull of the Force toward Force sensitive beings, and unless you've trained him to conceal his presence..."

Kanan paled considerably. "They never saw him before!" the Jedi quickly insisted. "He was here on Lothal his entire life without being discovered."

"He's an orphan that didn't know what the Force _was_ until you came along." He shrugged. "And before, there was no need to have an Inquisitor hanging around, not with such a strong Imperial presence. Soon enough, he'll have his reason. If the Inquisitors aren't on Lothal now, they will be soon. Your student is in a fair bit of trouble. You are right to be concerned."

"Kanan..." Hera said almost apologetically when the Jedi shot her a look of intense concern. "We all knew the risks going into this. Sabine and Zeb are down there keeping an eye on him, and as soon as he has the decoder, we're getting him out of there. This...doesn't change anything."

"...I know." Kanan sighed in frustration, the lightsaber in his hand blazing to life as he met Kenobi' cold, amused gaze. "I just _hate_ being on standby."

"A fine summery of your mental state..." Obi-Wan drawled, his own red saber extending with a hiss. "Ready to move on?"

"More than you know." He flashed Hera a quick smile as the woman turned to climb up the ladder, coming to lean on the railing looking down into the training room. Addressing the issue cleared his mind, and with a new understanding of the mission in mind, a small thing suddenly made _very_ large. He had found his focus, and this wasn't lost on his Sith instructor.

"You may wish to excuse yourself, Syndulla," Kenobi said softly as he looked up at the pilot. "I feel you may find this...a touch upsetting."

"Sounds like Kanan will need my support, then," she said, crossing ehr arms over her chest. She wasn't going anywhere, and there was little that could be done to convince her to go. Kenobi shrugged. That was fine. Her emotional upheaval would force the Jedi to focus.

"Shall we raise the stakes a bit, Jedi filth?" Kenobi drawled, his hand surrounded by small, jumping arcs of blue static, and raising his hand, lightning shot from his fingertips to the red blade, the plasma absorbing the electricity and glowing with greater intensity, the blue lightning sizzling and crackling along its length. Kanan's breath caught in his throat as he looked at the lightning-infused weapon and the cruel delight in golden eyes. "The good news, Kanan," Kenobi said, malice and endless amusement dripping off his every word, "is that the weapon is still on its training setting, so the blade won't kill you." He grinned wickedly. "But the lightning will."

"Oh, _fantastic_ ," Kanan said flippantly when he heard Hera gasp, could feel her fear, and he tried to push the feelings he felt rising within him away. Her simply being here was a distraction, but right now, all that mattered was the fatal blade that was now pointed right at him.

"Fall here," the Sith continued, "and your mission will fail. Your Student will be captured and turned by the Inquisitors. Poor Hera will be left _all alone_." A slight smile touched the corner of Obi-Wan's lips as he felt all the Jedi's fears and concerns fly away before cold, intense focus. There was no student within him, no lover, no friends, no crew, no greater cause. Just the Jedi and the Sith Lord that stood between him and all the things he held dear, a trait that was _very_ not the Jedi way, but the single-minded concentration on the task at hand was. It was time. Without warning, Obi-Wan lunged at Kanan, the blue blade swiftly rising to catch the red, the lightning reaching out to grab at the other blade.

The Sith's weapon left trails of red and crackling static in the air as he swung the blade at Kanan, and Hera quickly went to reach for the blaster, only to find herself unable to move, her hands wrapped tightly around the rail, and for all she tried, her body wouldn't obey her. All she could do was watch as the lightsabers blazed, filling the air with red and blue as they sparked and flashed with repeated clashing. This wasn't like the last time she had watched them spar. Before this moment, it had been stunning to watch, like a dance that the Sith Lord knew well and Kanan followed closely along, the bouts ending when Kanan misstepped or fell too far behind. But _this_ was something else. This was brutal, blazingly fast, the weapons moving with a purpose and intent that had been absent before. Previously, the point had been practice, learning, experimenting against a foe that mastered this form of combat and was willing to teach. But here, _now_ , the purpose was survival, the red, crackling blade moving not to instruct, but to kill.

Kanan was handling it _remarkably_ well.

The Jedi fought like a man that stood to lose everything, while the Sith Lord fought like a man with nothing to lose. It made Kenobi remarkably dangerous, but it also attuned Kanan to his movements, allowed him to block and deflect the vicious assault with an almost detached ease, and in one of the few times since Depa Billaba fell on Kaller all those years ago, Kanan felt the Force flow freely through him, invited back in like an old, forgotten friend. Since the Purge, the Force had become a death sentence, but now, it became the only way to survive.

When the Sith's hand extended, Kanan quickly moved his saber in front of him just in time to catch the red blade as it swept down, and he could feel Kenobi's presence suddenly surround him, persistently pressing against the defenses of his mind. His blade seemed to move on its own as he fought to keep Obi-Wan out, their movements almost seeming to move in slow motion through his intense concentration. He could feel Hera's panic and fear, both for Kanan's life and for her own inability to move, the weight of the Force holding her firmly in place, and he could feel Obi-Wan, the Sith Lord calmly stroking his mind, trying to coax him out, lower his defenses so the Sith could come in.

It took all of Kanan's focus to keep the smooth, soothing voice from touching his mind, from allowing the Sith to take command, and for just a moment, his thoughts flew to Ezra, undercover and along in an Imperial stronghold, the Grand Inquisitor slowly closing in. As a creature of the Dark Side, did the Inquisitor have the ability to read minds the way Kenobi did? Could he look through thoughts and memories at a glance? Could he push past personal defenses with the ease that the Sith Lord could? If he could, Ezra wouldn't stand a chance. His training had barely begun, and they had only touched on the basics when the boy had taken the undercover mission. If he was captured, could he resist, and for how long? Enough for Kanan to come save him? And if he couldn't, would Ezra fall to the Dark Side like so many others? He was already angry, impatient, arrogant, and reckless, all things that drew the Dark Side in, and not knowing what t look for, what dangers there were in such a thing...

Kanan's eyes widened when he felt his lightsaber knocked out of the way by a vicious, sweeping upward arc, his blade crackling against the electricity that surrounded the Sith's red weapon. Kenobi quickly tossed the hilt in the air, turning his back toward Kanan as he snatched the lightsaber out of the air in a backhanded grip and thrust it behind him, the lightning covered blade piercing deep inside Kanan's chest.

There was pain, searing and intense, far unlike anything he had ever felt, his blue lightsaber dropping from his grasp when his hand twitched and spasmed with the current that rushed through him, his heart suddenly beating dangerously fast. In the distance, so very, _very_ far away, Kanan thought he could hear Hera screaming as he dropped to his knees when the blade was withdrawn, collapsing on the ground and convulsing with pain, the electrical impulses causing his muscles to involuntarily contract. His vision blazed white, his ears ringing with the sizzling of lightning, his lungs frozen and refusing to do the work of breathing, and long after he felt his body stop moving, save for the occasional twitch due to stray bolts of static dancing across his body, he still felt the pain, permeating deep within his bones, and Kanan wondered when it would be over and prayed it would be soon.

" _Much_ better..." he heard Kenobi say in a pleased, smooth voice, muffled and distant in Kanan's ears. "Until the end when your focus slipped...but that was expected." Kanan experimentally tried to move and found his fingers twitching to his command. He...wasn't dead, nor would he be anytime soon, it seemed, when the pain suddenly washed away in a gentle wave of warmth and satisfaction, and when he opened his eyes, his hazy vision focused on Kenobi's outstretched hand, waiting to help him up. With a soft groan, the Jedi took it and allowed the Sith Lord to pull him to his shaking legs.

" _You said_ this would kill me!" he harshly accused, and Kenobi simply shrugged.

"I lied."

"You're an _asshole_!" Hera cried from her place on the overlook, tears streaking her face as she shook, the hold of the Force upon her gone, and a moment later, she was on their level, her arms wrapped tightly around her Jedi lover. Kenobi rolled his eyes.

"Oh please, I _told you_ it would be unwise to stay. Helpful for testing your lover's focus, yes, but upsetting for you. I needed him to think he was going to die so we could push past his temporary concerns."

"There _must_ be a better way to do this!" Hera insisted, reeling on the Sith Lord, who just looked at her with curiosity and amusement. "There is no way this is part of Jedi training."

"You're right, it isn't," Obi-Wan said. "I am no Jedi. We need results fast, and this is the way to get them. The fastest way to strength is through adversity." Ha paused, his sharp eyes looking over the pair. "...if the training doesn't kill you first," Kenobi muttered under his breath.

"Kanan..." Hera began, gently touching his face and concern almost overflowing from her being. "He's valuable as an ally for what we're doing, but he is _torturing you_."

"Yeah..." Kanan said softly, lightly kissing the Twi'lek on the cheek. "But I _am_ learning, and these new guys, the Inquisitors...they aren't going to be playing by the rules, Hera. They're going to fight like _him_."

"But not _nearly_ as well," Kenobi scoffed. "Honestly, Jarrus, are you trying to insult me?"

"Yes," Kanan said, drawing to his considerable full height and looking the Sith Lord right in his outraged face. "Yes I am." He kissed Hera's cheek, let the woman go, and called his lightsaber back into his hand. "He's going to make me great, Hera. I can feel it."

"I'm going to make you _dead_ in a moment, Jedi filth," Obi-Wan growled, his blade lighting red in his hand, but Kanan felt no malice, no hatred or rage directed toward him, only amusement and a slowly growing respect.

"Oh yeah?" Kanan asked, his own blade igniting in a flash of blue. "We _are_ on standby. I've got all the time in the galaxy for you to try."

* * *

Three days later, they received the decoder from Ezra, though the boy did not return with the information. He was staying behind. Something had come up, and he refused to leave until he saw the matter through. He had overheard a conversation between their good friend Agent Kallus and the Grand Inquisitor, a vague, ominous thing that made Ezra believe that some of the academy children were in danger. He wasn't leaving until they had been extracted and brought to safety. To Obi-Wan, it showed that the previously indifferent, selfish boy had inside him the heart of a well-intentioned idiot, a fool Jedi Padawan not unlike the fool Padawan that taught him. For Kanan, it was a matter of severe stress, on full display now as he paced restlessly in the _Umbra_ as they went to intercept the Imperial convoy carrying the kyber crystals.

"What is he thinking!" Kanan cried into the comlink in his hand as he walked to the far end of Obi-Wan's room and turned back again. "This is just reckless! The Inquisitor is on his way to Lothal!"

"Which means he isn't there yet, Kanan," Hera said on the other end of the com. "Focus on the mission. The faster we accomplish it, the sooner we'll be able to return to Lothal and get Ezra out."

"I know..." he said, slowing his pacing as he began to calm, the clarity of focus settling over him as he imagined the mission, a dangerous task made even more dangerous by Kenobi's additional objective. Before, they simply needed to destroy the ship carrying the cargo, but _now_ , they needed to actually board it, enter the cockpit, hack into the navicomputer, and discover its ultimate destination. After that, it would be a rush to escape before Imperial reenforcements arrived to lend aid to their precious cargo, and in that time, they needed to destroy or, in Kenobi's words, _appropriate_ the kyber crystals. The more Kanan thought about it, the more it seemed like Ezra's infiltration job was the easier and safer of the two.

"Is everything alright over there?" Hera asked, and Kanan put his face to the viewport that made up Kenobi's far wall, sighing heavily as he looked at the _Ghost_ flying beside them as they made their way through deep space toward the convoy's location. Obi-Wan, it seemed, was a man that appreciated a view, as he had viewports installed in nearly every room, a simple push of a button making the sleek black durasteel retract to expose them to the beauty that space had to offer.

"Well, you know..." Kanan drawled in his easy, carefree tone. "There's no sex allowed on the _Umbra_ , so I'm safe for now, you _know_ that three days of torture is like extended foreplay for the Sith." Hera chuckled softly.

"Not without me, you don't."

"I wouldn't _dream_ of it..." He looked behind him when he heard Obi-Wan enter the room from the shower and immediately begin rummaging through his closet, and Kana's eyes fixed on the myriad of deep, dark marks and raised, pale scars that spidered across his entire body, a blemish free face and a cocky attitude hiding a body that had been _ravaged_. Kanan felt like he couldn't breathe. It didn't make any sense to him, for this Sith Lord that had never known defeat to look as though he had lost a thousand _thousand_ fights, like his only victory was that he was somehow still alive.

"I need to go, Hera," he whispered into the com, and he quietly closed the connection and slid the device into its place on his belt and he slowly approached the Sith Lord as he swiftly attached his armor plating to his legs. "So..." Kanan said casually, his hands behind his back. "Nice ship you have." Obi-Wan looked up at him, a small smile on his lips before he returned to tightening the straps on the armor, not the set that had made him famous, but a simpler set in black and gold. The Sith Lord said nothing. "When do I get to fly it?"

Kenobi chuckled softly and shook his head. "When your lover lets me fly her ship."

"Mm, never going to happen," Kanan said, chuckling softly and trying to keep from staring at the long, black slash that ran across his chest, indented from the wound that seemed to have ripped away a part of the muscle that would never heal. If Kenobi noticed that he was staring, he didn't say anything.

"You've improved these past few days," Obi-Wan said quietly, tightening the straps and making small adjustments to fit the armor to him perfectly. "I'm impressed. You're a swift learner, and you seem to have maintained that Jedi resilience, even after all this time."

"A few things the Jedi taught me were actually useful," Kanan said as he picked up the chest piece. Sabine _never_ let him touch her armor. She never let _anyone_ touch her armor. He wasn't even sure she ever took it off, except maybe to periodically paint it. It was much lighter than he would have imagined. No wonder the Mandalorians felt so at home in armor. "I had to learn how to survive, and how the galaxy actually worked, but the tenants of the Order set us up to be excellent fugitives, if we could ignore the instinct to help people." He shrugged. "Emotional detachment. Cut and run, you know."

"I always struggled with that one," Obi-Wan said absently. "I did try for a time, but I ultimately failed at it again and again, especially after my mission to Mandalore, I-" He stopped suddenly and shut his mouth, his eyes closed as he slowly shook his head. "It made it easier to leave the Jedi." He finally tossed an impatient, flustered look at Kanan. "You here to admire the view, Kanan? I'll tell your girlfriend about those wandering eyes of yours, I doubt she'd be happy."

"Aw, you wouldn't be that cruel, would you, Kenobi?" Kanan asked, drawing closer to the Sith and watching as an amused smirk spread across his lips and a wicked, lustful flash came to dangerous golden eyes.

"No sex in the _Umbra_ , you absolute tease," Kenobi said as he took the armor out of Kanan's hands. "I'm _definitely_ telling your girlfriend." He smiled sadly as he looked him over. "You remind me a bit of a friend of mine. Quinlan Vos. Did you know him?"

" _Master_ Quinlan Vos?" Kanan asked breathlessly, and Kenobi nodded. "He was a legend! I only saw him a few times, but he was... _funny_. Irreverent, he questioned everything. He was so strong, a tracker, a hunter. Do you think he survived?" Pain flashed across the Sith's face and Kenobi looked away, fiddling with the chest plate in his hands.

"...he's dead." A wound seemed to open up in the Sith Lord, so deep and dark and bloody that it almost hurt to look at him, and Kanan reached out through the Force and touched at Kenobi's mind with a gentle, comforting hand. He was immediately thrown out, the Sith wincing and snarling at the warmth, a soothing, sympathetic gesture to the Jedi, but agony to one that sat within the Dark Side. It was a bad subject, a deeply painful one, and it was best avoided. Quinlan Vos was dead, and for it, Obi-Wan suffered.

"Got a question for you," Kanan asked, his tone light and easy as he changed the subject, and he could feel the void within the Sith Lord quickly close up, the Force returning to a state of calm as Kenobi's considerable presence disappeared, unable to be felt in the Force like before. Kanan pointed to the scars on the man's body. "You've never lost. No Jedi has ever defeated you, so how..." Obi-Wan smiled gently and rose to his feet, grabbing the tight, black shirt that fit underneath the armored chest and shoulder pieces.

"A few from battles against the Jedi," Kenobi said a faint smile on his lips. "I went many battles without injury, but not everything goes according to plan." He pointed to several small burned lines that marked his arms and torso. "Battle of Coruscant against Anakin Skywalker. It should have been an easy fight, but a great many things kept me... _unbalanced_. And here," he said, pointing to a deep, black circle on his lower back. "Ahsoka Tano, on Florrum. The little bitch stabbed me in the back the first chance she got. And we were supposed to be _allies_!" He laughed for a moment, genuinely amused. "No wonder she left the Jedi, it _never_ suited her."

"Do you think she's alive?" Kanan asked hopefully, looking at the Sith Lord and trying to read his impassive face. "I didn't know her well, but...I always thought we'd meet again. She wasn't a Jedi at the end, maybe they never found her. She _was_ trained by Quinlan Vos, after all." Kenobi shrugged.

"Who knows..." the Sith said carelessly. "Perhaps one day, you may meet her again. The Force has a funny way of bringing us all together."

"Yeah..." Kanan pointed to the black mark on the Sith's shoulder. "And that one?" A slight, sad smile crossed Kenobi's lips.

"Luminara. When I rescued her the first time. When I found her again, she was..." He swallowed hard. "She was afraid and fighting for her life, and she was surrounded by her enemies. She stabbed before she saw it was me." He dragged his finger along the long, deep cut on his chest. "Anakin Skywalker..." he said darkly. "Our final fight on Mustafar the night the Jedi died."

"Everyone was always saying that you two were meant to fight..." Kanan muttered. "You obviously killed him, since you're still alive."

"...I watched him burn, yes. He was not victorious. Though..." He tapped the black scar. "Half an inch deeper, and he would have been." There was something... _off_ about the way Obi-Wan said that. Something about the turn of phrase, the choice of words that spoke of half truth to Kanan, but he quickly brushed the feeling away. If Anakin Skywalker was alive, he'd be fighting some great cause against the Sith Lords, against Kenobi. He'd have a mission, some task to carry out, bestowed upon him by the Force itself. Kanan would have known, he would have heard about it. "The rest," Kenobi said after a moment, indicating to the hundreds of other scars that crossed his body, "are all from my Master."

"... _your Master did that to you_?!" Kanan gawked, focusing on the jagged web of pale, raised scars that covered him, and the dark shadows of burns that crossed his skin, lighter than the blackened, seared flesh of sabers at fatal strength, but not too far from it. It came from a blade meant to torture, not to kill, and that was _far_ worse. No wonder Kenobi was training him the way he was. He knew the Jedi way, but it had been a very long time since he had been a Jedi, and his Sith Master treated him _far_ worse than Obi-Wan was treating him. Strength through adversity, power through the will to survive. A dangerous, savage thing.

"Did you think training was an easy thing for a Sith Lord?" Obi-Wan asked, faintly amused as he watched disbelief and sympathy rush through the Jedi. "Within the first month of my apprenticeship, my Master took me to Mygeeto, and I nearly froze to death as he watched. Within my first year, he dropped me on a hostile planet with no weapons, no technology, and no means of escape, and he left me there for _two months_. I was forced to find a way to survive using my environment, which I did." He looked up at the ceiling. "I may _still_ be the god of the natives there..."

"You left the Jedi for _that_?" Kanan asked in disbelief, pointing to Kenobi's scars as he pulled on the tight, black shirt and zipped it up "That isn't training, it's _torture_!"

"Just of the body," Obi-Wan said, shrugging as he zipped the shirt up and began attaching the chest piece. "I found a family with the Sith when my Jedi family abandoned me, and I have _always_ had a difficult time with remaining unattached. Besides," he said indifferently as he tightened the straps of the chest piece and began attaching the shoulders and arms, "with pain comes power. It's a small price to pay if that pain is simply physical."

"Yeah, but it isn't just physical, is it?" Kenobi looked at the Jedi, strong and defiant and assured, and Obi-Wan couldn't help but smile despite the swift stab of pain as old wounds reopened, just as they always did, bleeding anew every day.

"No, it isn't..." he whispered, absently attaching the rest of the armor, shifting and settling as he grew accustomed to the feel. "The Dark Side is a tricky, difficult mistress. Pain and suffering are needed to understand her, and those that use her without understanding will be torn apart."

"Sounds pretty shitty," Kanan drawled, and Obi-Wan just smiled as he picked up his helmet.

"Only to those that can't handle riding that slut. But to those that can..." Kenobi moaned loudly, desperate and wanton, and Kanan could feel the cold suddenly rush along his spine as the Dark Side rushed to him. "Oh, it is the _greatest_ thrill there is." He slid the helmet on to his head. "Ready to go?" he asked softly.

"We haven't even arrived, why are we-"

"Sir," Cody said over the intercom, and though Kanan couldn't see his face, he _knew_ that the Sith Lord was flashing him a superior, cocky grin. "We've arrived at the convoy."

"On our way, Cody," Kenobi said, his doors sliding open with a soft hiss as he walked through, Kanan close on his heels. "Alright, let's get this done."

The _Ghost_ hung back, her systems off and keeping hidden just out of scanning range, Hera on standby as he shuttle, the _Phantom_ was carried in the _Umbra_ 's hold, the stealth ship slowly and silently approaching the convoy. There were only three ships, but they were large freighters and heavily armed. Winning against these in a firefight didn't seem possible. Together, they maybe could destroy one, two, if the Force was with them, but all three was a tall order, especially when the crews would be down to the pilots while Kanan and Obi-Wan were inside the Imperial vessel.

"Alright..." Kenobi said, hanging on the back of the pilot's seat as Cody brought them in close. "Which one has the kyber crystals, Kanan?"

"Don't you know?" the Jedi asked, confused until he saw the clever smirk on his teacher's face, and he glowered. _Of course_ he already knew. He was being _tested_. Kanan closed his eyes, reached out through the Force, and _immediately_ felt them. It felt good to be connected again. "The middle one." Kenobi arched an eyebrow, and Kanan nearly looked once again before he quickly shook his head, deciding to trust his instincts. "No, I'm sure of it. I can feel them, and they're on the middle ship."

"You're right," Kenobi said, nodding in approval and watching Cody angle the ship toward the middle freighter. "Bring us in, Cody, nice and easy. I want to get the _Phantom_ magnetized to the hull and powered down before they have a chance to pick her up on the sensors. Then it's off with you to wait with Syndulla for us to call."

"Understood." With the clone quietly focused, his hands on the controls, Kenobi laid a hand on his shoulder, the obvious trust between them clear, and with a quick nudge to Kanan's ribs, the two were off to the hold to board the _Phantom_ , Kenobi sitting himself in the pilot's chair and familiarizing himself with the controls.

"You better not break her," Kanan warned Obi-Wan, and the Sith Lord rolled his eyes. "I mean it. Hera will _never_ forgive me."

" _Please_ , there aren't may pilots in the galaxy better than me."

" _Well_ , aren't _we_ special?" Kanan drawled, shooting the Sith Lord a smug look. "As it so happens, Hera is _the_ best pilot in the galaxy." He shrugged, an arrogant, proud smirk on his face. "Sorry, sweetheart. You aren't impressing me."

"You're more insane than I am if you think that Twi'lek can out-fly me." A sly smirk spread across Obi-Wan's face. "But, since you are so confident in your lover's abilities, care to make a wager?" Kanan looked at Kenobi with mild interest. He wasn't usually a betting man, though in this case, it may have been worth it. That the Jedi even paused to consider was all Obi-Wan needed to continue. "If by the end of this mission, Syndulla says she is the superior pilot, I'll let you borrow this." He reached out his hand, and Kanan didn't see _where_ it came from, but he looked in wonder as the Sith Lord suddenly held a blue and gold cube in his hand. _A Jedi holocron_.

"H-how did-"

"Oh, how isn't important," Kenobi said dismissively. "Just know that I have it, and if you win, all the knowledge of the Jedi contained within is yours." Kanan nearly opened his mouth to agree with the deal right there on the spot, but quickly stopped himself when he saw the devious look in the Sith Lord's glowing eyes.

"...and if I lose?" he asked cautiously, and the Sith simply shrugged, an easy, nonchalant look on his face.

"Oh, it's nothing much. If she admits I'm the better pilot, you come with me the next time I set down for supplies."

"...that's it?" Kanan asked, severely confused. "Just...come with you on a supply run?"

"That's it. I like company while I procure the essentials." He pointed his thumb over his shoulder. "Cody comes with me, of course, but I can get more done with another person."

"...what's the catch? No mission, no task, no super secret Sith... _thing_ that calls for the blood of a Jedi?" Kanan asked skeptically. The deal was _far_ too good. A holocron for a supply run on a bet Kanan was _certain_ he would win? There had to be something else. But Obi-Wan didn't seem to show any malice, and ill-intent, any... _anything_ , just chuckling softly and relaxing in the seat.

"No, nothing like that," he said softly, holding his hand out to the Jedi. "Just a chance to get to know each other better while we take care of our needs."Kanan stared at the hand for a moment, and then decided that there was no harm in this. The way he saw it, he won either way. Either he got a holocron, or he got a chance to ask some of the burning questions he had for Kenobi. He watched as Kenobi reached behind him and pulled up his pack with supplies necessary for the mission and slipped the holocron inside it, and Kanan realized that the Sith Lord had _packed_ the holocron.

"Did you... _plan_ on having this bet, Kenobi?" Kanan asked, pointing at the pack, and the Sith simply patted it.

"No," he said casually. "But I feel it's always best to come prepared, and I do so _love_ betting. I win so often."

"Funny," Kanan said. "I do as well."

"Hmm." Kenobi smiled at the Jedi. "Well, may the Force be with you, Kanan. You're going to need it."

"Sir," Cody said over the intercom, the _Phantom_ shaking slightly as the _Umbra_ stopped moving. "We've touched down on the ship. Ready to magnetize on your command."

"Let her go, Cody," Obi-Wan commanded, and the _Phantom_ shivered a low whine permeating the ship, followed by the loud, metallic clang as the transport stuck to the hull of the Imperial freighter. "Take care of Syndulla, Cody, I need her to win a bet," the Sith said quickly as the echoing hum of the _Umbra's_ engines silenced, the stealth ship leaving the convoy for the _Ghost's_ location, and the clone cursed under his breath, saying nothing in response as the ship quickly moved out of safe com range.

"Huh, look at that..." Kanan said, leaning in to look at the readings on the control console. "He got us right above the access hatch."

"I told you, Cody is _very_ good." Kenobi thrust his helmet on his head. "As soon as we open up, rush for the access hatch, I'll have it open before you get there. The freighter's shielding is protecting us from the worst of the vacuum, but it's going to be _kriffing cold_." Kenobi smiled. "You ready?"

"Ready." Kanan took a deep breath, his eyes closed as he focused, and on Kenobi's signal, the Sith slammed the button and the back end of the _Phantom_ opened up, the Jedi rushing forward and steeling himself against the bitter cold, his eyes fixed in the closed access hatch. True to Obi-Wan's word, the hatch shuddered and flew open, and Kanan grabbed hold of the open ledge and pulled himself inside, Kenobi following close behind, and closing his splayed hand, the hatch door slammed closed, the sound reverberating around them. The two men crouched close together, their breath's held as they waited and listened for alarms, or the sound of soldiers sent to investigate, but there was nothing. They were in.

"Alright," Kanan whispered. "We sneak our way to the bridge, disable the soldiers there, and-"

"Change of plans," Kenobi quickly interrupted. "I'm going to steal the ship."

"... _what_!?" Kanan hissed. " _Are you out of your mind_?! How much attention do you want to attract!"

"I want to destroy those other two freighters," he muttered, accessing the terminal on the wall and carefully memorizing the ship layout. "Don't worry, I have an idea."

"Oh, great, that makes _everything_ better!"

"Oh!" Kenobi happily chirped. "I'm so glad it does! Come on then!" He was off before Kanan could finish rolling his eyes, and the Jedi was left with no choice but to follow the Sith Lord closely. Obi-Wan walked casually down the halls, his hands resting on the hilts of the blasters he had holstered on his hips, and Kanan strode beside him, furtively looking over his shoulder at each sound that echoed through the ship. When they crossed their first patrol of stormtroopers, Kanan quickly reached for his own blaster when the soldiers raised their weapons and commanded them to stop, but they were quickly silenced, their blasters dropped uselessly to the floor as their hands flew to their necks and they dropped to their knees.

"Hello, boys..." Obi-Wan drawled softly, sauntering to the group of five soldiers, Kanan standing back and carefully watching for other troopers. "I need something from you. I'm from Death Watch, my friend and I were sent to help guide your shipment safely to its final destination."

One of the troopers, a soldier with a single, red shoulder pauldron indicating his rank, shivered and slowly stood, his weapon in his hands but lowered. "We are...glad to have you, sir," the soldier said hesitantly, and Kanan could feel the Force rush around him, surging with cold and darkness, and he could hear soft, sweet whispers, the purr of a smooth, seductive voice that commanded obedience, promised pleasure in exchange for slavery, and he wavered, the sudden desire to submit and obey filling him. No sooner had the feeling struck him, it was gone, his mental defenses snapping into place, the voices silenced. Had he not been subject to the quiet, subtle influence of the Sith over the past few days, Kanan wouldn't have been prepared to resist him now. His training, though brutal, was effective.

"We need to be escorted to the bridge," Kenobi said, reaching out and touching the trooper's helmet. "Take us there."

"We will escort you to the bridge," the soldier said in a dull monotone, the other stromtroopers rising and surrounding the pair. "Follow me, Master." Kanan kept close to the Sith Lord as they walked with long, easy strides toward the bridge. He was, of course, familiar with the Jedi mind trick, had used it a few times himself. But this was on a whole different level. This far pushed the limits of the gentle suggestion of the Jedi. No wonder the Masters had been so afraid of this particular Sith Lord. Without morality and respect for the lives of others to hold him back, the mind's of everyone around him were Kenobi's playground.

They passed by several other patrols on the way to the bridge, most of them ignoring them, but some stopped and looked at them with interest or suspicion. A slight suggestion sent them away, and when they passed by an officer, Kenobi added him to the enthralled, and the rest of the walk to the bridge went much smoother.

The moment the doors to the bridge slid open, Obi-Wan lifted his hands, and all crew was suddenly forced to the ground, shuddering as they resisted, and screaming when pain ripped through them. A swift, silent command through the Force saw all those that suffered suddenly silent, and Kanan looked over to see one of the officers on the ground, blood pooling out of his mouth from biting right through his tongue in order to obey the command to keep quiet. Obi-Wan walked calmly to the central console, his hands running along the fine instrumentation, his eyes scanning the displays.

"There is a ship magnetized to our hull," Kenobi said casually to the officer he controlled, pointing at the barely visible blip against the might of the freighter. "Bring it into the hangar beside cargo bay three." The officer saluted and quickly rushed away to do as he was bid, barking commands to the five soldiers that stood by the door, and they quickly moved to do the bidding of their superior officer.

"Is this how you stole the Star Destroyers during the war?" Kanan asked softly as he drew closer to Kenobi, and the Sith Lord nodded. "Was it this easy then?" Kenobi smiled softly.

"It was easier, actually. This one is actually a fair bit more tricky than it looks. The Republic never fired on their own ships, but the Empire doesn't think twice. Sedition is all too common, and if it looks like something's wrong, they open fire quickly. One misstep, and we'd be running _very_ fast."

"...and you want to _steal_ this ship?" Kanan gasped, and slowly, Obi-Wan shook his head.

"No, I want to _commandeer_ it. I want it to fire on the other two ships so _they_ are forced to destroy it. We can draw fire away from the _Ghost_ , the _Umbra_ , and us while they're dealing with a renegade battleship." A few quick taps of his fingers on the navicomputer brought up the readings, and looking close at the information, Kenobi quietly read it, sifting through the unnecessary information before he found what he wanted. "Eadu..." he whispered. "Where the hell is Eadu?"

"Look it up later, we need to go," Kanan insisted. "The sooner we finish up here, the sooner we can get Ezra off Lothal."

"Alright, alright..." Kenobi said, taking the datapad off his belt and downloading the navicomputer information to it. "Kanan, return to the _Phantom_ ," he muttered, his eyes darting over the various readings on his display. "The cargo bay is right next to the ship. The kyber crystals are there." He turned to look at the Jedi, and Kanan held his breath as when he saw two points of light visible through the dark of the Mandalorian visor. "Get those crystals on the ship."

"Kenobi, I-"

"Do as I say, Kanan, the crystals are important."

"But what about _you_?" Kanan said, and Kenobi drew back slightly, almost surprised by the obvious concern.

"...someone needs to begin the attack." The Jedi didn't look away, and Obi-Wan sighed heavily. "Look, I'll find a way off the ship, alright? That's the sort of diversion you need to get a clear shot at stealing the crystals and getting clear. I can give you a few minutes, but it's not going to be long before the rest of the convoy notices that something's wrong on the bridge over here. Can you do it?"

"Of course I can, I-"

"Then may the Force be with you, Kanan Jarrus. Go." Kenobi turned back to the consoles, and it was clear that the conversation was over. With a sigh, Kanan turned from the Sith Lord and ran to do as he was told, and he turned swiftly to find two of the stormtroopers following him, his own personal escort through the ship. He wondered hos long Kenobi's control could last, how far away he could be for it to be effective, and briefly wondered if he was about to meet his death at the end of a blaster. He pushed the thought away. If it came to that, he would deal with it then.

Perhaps it was because of his intense focus on the task at hand, his concentration giving him perfect clarity that made the ship seem so much smaller than it was, and it seemed almost within moments that they were in the hangar, the _Specter_ waiting at the far end nearest the environmentally sealed doors. Just as he entered, he could feel the rumbling of plasma bolts and missles hitting the shields, each strike weakening it and bringing the ship one step closer to destruction, and though the rumbling noise, Kanan could hear.. _something_. Something pure and clear like a soft, gentle ringing, like _music_ , and he didn't just hear it with his ears, he _felt it_. The kyper crystals.

Snapping his head in the direction of the noise, he quickly ran toward the cargo bay stacked high with hundreds of thousands of crates, and he nearly turned back when he felt the ship shake violently underneath him. But the song was clearer now. _Stronger_ , and though the crates all looked the same, Kanan knew where to find the one he was searching for. He found the section where the music was strongest, the sound resonating deep within him as he laid his hand upon the wall of crates, his eyes closed as he reached out through the Force, moving from container to container as he felt for the source of the call.

When his hand touched one of the smaller crates, the muffled sounds of explosions in the air, the jarring shaking of the ship, the voices of soldiers barking commands all seemed to fade away, the only sound, the only thing at all that Kanan could feel was the bright, clear song within the crate, so much like the one he had heard that day on Ilum when he had found the crystal that now powered his lightsaber. His soldier escort was gone, the sudden panic of having to defend the ship overriding the smooth voice within their minds, compelled now not to obey the Sith, but the Empire. Breathing deep, Kanan used the Force to tear the crate away from the others, the ones atop it moving and shifting as it slid out, and activating the crate's repulsorlift systems, Kanan rushed through the chaos of the bay with his crate pushed before him.

Even through the chaos, it didn't take long for the soldiers rushing madly through the hanger to take notice of Kanan, and before long, the Jedi found himself being shot at, red bolts of blaster fire filling the air as he dove behind his crate and drew his own blaster. A firm grip on the cart, Kanan continued to push it along, his connection to the Force greatly amplified by the close proximity to the kyber crystals, and he found that every shot he took, even the blind ones, were hitting its mark. Even still, it was more trouble than he could take, each second he spent engaging drawing more and more soldiers to the aid of their comrades. Even now, his path to the _Phantom_ was being blocked off, soldiers gathered in a throng between him and his ship, and even if he _could_ clear so many out of the way, it was unlikely he could get to the ship before the freighter was destroyed by the other two ships in the convoy.

This is what he got for following _Sith Lords_.

The loud screech of a TIE Fighter's engines powered on, and Kanan could see the fighter rise above the others, hovering in the air as the sharp whine of its weapon systems powered on, and Kanan reached for his lightsaber. In a green flash, the TIE fired, and Kanan braced himself, only to find that the concentrated plasma bolts flew right over his head and landed right in the middle of the stormtroopers that stood to block his path. Quickly, he spared a moment to look back at the TIE, and through the transparent cockpit could see the helmet of a Mandalorian, a hand up as he quickly waved, and in a flash, the fighter rocketed out of the hangar, cannons blazing as Kenobi fired out into space.

Kanan quickly pushed the crate through the smoke and over the broken, bloodied bodies, the white armor splattered with red from the pieces that lay all around them, and the remaining troopers had no time to regroup before the Jedi made it to the _Phantom_ , unceremoniously pushing the crate up the ramp and into the small aisle of the transport. Slamming his hand upon the ramp controls, Kanan threw himself into the pilot's seat and quickly powered the ship on, activating the weapon systems as the hatch quickly slammed shut and locked. His hands on the controls, Kanan thrust the accelerator forward, the ship rising and launching from the hangar before any form of reenforcement could arrive.

When the _Phantom_ shot out of the ship, Kanan was met with an array of destruction, a vast array of burning debris and concentrated fire from the large, Imperial ships and the swarming TIE Fighters that seemed to fill space like insects. He hadn't seen such a thing since the Clone Wars, and while this was, at the end of the day, a _very_ small battle, it certainly didn't feel like it when he was part of the much, _much_ smaller force. As soon as he was away from the Imperial ship, Kanan joined the fray, opening fire with the _Phantom's_ modest cannons and shooting into the swarm of TIEs up ahead, striking one of them, the ship exploding into a ball of flames, and the other ships scattered before quickly forming up and chasing their new target.

Kanan banked laft hard, the small transport quickly changing directions, and the Jedi's jaw dropped as he looked upon the scene before him. The Imperial ship he had been on not five minutes ago was breaking apart as it was struck, debris flying everywhere as flames roared in like geysers out from the burning wreckage of the ship. One of the other ships already lay in ruin, and the third was remorselessly firing at its sister ship while surrounding TIE fighters swiftly evaded the wreckage as they chased the _Ghost_ and the _Umbra_ as they let loose upon the remaining ship. Suddenly, chaos broke out among the TIE Fighters, and the swarm disbursed as three of their number exploded, one of the fighters tearing away from the group, swiftly changing directions, and racing toward the others, green shots firing from its forward cannons at the Imperial fighters.

Kanan rolled his eyes, pressed the acceleration forward, and rushed to join his Sith companion in taking out the ships that were harassing the _Ghost_ and the _Umbra_. As he drew closer, shooting one of the TIEs that hung on the _Ghost_ 's tail, the shipboard com crackled to life, and Kanan smiled when he heard Hera's voice, a voice he would never grow tired of hearing.

"What took you so long!" she admonished, but Kanan could hear laughter in her voice, watched as she brought the ship into an upward spiral and swiftly dove, drawling close to the ship and firing the ship's torpedoes at the swiftly breaking hull. Between the _Ghost_ , the _Umbra_ , and stray fire from the TIEs, the ship was quickly breaking apart. Kanan followed a ways after her as soon as the TIE Fighters filed in behind her, picking them off one by one.

"Sorry, love," Kanan drawled. "Kenobi had a change of plans.

"Seems like an idiot risk to me," she mumbled, flying close to the massive Imperial freighter to discourage the TIEs from shooting at them. "But I'll say, that was some stunt you pulled. How did you turn the ship against the others?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Kanan muttered, pulling up on the yoke when the targeting system began blaring a warning. He was being targeted, his sensors indicating that he had five fighters on his tail. Cursing under his breath, he pulled further away into open space, giving him more room to maneuver the unwieldy _Phantom_.

The alarms suddenly ceased, the point on the scanned blinking away as one of the ships behind him exploded and a TIE fighter raced bast him, suddenly shot upwards to loop around, and swiftly dove, so fast that Kanan didn't have time to veer his own ship out of the way as the renegade fighter cut him off on its dive, and from underneath him, the TIE shot up under its brothers, the remainder of the ships following the _Phantom_ bursting into flames. Before him, the viewport was filled with bright, blinding light as the final Imperial ship exploded in a blaze of reds and oranges and yellows, the _Ghost_ and the _Umbra_ speeding away from the wreckage beside each other.

Kanan breathed a sigh of relief as the mission was accomplished, weeks of waiting finally paying off with the destruction of this important convoy, and as an added bonus, they had _recovered_ the rare kyber crystals instead of destroying them. Kanan had no idea what they were going to do with them, but it felt good to free them from the evil intent the Empire surely had for them. He brought the _Phantom_ in close to the _Ghost_ and prepared to dock with it, his eyes focused out the viewport as Hera brought him in, watching as the renegade TIE continued to flip and dive, quickly changing directions and corkscrewing out of danger, only to turn on its targets and destroy them, the final ship exploding into flames as it tried to escape.

"That Kenobi in there?" Hera asked over the com as the _Phantom_ was latched into place.

"Yeah. The show-off just can't keep his hands off other people's stuff."

"Hey, so long as it's the Empire's stuff and not mine, I'm not complaining." Hera whistled, low and long. "I'll tell you this, though. He's the best damn pilot I have _ever_ seen."

"... _oh, Kriffing Hell_!"


	8. The Admiral

_Chapter 8: The Admiral_

There was something stark, primitive and severe about the Mandalorians, something buried deep within their genetic makeup that made them peerless warriors, though not necessarily perfect soldiers, which was why the Kaminoan cloners had bred the Republic's clone army to be more docile than their vicious Mandalorian original. They were fierce, wildly independent, and despite the fact that they historically spent a great deal fighting each other, they all followed the same code, the same guideline for living, the same six principles that set them on the path of the warrior from their infancy. Even with the rise of the pacifist New Mandalorians in the years before the Clone Wars, and then with the rise of the Mandalorian Empire under the banner of peace and refined sophistication, Mandalore remained at its core a brutal and harsh warrior culture. It wasn't such an easy thing to fight against hundreds of thousands of years of tradition, a culture shaped by war and adversity and conquest.

This severe mentality was so ingrained in the Mandalorian psyche that it permeated everything about their culture, from their food and architecture to their government and religion and, perhaps most importantly to the discerning eyes of Admiral Thrawn, their art. The creative expression of their cultural identity documented in paintings and music and sculptures, all of it harsh and staccato, all of it done in sharp, impressionist lines, all of it built in clean, orderly cubism, the physical representation of the Mandalorian consciousness. It was a thing of beauty, one to be admired and respected, one that did what the Empire did long before the smooth, curving elegance of Republic sophistication and grace gave way to Imperial austerity which, perhaps, was in part the reason that the Mandalorians enjoyed such freedom under the Empire. They didn't need to be converted or changed. Theirs was the way of Imperial might from the start.

Thrawn looked up at the woman that sat upon the throne in the long, cold hall of Sundari Palace, a dark and suffocating place that hung with an air of oppression, an almost spiritual reminder of the horrid brutality that had happened in these halls over fifteen years ago. Moff Bo-Katan wasn't a _prisoner_ , not in the conventional sense. The Empire wouldn't allow such a thing, especially not with her close relationship with Grand Moff Tarkin. To Thrawn, that was acceptable. Encouraged, even, as treachery could be best rooted out were the source kept close, and in his estimation, there was _definitely_ something going on with the Moff of Mandalore. She may have been free of chains, but Bo-Katan Kryze was a prisoner of the Empire in all things, and based on her frosty disposition at the Chiss' presence, it was obvious that she knew it as well, and was reacting exactly as any Mandalorian would. With cold, bitter defiance.

Thrawn couldn't help but wonder if dealing with Bo-Katan's deceased, prodigious sister had been a different affair. Legend had a way of altering the facts, especially when the person in question was being viewed with living memory, a emotional thing that often got in the way of the truth. Satine had been said to be patient and peaceful, a woman of compromise and understanding, which severely contrasted her Mandalorian heritage. If that was true, such a woman could _never_ have united her warring people under a single banner, even if backed by the fabled Shadow King. Fear was not a motivator to the Mandalorians, and in all their history, they never once united behind a Mand'alor out of fear. The warring clans united only behind one who had _earned_ the coveted title. He couldn't help but wonder what it was that Satine Kryze had done to unite Mandalore when they had no business with unity after their bloody civil war. And what had Bo-Katan done to garner the same respect?

"I thank you for making the time to meet with me, Mand'alor Kryze," Thrawn said respectfully, watching with interest as the woman's green eyes narrowed, her hands on the arms of her throne clenching in anger.

"I did not _make the time_ ," Bo-Katan spat. "I was _obligated_." She flicked her hand dismissively in the air as if trying to get rid of something that clung to her. "Say what you came to say and begone. I have duties I must attend to."

"As do we all, Mand'alor," Thrawn said, bowing respectfully and straightening up, his hands clasped behind his back. "I arrived in your city earlier than scheduled and spent the better part of the morning in your art museum. I must confess, these past few years, the history of your people has become something of a fascination." A slight, excited smile spread across the Admiral's face, despite Bo-Katan's deepening frown. "An entire race of people, united in worship of a god of destruction, adversity and progress, ever in battle with a god of sloth and stagnation, later evolving into worshiping the act of war itself as _divine_."

"Is _this_ why you came to me, Admiral?" Bo-Katan asked, highly irritated to be kept from her work, but not angry because of the interest. "Did you simply come to wax romantic about Mandalore's glorious past? I hate to break it to you, but that time is _over_. We all serve the Empire now. The glory of Mandalore died with Satine and the Shadow King."

"The Resol'nare," Thrawn continued as if Bo-Katan hadn't spoken, "the tenants by which all true Mandalorians live. Six sacred laws to bring purpose and direction to your warrior people." He indicated to the walls, decorated with murals and reliefs out of Mandalore's history. "Wear armor, speak Mando'a, defend yourself and your family, raise your children as Mandalorians, contribute to your clan's welfare, obey the call of the Mand'alor..."

"Ni kar'taylir te Resol'nare, aruetii." _I know the Resol'nare, outsider._

Thrawn smirked, a soft chuckle on his breath as he looked at the woman. "Cuy' Ni an aruetii meh Ni kir'manir gar ara? Cuy' Ni Mando'a meh Ni urmankalar te vencuyot gar haa'taylir?"

Bo-Katan's jaw dropped. "...you speak Mando'a?" she asked softly, and the Chiss just smirked.

"As I said, I have been studying your culture for a few years now." He smiled. "I am a great admirer of your people, Mand'alor. Yours is a culture that breeds strength, from generation to generation, one that teaches the virtues of progress through adversity, one that cautions against the sloth and stagnation and weakness that peace brings. You are forged in the fires of battles and conflict." He stepped closer to the throne, the woman's awe quickly fading into caution. "Much like _another_ culture I have been studying as of late. Much like _the Sith_."

"My people have been allies of the Sith for thousands and thousands of years, Admiral," Bo-Katan said, her voice low and warning. "Our similar beliefs drew us together against the weakness of the Jedi time and time again."

"Until it didn't," Thrawn said softly. "Until your people broke with their ancient allies, a factor, no doubt, in the Sith's eventual extinction." He smirked knowingly. "Until your sister and her rogue Jedi rekindled that alliance. Until her Shadow King. Until _Obi-Wan Kenobi_."

"And now, _I_ uphold that alliance by integrating Mandalore into the Empire," Bo-Katan snarled. "Unless you have forgotten that Emperor Palpatine employs Sith to uphold the integrity of the Empire. Lord Vader, Maul, the Inquisitors, all Force sensitive beings in service to our Empire, all enemies of the traitorous Jedi, as we _all_ are."

"As Obi-Wan is," Thrawn said in his impassive voice. "Is he not a Sith Lord as well?"

"Careful, Thrawn..." Bo-Katan warned. "I dislike your tone, and you stand before the Mand'alor. I don't need the Death Watch to kill you, but they would be in here in a _moment_ were I to call. They are all a bit jumpy after we all had failed my sister so terribly."

Thrawn placatingly put up his hands. "I meant no offense, Mand'alor. I merely wish to glean what I can from you about this...Shadow King." He smiled softly. "Certainly he is of some concern to you."

"He isn't," Bo-Katan snapped. "I earned my place as Mand'alor. All true children of Mandalore follow _me_. Those that do not are dar'Manda." Thrawn nodded slowly. It was the worst thing a Mandalorian could be, a child born to Mandalore that had abandoned their culture, their heritage, and therefore had lost their soul. In this, he believed her. All Mandalorians _would_ follow fearless Bo-Katan. The question now was who would _Bo-Katan_ follow?

"And Obi-Wan-"

" _Obi-Wan is dead_!" she hissed, standing from her throne tall and proud and _furiously_ angry. Thrawn cooly met her gaze. Obi-Wan's death was one of the biggest secrets the Empire kept, and one that Kenobi himself seemed to embrace. As soon as his stand in had been publically and brutally executed, Kenobi changed tactics, going from mild, anonymous irritant to the destructive Shadow King, taking up the mantle he had once cast away. Thrawn could count on one hand the people within the Imperial command that knew about Kenobi's survival, and one of those was Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin. Given the rumors about the man's relationship to the Mandalorian firecracker, Thrawn felt it was likely that Bo-Katan knew as well, though it wasn't just because of that. Tarkin, it so happened, could keep a secret, and keep it well. There was no reason to believe that he would share such sensitive information with a lover, no matter how high up in the Imperial ranks she may be. _If_ the rumors were true, which Thrawn highly doubted.

No, he believed Bo-Katan knew because she was _there_ the night it rained Geonosians upon Coruscant, turning an Empire Day celebration into a horror. She saw the holoprojection of the smug, triumphant Obi-Wan, he had addressed her directly, and from the way she spoke, she _knew_ about his youthful appearance. She wouldn't have been fooled by the Empire's imitation.

"You don't believe that," Thrawn said softly in his eerie monotone, and Bo-Katan gave him a look that said in no uncertain terms that the Chiss was wrong. He drew back slightly. Had he somehow been mistaken?

"Obi-Wan is dead," she said again through clenched teeth. " _My_ Shadow King is dead, his spirit gone to join the Manda with my sister and his unborn son. That... _thing_ wearing Obi-Wan's armor is not the man I knew. He is _dar'Manda_." She growled deeply, and he could see her anger swiftly rising. "No, he is _worse_ than that. He is a _shell_ , a soulless vessel. His spirit left to be with his family, but his body remained as a tool of vengeance. He is destruction without purpose. Nothing more." Her face fell, and she slunk back into her throne. "Nothing of who he was is left. Satine took that all with her to the Manda when she was slain."

"And this... _new_ Shadow King?" Thrawn quietly asked, and the woman slowly shook her head.

"I know nothing about him," she muttered under her breath. "But if I had to guess, I'd say it's Kenobi. Everything he's done feels like his hand."

"I arrived at the same conclusion." He took a step closer to the throne when he saw the Mand'alor's previous anger and irritation was gone, but without it, she looked no less imposing, no less regal than she had when fueled by anger. Thrawn was beginning to have an idea why the warrior Mandalorians followed her, even when she gave up their independence to join the Empire. "That puts you in a unique position. There are very few left in this galaxy that knew him personally. Our interrogation of the Jedi Master Luminara Unduli yielded nothing on the matter."

"And I'm afraid _this_ interrogation will give you similar results," Bo-Katan said swiftly. "I never saw much of Obi-Wan. He was here for my sister, not for me, and as soon as she was gone, he never came back." Her face hardened considerably. "We _needed_ him. Our Empire had fallen, our Mand'alor was dead, we had adopted him into our culture, our way of life. He was _Mandalorian_." She scoffed bitterly. "And he left us. He used our armies to exact revenge against those that killed Satine, and when his revenge was complete, he threw us away. I became Mand'alor because I _had to_. It should have been Obi-Wan."

"And now, he has returned," Thrawn said softly. "The Shadow King, risen once again with the promise to call Mandalore to his side soon enough." Thrawn took a few of the steps, drawing closer to the woman. "Tell me, Moff Bo-Katan. What will your people do? Which Mand'alor will they follow? And what will _you_ do when Obi-Wan calls upon you to stand by his side?"

"I am Mand'alor," she said firmly. "All true Mandalorians will follow me, but there will be those that leave to join the Shadow King." She shrugged. "I doubt it will matter much. His forces will not be enough, not to stand against the might of the Empire."

"Even if he had all the might of Mand'alor, the Shadow King will fail," Thrawn said softly. "Emperor Palpatine believes we can crush any opposition through strength in number alone."

"And what do you believe?" Bo-Katan asked, a slight smirk on her lips that Thrawn returned.

"I believe he is correct," he said, folding his hands behind his back. "The Mandalorians alone could not achieve victory against the Empire, were they to rise against us, even with a powerful leader at their head. However..." he said slowly, measuring his words carefully. "As you Mandalorians say, haatyc or'arue jate'shya ori'sol aru'ike nuhaatyc. Better one big enemy you can see than many small ones you cannot. This Shadow King seems to be something of a master at being small and unseen. Were he to have an army, casualties would be _very_ high, and his defeat would come at a very high cost."

"But you believe he can be defeated?"

A slight smile tugged at the corner of Thrawn's mouth as he looked at this woman, the sister of the departed Satine, the last of the family that Kenobi had left. She needed to be kept under close watch, her every action suspect, her loyalty tested, but not by him, and not now. To Thrawn, it was irrelevant. What mattered was that _Kenobi_ would come for her, as he came for all those he once called close, all those he held dear, and he would certainly come for the little sister of his Duchess, and he would come for her soon. Thrawn would make certain of it. "No man is without weakness, Mand'alor Bo-Katan. Not even Obi-Wan Kenobi."

Bo-Katan began speaking but was quickly cut off by a sharp notification chime from Thrawn's belt, and the Chiss swiftly snatched a datapad from the back of his belt, a slight frown on his face as he read it and, quickly concluding, nodded and smiled slightly, his red eyed gaze returning to Bo-Katan. "Tell me, Mand'alor, what do you know about the recent rebel insurgency near the Outer Rim world of Lothal?"

"Nothing," she said swiftly. "You'll have to ask Wilhuff, the Outer Rim is his territory." Thrawn's faint smile grew wider. A first name basis bespoke of familiarity, and to use it so casually in front of an inferior was telling. A slip, even, judging from the woman's near imperceptible grimace. She may well be a secret traitor to the Empire, but her closeness with Grand Moff Tarkin was undeniable. Everyone was suspect, and not even Governor Tarkin was safe from investigation. If there was anything there, in time, Thrawn would find it. But the situation _was_ a delicate one, the Mandalorians a possible crisis waiting to happen. Bo-Katan's safety needed to be guaranteed. If she was lost, no doubt the entire sector would fly to the Shadow King, and if given too much leash, it seemed just as likely that Bo-Katan would join Kenobi as well. She needed to be kept under a tight guard, as Tarkin had been doing for the past years. It was good work, even if his actions were motivated by different things.

"Perhaps I will," he mused, bowing slightly as he backed away from the woman. "I fear duty calls me away, though I do hope that we may meet again soon. In a less formal setting, perhaps. To learn about the Mandalorians from the Mand'alor herself would be a great honor." He smiled slightly. "I believe our Empire could benefit greatly by adopting some of your practices, most notably those of inclusion and adoption."

Bo-Katan looked him over carefully, taking in his blue skin and eerie red eyes on otherwise human features. A Chiss. She had hardly noticed before how rare, how unusual it was to be speaking to an Imperial soldier that wasn't human, and that he held rank was...unheard of, and a very high rank, no less. It wasn't like that on Mandalore. Their culture adopted anyone that adhered to and embraced their laws and customs, and after the Clone Wars, her own work with Bail Organa's relief organization and Kenobi's conquest of Hutt Space for his adoptive people, Mandalore found itself flooded with hundreds of different species, refugees and war orphans desperate for a new home. They found one in Mandalore, and they had become some of the nation's greatest supporters and most fervent warriors.

Race amounted to nothing. They were Mandalorian, or they were not, and where they came from was ultimately irrelevant. Bo-Katan's current top three commanders of Death Watch attested to the diversity of her people, and consisted of an unaltered clone of the Mandalorian Jango Fett, born in a tube and raised on Kamino, an avian Rishii, and an aquatic, shark-like Karkarodon. Of the three, two of those were Force sensitive, among the older of the younglings that had been smuggled out of the Jedi Temple the night of the slaughter. It was no wonder Thrawn admired Mandalore. He was forced to exist in a galaxy where humans were considered superior in all things, which made his position all the more impressive. His talent must have been so apparent that not even Palpatine could pass him by.

"I imagine it's difficult being the only non-human in Imperial command," Bo-Katan said, and a slight, sly smile crossed Thrawn's lips. "With the way the Empire treats non-humans, it's a wonder you aren't manning a trash compactor somewhere."

"I believe that in every system, the exceptional and the extraordinary will rise to the top, but within the Empire, yes, one must be beyond exceptional if they have not the privilege of being human. I care about performance and results. Nothing more." Bo-Katan scoffed.

"With views like that, it's a wonder you didn't join us here on Mandalore."

"And Mandalore is a pert of the Empire." He smiled faintly. "And I believe in the vision of an Empire. There are millions of species in this galaxy of ours, with millions of viewpoints, all informed by their own cultural understanding and philosophies. It's too vast, too diverse to hold power together for long. A single ruler must be wise enough to adopt ideas and methods from all its allies, from all the species that make up the Empire. But there _must_ be a single voice, or there is only chaos." He chuckled softly. "A vast, diverse people, all following the will of a single mind. Mandalorian diversity and pride under the united banner of our Empire. I cannot imagine greater strength."

"You would have liked my sister." Thrawn bowed his head.

"A multitude breeds discourse," Thrawn said. "Mand'alor Satine said that in one of her more famous addresses, I believe."Bo-Katan slowly nodded. "You're right. I would have liked her. Another time, perhaps, I should like to discuss it."

"Oh, I should _very_ much like that." With a respectful bow, Thrawn turned to leave the throne room. Bo-Katan Kryze may have been serving the Empire for over fifteen years, but Thrawn would wager his command ship and his rank that the Mand'alor was in league with the Shadow King. It was the only thing that made sense. With her sister held by her in such high regard, no Mandalorian would ever decry her beloved Satine's lover and father of her child as dar'Manda, not after he had avenged their Empress and delivered them a new Empire when their old one collapsed.

The situation was a dangerous one, but since Kenobi _hadn't_ acted, only made his presence known, had promised to call, but had not yet demanded it of Mandalore, it was very likely that he was waiting for something, and wouldn't act for some time. Certainly not within the few months it would take to entrap Bo-Katan to lure him out. It was bait that Thrawn _knew_ Kenobi would take. Both codes he followed demanded it, and his actions to save Luminara confirmed it. Now it was just a matter of setting a trap that the Force sensitive Obi-Wan could not escape from.

No sooner had he left the throne room did Thrawn see Grand Moff Tarkin swiftly striding toward him and the Chiss very respectfully inclined his head. The man _was_ his superior, after all, and alongside Darth Vader, stood at the Emperor's right hand. He suspected that it was possible the man was cross with him for having the gall to demand a private audience with the woman the Moff seemed to covet. He had grown used to defending his actions against military equals and superiors, though there were few that stood above him now, his rank seemed to hold less influence because of his race. It didn't bother him much. In time, he would rise above even them, and when he did, he would show them how a true superior conducted themselves.

He wasn't elevated simply by the power of his ambition or political prowess because he _couldn't_ have that kind of influence in the human-centric environment of Coruscant. He was elevated because he was _good_ , because he wasn't too proud to accept and use ideas from others simply because they weren't his, because he was smart enough to know when to push for victory, or when one could glean more information from an enemy in a strategic retreat. The Emperor recognized this personally, and for it, he was rewarded, and would be again after he proved his worth yet again against Kenobi and his allies.

To his surprise, Tarkin _wasn't_ angry, cross, or even slightly standoffish. He was simply curious, a slight nervous energy surrounding him. Concern for the extremely valuable Mand'alor, no doubt, though Thrawn suspected it was far more than just the protection of an asset.

"How goes your investigation, Admiral?" Tarkin asked, his hands folded tightly behind his back, his shoulders tense. "Was Moff Kryze of use to you?"

"She was _very_ helpful, yes," he said softly. "I should like to meet with her again at a later date. Duty calls me away to the Outer Rim, a supply convoy carrying materials I have tagged as high risk has been destroyed."

"The shipment to Eadu, yes," Tarkin nearly growled. "I just got the message myself. I was unaware that you were watching it," he said suspiciously, almost an accusation, and Thrawn nodded his head.

"Because of the shipment of kyber crystals," Thrawn explained. "Kenobi has attacked convoys in the past carrying the material, and I'm given to understand that Force sensitive beings hold them in _very_ high esteem. All shipments of kyber crystals are being tracked using homing beacons built into the crates they are transported in, activated upon diversions from their set course in the event they are stolen."

"You believe the shipment was _stolen_?" Tarkin asked, and the Chiss nodded.

"I know it was. The beacon wasn't destroyed with the convoy, it was activated."

"And you believe Kenobi is involved?"

"I must investigate the scene of the attack, but I strongly suspect so." He drew closer to the Moff. "Sir, were I you, I would keep a _very_ close eye on Moff Kryze." Beside him, the already tense Tarkin became considerably more stressed. "With the mess at the Spire involving Luminara Unduli, it seems _very_ likely that Kenobi will be coming for Bo-Katan next. I do believe he has made threats against her, and his personal connection to her makes her a very likely target." Tarkin paled considerably, but kept his composure as he nodded.

"I'll take that under advisement, Admiral. Thank you." Thrawn nodded and moved to leave, but Tarkin's hand shot out to lay on his shoulder. "Do keep me appraised of your investigation. The sooner we end Kenobi, the sooner the Empire can be stabilized. He is a rebel element inspiring other rebels to rise up. He needs to be brought to heel and made an example of."

"I'll do just that, Governor Tarkin." Thrawn smiled, a small, soft, sinister thing. "Mark my word, I will succeed."

* * *

Thrawn stood on the bridge of his Star Destroyer, _Chimera_ , his red eyes slowly roving over the wreckage of the convoy. There was no excuse for this. Three heavily armed cruisers serving as transports should never have succumbed to an attack like this without calling for reenforcements of some kind. There had been no call, no distress signal, no _nothing_. Whatever had happened, it had happened fast, and it had been unexpected, and since this particular convoy was traveling through deep space, anything picked up on their scanners should have been cause for alarm. It meant, most likely, that the convoy wasn't alerted to the presence of the attackers, which could only mean one thing. It was a stealth ship, and in the galaxy, there were very few of those around.

The _Umbra_ was by far the best of them, and while Kenobi was something of an ace pilot, even with such a remarkable ship, the Sith Lord shouldn't have been able to take down three ships on his own. He must have had help, or he had somehow managed to turn the ships against each other, as he did have a history of shipjacking. How it was done, ultimately, was irrelevant. What mattered most was discerning if the Sith Lord had help, and if he did, from where was this help coming from? Thrawn had the good fortune of running across another investigation team at the site of the battle, and though it was initially difficult to get the Imperial agent to submit to his authority, he had eventually convinced the TIE Advanced to set down within the _Chimera's_ docking bay.

The bridge doors opened with a hiss, but Thrawn did not turn to look at the newcomer. He didn't need to. He already knew who it was.

"Admiral Thrawn," the Grand Inquisitor said softly as he approached, coming to stand beside the Chiss at the viewport. "You should have told your communications officer that it was you that requested my presence. I would have come right away."

"I find I discover the measure of a man faster when they speak to those beneath them." Thrawn didn't wait for the Inquisitor to respond to the obvious insult. "What brings you all the way out here, Inquisitor?"

"The same thing as you, I suspect," The Inquisitor said. "Kyber crystals hold great significance to those with sensitivity to the Force. ISB Agent Kallus believes this is the work of his Lothal insurgents."

"Interesting..." Thrawn quietly mused. "Why would he believe this?"

"An Imperial decoder containing information on the shipment was stolen out of his office. Given that he was dispatched to Lothal to deal with a growing rebel problem, it seems a reasonable conclusion, especially since he recognized one of the insurgents as a part of the group he is dealing with."

"And you believe his conclusion?" The Inquisitor was quiet for a moment.

"My Masters believe Kenobi is involved."

"But what do _you_ believe, Inquisitor?" When the Inquisitor looked at Thrawn like he was confused by the question, the Chiss huffed in mild irritation. "If I wanted Lord Vader's opinion, I would ask him. I _did_ ask him, and he was most unhelpful. Furthermore, he isn't out here managing this matter as you are. Your observations based solely on your familiarity with the case make your opinions more valuable."

"...I think it's both," The Inquisitor said firmly, a faint, low growl coming from his chest as he withdrew a datapad from his belt. "I _know_ it was him." He swiped his finger across the screen. "This is the file we have on record for Imperial Cadet Dav Morgan, of the Lothal Academy." He handed the datapad to Thrawn and the Admiral curiously took it, took one quick glance at the screen and hissed. "Look familiar?"

"The boy from the Spire," Thrawn said. "The boy with the Jedi."

"The boy is Force sensitive himself," the Inquisitor said, clearly pleased. "A Jedi and his Padawan. Such a rare thing these days. These two are absolutely a part of the rebel cell active on Lothal."

"And Kenobi showed up soon after them to rescue Luminara." Thrawn stroked his chin as he looked out at the wreckage of the Imperial cruisers. "He does not usually work with others, not like this. It would seem to me that Luminara's presence simply drew in nearby Force sensitive individuals."

"That is _exactly_ what happened."

Thrawn scoffed. "It's a shame that we could not keep hold of her body. If even a dead Jedi can exert such influence, we could have put her corpse to use for the Empire." With one last look, he turned away from the viewport and returned to his command chair. "I doubt Kenobi was allied with the Jedi at the Spire, but if he didn't know them before, that's where he was introduced, and they are _certainly_ working together now. You're correct, Inquisitor. This was a joint effort. Your young Jedi learner stole the codes and passed them on to his rebel friends and Kenobi, and our Sith Lord worked together with your insurgents to steal the kyber crystals and destroy the cruisers."

"Are you certain the crystals were stolen?" the Inquisitor asked, and the Chiss nodded firmly.

"Certain, yes. Each individual crate of kyber crystals has been equipt with a homing beacon, and this one is active." He smiled faintly as he punched in coordinates into the console on the arm of his command chair and sent them to the navigation officer. "And this one is leading us to Bahryn, a moon of Geonosis."

"You think we'll find Kenobi there?" the Inquisitor asked, and Thrawn shrugged.

"Perhaps. Perhaps not. Regardless of what we find, the kyber shipment ended up here, and no matter what we find, we will learn something about our enemy." The Chiss smiled faintly. "Since you're here, care to hunt a Lord of the Sith?"

"I do, yes," the Inquisitor said, his voice low and dark. "To think that the death of a single Jedi would be his undoing."

" _His_ undoing?" a bitter voice snarled from behind them, and both men quickly turned around, Thrawn's red eyes narrowing as he studied the man slowly walking across the bridge, and Inquisitor tensing and swiftly dropping to his knees in genuflection. Another Force sensitive, one that Thrawn had limited contact with, a man simply known as Maul. He understood that the Zabrak now was jointly in charge of the Inquisitorius alongside Vader, but before his current role within the Empire, he was _far_ more interesting. The last Nightbrother in the galaxy, the sole survivor of a silent massacre of the natives of Dathomir, an act that would stand as Obi-Wan Kenobi's first genocide.

It was a difficult thing to uncover, but in his search for understanding, Thrawn had found that Kenobi had crossed paths with not one but _two_ children of Dathomir. Maul, the Sith apprentice he had triumphed over on Naboo, and Asajj Ventress, assassin, bounty hunter, Separatist commander, and close friend to Kenobi. After that, it became a matter of piecing together what had happened to Ventress, and in doing so, he had found a planet scattered in the corpses of the people that once lived upon it. A perfect genocide that left the planet feeling poisonous.

But more than that, Maul was the man that had murdered Satine Kryze, the man that toppled an Empire, the man that caused the events that would lead to the burning of Ord Mantell. He had tried to get to Maul before, as the man was an important, vital piece to the puzzle that was Obi-Wan Kenobi, but he had been unable, kept close to the Emperor and safely tucked out of the way, though for what reasons, Thrawn didn't know. He knew he was capable and dangerous, not unlike Lord Vader himself, but while Vader employed raw, brute strength to strike fear into those that would oppose the Empire, it was possible that Maul served as his shadow, his counterpart, the silent assassin that managed things that needed to be done quietly.

"You think Luminara's death will be _his undoing_?" Maul asked again, and the Inquisitor looked up at the Zabrak with wide, confused eyes. Maul quickly looked to Thrawn, studied him intently for a moment, then flicked his hand in the air. "Take your ship to lightspeed, Admiral. Let's see if this road leads to Master..." He snarled viciously and shook his head, his hands pulling at his cranial horns. "Kenobi, _Kenobi_!"

Never taking his eyes off the Zabrak, Thrawn leaned back in his chair and steepled his hands together, watching with interest as the Zabrak began to pace before the kneeling Inquisitor, his feet hitting the ground with the loud, metallic clang of mechanical legs. "Do as he says," Thrawn quietly commanded, and a moment later, the _Chimera_ bolted into hyperspace, the engines thrumming with the sound of the engaged hyperdrive, the viewport filled with blue and white streaks.

"I felt it," Maul said softly after a long silence, his furious pacing slowed considerably. "His anguish in the Force, a wide, deep black void of darkness that opened up and threatened to consume _everything_. _Right here_..." he whispered, pointing to his temple. "I felt it _here_. You killed someone close to him _Grand Inquisitor_ , and not just anyone, but a lover, someone he deeply cared about." He began laughing manically, a bright, frantic amusement on his face. "And _he knows_. He knows it was you, Master _always knows_..."

"Are you speaking of Obi-Wan Kenobi?" Thrawn asked softly, and Maul _shivered_ , a keening whimper on his throat as he exhaled. The Inquisitor couldn't look away from the Zabrak, a man far more powerful than him reduced to nothing at the mere mention of the Sith Lord's name. "Was he your Master once?"

"He's my Master _always_..." Maul said in a breathless whimper. "He was _always_ my Master, always...before I knew it, before I felt his darkness in the Force, before I murdered the woman that kept him human..." He laughed softly and looked the Inquisitor in the eye. "And now, he's after _you_." He flashed the pale man a smile. "Shall I tell you what he's going to do to you? Do you want to know what happens to those that take his things from him?"

"Master, please, I-"

"He's not going to kill you," Maul interrupted, and the Inquisitor fell silent, his eyes fixed on the ground. "He doesn't kill his things. But he _will_ break you. Over and over again until there's nothing left inside you to break. And then he'll rebuild you the way he wants and begin again." Maul rubbed at the scars on his hand, a nervous laugh on his lips. "He'll destroy you _just_ to watch you break, over and over and _over again_ , and you'll _want it_. You'll ask for it because there will be nothing left for you but the desire to make him happy so the pain might stop..."

"Is that what he did to you?" Thrawn asked, and furious yellow eyes shot to the Chiss, darting erratically over his features as he observed him. His lips curled up into a sneer of disdain, but Thrawn was not bothered.

"He gave me to his rancor," Maul said, his voice almost wistful. "Not as a meal, as a _toy_. He mangled my legs so badly that the metal from them would tear into my body. He used me as bait to entrap my own mother, and he had me carry her severed head all the way back to Mustafar..." Maul shivered, and he wrung his hands together in an attempt to keep them from shaking. "He expected me to _ask_ to be tortured, and if I didn't, it would be _far_ worse. He liked begging, but it _never_ worked..." He smiled brightly as he looked at the Inquisitor at his feet, and Maul laid a hand upon his head. "And now, my student, he's after _you_."

"We will kill him first!" The Inquisitor snarled, but Maul simply laughed.

"There is no escape, not now, not for you. Would you care for my advice?" he asked sweetly, and the Inquisitor met his gaze, his eyes betraying a deep, pervasive fear. Maul leaned down close to him. "If he captures you, if he defeats you, if it looks like there's no escape...take your own life. End it all." He smiled and stroked his cheek. "Death is far kinder, and Master will _never_ give it to you..." Maul's face hardened, anger and hate and disgust settling back onto his tattooed face. "Let's go find him, shall we?"

They traveled the rest of the way in silence, the Inquisitor in meditation, and Thrawn on his seat as he watched Maul pace, back and forth like a predatory beast, alternating between collected calm and manic laughter. He had known Kenobi was a mental manipulator, but _this_ was on a level that Thrawn hadn't anticipated. This wasn't simple revenge, this was a living, breathing reminder to _anyone_ that would oppose him. A creature of power, reduced to _nothing_ by the mere mention of his name. It was a powerful message, and one that spoke of a man that understood that death was only effective for a short time, but a living reminder of _why_ he wasn't to be opposed would last as a chilling, haunting memory to all those that saw what could be done to a man. As Maul had said, death was ultimately kinder.

When they exited hyperspace outside of Geonosis, the three men and a compliment of Thrawn's best stormtroopers boarded the shuttle that would take them to the ice moon of Bahryn, the ship headed right toward the signal from the beacon, the ship landing outside of a shallow cave, and the group disembarked, stepping against the whipping winds as they made their way into the small rock formation, the scanner in hand beeping faster and faster as they drew near. It took only a few minutes to find the crate, and two stormtroopers quickly unpacked devices to scan for bombs, traps, and anything else that could have been hidden inside. They found nothing, and when thay had given the sign that it was clear, Thrawn slowly approached the crate. He slid off the lid and found... _nothing_.

The kyber crystals were gone, the crate empty save for a small, folded piece of paper. The Inquisitor looked nervously over his shoulder as Thrawn leaned down to get it, and he reached out with the Force, trying to sense anybody in the area, though he knew that if Kenobi was there, he wouldn't have been able to feel him anyway.

Thrawn carefully unfolded the paper, quickly read it, shut his eyes, then read it again. The first time, he was simply confused. The second time, he smiled softly, and the third time, he began to laugh, shaking his head as he walked toward the Inquisitor and handed him the paper. On the paper was a sloping, elegant scrawl and three words that made a pit sink in his stomach. He didn;t know how Thrawn could find this funny, because it _definitely_ wasn't."

 _Your move, Thrawn_.

"You know, the more I get to know Obi-Wan Kenobi, the more I like him," Thrawn drawled, laughter still in his voice. "I shall have to make certain that we meet _very_ soon." This was a game. Not just any game, but a game of strategy, and it turned out that Kenobi played _very_ well. Thrawn could feel his lead on the Sith Lord began to lessen, and he felt... _thrilled_. It was exhilarating to be engaged with an opponent like this, both calculating and intelligent with a keen mind for tactical thinking. It was an opponent worthy of him, and Thrawn would _not_ disappoint, just as Kenobi hadn't. Before he killed him, Thrawn vowed to have a real converastion with the man. He deserved that much.

"And how do you propose to do that?" the Inquisitor snapped, watching Maul out of the corner of his eyes as the Zabrak laughed uncontrollably. His investment in seeing Kenobi killed had suddenly become very, _very_ personal.

"Oh, that is simple enough, we have _lots_ of ways," Thrawn said dismissively, turning toward the mouth of the cave and beginning the trek back to the shuttle. "And even better is that he now is associated with your rebel cell. All he's done is given us more targets." He indicated with his hand for them to follow, and the Inquisitor fell into step next to the Admiral. "Come. You have rebels to kill, and I have a trap to set. It is my move, after all."


	9. Meditations

**AN:** **Alright, this chapter was going to be way different, but this is where the Force led me, I guess, and I really like where it's going. The chapter I intended to write will go up tomorrow or Monday. I was thinking of making this chapter super long, but it actually broke here pretty nicely, so two chapters it is. Enjoy, lovelies!**

 _Chapter 9: Meditations_

Hera sighed as she docked the _Phantom_ back on its rear position on the _Ghost_ , running the landing checks as she powered the ship down and watching as Ezra and Sabine left the small transport for the bigger ship. Ezra was chatting happily about their _very_ close call with a squadron of TIE fighters, waxing almost romantic about Hera's stellar piloting skills to a much more sullen Sabine. The Mandalorian was _not_ happy, and Hera understood why. The mission was _far_ messier than their intel indicated, what had been happening quite a bit, and the skeptical, mistrusting Mandalorian was beginning to severely question the source. It didn't help either that Hera wasn't sharing anything about Fulcrum.

Not that Hera herself knew anything about Fulcrum, not really, but what she did know was strictly confidential, served up on a need to know basis, and of the _Ghost_ crew, Hera was the only one that needed to know. Fulcrum was a pert of something larger, something far bigger than themselves. Something that Hera would give her life for without question. Fulcrum provided the missions and Hera carried them out. It was the best way she could help the growing rebellion. The _only_ way she could help. Her crew trusted her, and she trusted Fulcrum, and for Kanan, the fact that Hera trusted the source was good enough for him, and Hera knew that Ezra and Zeb felt the same. Anything at all to stick it to the Empire.

Sabine wasn't having _any_ of it.

"All I'm saying is that I was told not to ask questions at the Imperial academy, and that's _exactly_ what you're telling me now! I didn't end up here to blindly follow orders!" Sabine snapped at Kanan as Hera climbed down the ladder from the _Phantom_ 's perch.

"If Hera trusts the contact, _I_ trust the contact," Kanan said firmly, turning to look at Hera as she approached and smiling brightly. "Bit of trouble out there?"

"Yeah, I scraped the hull of the _Phantom_ trying to get away from those TIE fighters!" Kanan drew back, his eyes wide as he gasped, and he clutched at his chest.

" _You_?!" he said, completely shocked. " _You_ scraped the ship?!"

"It was unavoidable!" Hera said defensively, a sly smile on her face as she drew closer to the Jedi and ran a hand down his cheek. "Once _your_ plan went south..."

"Oh, of course!" Kanan said, smacking his forehead. "I _knew_ there was a way that this was somehow my fault."

"And you'd be right about that, dear..." she said, smiling as she saw Chopper wheel in from the back, beeping excitedly about something or other, and she turned to Sabine, the Mandalorian's face hard and her arms crossed over her chest. "I'm sorry, Sabine. This information is need to know."

"And I _need to know_!" the Mandalorian insisted. "If we're out there risking our lives, I need to know what it's for! It's _great_ that we're inconveniencing the Empire, but I'm not going to die for something that will amount to nothing!" She pointed an accusing finger at Hera. "I need to meet this Fulcrum. No more secrets, I need to know who I'm fighting for!"

"Trouble in paradise?" asked a smooth, accented clip, and they all turned to see Obi-Wan walk casually out of the docking bay doors, Sabine tensing immediately and suddenly _very_ nervous. Kanan groaned loudly.

"Well, there _wasn't_ trouble," the Jedi muttered. "Then you showed up..." Kenobi smiled faintly and bowed his head.

"Always happy to be of service."

"When did you even dock!" Hera asked quickly. "I didn't allow this!"

"Oh, your droid let me on!" Kenobi chirped, pointing to Chopper, the outdated astromech looking between the Sith and the Twi'lek. "I don't usually like droids, but this little scrap heap is _wonderfully_ abrasive."

"...wait, _Chopper_ let you on?!" Hera said in astonishment, looking at the droid. Chopper looked back in what could only be described as apprehension and a fair bit of defiance. "Chopper, you don't like _anyone_ , has he messed with your circuits?" Chopper let loose with a string of indignant mechanical grunts and whirs, and Hera gasped, smacking the top of his flat, round head. "Just because he's a Separatist doesn't mean he has an ample amount of droid appreciation!"

"Oooh, we're just going to let it keep thinking that..." Kenobi drawled.

"We most certainly are not!" Hera said forcefully, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at Ezra as he slowly scooted closer to the Sith Lord. He was _interested_ , and given Kenobi's inclinations, neither Hera nor Kanan wanted Ezra to have anything to do with the man, at least not until they better understood his intentions. Like Hera, Kenobi kept _a lot_ of secrets. "Zeb, Ezra," Hera quickly barked when it looked like the young Jedi hopeful would begin pestering the Sith about the frankly stunning powers he possessed. "You two go with Chopper and run repairs and a diagnostic on the _Phantom_. The steering's off, it needs to be adjusted, and if there are other problems, I want them found. I'll be taking it out soon to pick up a shipment for Fulcrum."

Sabine began _seething_. "Fulcrum again..." she growled to nobody in particular, but she caught the attention of the Shadow King, ever in tune with his Mandalorian brethren. Groaning, Zeb and Ezra dragged their feet to the ladder and ascended to the upper level, disappearing behind the doors where they would head up again into the _Phantom_ so they could conduct repairs. It left Kanan and Hera standing awkwardly with an very angry Sabine and a profoundly amused Kenobi, the Sith Lord keeping his silence and observing the trio.

"I'm done taking orders," Sabine said firmly. "So let me tell you what's going to happen. I'm going with you on this pickup so I can meet this _Fulcrum_."

"Sabine..." Hera sighed. "This is a matter of keeping our crew _safe_. If any of us are captured and we know too much-"

"Wait, you think I'd _talk_?!" Sabine gasped in disbelief. "Do you really trust me so little?"

" _No_ , but I think the Empire has ways of making _anyone_ talk," Hera sighed watching the Mandalorian as a whole mess of emotions played across her face.

Before she could respond, Kenobi quietly said, "Syndulla is correct. The only way to maintain a level of safety for the rest of the crew is for everyone to know only the bare minimum. Syndulla is your link to Fulcrum. That is enough."

"I _wouldn't_ talk!" Sabine insisted. "I want to be part of something larger. I _know_ what the Empire can do, I-"

"Shall we run a test?" Obi-Wan asked softly, his golden eyes seeming to glow with amusement and cruelty, and Kanan quickly put his hand on Sabine's shoulder and moved next to her defensively. "I'll put you under interrogation. You see how long you can keep your information to yourself."

"Kenobi," Kanan warned, "she's-"

"You're on," Sabine said quickly. "I'll show you what a true Mandalorian is made of, Shadow King." Obi-Wan grinned wickedly and sat upon the rounded couch, gesturing for Sabine to sit opposite him, which she eagerly did, excited to have the chance to prove herself to this man, the true Mand'alor of her people, so far as she was concerned.

"Tell me no truths," he said softly, smiling at the girl, keeping an eye on Kanan as he fretted beside Hera. "Say nothing, lie to me, it matters not." Sabine drew up taller, her head held high and a cocky smirk on her face. "Your name?" Kenobi asked, and Sabine said nothing. "Planet of birth?" Again, nothing. "Family? Who do you fight for? What is your rebel call sign? The names of your crew. Where are the rebels based out of? Do you count Jedi among your rank?" He leaned in closer to the silent girl. "Who is Fulcrum?"

"I'm not telling you anything, so you may as well stop," Sabine said proudly, and Kenobi gently inclined his head and extended his hand, his fingers splayed.

"Your name."

"Sabine Wren," she said without delay, her eyes widening as she realized what she had said and her hands flying to clamp over her mouth. There was a smirk on Kenobi's face, but the amusement in his eyes was gone, replaced with a burning, searing malice that Sabine couldn't look away from, even as she felt herself burning under the fiery gaze.

"Planet of birth?" Kenobi asked softly, his voice cold and emotionless, and for just a moment, Sabine shivered, her breath held and her face turning red, her arms shaking as she resisted against something nobody could see.

"Krownest," Sabine gasped, her hands slipping from her mouth and the words rolling unbidden off her tongue.

"Kenobi, stop, your point is made!" Kanan growled, and Obi-Wan held up a hand, silencing the Jedi.

"Are there Jedi in your rebel cell, Spectre Five?" Kenobi asked, and Sabine absently nodded.

"Two," she said, her voice quivering. "Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger."

" _Fulcrum_ ," Kenobi growled dangerously. " _Who is it_?"

"I-I don't know!" She said, frantic and shaking, and with a soft smile, Kenobi dropped his hand, Sabine inhaling sharply as she was released, her hands grasping her head as she shook it to clear the feeling in her mind. Hera put a hand on the girl's shaking shoulder and shot Kenobi a cautious, grateful smile.

"The Empire," Obi-Wan said softly, "employs those that can do as I do. Perhaps not as swiftly, but they can read a heart like a book, and will have no compunction about breaking a mind to get what they need." He smiled at her gently, reached out and cupped her cheek with his hand. "Vaabir gar suvarir, ner kih Mando?" She looked at him with respect and understanding and not a little fear of the power she was just subject to, and he stood, brushed her hair back and kissed her forehead, a faint blush coming to her cheeks, and Kanan was _so glad_ that Ezra wasn't there to see it. He would have freaked out.

"Well," Kenobi lazily drawled. "You need information on your pickup, yes, Syndulla?" The Twi'lek nodded. "Good!" he chirped, rocking back on his heels. "Let's call Fulcrum."

"W-what, now?" Hera stuttered, and the Sith Lord nodded. "You just-"

"I need to speak with Fulcrum anyway," he quickly dismissed, "and our mutual friend is too smart to say anything to compromise themself." He flicked his wrist in the air. "Contact Fulcrum. Your Mandalorian needs reassurance. I suggest you give it to her." With a sigh, Hera motioned for them to follow her, and they slowly filed behind her and made their way to the cockpit, Sabine walking reverently behind the Sith Lord.

"Do you really have a horned helmet?" Sabine asked when she got up the nerve, and with a soft chuckle, Kenobi nodded.

"It's in my ship. Perhaps next time, I'll show you." Sabine grinned, offering the Sith her seat as they entered the cockpit, and he quickly waved her off, sitting instead in the seat behind Hera as Sabine took her own painted chair behind Kanan. "Who does this make me?" Obi-Wan asked Sabine, indicating to the chair he was siting in as Hera punched in the encryption to contact Fulcrum. Sabine leaned over and smirked.

"Garazeb Orrelios..."

"...what, the cat?!" Sabine laughed and shook her head as Kenobi grumbled. "I chose the wrong seat, no wonder it smells...hey, is it too late to accept the offer of _your_ seat?" Sabine nodded.

"Oh yeah. Way too late."

The com burst with static, and a moment later, a heavily modulated, male voice said, "This is Fulcrum, come in."

"This is Spectre Two, Fulcrum," Hera said, peering out of the Corner of her eye as Sabine got out of her seat and leaned over her shoulder.

"Why don't _I_ talk to him?" Sabine said, and Hera pointed a warning finger in the Mandalorian's face.

"Fulcrum," Kenobi drawled, leaning back in his seat and crossing one leg over the other. "This is Lumis."

"...Lumis?" Fulcrum asked, the voice suddenly sounding surprised. "You are among the Spectres?"

"As we discussed in our last meeting, yes," Kenobi said, frowning in disgust as he picked a tuft of purple fur off his robes, and disdainfully rose from the Lasal's seat. "Consider my promise fulfilled. I do plan on sticking around for a while. Hmm," he mused. "Perhaps _I_ should be a Spectre."

"Not in this lifetime..." Hera muttered, laying her hand on the Sith's arm and pushing him away, and Kenobi let himself fall right into Kanan's lap. Despite the Jedi's frantic struggling, he couldn't dislodge himself from underneath the Sith Lord. With a huff, Kanan slunk against the seat, ignoring Sabine's raucous laughter and the eyes the Sith was making at him.

"And still causing a disturbance everywhere you go, from the sound of it," Fulcrum seemed to sigh. "Do you need a new mission?"

Kenobi scoffed. "Hardly, babysitting these kids is more than enough for me. Did you receive the... _sensitive_ supplies?"

"Received and delivered, Lumis," Fulcrum said quickly. "Though, I don't like the risk you took to obtain them." Kenobi shrugged and patted a _very_ unamused Kanan's cheek.

"Hey, it was either that or destroy them! You have no idea how hard it was to convince Spectre One to give me a shot at grabbing them!" He rolled his eyes and pinched the Jedi's cheek. "He's _unduly_ cautious. Sort of like you, Fulcrum. You'd like him, _but_...he's already got a girlfriend," Kenobi drawled, kissing Kanan's palm, and the Jedi finally managed to push the Sith Lord off of him as he swiftly wiped his hand off on his seat.

"It's a wonder you manage to make friends at all, Lumis..." Fulcrum sighed, the Sith Lord rising to his feet and winking quickly at Kanan before he leaned over the ship's controls.

"I delivered on my promise. Did you manage to make any headway on my task for you?"

"I _have_ ," Fulcrum said, sounding very pleased, and Kanan and Hera leaned back to look at each other. Whoever this Fulcrum was, he was on equal footing with Kenobi. It seemed like the Sith Lord wasn't just talking a big game, he _was_ involved with some kind of larger rebellion. "Though the information is sensitive. We will discuss it when we meet for training next month." Kenobi frowned.

"That's a long time to wait, Fulcrum."

"Patience," Fulcrum said, "is the way of the Jedi."

"For the record, it is _also_ the way of the Sith!" Kenobi snapped. "Honestly, are you trying to insult me? Give me _something_ to work with."

" _Chimera_." There was silence for a moment, the Sith Lord staring at the com for a long while before he slowly nodded. "Anything on the location I sent you?"

"Yes," was the swift reply. "We have confirmed an outpost at the location. The target has yet to be determined. Hostilities are high. I advise caution."

"I'll start making the plan," Kenobi said quietly, stepping back from the com and gesturing at it to Hera, the Twi'lek looking at him in astonishment for a moment before shaking her head and returning her attention to the com.

"Fulcrum, we need the coordinates for the supplies," Hera said quickly, and after a moment, the navicom beeped with the received coordinates.

"Rendevous sent, Spectre Two," Fulcrum said. "Take care. Don't let Lumis give you too much trouble. Fulcrum out." The com cut, the static dying quickly, and the Spectres slowly looked back at Kenobi and the man just rolled his eyes.

"That Fulcrum... _so_ unhelpful."

"You sound like you two are close..." Hera said, moving closer to the Sith and suddenly _very_ interested. The way it sounded, Kenobi _was_ an agent like Fulcrum, working for the same group, and now, not only did she have missions from the Fulcrum agent, but she had the _personal_ attention of Kenobi, a recruiter, by the sound of it. They had the interest of a _rebellion_. Kenobi simply shrugged.

"Sorry," the Sith Lord said slyly. "Need to know only. You understand." Hera flushed deeply when Sabine burst out into laughter.

"Yes, I understand..." the Twi'lek said between grit teeth, quickly slamming her hand on the intercom to ask Zeb and Ezra how the repairs were going, and she leaned ack in her seat, arms crossed as the boys read off the diagnostics, the Twi'lek occasionally interrupting to add minor fixes to their task.

"Sure is taking them a long time to run maintenance on that shuttle of yours, Syndulla," Kenobi drawled. "Want me to pop on up and take care of it for you?" He grinned in Kanan's direction. "Since I am, by your own admission, the _best_ pilot you've ever seen..."

"Best pilot doesn't mean best _mechanic_ , Kenobi," Hera said, looking back and flashing the Sith a sardonic grin. "They can handle it. Until I get to fly the _Umbra_ , you aren't _touching_ my ship." Obi-Wan shrugged and leaned against the bulkhead. "They're almost done anyway, and I'll be off to pick up that shipment from Fulcrum."

"And speaking of which..." Kenobi drawled, looking over at Kanan, and the Jedi slunk down in his seat. "It appears to be supply run day. I've come to collect on our bet, Kanan." Amused, Hera looked at her grumbling lover and laid a hand on his arm.

"You _did_ promise, dear," Hera said softly. "May as well get it over with while we're laying low."

"If you're going out to do this pickup for Fulcrum, I should be there," Kanan insisted, and Hera just rolled her eyes.

"It's a supply run, Kanan, it'll be fine. I'll take Sabine, and Zeb and Ezra won't even have the time to destroy the ship before we return." She lightly kissed his cheek. "I'll see you when you return." She looked pointedly at Kenobi.

"Just a supply run, right? Nothing dangerous?" Obi-Wan laid a hand over his heart.

"Nothing dangerous, Syndulla. I swear it. Just procuring the essentials. I'll have him back soon enough." She forced a smile.

"Have him back too late, and I'm going to make you babysit the kids while we have some alone time." Kenobi scoffed.

"I'm not even part of your crew, you can't tell me what to do."

"Oh?" Hera asked, a sly smile spreading across her face. "Aren't you though, Spectre Zero?"

"Alright, Jedi, let's go," Kenobi grumbled as he pulled Kanan's short ponytail. "I want to get out of here before she ropes me into something else I don't want."

* * *

"You know, you could carry out a supply run literally anywhere," Kanan said to Obi-Wan, his eyes fixed outside the viewport at the blurred blue and white of hyperspace, taking them further and further away from Lothal and the _Ghost_. Kenobi had been silent since they made the jump, his hands resting relaxed on the armrests of the pilot's chair, his eyes closed, his breathing slow and even. The clone beside hin in the co-pilot's seat was similarly relaxed, peacefully running his fingers over a lightsaber as he read from a holographic display projected before him. Kanan _would have_ been reading it as well, but the display was written in Mando'a, and Kanan hadn't learned how to speak it. He hadn't learned much of any language outside of Galactic Basic.

He was finding that to be a problem now, and he quietly cursed himself for not learning another language from his Master, who had been fluent in several, though none of them would have helped him here. The _entire ship_ was programmed to display information exclusively in Ancient Sith and Mando'a, and worse still, Kenobi and Cody spoke to each other in the tongue of Mandalore and nothing more. Kanan was beginning to wonder why he was even brought along. Perhaps Kenobi just wanted to tease him with the Jedi holocron in his possession.

"Really," Kanan continued when the Sith Lord didn't respond. "Most of our supply runs are conducted in Kothal." Kanan waited. There was silence. He rolled his eyes. "Oh, yes, Kothal is a settlement on Lothal, thanks for asking! We do our supply runs there, they have everything we need!"

"My needs are different than yours," Obi-Wan finally said softly, not moving from his place, and Kanan almost jumped when he spoke. The Sith had been silent for so long that Kanan thought that he forgot _how_ to speak.

"Well they can't be _that_ different," Kanan drawled, draping his arm over the back of Kenobi's chair and trying to feel him in the Force. There was nothing. Less nothing than usual, if that was even possible. "You _are_ human, aren't you?" There was no response, no twitch of acknowledgment on his face at all. "So you must eat and sleep and-"

"I do not sleep," Kenobi said swiftly, but otherwise didn't move. The clone, however, _did_ look up, and Kanan unconsciously backed up a step.

"You need to sleep, brother..." Cody quietly admonished, his voice strained with concern and the Sith Lord finally opened his eyes and shot the clone a weary glare before turning his seat around to look at the Jedi, his hands folding in his lap.

"I do not sleep, I lose myself in the Force." He shrugged when he felt Cody's disapproving eyes on him, but he did not look at the clone. "To the same effect, more or less."

"It's _not_ the same," Cody insisted, and the Sith Lord sighed in frustration.

"No, it's not, sleep is _unproductive_." His hands unclasped and quickly moved to grip the armrests, his fingers digging into the padded material. "Lost in the Force, I have visions, _insight_. There is nothing in sleep but nightmares, and what good are those, hmm?"

"Your mind needs _rest_ brother," Cody sighed heavily. It was clear they had this conversation before. _Many_ times. "And the Dark Side takes a toll on your body when you allow it to take you, you _know_ it does."

"And it is _still_ preferable to _nightmares_!" Kenobi snarled, his eyes flashing dangerously, and for just a moment, the man looked... _haunted_. "Everything I have ever lost appearing before me, visions of the way things _should_ have been, not the way things are..." Obi-Wan muttered. "What good is any of it, what is the _purpose_ of such things if not to tear open old wounds and make them deeper, make them _bleed_." Cody sighed and looked away, and the Sith's eye twitched slightly in irritation. "No use at all...give me instead visions of what _will_ be, not what should have been and cruelly wasn't..."

"You're saying the Force sustains you?" Kanan asked carefully, and the Sith Lord slowly nodded, as if uncertain to the answer. "Is that how you stay young? Is that how you achieved immortality?"

"Ah..." Obi-Wan slowly stood from his seat and laid a hand on Cody's shoulder. "Haa'taylir venjii te me'sen." The clone nodded, and Obi-Wan pushed past Kanan and left the cockpit, indicating with his hand that the Jedi should follow him, and Kanan quickly fell in beside him as they slowly made their way through the ship. The last time he was here, Kanan didn't have the chance to _really_ look around, the Jedi focused instead on saving himself and Ezra so they could return safely to the _Ghost_ , but now, with his attention free to wander, he had the chance to really look at the _Umbra_. The first time he had seen the _Ghost_ , he thought the ship a wonder, and his affection for the ship only grew as he became closer to its magnificent pilot, the modified freighter seeming perfect to his eyes because of Hera's divine radiance. It was carefully maintained and lovingly cared for. It was... _home_.

The _Umbra_ , however, was in another class entirely, and no amount of affection for the _Ghost_ could change that. This ship was sleek, elegant, made in a time when Kenobi sat at the height of his influence and power, supported by the Dark Forces that now ruled the galaxy instead of being hunted by them. Like the _Ghost_ , the _Umbra_ was cared for by a hand that knew how she worked, how she functioned, but while Hera maintained her ship out of necessity and pride for that which was hers, Kenobi's care of the _Umbra_ seemed almost a reflection of his vanity. It was immaculate and neat, devoid of anything that could even be considered clutter or dirt, everything neatly and clinically placed that spoke to a highly organized and neurotic mind. Yet another example of Sith extremism. Kanan wondered if Kenobi would have been this meticulous without the Dark Side to heighten and accentuate his innate qualities.

"We don't actually know if I have actually lengthened my life span," Obi-Wan said as he entered his room, far bigger and more spacious than a room on a ship had any right to be. "If I _am_ aging, I do not feel the effects of it. The holocron I learned the technique from was vague on the subject. A step toward true immortality, it said, but it was unclear if the nature of the power granted the practitioner extended life or simply eternal youth." He smiled softly. "I do endeavor to find out. Perhaps I will craft a holocron of my own some day and record my findings. Future generations of Sith must learn somehow if I am not around to teach them..."

"Wait, you want to make _more Sith_?" Kanan gasped, and Kenobi looked at him like he was an idiot.

" _You_ are making new Jedi, are you not? Why should I be any different?"

"Uh, because Sith are _ruining the galaxy_." Obi-Wan rolled his eyes.

"Oh, _please_ , if the Jedi hadn't become so stilted, none of this ever would have happened." He dropped to the ground, his legs tucked underneath him and his hands upon his knees as he settled in to meditate. "The Sith potential for progress cannot be denied, and an Empire in the hands of the right person could yield great things." He was silent for a moment, and Kanan sat before him, carefully observing him as the golden eyes seemed to dull, the glowing light fading from them as they became clouded with... _loss_. "Satine could have done it," he whispered, staring at the ground before him. "I could have done it beside her..."

"Is that why you left the Jedi?" Kanan asked softly. "To rule the galaxy beside the woman you loved?" Obi-Wan laughed softly and shook his head.

"No...no, ruling the galaxy was never the plan, not in the beginning. And Satine..." He took in a deep, shivering breath. "I had already fallen by the time I found my way back to her arms. No, I left the Jedi for..." He smiled softly. " _Many_ reasons." He shifted his weight and closed his eyes. "Hush now. We'll be on Rajtiri before you know it, and I need to meditate on the information I received from Fulcrum."

"You know, we could _always_ go to Lothal for supplies..." Kanan lightly suggested, and with a sigh, the Sith Lord opened his eyes and gave the Jedi a tired look.

"Kanan Jarrus, never you mind that we already addressed that my needs are not the same as yours and Lothal _doesn't have_ what I need..." He gave the Jedi a pointed look. "My ship is one of the most recognizable in the galaxy."

"It's also one of the most _invisible_ in the galaxy," Kanan pointed out, and Kenobi just rolled his eyes.

"The ship isn't _always_ in stealth, and there _are_ ways to detect it, ways the Empire utilizes because they _know_ my ship runs on stealth technology. Do you really want my ship seen in your territory? All it would do is draw increased Imperial attention, and you're already at your capacity with ISB and the Inquisitorius. Besides, it's _highly_ likely that it's been discovered that we're working together. Do you _really_ want that confirmed?"

"Uh, Kenobi, we _destroyed_ the entire convoy!" Kanan said firmly. "How could they know we were working together? Nobody that saw us together survived!"

"Just because nobody was there doesn't mean we weren't being watched," Obi-Wan said softly, closing his eyes once again and beginning to sink into the Force. "I am," he said slowly, "being hunted. Until recently, he was unknown to me, but I am beginning to grasp what exactly the nature of my enemy is..."

"You don't know?" Kanan asked, and with a sigh, Obi-Wan reached out, touched his fingers to Kanan's forehead, and a moment later, there was nothing but head-splitting pain, a scream caught in the Jedi's throat as he heard the rush of the Force, felt water cold as ice engulf him as he rapidly sank into its depths, the ship, the _galaxy_ falling away as he was dragged deeper beneath the surface, and then there was nothing. No pain, no sound, no light, only the cold and the sensation of drowning as water filled his lungs.

He coughed, sputtering as his hands clutched his chest and he quickly clambered to his hands and knees, water pouring from his mouth as he heaved, his vision slowly returning, and Kanan looked around to find himself... _transported_. Gone was the warm elegance of Kenobi's room upon the _Umbra_ , the blue and white of hyperspace visible through the viewport, the soft hum of the ship's powerful engines. Instead, Kanan found himself on the shores of a vast, infinite lake, the water so calm, so smooth it reflected the starry sky, a galaxy of light painted in deep blues and vibrant greens and soft purples and fiery reds, colors that danced the length of the spectrum, reflecting the nebula, the stars, the arms of the galaxy on its mirror's surface. Kanan could only stare in wide-eyed wonder at the vast beauty of his surroundings, at the calm, serene peace that settled over him as he watched a hundred bright, shining points of light dance along the surface of the water, leaving small ripples in their wake that were quickly stilled.

A soft, low whistle brought his attention over to Obi-Wan, the Sith Lord holding his fine, black boots in his hand as his bare feet grasped at the sand beneath him. Still looking around at his surroundings, Kanan slowly made his way to Kenobi, stopping just short of being able to touch him when the Sith stepped into the waters, the gentle waves lapping at his ankles.

"Welcome to my meditations..." Obi-Wan said softly, and Kanan watched as the water began to ripple, the reflected lights blurring and shifting as they began to take shape, hazy and uncertain, but there was _definitely_ something in the water. He quickly looked to Obi-Wan, the Sith Lord watching, silent and intent at the visions in the waters. Perhaps Kanan could not discern what was there, but it was obvious that Kenobi could see it, clear as day, his sharp eyes darting over the waters as he took in every detail of what was shown to him. Kanan's talents had _never_ lay in foresight, and if he had visions at all, he could never distinguish between what were dreams, and what were events yet to unfold. But Kenobi, from what he understood, was a rare talent in the subject, and if the place they were in was a reflection of his mind within the Force, then it was no wonder he had been able to so deftly combat the Jedi Order's moves against him. It was likely he saw their movements before they occurred, and armed with such knowledge, he'd be able to take moves to change an unfavorable outcome, or ensure a desirable one.

"What do you see?" Kanan asked, coming to stand beside him in the waters, his own feet sending ripples along the surface, and he leaned over to look at the faded, unclear images. "What are you looking for?" A wry, bitter smile spread across his face.

"Those two things, unfortunately, are _not_ the same thing." He ran his fingers through the water, the smooth surface marred with ripples and small waves as the colors twisted and swirled, reforming into something else, and Kenobi frowned. "I do not dictate the visions the Force shows me, and as of late, it keeps coming back to..." He shook his head. "For nearly five years, I have been watched. Carefully. Meticulously. My enemy is patient and intelligent and calculating, and I have always been able to _feel_ it when I'm stepping into one of his traps, but..." He growled in irritation, and Kanan grasped his arms against a sudden arctic breeze, the wind making the once calm water ripple and roil with choppy waves.

"You haven't been able to find him?" Kanan asked, and Kenobi scoffed and rolled his eyes. "If you can see the future-"

"I see what the Force shows me, and the Force has not shown me _him_." He breathed deeply and ran a hand through his hair, looking out at the water as it slowly calmed. "A great deal of that is my fault, I suppose. My own... _emotions_ get in the way of my clarity, and no amount of rage and anger, no amount of focus on the man that hunts me can ever truly turn my thoughts from them..."

"Them?" Kanan asked, looking into the waters that seemed so hazy to him, and he could barely make out the shape of two people. "Who's them?" For a moment, Kenobi didn't move, only stared at the water with an expression of longing that made Kanan's chest ache with the Sith Lord's loneliness. Whoever it was he saw, Kenobi missed them dearly, and Kanan could feel the strength of a powerful, unbreakable bond, a deep, unyielding love that mad their separation nearly unbearable to the Sith, a constant distraction as his thoughts turned inward. It was this attachment, this strength of emotion that the Jedi turned from in order to gain clarity, that the Sith turned to as a font of strength. Kanan wondered if it was Luminara that Kenobi saw in the waters, the Jedi that the Sith Lord had claimed to be close to, or Satine, the mysterious Mandalorian Queen that Kenobi had lost so long ago. He doubted that Obi-Wan would say, even if he asked, even if the trust between them was absolute. Some things were just meant to remain private and personal, even to Sith Lord. Maybe _especially_ to them

Here, deep within him, Kanan saw that Obi-Wan was just a man, cruel and vicious, perhaps, but deep within him was a heart that pulsed with love and care, the intentions which were put to dark purpose in his actions, but the emotion itself was a thing of the light.

After a long while, Kenobi finally shook his head. "It's unimportant..." he muttered, absent and distracted as if he were elsewhere. "Within the Force," he said softly, "those that burn with sensitivity to it shine bright like beacons." Kenobi pointed out to the water, now still and calm once again, reflecting the lights of the sky above them. "When there were Jedi, one just needed to close their eyes to feel their presence, a blaze of thousands burning within the Force, each one their own flame burning brighter than the other life in the galaxy. Now, the Force runs with darkness, and feeling the light of those with the Force has become both easier and far more difficult."

"Is that how survivors of the purge were hunted?" Kanan asked, and the Sith Lord nodded.

"Those of you that touched the Force, used it, drew upon it for strength made their light shine brighter, and it alerted those that hunted for the Jedi to their presence. It may not have led them _directly_ to the fugitives, but it was close enough to begin to sense them, track them, and kill them. But those such as yourself that cut yourself off from the Force became _very_ difficult to find." He laughed softly as he touched the waters again, the colors rippling along its surface. "There are other ways to hide, of course. Ways that I employ, that Luminara used..." The surface of the water wavered as the Sith Lord trembled. "...until she didn't." Obi-Wan sighed heavily. "Luminara, nuyak dhasias zioplys..."

"So who's the man hunting you?" Kanan asked, sensing the Sith Lord's pain through a chill in the Force, and he sought to end it. In this place, his pain became Kanan's pain, and the Jedi didn't like the feelings it inspired in him. It made him miss Hera. "Can you sense him now?" Kenobi shook his head.

"No, he isn't Force sensitive," Kenobi quietly mused, putting his hand in the water and the images swirled around him like a vortex. "It makes them difficult to find, impossible to distinguish among the trillions of other lives." He scoffed in disdain. "Not flames, _embers_ , coals, _ashes_ of something greater. Unless I know what I'm looking for, it is impossible to find him within the Force, impossible to sense..."

"But you know something now, don't you?" Kanan asked, and Kenobi slowly nodded, his eyes growing distant as he watched the images in the waters form.

"A few things, yes..." he said softly. "Enough to narrow my search, but not enough to find him, not yet. I still don't know what I am searching for..." He sighed and stepped out of the waters. "It's no good, I'm too distracted, it's too close to Empire Day." Kanan looked at him in confusion, and Kenobi just grinned. "My _favorite_ day."

"All hail our glorious Empire," Kanan said sardonically with a shrug. "I suppose."

"I'll have him soon enough," Obi-Wan said, pulling his boots back on. After we return from our excursion, after Empire Day, I'll have more focus, and it _is_ his move."

"Uh, his _move_?" Kanan asked. "What move! Are you playing some sort of game?"

"Oh yes..." Kenobi drawled, a wicked grin on his lips. "It _is_ a game, and I haven't been challenged like this since Skywalker and Tarkin hunted me. I _do_ appreciate a challenge."

"If it's his move," Kanan said warily, "isn't he going to, you know, _do something_?" Kenobi nodded. "And...don't you want to stop it?"

"Not at all," Obi-Wan said softly. "Sometimes, one must walk into a trap to learn who set it. He'll need to expose himself to make his move, and now I'm watching."

"Dangerous game..."

"Yes, and one I play well." He patted the Jedi on the shoulder. "Time to wake up, Kanan. We've arrived at Rajtiri."


	10. Out of Darkness

_Chapter 10: Out of Darkness_

The city of Jibuto on Rajtiri was ancient, beautiful, and _crawling_ with smugglers. It was a world built on lawlessness, the planet having birthed and fostered more smugglers than anywhere in the galaxy outside of Hutt Space, the streets filled with species that Kanan had never seen, and many he recognized as Separatist supporters during the war, all of them heavily armed and armored, and he spied several, humans, near-humans, and non-humans, wearing the armor of Mandalore. More than once, they passed by people fighting in the streets, and _four_ times, they watched someone get shot and killed. Brutal, bloodthirsty, lawless were the people of Rajtiri, so naturally, Kenobi seemed right at home.

If not for the roughness of the population, Jibuto would have been something grand, something elegant. The streets were lined with intricate, beautiful buildings and homes, and from anywhere in the city, one only needed to look up to see the elaborate mausoleums, hundreds of them scattered among the gently rolling hills of Jibuto, large as mansions looming above the city streets and buildings. Kanan distracted himself from the shady dealings musing about the massive tombs, constructed for the honored dead, heroes of the people, kings, people of great esteem and respect, so he imagined.

It wasn't until he got closer to one when he realized what they were for. Tombs, yes, for mothers, fathers, sons and daughters, beloved and respected who had died in the line of unlawful duty. A questioning, confused, seriously amused grin spread across Kanan's lips as he read the plaque, dedicated to a woman who had stolen and smuggled nearly fifty full shipments of highly illegal spice out from under the Empire's nose to be sold and distributed to drug lords running out of Coruscant. She was shot down and killed by the Star Destroyer _Executrix_ , the personal command ship of Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin himself, and in doing such, she had been made a martyr and was hailed as a hero. So it was _that_ sort of world.

After doing business with the most vicious, irate Lurmen that Kanan had ever seen, the diminutive primate obviously having missed the memo about his race's pacifist tendencies, Kenobi had procured the highly specialized fuel cells needed to power the _Umbra_ for an absolutely absurd price, which the Sith Lord didn't seem to mind paying. Kanan kept close to the Sith Lord on their way back to the ship to drop off the crates of supplies they pushed before them, the Jedi keeping a watchful eye on the lawless people in the streets, who Kanan was _certain_ were eyeing the expensive merchandise.

"Where do you get your credits?" Kanan asked, nudging Obi-Wan in the ribs, and the man looked at him like he didn't understand the question. Huffing in mild annoyance, Kanan asked again, and the Sith ran a hand through his wind-swept hair.

""I'm fabulously wealthy," he drawled like it was self-explanatory, and Kanan felt like a _peasant_. "I'm a Sith Lord, a _Lord_ is like nobility. Of course I am wealthy."

"Yes, but _how_ ," Kanan asked. "You don't _have_ a family because of your upbringing and I can't imagine you holding a job, so...what? Smuggling? Bounty hunting? _Fortune telling_?"

Obi-Wan shrugged. "A great deal of my wealth comes from my share of Damask Holdings, which you wouldn't have heard of, but the account was made for me by my Master, and I had the good sense to transfer the funds to a more... _personal_ account when it seemed as though I would be leaving his service." He shrugged. "The Serenno fortune left behind by Dooku also went to me, as his successor. After I killed him..." he muttered bitterly, but Kanan could detect a slight touch of something that seemed like remorse in the Sith's voice.

"He must have liked you a great deal if he'd leave you his fortune." Beside Kenobi, Cody snorted with laughter.

"He and I hated each other," Obi-Wan said softly, his pace quickening slightly as they reached the space port. "But...we developed something of an alliance, and when I needed him most, he was there for me." He pushed the crates up the ramp of the _Umbra_ and into the cargo hold. "I don't regret killing him," he said, turning off the repulsor and securing the crate to the ground. "He needed to die, but...I wasn't in my right mind when I did it. I regret the _way_ it was done, not that it was." He nodded, satisfied with his answer, and smiled at the Jedi. "Alright! Ready for round two?"

"...round two?" Kanan asked, looking at the stack of crates in the hold and wondering what more the Sith Lord could possibly need. "We got your fuel your kitchen's restocked, you picked up a crate of _highly_ illegal weapons, so-"

"Come on, Kanan," Kenobi drawled, walking off the ship beside Cody. "Best pilot in the galaxy, remember?"

" _No_ , not in the galaxy!" Kanan called after the Sith Lord, jogging to catch up with him and coming to stride beside the man. "That _wasn't_ what we decided, the bet was if you were better than Hera!"

"And you think she's the best in the galaxy, which makes _me_..." Kenobi gasped and laid his hand on his chest. "Sweet gods of the Sith, that would make _me_ the best in the galaxy!" He punched the Jedi's arm. "According to you, of course."

Kanan sighed and hung his head. Arguing with the Negotiator was a _terrible_ idea. "Alright, alright...where to next? What more could we possibly need?"

"I _told_ you, Kanan," Kenobi drawled, throwing an arm over his shoulders and patting his chest with his other hand. "We are procuring the essentials. The most important things we have yet to acquire."

Kanan said nothing as he walked beside Kenobi, the Sith Lord talking to Cody in quiet Mandalorian. When they first arrived, Kanan had been a bit uneasy, less about the criminal element and more about being separated from his crew and at the mercy of a Sith Lord. He had spent several years among smugglers, bounty hunters, drunks, brawlers and roughnecks, but now, he had been several years away from it after making a new life for himself with Hera on the _Ghost_. They shared a home together on the ship, even if they didn't share a room, they had a family, the shared the same dreams, the same cause, and slowly but surely, Kanan had regained a piece of who he used to be. Even if he would never be Caleb Dume again, it felt good to have a cause, to be fighting for something good, to be part of something that would right the wrongs of the Empire.

But now, as he walked the lawless streets of Jibuto, he felt himself slip into who he was so many years ago, when he bitter and resentful at the Force for allowing the Jedi to die, when he spent his nights drinking to forget and laying in the arms of a new woman nightly so he could feel pleasure instead of the pain of his loss. The Jedi way as he was taught it just...didn't work for Kanan, and in a way, it _still_ didn't. He loved being in love with Hera, though he could put aside that relationship and focus on the mission when it called for it. He couldn't remain aloof and unattached like the Jedi taught, but when the time came, he could focus on the task at hand. Not every Jedi that was passionate was an Obi-Wan Kenobi or a Count Dooku. Not every Jedi that loved or got emotionally attached fell to the Dark Side. With temperance and reason, Kanan felt he could love and be loved without the risk of the encroaching darkness. Kenobi was teaching him that, even if he didn't mean to.

The world was far more gray than the Jedi led him to believe.

"Obi-Wan," Kanan said softly as he walked beside the Sith, and Kenobi leaned toward him, his eyes quickly darting over and assessing the people that passed him by. "I have questions."

"I'm sure you do," Kenobi said, craning his neck around to look at a stunning woman with pale blond hair as they passed by, but frowned when Cody wrinkled his nose and shook his head. "Most of which I'm sure are _deeply_ personal, so-"

"Where's your armor?" Kanan asked, putting his hand on the smaller man's head to ruffle his hair, and Kenobi snarled and batted his hand away. "Aren't you supposed to be hiding? Aren't you _extremely_ wanted?"

"Sure, the Shadow King is," Obi-Wan muttered, swiftly running his hand through his hair to correct the mess that Kanan had made of it. "But not me. Obi-Wan Kenobi is dead, remember? When the Empire gives you a gift, use it."

"Seems like a double-edged sword," Kanan said, and the Sith shrugged.

"True, it does complicate thing, especially when it comes to uniting former members of Confederate worlds, but it does make it a bit easier to disappear when the Empire views most Mandalorians with suspicion, now that the Shadow King is active."

"It diminishes your threat," Cody said softly, and Kenobi rolls his eyes.

"Yes, but I hear they make a pill for that now, so it _should_ be fine." Kanan snorted as he inhaled, making the Jedi start coughing and gagging, and Kenobi just grinned at him. "Anyway, anyone who is as roguishly handsome as me shouldn't be hiding under a helmet. Honestly, it's a galactic _crime_. I think the Empire has laws against that."

"The only crime here is that we have to look at you, Kenobi," Kanan wheezed, and the Sith Lord stopped, looked at him in astonishment, and began to laugh.

"No, really?" Kenobi asked, his tone light with laughter. "I can't believe how _wrong_ I got that! Oh well, I've always been suited to being an outlaw. The ladies love a bad boy anyway."

"Boy is that the truth..." Kanan muttered, and Kenobi patted him on the back.

"I think I like you," Kenobi said, smiling at the man and pushing him toward a building on the side of the wide street. "Our final destination." Kanan looked up at the building, unique from the others around it, but no less elegant, and Kanan marveled at the beauty of the arches, the gently curving awnings...and then his eyes drifted to the sign above the door, carved in flowing lines in Galactic Basic, and read, _The Wanton Wellspring_. For a long moment, Kanan just stared at it, and then he swiftly turned on the Sith Lord.

" _A cantina_?!" Kanan shouted, his voice rising a full two octaves in his outrage. "Oh, _Obi-Wan_ , you _lied_ to me! You said this was a supply run! No tricks, no missions, no _Sith shenanigans_!"

"Mm..." Kenobi thought, his hand absently stroking his beard. "No, no, I don't think so. _You_ said this was a supply run. _I_ said we were going to get all the essentials. And," the Sith chirped, his arm around Kanan's shoulders and leading him toward the door, "since we're here, you _may as well_ have a drink with us."

"And this is _essential_..." Kanan drawled in a flat voice, and Kenobi simply drew up to his full height, his chest swelled with pride.

"Booze, blood and boning. The three B's of being a Sith Lord."

"I seriously hate you."

"Careful, Kanan, hate leads to the Dark Side. And besides, you won't after I buy you all your drinks tonight." The Jedi remained unmoved, and Obi-Wan rolled his eyes. "Oh, _come on_ , Kanan!"

"Kenobi, I haven't been drinking in _years_!" Kanan gasped. "Mind you, I used to drink like a fish, and there were _many_ nights I'd wake up on the bar floor, but it's been a while..."

" _Well_!" Kenobi strongly said in an admonishing tone. "That settles it. As your Master, I can't _believe_ that you'd neglect your training like this!"

"Look, I'm _sorry_ , I just..." Kanan stopped, looked at the grinning Sith, and felt his blood pressure beginning to rise. "Alright, _first of all_ , you aren't my Master! And _secondly_ , drinking _isn't_ part of our training!" Kenobi scoffed.

"That's what you think."

" _Ugh_!" Kanan gripped his head in his hands and tightly shut his eyes, as if not seeing anything would make it magically go away. "I need a drink..."

"Well, you've come to the right place!" Kenobi chirped, his hand on Kanan's back and gently urging the compliant Jedi to step into the cantina. "Never argue with the Negotiator," Obi-Wan whispered to Kanan as they stood in the doorway and surveyed the room, watching as Cody casually walked across the room and threw himself into a booth in the back, chatting amicably with a beautiful Togruta barmaid as she passed by. "I _always_ get my way..."

"Really, _really_ hate you..."

" _Good_..." Obi-Wan said, his voice smooth and deep and almost not his own as he pushed Kanan slowly across the cantina. "Your anger, your _hatred_ gives you power and focus. _Embrace it_..." He looked out of the corner of his eye at the Jedi, the taller man's jaw clenched tightly, and with a wicked smirk, Kenobi laid his hand on Kanan's chest. "Sorry, my mistake, I thought you were someone else." He cleared his throat. " _Oh no_! Be careful, Kanan, those feelings will lead to the Dark Side!"

" _One drink_!" Kanan said firmly as he slid into the booth after Kenobi. "One drink, and it's back to the _Ghost_. I'm worried about Hera."

"One drink!" Kenobi gasped. "Kanan, you don't come all the way to Rajtiri for _one drink_!"

"No, _I_ came because _I lost a bet_!" Kenobi fished him a wicked grin.

"Care for another wager?"

"... _no_!"

"Learn your lesson, Jarrus?" Cody asked softly, smiling at the barmaid as she brought him a bottle of a deep, amber liquid and three tall, thin glasses, and the clone quickly uncorked the bottle, filled the glasses, and pushed one in front of the Jedi. "One drink," Cody said, "and I'll take you back to the ship while Kenobi seduces some poor idiot." Kanan groaned loudly as he watched Obi-Wan quickly snatch his glass from the table and drain it, holding it out to Cody so the clone could fill it again.

" _Of course_ we're here for women..." He took the glass in his hands and observed the liquid.

"Not all of us have lovers like you, Jarrus," Cody whispered as he pushed the now filled glass back to Kenobi. "The best we can do is the temporary kind." Kanan sighed.

"Just...tell me next time, alright?" the Jedi mumbled. "So I could bring a book or something..." Kenobi gasped loudly.

"Sith hells, there's going to be a next time?!" Obi-Wan grinned. "You're alright, Kanan." He raised his glass and looked expectantly at the Jedi. With a sigh, Kanan held his own glass before him.

" _One_ drink," he said firmly, and the Sith Lord nodded.

"One drink," he agreed, and both men tossed back their glasses, Kanan nearly gagging after he swallowed and began coughing against the burn. "Mandalorian narcolethe," Kenobi said, answering Kanan's unasked question. "It's something of a favorite of mine."

"I've never tasted anything so strong," Kanan wheezed, and with a knowing smirk, Kenobi patted him on the shoulder.

"One drink, Kanan," Kenobi smoothly drawled. "Just one."

* * *

Half an hour later saw one full and four empty bottles of the strongest alcohol the cantina carried laying on the table, their tall glasses emptied and overturned, and the entire bar in a frenzy as Kanan Jarrus, Jedi and rebel leader, dodged the huge, blue fist of a particularly large and _extremely_ drunk Chagrian, who didn't seem to like that Kanan had called him an idiot for...well, Kanan couldn't remember _why_ at this moment, and he also didn't like that the Jedi had called him ugly either. Kanan _did_ remember the reason for that, and he remembered it again as he looked at the blue face contorted in anger. He _was_ ugly.

Kanan swayed in place as the Chagrin lowered his horned head and rushed him, and though his reflexes _were_ dulled in his intoxication, they were fast enough for Kanan to step out of the way, grab hold of the long, protruding horns, and use his momentum to throw the blue skinned alien into the crowd that surrounded them. It was right about then that Kanan realized how unbelievably drunk he was, because for a moment, he couldn't distinguish between his Chagrin opponent and a bawdy, blue skinned Twi-lek observer, and when his fist connected with blue skin, he realized too late that he had struck the wrong blue-skinned alien. The Twi'lek wasn't bigger than the Chagrin, or even bigger than Kanan, for that matter, but he was much less drunk and _much_ faster, and within moments, Kanan was trying to bat away the Chagrin, brandishing a broken horn in his hand, while attempting to throw the Twi'lek off his back.

" _Hey_!" Kanan called as he stumbled backwards and slammed the Twi'lek against the wall near the booth where Obi-Wan and Cody sat with three beautiful women, the Togruta barmaid from before straddling the clone's lap as she ran her hands through his graying hair, and a lusty, pink-skinned Zeltron and a light blue Twi'lek flanked Kenobi as they lavished attention on him. "Hey, a little help here, guys?" Kanan growled in a slurring voice that lacked the menace it would have usually had. A lazy, lust-filled haze left Kenobi's golden eyes sharp and glowing with the dark power that coursed through him, and he casually leaned over, observing the Jedi as he grasped the thick wrist of the Chagrin to keep the sharp, broken horn away from him.

"Good job, my friend," Obi-Wan said as he leaned back in his seat, pulling the giggling women toward him and groaning in satisfaction as they kissed at his neck. "You can do it, you're doing _great_."

" _That isn't helpful_!" Kanan snapped, looking over at the Sith Lord swiftly for half a moment, and when he felt the Chagrin's weight shift, he quickly spun his back toward him, sandwiching the Twi'lek between himself and his large, drunk adversary, and with a swift jerk forward with his arms and an equally quick backwards shuffle, Kanan threw the Chagrin over his shoulder, sending both the Twi'lek and the horned menace to the ground. Before either could get up, th Jedi stepped on the Chagrin's wrist and wrenched the broken horn from his now loose grasp and tossed it behind him, the horn clattering to the ground and sliding under Kenobi's table. Clearly outmatched, the Twi'lek quickly scrambled to his feet and ran into the crowed, grateful to get away from the drunken brawler and the unfortunate Chagrin that made the poor decision to escalate the situation.

"I _am_ helping, dear," Kenobi drawled, running lazy fingers through the Zeltron's light hair and over the Twi'lek's sensitive, squirming lekku. Never doubt the power of encouragement. See?" He pointed to the groaning Chagrin on the floor. "You didn't best him until you were bolstered by _my_ moral support!" A sly grin crossed his face as he stared at Kanan, swaying drunkenly where he stood and looking at the Sith with a stupefied expression Obi-Wan flourished his hand in the air. "You're welcome. You should thank me."

" _Thank_ you?!"

" _You're welcome_!"

"Now, you see here," Kanan began, shuffling toward the table with his finger raised menacingly, but he was attacked once again from behind by the dazed, angry Chagrin. With a grin of satisfaction, Obi-Wan laid back in the seat and sighed as the women returned to their attentions.

"Oh, look out, he's gotten up again..." Kenobi called in a bored, half-interested voice, his hand over his mouth as he yawned.

"Shouldn't you help your friend?" the Twi'lek asked, keeping her eye on the fight as she slid her hand up into Kenobi's hair. Obi-Wan chuckled softly, the laughter becoming a growl of desire as the Zeltron's hands drifted south.

"And deprive him of the glory of winning this brawl all by himself?" He kissed her flushed cheek. "Sweetheart, what kind of a friend do you think I am? I wouldn't do that to him..." He reached out and grabbed the bottle from the table, poured a glass, and pressed it into her hand. "Here, drink this," he muttered. "You aren't _nearly_ drunk enough if you can't understand the nature of such a beautiful friendship." The Twi'lek did what was asked of her, quickly drinking the glass of sweet, potent liquor and returned her attentions to her prospective lover when his wandering hands prompted her to do so.

Kenobi slightly relaxed his hold on the Dark Side, the beast snarling in anticipation as he was stroked and caressed. It was little wonder that the Twi'leks were considered a slave race. Even away from their Imperial overlords and their crime lord masters, they so willingly submitted. The Syndulla family, it seemed, was an exception to the rule. Perhaps it would be worth it to go and look for Cham again. With his daughter in his possession, the Twi'lek freedom fighter _idiot_ may be more willing to cooperate with Kenobi's commands. At the very least, there was something to be said for the destructive power of Cham Syndulla. Not everyone could simply take down a Star Destroyer while Darth Vader himself was on the ship. Sith hells, _Darth Sidious_ had been on that ship, though with so many eyes on him, he had been restricted in his use of the Force. Even if things went poorly with Cham, Kenobi would _still_ win, if not by gaining an ally, by throwing the destructive idiocy of the elder Syndulla at the Empire.

A loud cheer went up in the cantina when Kanan slammed his fist into the Chagrin's face, sending the man sprawling to the floor, and without wasting a moment, Kanan grabbed his one remaining horn, lifted his head up, and slammed his face back to the ground, the massive creature going still with unconsciousness. Kenobi grinned as Kanan stood, swaying in drunken exhaustion, but his eyes bright with the rush of adrenaline. No wonder the Empire never found young Caleb Dume. He was a drunken brawler, a roughneck, hardly the image of a Jedi. And a good thing too. Senseless nobility is ultimately what got Luminara killed.

" _Alright_ ," Kanan slurred loudly as he leaned against the bar. "Listen up, you idiots. Next one that messes with me gets sent to the hospital!"

"Someone get that man a drink!" someone from the crowed shouted, and Kanan started to respond, but quickly stopped and shrugged. It was a good idea. With a new glass pressed into his hand, Kanan quickly drank the dark, amber substance, sweeter than what he had been drinking with Kenobi the past hour, but no less powerful, and he staggered to the back of the cantina to rejoin his group after his brawl. He reached the table, took a look at the empty bottles, rubbed his eyes and looked again. Sure enough, it was their table, but the Sith Lord, the clone, and the women were _gone_. He stepped back and frowned, looking at the adjacent tables and their decidedly non-human occupants and concluded that they were _not_ Obi-Wan. Where could he have gone? He swore the man was here a moment ago...

"Hey, have you seen my friend? Sort of a slut. I can't find the stupid whore anywhere!" Kanan asked anyone close enough to him to hear as he staggered around the booths against the walls. "He's got..." He touched his face. " _Here_. And..." He pointed to his eyes. " _Ooooooh, creepy_..." Nobody, it turns out, had seen the non-descript man, and Kanan shook his head, closing his eyes as he swayed and tried to muddle through a plan. He was _soused_ , and hadn't been this severely impaired since he crashed an Ithorian wedding on his way to find employment on Gorse. This Sith Lord was a _bad_ influence. There was a good chance that he wasn't stranded yet, since Kenobi had left with women, presumably, and the law of the _Umbra_ was that there was no sex to be had upon it. He'd have to go looking for the lustful Sith before Kanan ended up with no means of getting off this criminal inundated world. After another drink. Another one wouldn't hurt at this point. He was already looking at the galaxy's worst hangover, and so long as he was already hammered, he may as well go on.

Kanan stumbled his way to the bar and ordered another drink, which the bartender quickly produced, and Kanan took the glass in his hand and slowly sipped at the liquid. He had come this far without retching, and he wasn't about to start now. "Hey..." he slurred at the bartender when the dark skinned Zabrak turned away from him, and Kanan smiled unevenly when the man turned once again to face him. "Have you seen..." he started, and swallowed his words when he brought the glass back up to his lips. The Zabrak smiled in understanding.

"You came in with Ben, right?" Kanan stared blankly back at him and slowly began to nod, despite the face he had _no_ idea who Ben was. "I've never seen him with anyone other than his Mandalorian partner in crime. You new to his crew?" Again, Kanan absently nodded, slowly sipping at the last of his drink. The Zabrak laughed.

"He a regular here?" Kanan slurred, holding out his empty glass and letting the bartender fill it.

"Wouldn't say that, no," the Zabrak said. "But he makes it here once or twice a year. Networking, making good with other smugglers, making a spectacle of himself. He's a friendly sort, in any case. Can't complain much, but he wrecks my barmaids if they strike his fancy..." He shrugged as he dried off a glass with a rag and indicated toward the ceiling with his chin.. "We've got rooms upstairs. That's where he's gone, most like. Big room at the end, can't miss it, the stairs are over there," he said, pointing to a door at the side of the bar, and Kanan quickly downed his drink, rose to unsteady feet, and muttered a slurred thank you as he shuffled his way to the stairwell.

There was a reason, Kanan supposed, that the establishment was called the Wanton Wellspring, and the hallway that linked the rooms upstairs seemed to be why. Tucked in dark corners, against walls, or simply standing in the middle of everything were smugglers and pirates and bounty hunters in various states of undress, engaging in carnal pleasures with partners they met in the cantina below. When the lawless made it back to port, it was usually with cause for celebration, and they celebrated by drinking and whoring their way to oblivion. From the look of it, this was the establishment to go for strong drink and easy partners. Kanan stumbled down the hallway toward the room at the end, skirting around two enthusiastically kissing Zygerians, and he sighed heavily. The combination of copious amounts of alcohol and the smell of sex in the air was making him miss Hera.

He felt Obi-Wan in the Force before he even got to the quiet room at the end of the hall, the lingering people keeping closer to the stairwell and leaving this area in relative quiet, save for the soft moans coming from beyond the many doors and the rhythmic pounding upon the walls. He fell to his knees, thinking at first he tripped, but a moment later, he felt the Force rush hot with intense pleasure, raw and primal and savage, and he took deep, calming breaths, his thoughts turning inward as he closed himself off to Kenobi's overwhelming presence. Gritting his teeth and rising to shaking, unstable legs, Kanan stumbled to the door at the end, tuning out the loud moans of the women in the room beyond, and he sat, committed to wait for Obi-Wan to finish so they could get back to the _Ghost_. With any luck, Hera wouldn't be _too_ mad...

" _You've walked into a mess, haven't you, Kanan_?"

The Jedi scoffed. "You're telling me..." he drawled, looking to his side at the speaker, and his eyes widened, his breath caught in his throat as he looked into the face of Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn. The _ghost face_ of Qui-Gon Jinn. With as much dignity as he could muster, Kanan leapt to his feet and screamed, pointing with a shaking hand at the spirit as he backed down the hallway, the previously entangled couples looking at him with irritation and confusion.

" _Ghost_!" the Jedi shrieked. " _Kriffing hell_ , this establishment is _haunted_!"

"Lay off the drink, you sodding idiot!" a nearby Trandosian snarled, pushing Kanan with both his hands back down the hallway toward the spirit, and Kanan quickly scrambled on the ground to put some distance between them. "There's _nothing there_!"

" _Yes there is_!" Kanan insisted, reeling on the irritated reptile. "I _saw it_ , he's right-" He pointed down the hallway toward Kenobi's room, but there was nothing there. The spirit was gone. With another vicious snarl, the Trandosian smacked Kanan with his tail, sending the Jedi sprawling to the ground as the reptile dragged his partner away from the crazy man. Kanan sat up and looked in confusion at the door. He was _right there_. He saw him with his own eyes, hadn't he? With a groan, Kanan dragged himself to the corner and put his face in his hands. This was not what he was expecting when he left the _Ghost_ that morning.

" _They can't see me, you know_ ," the voice said again, and though he jumped, this time, Kanan was better prepared. He carefully looked between his fingers and spied the ghostly figure sitting on the ground before him, a small, kind smile on his lips as he curiously observed him. " _One needs a connection with the Force to see me, and that is something of a rarity these days_ ," Qui-Gon said quietly, and Kanan laughed and shook his head.

"I've _really_ outdone myself this time," he slurred, the spirit sobering him slightly, but with how drunk he was, that wasn't saying much. "I'm so soused I'm hallucinating..."

" _A hallucination, am I_?" the spirit asked, folding his arms and throughly amused. " _A common reaction to seeing me, to be sure._ " He chuckled softly. _"Even Master Yoda thought he was losing his mind_."

Kanan looked suspiciously at the ghost, his features clear as if the man himself were sitting right before him, just as he had once so long ago in the Jedi Council Chambers back on Coruscant, just after Master Billaba had awoken from her coma and dragged young Caleb Dume with her to report in on her mission over a year after its conclusion. Kanan squinted. If the vision before him wasn't ghostly pale and slightly glowing, he'd have thought the man was alive. There was no sign of injury, no evidence of a killing blow, no nothing. He reached out a hand to touch him, and groaned loudly as his fingers passed right through the apparition. This was shaping up to be his strangest day _ever_.

"So, uh..." Kanan began, waving his hand through the spirit before he reached back to rub his neck. He had nothing better to do anyway. He may as well indulge his drunkenness by talking to his hallucinations of a long dead Jedi Master. Kriffing hell, why not? "So, Master Yoda knew you were, uh...alive?"

Qui-Gon laughed gently, a soft, easy thing that made Kanan feel warm, like he was touched by the breath of the Force itself. " _No, I'm not alive any longer. Not in the way you understand it_."

"Alright, good, because I don't understand _anything_." He groaned and rubbed his head. "Oh, I bet Kenobi slipped spice into my drink! _Ooh_ , that incorrigible reprobate, I _knew_ there was a reason he kept me alive!" Kanan wailed mournfully, and Qui-Gon just laughed and shook his head.

" _This isn't a hallucination, Kanan. Search your feelings, what do they tell you_?"

Kanan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "They tell me I need another drink..." he drawled, and the Force spirit shook his head. "If I'm seeing things now, I've been conscious for too long. This is the Force's way of getting me to drink my way to sweet unconsciousness." Kanan frowned when Qui-Gon said nothing. "...that, or I'm about to slip into a drug induced haze so the great and mighty Lord of the Sith can date rape me..." Kanan gasped. " _I know_!" He pointed at the ghost's chest, losing his balance as his hand passed through him, and he fell to the ground right through the spirit, shivering as he felt touched by a warm breeze. "I know _exactly_ what you're going to tell me," he muttered as he pushed himself to his knees.

" _Oh, do you_?"

"Yes!" Kanan insisted. "You're going to tell me that right now, the Sith Lord is _vulnerable_." He hiccuped, his face feeling flushed as he relaxed into his inebrieated state. " _Now_ is my chance to rid the galaxy of a _Sith_."

" _What_?" Qui-Gon said in surprise. " _No, I don't want that. We need Obi-Wan_."

"Oh." Kanan slumped in the corner. "Good. I sort of like that son of a bitch...not that I can kill him anyway, I'm barely a Padawan, and he's a Master."

" _It's true that Obi-Wan has achieved mastery, yes_ ," Qui-Gon said softly, settling in beside the Jedi. " _But I feel you may be selling yourself short, Caleb Dume_." Wide, teal eyes looked at the Jedi Master, and Qui-Gon met his gaze, amused and almost playful. " _What? You think I do not know who you are? I did not know you well, and we did not spend much time together before I was slain, but you left something of an impression_."

"Master Qui-Gon..." Kanan muttered in amazement, rubbing his eyes and focusing on the spirit when he didn't disappear, taking him in as if it was the first time he had seen him. "Qui-Gon Jinn...you're the Jedi that trained Obi-Wan."

" _I am_ _also the Jedi that failed him_ ," Qui-Gon said mournfully. " _My life was paid for with his soul_. _It was not an exchange I ever wanted, but the price was paid anyway with my foolishness, poor handling of my student._ "

"...I don't understand," Kanan said quietly, shaking his head, and Qui-Gon waved his hand in the air with a soft chuckle.

" _That is not a concern of yours, Kanan_."

"So...you're a ghost?" Kanan asked, and the Jedi slowly nodded. "...how did you die?" He quickly shook his head before the spirit had a chance to speak. "I mean, I _heard_ what happened, but the reports were always really unclear, and Kenobi says that he's the one that killed Dooku, so..."

" _That much is true_ ," Qui-Gon said softly. " _Obi-Wan killed his Sith brother that day, immediate revenge for my death._ "

"He _avenged_ you?" Kanan gasped. He had heard the stories, but they had all been confused, conflicted, whispers of insanity surrounding every rumor regarding Kenobi only making things more difficult to comprehend. But this made less sense than even the most outrageous rumor. Or maybe he was just too drunk to understand. "But...he blamed you for his fall, didn't he? Even you said you failed him."

" _I did_ ," the spirit said frankly. " _I cannot fully explain Obi-Wan's soul, and even if I could, it's not mine to explain_."

"Is there even a soul left?" Kanan muttered, and Qui-Gon sighed and looked back toward the door when the loud, female moaning reached a crescendo.

" _Not much, I'm afraid,_ " Qui-Gon said softly. " _Grief has destroyed much of it, darkness has twisted that which remains, and Satine took the majority of it when she was murdered._ " He was silent for a moment, his eyes downcast, and Kanan could feel sympathy and mourning through the Force, a shared loss with the Lord of the Sith. Kanan watched him intently. The Master had known Satine as well. " _Whatever was left after the Dark Side burned the heart out of him was ripped away when Quinlan Vos was killed_."

"Maybe he deserved it," Kanan said softly, but his heart wasn't in it, and he felt wrong for even saying such a thing out loud. "Maybe...that was the price for his part in murdering all the Jedi."

" _All of them_?" Kanan's face fell.

"Well...yeah. I heard about the Sith attack on the Temple. I heard about the senseless slaughter that happened all across the galaxy. I _felt it_." He sighed heavily. "I'm the last one..."

"... _maybe not the last_." Kanan looked at the spirit as intensely as he could through his drunken haze. Did he hear that right? He couldn't have. " _I feel your mistrust, Kanan. You are right to be cautious. But going forward, you're going to need to trust Obi-Wan_."

"There are others?" Kanan gasped, beginning to reach for the spirit again before he quickly withdrew his hand. "Where? _How_?"

" _In time, Kanan_ ," Qui-Gon said softly. " _There are many things at work you are unaware of, and perhaps it was wrong to tell you this, but your faith in Obi-Wan must be absolute going forward_."

"B-but there are other Jedi?" Kanan asked almost frantically. "Some others survived?" A secretive smile played on Qui-Gon's lips.

" _Yes and no._ " Kanan scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"I forgot how vague the Jedi were..."

" _Just know that Luminara did good work the night the Jedi fell, and none of it would have been possible without Obi-Wan's warning of the unavoidable things to come_."

"... _he_ saved the Jedi?" Kanan gasped, looking wide eyed at the spirit, and he slowly shook his head. "I'll say this, Master Qui-Gon. This has been one hell of a hallucination."

"Talking to yourself, Jarrus?" Kanan looked bleary-eyed at the clone as he approached, has armor neat and immaculate, almost as if he hadn't been recently out of it, which Kanan _knew_ he had been. He looked to his side at Qui-Gon, the spirit sitting tall and straight and smiling brightly at the clone.

"Y-yeah..." Kanan said quietly. "Guess so." He thrust his thumb at the door. "Done so soon? Your friend is still going." Cody shrugged.

"I'm getting older, Jarrus, I don't have the stamina I used to. I finished a while ago." Cody drummed his fingers on the armor plating on his arm. "I get business done while Kenobi indulges himself." A wry, lazy smirk spread across Kanan's face.

"Still a slave, clone?" Cody scoffed.

"Hardly. You're an asshole when you're drunk, Jarrus." Kanan grumbled, wilting slightly under the harsh gaze of the Force ghost.

"S-sorry..." Kanan cleared his throat. "So, uh...what business?" Cody shrugged.

"Keeping an eye on the big name smugglers, looking out for fast ships. That sort of thing." He smirked as he leaned in toward the severely drunk Jedi, and Kanan wondered why the clone didn't appear inebriated at all. Maybe the man had executed _temperance,_ which Kanan found to be a severe lapse of judgement. "One of the fastest ships I have _ever_ seen just changed hands, and her new owner is _far_ more agreeable than he last. I just got out of talks with her new owner, sort of an infamous gambler and smuggler, though..." He frowned, rocking his head from side to side. "Not the best pilot. He wasn't receptive to dealing with Mandalorians, but you might have more luck. His name's Calrissian. Pass the name along to Hera."

"...why are you sharing this?" Kanan slurred. "Won't your Master be angry you're giving away _secrets_?" Cody rolled his eyes.

"Kenobi isn't my Master, he's my friend, and he's my brother. And we're _allies_ now, fool. I know you're drunk, but kriffing hell..."

" _Trust, Kanan_ ," Qui-Gon said kindly. " _So much is hidden from you, I know, but Obi-Wan is the key to the destruction of the Sith. Faith is needed for hope to thrive, and you must have faith in him. Sometimes help comes where you least expect it._ "

Kanan was about to respond when the comlink on his wrist went off, and with a huff of irritation he checked the device, slowly read the message left for him, blinked, and read it again. It...didn't make sense, and a slow panic rose within him. Before he could stop himself, he used the Force to open the door to Kenobi's room and rushed inside, stopping suddenly when he was grabbed by the Dark Side and lifted into the air, brought quickly to float before Obi-Wan as he lounged on a couch with a glass in his hand.

"Once, _just once_ ," Kenobi snarled, "I want a friend that understands _how to knock_." He indicated to the bed behind him where the two girl lay softly moaning in exhaustion, the powerful pheromones secreted by the Zeltron slowly bringing the girls back into a state of high arousal. "Look at them, Kanan, the girls _want me_ , and you are getting in the way of this beautiful, _beautiful thing_!"

" _Do they actually want you_?" Qui-Gon asked, appearing beside the floating, displeased Jedi, and the Sith's eyes narrowed in anger. " _It's so hard to tell, consent is such a tricky thing with you, Lord Lumis_."

"Damn it, Qui-Gon, you _always do this_!" Obi-Wan shouted, throwing his hands in the air and jumping up from the couch, Kanan dropping in a heap on the ground as the Sith strode to stand face to face with the Force ghost. " _Every single time, Qui-Gon_!" Kenobi snarled. "Are you just _jealous_ , is that it? Didn't get enough in life, so now you're vicariously enjoying sex _through me_?" The Jedi rolled his eyes.

" _Don't be absurd_ ," Qui-Gon said softly, folding his arms into the sleeves of his robes and looking briefly to Kanan, who sat on the floor and stared at the apparition in bewilderment. " _I'm simply concerned for you, I know how your heart bleeds_."

"Yeah, well, it doesn't bleed when I'm _inside a woman_!" the Sith Lord snapped. "You're lucky Kanan's here, or I'd make you watch me take those girls as hard as I can! Mark my word, next time, _I will_!" Golden eyes shot to the Jedi on the ground, the man gaping and pointing at Qui-Gon, and Kenobi groaned and rolled his eyes.

"You see it too!" Kanan said in a voice that cracked with his disbelief. " _It's a ghost_ , it's _real_!"

"Sith hells, Kanan, of course it's a ghost!" Kenobi cried, throwing his hands in the air. "On top of everything else, why _wouldn't_ I be haunted?!" The Sith Lord reeled on the spirit. "Don't you have a job to do?! I gave you a task, you were supposed to teach them-"

" _I did_ ," Qui-Gon swiftly interrupted, " _and they accomplished the task. Obi-Wan, they are growing terribly fast. They need you, not me_."

"Mm..." The swell of pride within the Sith Lord quickly vanished when Kanan Jarrus could no longer hold it together and vomited on the floor. Kenobi looked at him with disgust. "All that _expensive_ liquor, wasted on a Jedi. _Typical_." He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the man as he finished retching. "Why didn't you just purge yourself of the toxins?!"

"... _you can do that_?!" Kanan asked in disbelief, and Obi-Wan rolled his eyes and helped the man to his feet.

"Of course you can do that...Sith hells, the Jedi truly are dead. What did I tell you, Qui-Gon?"

" _A fact I never denied_ ," the spirit said, and Kanan looked at him in wonder. It _was_ Qui-Gon, not some alcohol induced hallucination, which meant...

He looked up at the Sith Lord, hie eyes blazing gold and bespeaking of the corruption that lay within him. This man had saved _Jedi_. Not just Luminara, who he cared for, but other Jedi. The spirit was vague about it, like Hera was vague about Fulcrum, but Kanan felt immediately that he could trust the Force ghost. He respected Kenobi before, but now, he _trusted_ him.

"Well, the mood is dead," Kenobi said in a low, tired growl, rolling his eyes as Kanan threw his arms around him and didn't let go. "Why did you barge in here, Kanan..."

"Hera and Sabine were picking up a shipment for Fulcrum," he muttered into the Sith's chest. "The _Phantom_ wasn't repaired right, they're stranded and they're in _danger_..."

"Serves your stubborn girlfriend right," Kenobi said with a sigh, prying the Jedi off of him and extending his hand toward the girls on the bed, both of them shivering violently for a moment before they fell still, forced into deep sleep. "She should have let me do the repairs, she's worse than her father."

"She's not my girlfriend," Kanan drawled, swaying and being held up by the sheer power of his will alone. "She's my _loooooooover_..."

"Right..." Kenobi drawled, dragging the inebriated man up by the shoulder. "Come on, then. Let's go save your Twi'lek. I've got a few bottles for the trip."

* * *

Hera and Sabine crouched behind a stack of crates for cover as they waited for the stalking beasts to emerge from their lair. The creatures, sleek, black quadrupeds whose yellow eyes were painfully sensitive to sunlight, had been nesting inside the hangar of Fort Anaxes, a large, Republic military base that had been left abandoned since the end of the Clone Wars, and it had since become a popular place for secret meetings, something the Empire had yet to pick up on. The Fort used to be on the planet Anaxes, but a cataclysmic, geological disaster ravaged the planet, leading to its complete destruction, the entire planet rendered into little more than an asteroid field. The Fort miraculously survived, and now, the large asteroid was subject to the full light of the system's primary sun at all times.

Unless another asteroid happened to pass in front of it.

With the shade came the creatures, the savage beasts snarling and hissing as they stalked out of their lair, and Hera and Sabine were left to defend themselves, shooting at the beasts while they charged and retreating as they took cover and hoped for the asteroid to pass. It didn't take long for the sunlight to return and drive the beasts back into their cave, but a _much_ larger asteroid was slowly floating above them, and there wasn't much time before it blocked the sun completely. The creatures would return, and they were running low on charges for their blasters. A close call with one of the creatures left Sabine with large, deep gouges in her arm, the exposed flesh below her limited armor bleeding profusely, which left her aim with her secondary hand shaky at best.

"That is the _last time_ I'm letting those two repair _anything_ unsupervised!" Hera said firmly as she tore the ripped leg of her pants with her teeth into strips and carefully wrapped Sabine's arm. "I'm so sorry, Sabine. This is my fault."

"How could they not notice a fuel leak?" Sabine absently asked, looking over the long landing strip before them and observing their assets. It wasn't much, but it may be enough to help them survive until the massive asteroid passed them by. And to her delight, _yes_ , there were explosives among the crates. When all else fails, blowing things up had always worked for her. A well-placed explosion could make one person look like _many_ people.

"I don't know, but when they get here and we're safe, I'm going to let them have it," Hera grumbled, tying off the strip of cloth, blood slowly soaking through, and with a frown, she began laying on another strip. "Got a plan?"

Sabine nodded and pointed to the red canisters among the crates. "An old friend of mine. Highly explosive rhydonium."

"Well, it's nice to have friends, isn't it?" Hera said, a sly smile on her face. "We don't have much time. Can they be moved?" Sabine nodded, watched as Hera tied off the next strip, and she moved her arm, wincing in pain, but it was manageable. "Let's get them in position to cause the most damage possible."

"Hera, we can blow up a lot of them with this, but we don't know how many-"

"I _know_ , Sabine," Hera said, laying her hands on the girl's shoulders. "We've called for help, it's all we can do. I promise, I will keep you safe for as long as I can."

"We'll keep each other safe," Sabine said firmly, and the Twi'lek nodded swiftly and the two were off to move the explosive canisters into place. Sabine had some trouble with trust as of late, the business with the secrecy surrounding Fulcrum rubbing her the wrong way, but here, in a moment of crisis, Hera was steadfast and reliable, the trust and care she felt for the Mandalorian coming through with her every action. It was enough, and Sabine put aside the conflict and decided that, if they survived, she'd have faith in this rebellion they stood on the fringe of. Her Shadow King was a part of it, yes, but the important thing was that the crew of the _Ghost_ , her _family_ believed in it. And that was enough.

A shadow passed over the ground, and Hera and Sabine dove behind the stacks of crates, their weapons trained on their first line of explosives, watching as the shadow reached across the landing strip toward the hangar that served as the creatures' nest. When the sun was hidden behind the asteroid, hundreds of glowing, yellow eyes peered at them from the darkness, the snarling beasts slowly stalking out of their cave. With a feral roar, the beasts began to charge, rushing for the Twi'lek and the Mandalorian, and when the creatures reached the line, Sabine shot the canister, the contents exploding in a blaze of red and green fire, the vicious beasts flying and howling in pain.

And still they came.

Retreating to their next position, Hera and Sabine shot at the creatures that came too close to them, and they dove behind their next cover point, shooting the next line of canisters and ducking as the next explosion rocked the area. As soon as it was clear, the women resumed their retreat toward the fuel-less _Phantom_ , the creatures following close behind. Past the third, fourth and fifth line of explosions, the creatures still followed, gaining ground and their number hardly seeming to dwindle at all. There were not ten feet from the _Phantom's_ open hatch when they had to turn around and make a stand, blasters shooting with deadly precision against each beast as it pounced, each woman covering the other as claws cut and fanged jaws came far too close to latching on to hands and limbs. Without any explosives left, they could do no more than what they were doing, and it wasn't enough.

Something made the snarling beasts stop their aggressive charge for a moment, just long enough to give Hera and Sabine a few free shots at the closest ones, and then they felt it too. A deep, reverberating thrum in the air that vibrated deep in their chests, and with a smile, the two women drew closer together, increasing the fury of their fire as the beasts shook out of their stupor and began the attack again, all the while the thrum growing louder into the high pitched whistle of powerful engines. Their help had arrived, though not the help they were expecting.

Within seconds, the sleek black of the _Umbra_ hung in the sky above them, blotting out any light the asteroid didn't cover, and from the open access doors beneath the ship, a dark figure dropped to the ground, landing in a crouch between the women and the beasts, and Obi-Wan slowly rose, his hands hovering over the hilts of his lightsabers. A moment later, and a second figure fell out of the ship, this one not landing with the feline grace of the Sith Lord, but with a loud thud as he collapsed on the ground in a laughing, obviously drunken heap. Hera stared at the Jedi in a mix of disbelief and outrage as Kanan stood, swaying on unsteady legs and quickly brandishing the blaster he kept strapped to his thigh.

"Hera!" Kanan boldly declared, his speech amazingly slurred, "I've come to rescue you from these foul beasts!"

"Oh, have you?" she said sweetly, so unlike her usual tone, and Kanan's chest puffed as she drew near, "I'm _so_ glad you've come to my rescue..." She swiftly punched the man's arm, sending the drunken Jedi stumbling back a few steps before he caught his balance. "If those beasts don't kill you, _I will_! Are you _drunk_?!"

"Nooo..." Kanan drawled. "I'm _soused_ , I'm _way_ beyond drunk..." He pointed an accusing finger at the Sith Lord. " _It's his fault_! Him and his _ghost friend_!"

"Hey, don't you go blaming me for this!" Kenobi said without looking back at them, his hands held out before him as he felt at the creatures, the beasts pacing cautiously before him, afraid and uncertain of what to do with the new powers that had arrived. "But I'll give you that it _is_ Qui-Gon's fault. Things often are, and he is _very_ distressing."

"Well, you _really_ can't let boys do anything, can you?" Sabine asked, her weapons primed and watching as the _Umbra_ magnetized the _Phantom_ and brought the little transport up into its hold.

"Don't worry, Sabine, I've got this!" Kanan said, pointing his blaster at the creatures and firing rapidly, not a single bolt hitting any of them. Kanan examined his blaster mournfully. "Hey, it's _broken_!"

"Stop shooting, you idiot!" Obi-Wan snarled, reaching out with the Force and tearing the weapon out of the Jedi's hand, the beasts finally emboldened once again and they moved closer, one particularly vicious one pouncing at the Sith Lord. Kenobi felt the beast just before it struck, and he swiftly called his lightsaber to his hands, the blade igniting while the hilt flew into his grasp, and he turned and slashed upwards, cutting the creature right through down the middle, the two halves tumbling toward the other three people.

"Uh, _eww_!" Sabine shouted, looking at the mess that came to rest right before her, quickly diverting her attention back to the beasts who began barking and hissing and snarling as the circled the group, the _Umbra_ slowly lowering toward the ground.

"Kanan, get the girls up on the ship," Kenobi commanded, his hands out before him as he brought the Force down on the beasts, the creatures whimpering and whining as their minds were dominated, the Sith's eyes closed in concentration as he exerted his will upon the massive pack, his hands shaking from the weight of the effort.

"Alright, come on..." Kanan said softly, grabbing their hands and quickly sobering, the rush of the Force around him clearing away the severity of his intoxication, and with a quick look back at Kenobi, he rushed the girls inside. "Kenobi!" Kanan shouted from the ramp, the Sith Lord not moving at all as he wrestled to control the throng of creatures that swarmed over the asteroid. "Kenobi, they're safe, let's go!"

Slowly, Obi-Wan backed up toward the ramp, his hands extended and shaking, his grip beginning to slip as the beasts grew more frustrated, more frantic, and with a final surge of energy, Obi-Wan let lose the Dark Side, the howling, vicious wrath greater than that of any creature that hunted them, and the Force tore at the creatures, sending them flying away from Kenobi and the _Umbra_ as the nexus exploded outwards, the beasts howling and whimpering in pain as their primitive minds were savaged. Left feeling drained by the overwhelming use of the Force, Obi-Wan found himself caught by Kanan and helped into the ship, the ramp closing behind them as the _Umbra_ took off, flying away from the asteroid field and out to open space.

When they got to the cockpit, they found Hera with her hands in the air, a petulant look on her face, and Cody standing with both his blasters drawn, one pointed at Hera and the other at Sabine, the younger Mandalorian's own blasters trained on the clone. Obi-Wan rolled his eyes as Kanan's support left him. This was _not_ his day.

" _Ooh_ , I _knew_ clones couldn't be trusted!" Kanan said, his voice still slightly slurred and clearly still drunk, though not nearly as severely as before.

"Sir," Cody said firmly, "the bitch tried to take the pilot's seat." Hera simply shrugged.

"Can you blame a girl for trying?" Obi-Wan flashed the Twi'lek a patronizing smile as he snapped at Cody, the clone returning his weapons to their holsters. With a sigh of relief, Sabine put her own weapons back on her hip.

"Sure can, sweetheart," he drawled as he took the pilot's seat, his hands flying effortlessly over the controls as he set their destination into the navicomputer and pulled the hyperdrive lever, the ship sliding into hyperspace with such ease that Hera could barely feel the ship accelerate. "You don't get to ride mine until I get to ride yours. _Umbra's_ a very particular slut. Not everyone can talk to her right, can they, baby..." he cooed as he stroked the console. "Damn, I must be getting old..." Obi-Wan said softly, running his hands over his face. "There was no way something like that would exhaust me like this during the Clone Wars..."

"Sensors picked up _hundreds_ of life forms down there, brother," Cody said as he slipped into the pilot's seat. "You've never dominated so many minds at once."

" _Primitive_ minds," the Sith Lord sneered, and the clone beside him rolled his eyes.

"Sure, but I saw a big one in the back." The Sith's golden eyes looked at the clone, and Cody simply grinned. " _Really_ big."

"Shit, we've got to go back fro it," Obi-Wan muttered, his hands flying over the naivcomputer before Hera quickly reached out and grabbed his wrists.

"Oh, no you don't! You are getting us back to the _Ghost_!"

"But _mom_!" the Sith Lord whined. "I want to go back for the giant, scary beast! I want it to fight my rancor!"

"You can go back on your own time, Spectre Zero," Hera said, her face far more gentle than her tone. "We need to get back." The Sith Lord shook her grip free, and he leaned back in his seat, his eyes closed as he touched the Force, willing it to clear away his exhaustion. "Where is the _Ghost_ anyway?" the Twi'lek asked. "I expected Ezra and Zeb to answer our distress call, since they were the ones that got it."

"They were too nervous to fly the _Ghost_ ," Kanan said, the man sitting back in the passenger seat and fighting to remain awake, but it was a battle he was losing. When Hera laid her hand upon his head and gently rubbed his scalp, the Jedi fell asleep almost instantly.

"Well, they should be nervous," Hera said softly, and the Sith Lord smirked. "This whole mess is their fault."

"It's your fault, Syndulla," Kenobi said softly, his grin getting wider when he felt the pilot's angry eyes on him. "If you had just let me fix the shuttle, you wouldn't have been in this mess."

"If you hadn't taken Kanan with you on your...drunken escapade, he would have come to the rescue sooner, _and_ he would have been sober enough to do it himself!"

"We wouldn't have had to come to the rescue _at all_ if you hadn't scraped the _Phantom_ in the first place!"

"And _that_ ," Hera said firmly with a triumphant smirk on her face, "only happened because _Kanan_ 's plan went south."

"Ah..." Obi-Wan said, leaning back in his seat and looking at the unconscious Jedi. "I might have known all this was somehow his fault."

"It always is." She smiled softly at the Jedi in the seat beside her, her hands lovingly stroking his face. "You know..." she said slowly. "You _were_ late in bringing him home..."

"...I know." Obi-Wan sighed and leaned back in the seat. "So, what was the deal? I take the kids on my ship for a few hours?"

Hera smirked. "What's this? Not trying to get out of it?" Kenobi simply shrugged. "Huh. Honor from a Lord of the Sith. Now I've seen everything."

"Usually when you say things like that, impossible things start happening," Obi-Wan said softly. "Stick with me, Syndulla, and you'll have your fair share of impossible."

"I believe it..."

Kenobi flashed her a tired smile, his fingers lightly tapping the comlink on the control console. "Rest up. We'll rendevous with the _Ghost_ near Lothal in about an hour. I'll contact Fulcrum and tell them you've got their stuff."

"...thank you." She laid a hand on the man's tense shoulder. "You're an _awful_ influence, but I'm glad you're working with us." Obi-Wan didn't look at her, but Hera could see the golden eyes flick downwards, a faint flush on his cheeks as a small, modest smile played over his lips. "Try not to ruin the kids while you have them."

Obi-Wan turned to her and grinned, the modesty of before suddenly gone. "It's just for a few hours, Syndulla. How much damage can I honestly do?"


	11. Ascendancy

_Chapter 11: Ascendancy_

Fifteen years of Imperial rule would be heralded with celebrations, parades, and increased security the likes of which had never been seen before, particularly in the Core Worlds, the bright and shining heart of Palpatine's Empire. Empire Day was still a week out, but already, cities had their risk level rated, and soldiers were deployed accordingly. The population was on edge, not because of the presence of the Imperial's elite Death Troopers that patrolled the streets in large numbers throughout every major Core World hub, but for fear of the Shadow King, whispers of his presence permeating every street, every cantina, every gathering, despite the Imperial attempt to stop the dread name from being spoken, as if simply saying it would summon the man and his beast.

It was a different story in the Outer Rim. Where in the Core Worlds, the name was whispered in fear, those in the Outer Rim treated the Shadow King with reverence, a living legend, a symbol of defiance against the Empire that oppressed and neglected them, and while they were too afraid of Imperial retribution to rise up against their cruel overlords, they kept the fire of resistance alive with words and whispers, the only rebellion they could manage. They could be crushed, beaten down and defeated with force, but an idea, a _thought_ was very hard to kill, and those were the thoughts that would later be turned into action against the Empire.

But that seemed to be a long way off. Tarkin had been Moff of the Outer Rim for ten years now, and his methods were _shockingly_ effective, a testament to the harsh training he endured as a child, and after Kenobi's latest stunt, he had been impossible to get near. The man was cautious, excessively so, his every action to ensure the security of his territory carrying with it the touch of a mild case of paranoia, and it made him dangerous. Tarkin's pacification of the Outer Rim had largely worked, a rule by fear that gave rise to small, violent resistance movements that were quickly crushed with such excess of force that it discouraged others from even attempting to fight back. It was...admirable, really, and Kenobi deeply regretted that Wilhuff Tarkin needed to die. Despite standing on opposite sides, Obi-Wan had developed something of a respect for the man. It was really a shame that he couldn't somehow be brought to his side, but Tarkin's connection to the Empire, to Vader, and to Palpatine were too great to ignore.

It wasn't enough, of course. The Outer Rim was too large, too wild to be tamed by an Empire, let alone by one man, and while fear and hunger did their job in keeping the populations as a whole in line, many Outer Rim worlds still rarely considered the Empire as anything more than an occasional nuisance, choosing instead to focus on their more immediate problems that came in the form of local conflict and rampant crime run by syndicates and pirates. Even the Republic at its height hadn't extended their reach to the Outer Rim worlds, leaving the territory largely ignored, even when systems vied for acceptance into the galactic community, which was part of the problem. The Clone Wars never could have happened if there wasn't disillusionment with the way the major galactic government was being run. All this and more served as lessons for Obi-Wan, reminders of what could happen when the government failed, and it served to provide a guideline of how he should run his own Empire, when the time came.

Never the less, resistance continued to grow, each attack against the Empire prompting harsh, violent retribution that ultimately drove more people to the rebel cause, though in silent, subtle ways. Populations of subjugated worlds provided business for smugglers, a market created for much needed goods that the Empire denied them, and in becoming a valuable part of several ravished communities, the lawless smugglers became something of an asset, unconscious supporters of the rebel cause, even if their motivation was simply profit. Their business required them to work against the Empire, evading local and greater authorities, which ended up creating a group of people that became experts in circumnavigating the Empire. It took some work, but Kenobi was very quietly beginning to make friends in those circles, and in doing so, greatly expanded his reach. Like Hondo, these people would _never_ work with the Empire because it was, ultimately, bad for business. Bounty hunters and other criminal elements may have had deals with the Empire to avoid their careful scrutiny, but smugglers stopped being smugglers the second they submitted to Imperial law. At that point, they were _contractors_ , a thing that flew in the face of the freedom they stood for.

Obi-Wan had a meeting with a particularly notable smuggler, gambler, and self-proclaimed entrepreneur that caught his attention not because of his impressive record, but because of his ship, a Corellian freighter that had been heavily modified into quickly becoming one of the fastest ships ever built, able to outrun even the fastest Star Destroyer, and any ship that could rival the _Umbra_ in terms of speed was worth looking in to. But that wasn't today. Today would be spent in preparation for his favorite day. The best day. _Empire Day_. A day celebrated yearly with aggravating his former Master, most of the time in ways that were more irritating than actually damaging, but it was becoming very difficult to damage the Empire at all. It had been for _years_ , a goliath that hardly noticed when Kenobi sought to burn it. Except for the Geonosians.

The Geonosian incident five years ago was a critical strike, a single night of terror where the corpses of genocide rained down upon Coruscant, a grisly revelation of the atrocity that had occurred to the people of Geonosis. The Empire was forced to quickly cover the incident, to hide the truth of what had happened, but it was a hard task, one they were still struggling with. In time, those that asked too many questions were quietly executed, and since then, talk of what had happened had ceased, though the memory still remained.

This year, however, Obi-Wan chose to celebrate this momentous landmark in Imperial history not with a large, grand gesture, as he had celebrated the ten year anniversary with a rain of dead Geonosians, but with something quieter, something a bit more personal, something that addressed two pressing needs at once. First, the need to needle Sidious, and second, to change the field in his game with Thrawn.

This year, Obi-Wan was going to get his hands on the Chiss.

His hands tightened around the accelerator of the _Umbra_ , his jaw clenched in rage, his patience wearing _very_ thin as he heard excited shouting swiftly coming closer to the cockpit. He'd get his hands on the Chiss if he didn't kill the children first. And he had _promised_ he wouldn't kill them. It was a promise he was beginning to deeply regret. He still felt the effects of the alcohol from his outing with Kanan. He wasn't _drunk_ , but perhaps he could use it as an excuse. A terrible, drunken lightsaber mistake...

"Just think..." Obi-Wan said to Cody, wincing as the excited cries came ominously closer. "Kanan is home on the _Ghost_ having drunk sex with his hot girlfriend. And _me_ , Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Separatist Negotiator, Sith Lord Darth Lumis and Shadow King of Mandalore...I'm _babysitting_ a Force sensitive idiot, a Mandalorian teenage girl, and a giant purple _cat_."

"You're getting soft..." Cody said, leaning back in his seat, his eyes closed as he rested. Unlike Kenobi, _he_ actually needed sleep, and the mission they were embarking on was potentially _very_ dangerous. "Do you think Hera will be angry we are bringing her crew to the edge of Wild Space?"

"Nah, of course not," Obi-Wan swiftly dismissed. "We're not _actually_ going into Wild Space, we-"

"Kalee is in Wild Space, brother."

"...we're not going _deep_ into Wild Space," Obi-Wan corrected. "I doubt Hera will mind, in any case. She wanted a babysitter so she can ride her lover in every room on the ship, and she got what she wanted. I could have just as easily left her with a drunk, aroused lover and a ship full of interruptions." Kenobi smirked at the clone. "Regardless of what we do, she'll think me for taking them. Ample sex is _certain_ to smooth her edges."

"Is it?" Cody asked, looking at the Sith out of the corner of his eye. "Seems to me like she's above such simple distractions. And _you_ , brother, are only sharpened by sex."

"It isn't about pleasure anymore, Cody, you know that..." Obi-Wan whispered. "Luminara, Padmé, Satine, they're all I see the moment it becomes about anything other than domination and lust, and _that_ deepens my connection to the Dark Side, either through primal savagery or pain..." He laughed bitterly. "After Satine, after everything inside me burned to ash..." Obi-Wan took a deep, shuddering breath. "Of course it sharpens me, what else is there but the Dark Side?"

"The twins," the clone said swiftly, and a faint, rare, genuine smile passed over the Sith Lord's lips. "And you've got me, sir," Cody said, laughing quietly as he settled into his chair. "And a ship full of kids you promised not to kill."

"So help me, if I don't get my hands on those Chiss, _someone's_ blood will need to be spilt."

" _Obi-Wan_!" The Sith Lord winced again as pounding feet and loud, excited breathing accompanied the shouting Force sensitive. Ezra Bridger. Kanan's little Padawan. Obi-Wan sneered. He had nothing against the child save for the fact that he was currently inconveniencing him. He was strong in the Force, which was great, but he was rash and undisciplined, which made him a difficult challenge for the Jedi that chose to train him. So difficult that it was a distraction. Even if there were Jedi left, Ezra would _never_ be one, though he did have _other_ potential, just not of the kind his roguish Jedi Master would have approved of.

"Kenobi! Hey, Kenobi!" Ezra said again, his hands on the back of the Sith Lord's seat and bouncing excitedly on the balls of his feet. "Is your rancor on the ship? Can we see it? How come none of the doors will open?"

"Ezra, _stop it_!" Sabine hissed, rushing in after him. "That's the _Shadow King_! Have some respect, he's _royalty_!"

Obi-Wan growled in irritation as Cody began to laugh next to him, and he shot the clone a vicious glare, which Cody responded to with more laughter. "Xaz, nie, irtave kraud kash antsliuz. Irzhol dartol'ne moketi Plejada, tik Zarchas Tsis ir Xiemandokas." Ezra looked at him blankly, and slowly turned his head to Sabine, the Mandalorian looking just as confused as him.

"Hey, don't look at me, Ezra, that's _not_ Mando'a."

" _Yes_ ," the Sith growled dangerously, "the rancor is on the ship. _No_ , you cannot see him, and the ship's non-essential cabins are on lock down so _you lot_ can't go sticking your noses where they don't belong!" His hands tightened on the controls. "Also, the ship doesn't understand Galactic Basic, only Ancient Sith and Mando'a."

"I _told_ you you should try talking to it, Sabine!" the boy said, turning to the increasingly cross girl. "He's a Mandalorian King, _of course_ his ship would speak his language. Oh, hey, is that why you have an accent?" the boy asked, his arm draped over the back of the seat and trying to appear cool and relaxed.

"My accent?" Obi-Wan asked, taken aback by the flurry of questions, and Ezra slowly nodded.

"Yeah, where's it from? Because, no offense, you sound like an Imperial." Obi-Wan balked.

"I most _certainly_ do not!"

"You better watch it, kid," Zeb said, his large, clawed feet clacking against the ground as he lifted Ezra up by the back of his shirt and moved the struggling boy away from the pilot's chair. "Kanan said that man can kill you. _With his mind_!"

"Yeah, but did you _see_ how drunk he was?" Ezra asked laughter in his voice and a wide grin on his face. "Nothing he said counted!"

"Kanan's been saying he's dangerous since _before_ today, idiot!" Zeb snarled, and Ezra crossed his arms and looked defiantly at the Lasat.

"Well he felt safe enough to go out and get _absolutely_ smashed with him, so I _think_ we're going to be alright." A tight, angry growl reverberated in the Lasat's chest.

"Hey, _Kenobi_ ," Zeb said forcefully. "Tell the kid that you're dangerous."

"Who, me?" Obi-Wan asked innocently. "No, not me. I believe the word they use to describe me is _demure_." Zeb narrowed his yellow eyes.

"I don't know what that means..." he growled. "But _I don't like it_."

"So what are we going to do?" Ezra quickly asked before anyone else could take up the Sith Lord's time. "Are you going to train me? Oh, are you going to give me a lightsaber?!"

"A lightsaber doesn't make you a Jedi," Obi-Wan said as he rolled his eyes. "Yoda, one of the greatest, most powerful Jedi that ever lived, _never_ used a lightsaber." Ezra's eyes narrowed skeptically. "It's true. I fought him on more than one occasion and he never had to draw it. He never needed to, the power of the Force he commanded was strong enough."

"...well, _you're_ powerful," Ezra said, and the Sith Lord nodded. "And you use a lightsaber. You have _three_."

"Yes, well, how else am I supposed to dismember people?" Obi-Wan asked, as if the boy's statement was the stupidest thing in the world. "Fashita, I am no Jedi. Didn't Kanan teach you anything?" He flicked his hand in the air dismissively. "And I do not think your Master would much like it if I trained you. I can't have another student anyway, my hands are absolutely full."

"Is Kanan that hopeless?" Ezra asked, and the Sith Lord stared at the boy and slowly began to smirk.

"Hardly. Your Master is _quite_ good, but that just isn't the way of the Sith."

"Kanan _isn't_ Sith," Ezra said proudly, and Kenobi sighed.

"No, he isn't. But _I_ am. Dzworokka yun; nyâshqûwai, nwiqûwai. It's been such since Darth Bane ruled as Master of the Sith. I can't have another student, Bridger, and you are too young for what I have to teach." Kenobi smirked. "Why? Are you disappointed in your Master?"

"N-no!" Ezra said swiftly, a deep flush on his face. "I don't want another Master! I didn't want Luminara and I don't want _you_." He frowned and bit his lip, breaking his gaze from the piercing gold. "You're just...teaching Kanan, so you must be powerful, and I want to learn everything I can so I can help."

"...ask Kanan what he will permit me to teach you," Obi-Wan said softly, reaching out with his senses to gauge the boy and finding the potential for darkness rife within him. In a few years time, this boy could be _Sith_.

"So if you aren't teaching Ezra, what _are_ we doing?" Sabine asked, dropping into the seat behind Cody and grinning broadly when the clone began softly cursing at her in Mando'a for moving his seat.

"It's nothing much, so don't get excited..." Obi-Wan muttered, bringing the ship out of hyperspace for a moment, making some small adjustments on the navicom as he read the data from the local hyperspace buoy, a necessity for light speed travel when flying off the large hyperspace lanes. A moment later and he activated the hyperdrive, and they were off once again. "You wouldn't be here if this weren't time sensitive, but my window of opportunity here is _very_ small. I wasn't expecting passengers."

"Well, if you didn't bring back Kanan _completely_ drunk, then maybe Hera wouldn't have had to lecture him like I _know_ she's doing!" Ezra said firmly, and Sabine rolled her eyes. "They don't like fighting in front of us."

"Is that what you think they're doing?" Sabine slyly asked. "Ezra, we would have been here no matter what because Hera wanted him to bend her over and fu-"

"No she doesn't!" Zeb quickly interrupted, covering an annoyed Ezra's ears. "They _definitely_ don't do that when we're not around! Or when they _think_ we're not around..." Sabine rolled her eyes just as Ezra managed to wriggle free of the Lasat's grasp.

"Come on, Zeb, everyone knows Hera and Kanan are together. I don't know why you're trying to cover for them," Sabine said, leaning out into the aisle to look at Kenobi closely. "So...what's this mission?" she asked softly, both Ezra and Zeb leaning in closer, listening intently for his response. "Is it for Fulcrum? For the rebellion or whatever it is you work for?"

"I don't work for anybody..." Obi-Wan growled, making adjustments to the hyperdrive from the center console and urging it faster. "And no, this isn't for Fulcrum. This is for me." He shot a pointed glance at the Mandalorian. "Which means _you_ aren't invited. You're all going to stay on the ship." Collective groans of disappointment sounded from the Spectres.

"Can you at least tell us what you're doing?" Zeb asked, sliding into one of the passenger seats. "If you're going to be busting Imperials, I want in!" Quick, excited mutters of agreement came from Sabine and Ezra, and with a groan, Obi-Wan pinched the bridge of his nose and shut his eyes tightly. He was getting a headache.

"Alright, _alright_!" the Sith Lord growled. If he was going to have these children imposed upon him, so be it. He could put them to use. He wouldn't have attached himself to the _Ghost_ crew if he didn't believe they were competent, and there were worse people to have on a mission than a brutish Lasat, an explosion-happy Mandalorian, and an uncontrolled Force sensitive. Though, without team mom and dad Hera and Kanan, Obi-Wan sensed that the Spectres were untethered, children experiencing freedom as if it was the first time they had ever been out from under their parents' wing. It wasn't, of course. Each of them was a free spirit, a flame that flickered and died under the oppression of the Empire, and broke free as soon as they were able, which is how they had found their way to the _Ghost_ to begin with.

But now, they were new people, and now, mom and dad were away, and they suddenly found themselves in the care of a man that, on the best of days, was murderous, highly dangerous, and really a terrible influence. Judging by their enthusiasm, it seemed they wouldn't have it any other way.

"We aren't looking for Imperials, so don't get too excited. This mission is about... _learning_ ," Kenobi said, carefully measuring his words. "We're not _exactly_ sure where we're looking, but we have a general area, and if my sources can be trusted-"

"Your sources?" Ezra said swiftly, excitedly. "Fulcrum?" Kenobi shook his head.

"Much more reliable. Smugglers." Kenobi grinned. "Always trust a smuggler when it comes to matters of profit." Sabine looked at him skeptically.

"Hey, is this another _supply run_?" She asked. "Because I saw Kanan after your last one and-"

"Not a supply run, no," Obi-Wan interrupted. "Not exactly, in any case. No worries. We're keeping a clear head for this one." His hands moved over the console, the holoprojector lighting up and displaying a rough schematic of a sleek, needle-nosed shuttle, a dark silver vessel no more than fifty meters in length with four long, sloping claws extending from back to front. The Spectres leaned in, looking over the ship carefully. It was unlike anything they had ever seen before. "This," Obi-Wan said almost reverently, "is our target."

"What is it?" Ezra said, scooting in even closer and squinting at the odd, sloping text that labeled the ship's components. "I've never seen anything like it."

"Nor should you have," Kenobi said quickly. "The Chiss rarely venture out of the Unknown Regions. But one of the smugglers making port on Rajtiri was making a particularly daring run in the Bright Jewel Oversector and had to swing wide into the skirts of Wild Space to avoid the Imperial strongholds along the routes from Muunilinst to Jaemus." He swiped his hand over the console, the ship minimized as a map of the galaxy hung before them, and he quickly zoomed in to the sector in question. He pointed to a blank space between the two planets in question, and a third that lay off the connecting hyperspace routes. " _Here_ is where they encountered this ship, and after a failed attempt at communication, they became hostile and opened fire."

"Why did communications fail?" Sabine asked.

"The most basic reason," Obi-Wan said quietly. "They didn't understand the language. Also, it is _very_ likely the smugglers opened fire first. They're a jumpy bunch."

"So they're a couple of Wild Spacers defending their planet," Zeb said, pointing at the small planet drifting just on the edge of Wild Space. "The Empire's been pushing into their territory over the past few years."

"They have, yes..." Kenobi mused. "But that's not it. I happen to know a bit about the planet, and this ship is _not_ one of theirs." He smiled faintly. "The smugglers reported that the female that tried to establish communications with them was a blue skinned, red eyed near-human. A Chiss, from the description, and I have taken something of an intense interest in them. Trouble is, they don't get out much, and information on them is rarer than information on the Jedi."

"And you want to make contact?" Ezra asked in disbelief, and scoffed when the Sith Lord nodded. "They're _hostile_ , and they obviously don't speak our language. If that's their planet-"

"It isn't," Obi-Wan interrupted in a smug drawl as the _Umbra_ flashed out of hyperspace, a beautiful, lush green world hanging in space before them. "Kids, welcome to Kalee, the home world of the late General Grievous." A small, sad smile touched the edge of Kenobi's lips. " _Not_ a Chiss."

"That...makes the Chiss explorers then?" Ezra asked, and Sabine gasped in understanding when the Sith's eyes flashed dangerously.

"No...no, what they are isn't important," Sabine said softly. "This isn't their planet, that makes them _alone_."

"Ori'jate, ner adiik," Obi-Wan gently cooed, patting Sabine on the cheek. "Seems to me you understand."

"You're going to attack the ship!" she gasped. "You're not making contact, this is an _assault_!"

"Which is a kind of making contact, if you think about it..." Obi-Wan drawled. "I _did_ say you could wait on the ship. Having second thoughts, Child of Mandalore?" Obi-Wan grinned wickedly when the girl flushed deeply. "Cody, put us in stealth and activate the long-range scanners. If they're in the system, I want to know."

"Already on it..."

"But _why_?" Ezra asked, his voice calm and curious. "Are these Imperial sympathizers?"

"I don't know," Kenobi said quickly. "As I said, I am here to study. I need to know about the Chiss to fight the Empire, they have a Chiss commander that is proving to be a problem, and I find myself at something of a disadvantage. He knows everything about me, and I know next to nothing about _him_." He took a deep breath, leaned back against his seat, and pressed the accelerator forward, flying swiftly in orbit around Kalee. "A disadvantage I will soon correct..."

"You can't judge one man by his people," Sabine said firmly. "What if he's different? What if he-"

"You and Cody are both Mandalorian," Obi-Wan impatiently interrupted. "You have different backgrounds, different motivations, different strengths and weaknesses, but if I killed you both and cut you open, all your vital organs would be the same." He frowned as he swiped aside the map of the galaxy and enlarged the image of the Chiss ship, peering at it intently. "I know _nothing_ of the Chiss beyond their physical appearance, and that one of their species possesses a brilliance the likes of which is a rarity among all the races of the galaxy. I need to know how they work, what they're made of, what abilities they possess. They may be Force inclined, like the Korun. They may _resist_ the Force, like the Hutts and Toydarians. There may be something else, _I don't know_." He took a deep, calming breath, the rage inside him swiftly rising. "But I need to know."

"...alright, when you say cut them open," Zeb ventured cautiously, nervous laughter in his voice, "you don't mean that _literally_ , right?"

"No, I mean it," Obi-Wan said, his voice flat and emotionless. "I'm going to cut them open after I capture them and study them. I've got a week until Empire Day, I've got time."

"Uh...what?" Ezra asked, his mind struggling to keep up with what appeared to be a complete non-sequitur. The Sith Lord, it seemed, was _completely_ insane. No wonder Kanan didn't want him to learn from the Sith. The sudden change of direction seemed to distract the other two as much as Ezra, the horrible implications left forgotten in favor of bewilderment. "What does Empire Day have to do with this?" Kenobi waved his hand in the air, dismissing the question.

"More importantly, you want to _capture_ them?" Sabine asked. "This is a hostile ship, according to your _highly_ sketchy sources. How do you plan on doing that?"

"The ship isn't big!" Kenobi said defensively. "Look, there's room for...six, maybe seven crew, tops. Regardless of the species or abilities, I should easily be able to take a group of that size." He looked over his shoulder at the clone at the controls. "Right, Cody?"

"I don't know, brother," the clone said slyly. "You were struggling to assume direct control over nearly two hundred living beings just this afternoon. You might be getting rusty."

"Oh, _ha, ha_ , you sassy bastard. On reflection, that was suitably impressive." He glowered when the clone simply smiled smugly. "I mean, I'm no Valkorion. _Darth Vitiate_." Kenobi sighed wistfully. "Now _there_ was a Sith Lord...nearly two thousand years of Sith Imperial rule with him at its head. He mentally dominated _thousands_ of Sith Lord to achieve his immortality." Kenobi extended his hand, and from a compartment under the central console, a glowing red and gold pyramid floated to hang in the air before him, the caps twisting off and the device opening up as it slowly spun, a soft, smooth, seductive voice drifting through the air in a language Ezra didn't recognize, but it... _called_ to him, made him feel hazy and disconnected, like he wasn't within himself. He didn't like the feeling, but he strangely wanted more, despite the voice within him that pushed against the feeling. He focused on that, and slowly came back to his senses.

"He still died in the end, brother," Cody said softly, and the Sith Lord nodded.

"Yes, he did...I will not repeat his mistakes. I shall have to further my studies. If I have in fact achieved immortality, I need to know."

"Is that a holocron?" Ezra asked, his voice distant as he reached out to it, and with a quick gesture, Kenobi used the Force to push the somewhat dazed boy back into his seat, the pyramid closing and coming to rest in Obi-Wan's out-stretched hand. "Kanan has one," he muttered, his voice stronger the moment the seductive whispers stopped. "But it's not like that."

"No, it isn't," the Sith Lord whispered. "What lays within this holocron...you won't find this knowledge within the Jedi." He sighed, the holocron held tightly in his hand as he gazed out the viewport at the planet before them, a dull ache in his chest. "You two are too young to remember," Kenobi said, pointing to Ezra and Sabine, "but the General of the Confederate droid army hailed from this planet." A soft, sad smile came to his lips. "Grievous. There was so little left of his original body, I doubt he'd have been recognized by his own people. And we _hated_ each other, until we learned to respect the other's strength."

"Where is he now?" Ezra asked quietly, and instantly regretted it when he felt a chill run through the Force.

"He's dead," Obi-Wan said absently. "Along with all the rest..." The scanner beeped, and Obi-Wan slowly looked to the readout, a smile growing across his lips. "Looks like we've found our ship..." he drawled, pulling the yoke sideways and sending the ship peeling away from the planet, accelerating off into the star marked space before them. They didn't have a visual yet, but the scanner's beeping became more insistent as they drew near. Finally, they saw the dark ship before them, the long, claw-like protrusions surrounding the sleek body of the ship, the engines alight with a soft, blue glow as they drifted slowly along.

"Plan, sir?" Cody asked, priming the console to input the Sith's commands, Kenobi's eyes drifting over the information presented before him as the _Umbra_ scanned the foreign vessel.

"Keep the stealth system engaged and take us close," Obi-Wan muttered, a cruel smile playing across his face as he closed his eyes, his breathing deep as he fell into the Force. "Ezra," Obi-Wan said, and the boy quickly stood at attention. "Tell me, how many are aboard that ship?"

"Uh..." Ezra's eyes darted about the room, catching Sabine's gaze quickly before he looked back to the Sith, uncertain if this was somehoe a test. "Well, you said no more than seven, right?"

"Yes, but _how many_?" Kenobi said firmly. "Give me an exact number." He looked at the boy, his gaze patient and unwavering, curious, not judging, and Ezra felt himself relax. "Use the Force. Feel the lives aboard the vessel." Ezra let his jaw hang slack.

"I-I can't do that!" he gasped, looking at the ship as it steadily grew closer, but was still a fair distance away. "It's too far, and-"

"Nothing is impossible with the power of the Force," Kenobi quietly instructed. "In time, you will learn." He drummed his fingers aboard the central console. "Five life forms, two female, three male, all of the same species which feels..." He closed his eyes again, his mouth moving slightly as he muttered to himself. "...near-human, as expected. No sensitivity to the Force." He sighed and smiled, his eyes opening to gaze out the viewport once again. "These are our Chiss, Cody. When I take us in closer, fire the disruptors, I want them disabled, not destroyed."

"Are we capturing the ship as well as the crew?" the clone asked, and the Sith Lord nodded.

"With any luck, we can gain access to their database after I open their minds. We can learn just as much from their system files as we can from the individuals."

"I thought you were going to kill them?" Sabine asked cautiously, uncertain if she wanted the answer, the grisly image of the people on that ship laying cut open as the Sith had said rushing into her mind. It was a turn of phrase made deadly serious and said so casually, it was easy to overlook that he hadn't just proposed something awful. In hindsight, it seemed almost as though it were a throwaway joke, but somehow, Sabine didn't think that was the case.

"We shall see..." Obi-Wan said, distracted as he focused his attention on bringing the _Umbra_ closer to the Chiss ship. "At the very least, the plan is to take the crew alive." He frowned as they drew closer. "Times like this make me wish we had a tractor beam...Cody, can we magnetically lock to the Chiss vessel?"

"Yes, but those arms are going to keep us from docking. I don't even know if we _can_ dock with their ship, the ports don't appear comparable."

"I can work around that," Obi-Wan muttered, easing off the acceleration as the _Umbra_ drifted closer, angling the ship upwards to maneuver the Chiss ship beneath them. "Alright, we're ready, Cody. Fire when ready."

"Are we _really_ doing this?" Ezra asked, wincing as the Mandalorian opened the weapons reticule and took aim. "I mean, they're just minding their own business..."

"How many times have you preemptively struck against the Empire?" Obi-Wan snarled, glaring out of the corner of his eye at the boy. " _Every_ time, I bet."

"No, the Empire started it all!" Ezra indignantly said. "Everything we do we _have_ to because of what the Empire does! I'm an orphan because of them!"

"The Empire has enslaved and subjugated my people," Sabine growled. "We were once a mighty empire, and now, the Empire is stealing our culture away from us!"

"They _executed_ my people," Zeb growled. "All of them, the entire planet. They deserve _everything_ we do to them."

"Yes, and many of the Imperial soldiers are conscripts," Obi-Wan drawled. "People need to work, and the Empire provides most of the legal jobs. We may be fighting for what's right, but don't pretend you're anything other than murderers when you attack first." The cockpit was silent, the three sufficiently cowed as they thought on what Kenobi had said.

"...but these aren't Imperials," Ezra said quietly. "You don't even know what they are."

"No, I don't, but what I do here will help in _my_ fight against the Empire." He looked back at them. "Maybe you hide from the truth of what you are, but I don't. I _am_ a murderer, when it suits me, when I may benefit from someone's death, when I feel the need, when the Dark Side _demands it_." He took a deep breath. "But this isn't murder. This is _business_." Cody pulled the triggers, and a circle of blue electric energy shot from the _Umbra_ , the small sphere expanding rapidly as it pulsed through space and struck the Chiss ship, the vessel shuddering as the glowing blue engines shut down as electricity danced along the hull, shorting out the systems. Ob i-Wan quickly moved the ship into place above the distressed ship, and Cody's hands danced over the console as he magnetized the hull, bringing the two ships together and locking them into place.

Obi-Wan quickly rose from his seat and swept from the cockpit, shouting for Cody to keep the ship steady as he left. Quickly looking at each other, Ezra, Sabine and Zeb quickly followed the Sith Lord as he strode through the ship toward the hold and slammed his hand on a wall console, the underside doors folding open, the environmental shielding protecting them from the vacuum of space. They leaned over and looked down at the ship beneath them, blue arcs of electricity still dancing along the hull, draining the ship's shorted systems. Obi-Wan knelt beside the open hatch and observed the smooth contours of the ship, found what he needed, and touched the comlink on his wrist.

"Cody, can you expand our environmental shields to cover the disabled ship?" Obi-Wan asked in a flat monotone, his attention elsewhere and his eyes closing as he shivered, the Force rushing through him and roaring with power as he felt the confusion, the panic, the _fear_ of the beings beneath him.

"I'll have to cut power to other systems," the clone responded.

"Do it," was the swift response, and moments later, the dull thrum of the environmental shielding increased in pitch, the blue field wavering and rippling for a moment before it disappeared from view, the cold of space flooding in, but the oxygen remained, thin, but breathable. "All of you wait here," Obi-Wan said as he stood, his hands extended before him, his eyes closed in focus.

"Why?" Ezra asked, rushing to stand before the Sith, and Kenobi growled in irritation, his focus broken.

"Because this isn't your fight," Obi-Wan said softly. "This is...deeply personal. And I doubt your Jedi Master will be pleased with me for bringing you here." He pointed a finger at Sabine. "Adiik be Manda'yaim, tengaanar ni te ijaat be gar gai bal taylir gar burc'ya gebbar." The Mandalorian balked, looked at the man with wide eyes, and slowly nodded.

"Sa gar sirbur, Dha'alor," she said, grabbing hold of Ezra's hand, and the young Jedi hopeful flushed a deep, red color.

"So, uh," Ezra began, a wry smile on his lips. "What's happening now?"

"He's invoking the Mandalorian code of honor," she muttered. "We're staying on the ship."

"Aw, man," Ezra whined, but he didn't fight it. Something about this felt wrong, starting from the moment he laid eyes upon the sinister red holocron. Perhaps this man was an ally, but he was a dangerous one. A dark one. Kanan may have trusted him, but there was also something... _empty_ about Obi-Wan, something about him that held attention, something that made Ezra see the void within him, and it drew him in with fascination and horror. He didn't know much about the Force yet, but he sensed...danger. Something deep within him that warned him to stay away, and Ezra had survived the past eight years by listening to his instincts.

"Hey, Kenobi," Ezra said to the Sith Lord, watching as the man moved his hand before him, and a hatch on the top of the Chiss ship opened up. "I'm going to go hang with Cody, alright?" Ezra shrugged. "Maybe I can help you from the cockpit." Golden eyes roved over him, and Ezra averted his eyes, backing up slightly and shifting uncomfortably as his head began to feel... _funny_ , like his brain was moving. Finally, Kenobi smiled softly and nodded, and without another glance, he stepped through the hatch and dropped into the disabled ship.

The ship was dark, the only light coming from the static electricity as it jumped over the consoles on the walls, the air filled with the hiss of shorting electronics and the frantic, quick chatter of the ship's five passengers. With a deep breath, Obi-Wan strode down the hallway, his thumbs hooked into his belt, his superior vision in the dark allowing him to see nearly perfectly. Breathing deeply of the thin, cold air, Kenobi felt his heart slow, his breathing deep and even, the Force pulsing around him like a living, breathing beast, and he surrendered to it, melted within it, and became one with the shadows. It took little time before he caught sight of two of the crew, a male and a female as they pulled wires from open panels, trying to fix the sudden damage. Blended into the shadows, he listened to the two as they spoke, the language foreign and beautiful to his ears, a pleasing mix of soft C's and rolling R's that almost sounded like the wind whispering across a cold terrain.

It may have been worth it to enslave a few of them. The language alone would be worth it to learn, simply for the way it must have felt on the tongue, and they were _very_ pleasing to look at. His own rules stated that there was to be no sex on the _Umbra_ , a carryover bred from sentimentality that he knew was both foolish and inconvenient, but Satine's presence still hung heavy in his ship from the few times she had graced it with her radiant being, and he could never bring himself to sully the feel of her within his bed by taking another aboard the _Umbra_. But it was an easy enough thing to bring a slave elsewhere, and it had been a _long_ time since he had kept a slave.

As he drew closer, one of the Chiss looked up, the red eyes glowing in the darkness, an indication of superior low light vision, and sure enough, the man began to back away, tapping his companion on the shoulder and drawing her back with him, their eyes darting every which way, seeing _something_ in the darkness, but unable to discern it as anything other than shadows. His hand extended, Obi-Wan grabbed the Chiss engineers with the Force and slammed them against the wall, than the opposite wall, the ceiling, the floor, the bodies quickly becoming limp in his grasp as they were beaten into unconsciousness. Releasing the grip, he stepped over the two, checking quickly that they were alive, and moved past them to the sealed cockpit.

Grabbing the sealed doors with the Force, Obi-Wan breathed deep and pulled them open, exposing the three remaining crew members, and their weapons were quickly drawn and pointed toward the open door. The female stepped forward, the uniform she wore black and blue, her blaster pointed straight ahead and her red eyes slowly roving over her two unconscious crew. When one of the males rushed forward to help, she held out her arm to stop him, and he quickly obeyed. Kenobi grinned from the shadows. The woman was the commander.

"Csarcah vehto," she said to the other two. "Ei carcir sah csah." She primed her weapon, the blaster emitting a high pitched whine as the plasma within super headet. "Vit'ecotis vim roncacehe'ah ch'at ch'etet ch'ao'cusecit!" she shouted into the corridor, strong and commanding, and Obi-Wan didn't need to understand to know she was speaking to him, her intent through the Force focused and deadly. He looked back to the bodies in the hall, and with a deep breath, Obi-Wan cleared his mind, focused on Thrawn, the threat he possessed, the danger he wrought, and he pulled on his hatred, deep and consuming, and with the Dark Side guiding his hands, Obi-Wan slipped out of the shadows, yellow eyes blazing as the three Chiss were forced to their knees, their hands grasping their heads as they gasped and groaned in pain. The red eyes of the female squinted up at the Sith Lord as he approached, in pain and still defiant, quietly analyzing the new threat to her and her ship.

"Well look at you..." Kenobi whispered, his fingers hooking under her chin, forcing her to look up at him. "You are a thing of beauty, you know that?" He smirked. "Do you speak Basic?" There was no response, those red eyes blank. She didn't understand. Kenobi sighed heavily. "It was too much to hope for, I suppose. I'll just have to learn your language if we are to communicate." He grinned wickedly and patted her cheek. " _If_ I even need you to talk at all. I can find other ways to use that pretty mouth of yours..." His attention was drawn away from the woman in his grasp when one of the men behind her groaned in pain, his limbs shaking under the pressure of the Dark Side, and Kenobi decided there was no use in waiting here.

Breathing deeply, he closed his eyes, felt the minds of the three Chiss in the cockpit, and dove within them, quickly ripping their will away from them with a penetrating, practiced touch, each rip precise and painful, each tear calculated, and he could feel their minds crumble beneath his touch, strong minds that futilely resisted as their bodies quickly submitted to the will of another. Issuing quick commands through the Force to the mindless males, the two rose up, their glowing red eyes hazy, and they silently shuffled past the Sith Lord into the hallway and picked up their unconscious comrades, dragging their feet toward Kenobi's entry point.

"Cody," Obi-Wan said softly into his com, his voice distant and distinctly not his own as he allowed the Dark Side to rampage through him, the nexus an open channel of the Force as he supplied the will of three separate, sentient beings, a somewhat effortless task when compared to the draining mass-domination earlier that day. "I'm sending four guests up to the _Umbra_. Make certain that they find their way to the holding cells in the brig."

"Copy that, Spectre Zero," came the light, satisfied voice of Ezra Bridger, and Obi-Wan just rolled his eyes. "Cody's already on the way with Sabine, and Zeb's prepared the brig for you." He could almost feel Bridger's self-satisfaction. "I gotta say, this is more fun than I thought."

"How wonderful for you..." the Sith Lord said dryly. "Now, do you mind keeping com chatter clear while I'm working?"

"Oh, yeah, sure," Ezra said apologetically, and the silence lasted all of two seconds before he quickly chirped, "Hey, can I do anything to help?" Obi-Wan sighed.

"Run two scans for me, Bridger," Kenobi said softly. "First, calculate if the _Umbra_ can safely jump to lightspeed while tethered to the ship." Ezra was silent for a moment, the sound of the console's beeping as it calculated heard in the background.

"No can do, Kenobi," Ezra said after a moment. "The ship's too big to tow, and if that ship can't help keep itself secure, it will just break loose. You've got a few hours before that ship is back online, according to your scans."

"Damn it, I wanted to keep the ship..." Obi-Wan softly complained, his eyes narrowing as he brought the Dark Side down upon the Chiss commander as he began to rise, forcing her to her knees before him, the expression on her face dazed and supplicant as Kenobi ripped through her mind. "Alright, next scan. Find the ship's databrick. If I can't keep the ship, I'm keeping the information."

"Standby, Spectre Zero," Ezra said, the com cutting and Kenobi turned his attentions on the woman, his hand in her hair as he rifled through her mind, her memories, everything within her open to his discerning gaze. He saw a planet of ice, the place of her birth, and many other things, none of which he understood, everything foreign, everything spoken in a beautiful tongue he did not know. But he would. He only had a week before Empire Day, but his battle with Thrawn was only just beginning. He certainly didn't need to dissect _all_ the Chiss he captured. At least one he would vivisect. One he would keep as a slave, both for his own pleasure and as a reminder to Thrawn when he found out that _all_ species bowed before the Sith.

"Hey, I found it," Ezra said swiftly, his voice hushed as he read, the com crackling with static. "It's not far from your present location. On the ground at the aft of the cockpit should be a panel." Kenobi's eyes scanned the ground and quickly found what he was looking for, his hand extended as he used the Force to tear open the panel and remove the datablock, the wires that attacked to the device hissing as they were torn from its surface.

"Got it," Obi-Wan said into the com, commanding the woman to rise to her feet, and after a moment of jerky motions, her body complied with the Sith's commands and she stood. "I'm returning to the _Umbra_ with another prisoner. Have Cody prepare another cell." He cut the com before Ezra could answer and held the datablock in his hands. It had yet to be seen how much information was actually on it, but with any luck, it would be enough to learn something about Thrawn's people. If not...well, Empire Day was a week away. He had time to investigate the Chiss, time to decide what to do with them, time to slowly break them again and again, a necessary reprieve to hone his skills, his cruelty, his _hatred_ into a sharp edge.

Soon enough, it would be time to finally deal with Admiral Thrawn. In the meantime, he had other Chiss to play with.


	12. Viscera

**AN:** **Alright, uh...this one really got away from me, so consider this your warning. This chapter is quite brutal, so if you're at all squeamish or adverse to violence of ALL kinds, I really suggest skipping this one. For those of you that don't mind, enjoy, you sick bastards. It's been a long time since we've seen our dear Obi be evil as shit.**

 _Chapter 12: Viscera_

Darth Lumis strolled into the brig, shrugged off his robes and rolled up the sleeves of his tunic, glancing casually at the handful of cells that lined the walls and smiling softly as he listened to the pained moans, the desperate gasps of fear, the frantic pleas for help, each like music to his ears, deep and profound and moving, the Dark Side purring with the pleasure of it as it swirled thick in his blood. The lighting was low, a hindrance to neither Sith nor Chiss, the circular room open, but the atmosphere was claustrophobic, surrounded by cells and lacking the long viewports that looked out into space like so many rooms in the ship possessed. Obi-Wan didn't need to see out into space to know that Ord Mantell hung beneath them, to feel the red glow of a planet ever consumed in flames, to sense the darkness that poured out of the wound in the Force that hung heavy around the planet, unsettling to most, but to him, it felt like power, like blood, like _victory_ , painful and consuming and eternal.

After his success in the space around Kalee, Obi-Wan had returned Ezra, Sabine and Zeb to their caretakers on the _Ghost_ , and while Hera was _highly_ suspicious of their assertion that nothing had happened, that everything was fine, that Kenobi was, as a babysitter, both competent and safe, almost as though he was a father himself, she was willing to let it go, at least for a time. It was clear to Obi-Wan that, while suspicious, she was also relieved that it at least appeared that se had a reliable babysitter. The strains and tensions of her duty, coupled with the lack of peace that came from a full ship of rambunctious free spirits left her no time for a moment of quiet to spend for herself, a thing she desperately needed, and knowing that she had a place to drop the kids off while she and Kanan spent some much needed time in each other's arms was an opportunity too good to pass up. She chose not to press Kenobi on the matter of what they did. Everyone was safe, and that was what mattered.

After safely returning the Spectres to their ship, Obi-Wan left the Lothal system, made quick contact with Leia and had the girl send him the present coordinates of Bail Organa's ship, the _Tantive IV_ so he could borrow the Senator's protocol droid, a thing Leia was certain Bail would do, but he wouldn't be happy about it, given the Sith Lord's history of droid abuse. However, after swearing not to cause any harm to the droid that had once been Padmé's, Bail had turned over the fussy protocol droid to Kenobi's care, and as soon as it was in his possession, Obi-Wan set to uploading the information on the Chiss language, Cheunh, from the recovered datablock into the droid's programming. The language, C-3PO had told him, had been easily incorporated, and after a swift test of its understanding by speaking to the prisoner Chiss, the droid confirmed that the integration of the language into its databanks was a success.

That was the only thing about this task that C-3PO found even remotely acceptable.

"Master Kenobi," the droid tentatively said as it stiffly and reluctantly walked into the brig after the Sith Lord. "Your treatment of these beings has been in violation of _several_ -"

"Blah, blah, blah is all I hear when you speak without my permission, droid," Obi-Wan said, rolling his eyes. "I need you for two reasons. Translate between me and the Chiss while I work if I need you, and help me learn their language when they need a break. I didn't bring you here to listen to your programmed morality," he said mockingly. "Not that you can understand the nuances anyway, you just _repeat_ what's in your programming..."

C-3PO straightened up in offense. "Sir, I don't think _any_ moral code anywhere would consider what has happened here anything short of evil."

"Evil," Obi-Wan scoffed, waving his hand in the air to dismiss the idea. "Such a tired, _simplistic_ concept. This isn't _evil_ , it's _science_ ," he emphasized, running his hand over the restraining table in the center of the room, its metallic surface clean and shiny now, but had previously been slicked with blood, as it would be again soon. "How else am I supposed to learn about the biology of this alien race?"

"Master Kenobi," the droid said in a superior, admonishing tone, "a biological scanner can tell you everything that the results of your... _dissections_ yield." The droid paused. "You _have_ such a scanner on the ship, sir!"

" _What_?" Kenobi gasped in surprise, his hand clutching his chest as he grabbed for the aforementioned scanner and held it tightly. "I _have_ such a thing? _Where_?!"

"Sir, it is _in your hand_ , you _know_ it is in your hand..."

"Ohhh..." Obi-Wan drawled, looking at the device with a cruel, amused smile on his lips. " _That's_ what this is for. Funny, I thought it could only scan organs after they had been removed."

"You most certainly _did not_ think that."

"Well!" Kenobi chirped, dropping the scanner on to a small table covered in scalpels and syringes and a host of menacing equipment. "I've already started, so I may as well continue, or I have just been wasting my time. I prefer a hands on approach anyway, technology can be _so_ misleading..." He patted the droid on his metallic chest. "Don't worry, droid. I promised to delete your memory of all of this when I'm finished. Just two days to go."

C-3PO wailed mournfully, bemoaning his fate and going on and on about how everything was hopeless, and Kenobi sauntered to the cells, walking before them and deciding which of the Chiss to play with next. There were only three left. The other two, the male and female engineers, had died in the course of the first rounds of torture, unable to withstand the searing agony of pain ripping through them and setting their every nerve on fire. This wasn't done _exclusively_ for the pleasure of cruelty, of course. These were tests, like everything else, a way to see what the Chiss could endure, if they somehow possessed a remarkable resilience that would make crushing Thrawn significantly more difficult. But they didn't. The Chiss were, disappointingly, much like the humans they resembled, right down to their circulatory, neurological, digestive and reproductive systems.

There were key differences, of course. A dissection of the Chiss' red eye showed an increased level of photoreceptors, the cause of their outstanding low-light vision, and an analysis of their brain chemistry revealed an increased metabolism, accounting for the athleticism of the specimens that went beyond mere training and a substantially lower body temperature from standard humans. There were differences in their vocal cords, leaving them with different vocal abilities that appeared to cause a lack of inflection when they spoke other languages, but left them well suited to their own complex language, one that humans found difficult to speak. The blue pigmentation of their skin was the result of genetic adaptation to the absorption of the glacial minerals present on their icy home world of Csilla, a fact he had gleaned from combing through the minds of one of the living males, though the unusual pigmentation seemed to have no benefit to the cold. Physiologically, the Chiss had not adapted to a colder environment at all, which left them with the human's high adaptability to fluctuating climate changes.

He had also discovered, by mistake, of course, that the bright colors of their skin and eyes fluctuated with the level of oxygen present, greater levels leading to brighter colors, and when he had used the Force to suspend one of the Chiss, his grip tight around his throat, the blue skin turned dark, almost black in color. It ultimately meant nothing, of course, but the change was unusual and pleasing to Kenobi, and his Chiss captives found themselves on the receiving end of the Dark Side's hold far more than they would have been if Obi-Wan hadn't delighted in watching the pallor of their skin fluctuate. It was how the female engineer had died, the result of Lumis experimenting to see how vast the range was and neglecting to monitor her vitals as she gasped and struggled in his grasp.

Most importantly, however, was something that he had found in their brain chemistry, something that accounted for their advanced intellectual maturity, something that stood to solve a problem that Obi-Wan had long felt looming above him. The Chiss rapidly aged through childhood, a ten year old Chiss possessing the physical maturity of a twenty year old human, followed by a rapid adolescence, meeting full adulthood by the age of fourteen, at which they seemed to age at a much, _much_ slower rate. Their life span was comparable to that of humans, but the Chiss appeared to age _slower_ after their rapid childhoods, which gave the blue-skinned race the illusion of living longer, having an extended period of time in what they considered to be young adulthood, their physical prime lasting until over fifty years of age. This extended adulthood made the Chiss more emotionally mature, more careful, more measured than their human counterparts, but more importantly, as the Chiss were near-human and an obvious, ancient off-shoot of humanity, it made it a distinct possibility that Chiss brain chemistry could be successfully applied to baseline humans.

The slowed adulthood aging could, _possibly_ , be applied to Cody.

It had been a growing concern since the fall of the Republic, since he and his constant clone companion had been on the run together, and living together so closely had made Kenobi keenly aware of Cody's rapid aging, a natural process made even more alarming in that he aged at twice the normal rate, while Obi-Wan aged not at all. It was a stark contrast, a highly distressing one that stood as a physical reminder that life was fleeting, especially so for a clone made to age swift and die young. Obi-Wan _was_ older than Cody by over twenty years, but the clone had long ago surpassed him, his thirty years doubled by his genetics, and where they had once looked like brothers, now Cody seemed more the parent to Kenobi's eternal youth.

It was a problem Obi-Wan sought to correct through the adaptation of his own abilities, channeling the life he stole into not himself, but into his clone brother, but all previous at practicing the ability on other beings ended...poorly. Exposed to high concentrations of the Force, the stormtroopers, the people, the animals he had captured had been sent screaming and writhing in pain as the Force ripped through them with a vengeance, poisonous in the veins of one who lacked the ability to control it, leaving the subjects horribly deformed, their bodies broken, their organs rupturing and bleeding with no way to stop it. The Force, used in this way, was toxic, fatal to those without the inclination to control its might.

It explained what had happened to Darth Sidious when he had attempted the same thing, leaving his body scared and deformed, his humanity torn from him and exposing him for what he was, a warped, twisted, corrupted creature of darkness that had reached too far into realms where he simply lacked the inclination. It didn't make him _weak_ , it simply made him... _disinclined_ , the instinct to absorb life absent within him, filled instead with a talent for subtle manipulation, careful planning and patience, such a talent that Lumis couldn't deny the strength of his influence, and after all this time, he still admired him for it. Together, they had been two parts of a whole that could have dominated the galaxy, but with the introduction of Anakin Skywalker, with _Vader_ , their paths had diverged, Sidious on the path of domination of the Force, ensuring that the Force could _never_ strike back, and Lumis on the path of ensuring that the Force never _needed_ to strike back by working in tandem and harmony with it.

If the biological aspect of Chiss biology responsible for their slowed, extended youth could somehow be isolated and extracted, perhaps an implant could be made, stimulating the parts of the brain in humans that would prompt the same slowed growth. If such a thing could be manufactured and implanted within faithful Cody, it may just give Kenobi the time he needed to deepen his studies in the Dark Side and discover how to share his stolen life. If the Jedi could use the Force to heal, Obi-Wan saw no reason why a Sith Lord couldn't take that same process and amplify it, not just to heal wounds, but to heal _aging_ , itself a wound on the face of the immortality. The wear, the cuts, the ravages of age could be _healed_ , leaving a body younger, faster, _stronger_ , reverted to its prime in exchange for the life of another, a small price to pay for such a large gain. Cody could be _healed_ , allowed to be kept at his side for all eternity, the one friend he still held close and dear, the _only_ one that the Jedi and the Sith had been unable to tear from him. He just needed _time_.

With the Force, all things were possible.

He grinned wickedly as he paced before the three cells the Chiss sat contained within, each of them cowering in the back corner of the small room, making themselves small in the hopes that those glowing yellow eyes would somehow pass them by. It didn't work in the days before, and it didn't work now. The two males would be dead within the next day, their bodies prepared and packed alongside their dissected comrades, a process which the Sith Lord had forced them to watch, their dead friends opened up and their organs removed and studied, his findings recorded on a holodisc to be saved and used for later. Two days of brutal dissection and experimentation had ended with the emptied, open cavities of the Chiss male and female packed away into cooled stasis crates, their individual innards carefully wrapped and treated for preservation and stored with the bodies they belonged to.

The other three, stronger than the ones who had succumbed to torture and allowed death to take them, were assigned very specific roles in the remainder of his studies, partially to see how the Chiss psychologically withstood the treatment, but mostly because he enjoyed it. He had almost forgotten how _good_ it felt to allow the Dark Side loose, to feel its unrestrained savagery tearing through his body and permeate deep within his bones. For so long, he had to be subtle and measured, careful in his care of his children, in keeping his rebellion hidden, in not touching the deepest of depths in the event that Sidious could somehow sense him churning the Dark Side, a vergence awakened and drawing darkness to it. He felt safer near the wound in the Force that was Ord Mantell, a disturbance so deep and profound that it masked any individual darkness he might exhibit. Here, he felt _hidden_ , even from Sidious.

But he loved it, the rush, the exhilaration, the cries of mercy, the moans of pain and agony, the smell of blood, the _power_ of holding the life of another in his hands, a flame that could be easily extinguished on a whim were he to wish it. When he turned himself over to the Dark Side, there was no pain, no anguish, no deep, bleeding hole where Satine lay dead within him, no memory of the feel of his son's life vanishing before he could hold him, no self-loathing of what he was forced to do to Padmé to protect her children, no pain of his many betrayals. It was all just _pleasure_ , raw and primal in its strength, pain and hate and anger giving way to power, pure and undiluted, and that _pleased_ him, made his body, his mind, the corrupted remains of his soul crave more just so the suffering could end, if only for a time. The pain always returned afterwards, but it made the times he was free from it all the sweeter.

This was how the unsuspecting were seduced. This is how the susceptible fell. _This_ was how the unprepared were consumed.

With a small smirk on his lips, he pointed to one of the Chiss males and turned off the energy barrier on the cell, his hand extended as he commanded the Chiss to obey, and with a swift shudder, the man complied, offering little resistance at all as he shuffled his feet to the table, hoisted himself up on it, and laid back, his eyes averted as his wrists and ankles were restrained, the cuffs locking tightly around his shaking limbs. Obi-Wan ran his hand down his bare chest, feeling the cold skin beneath his fingers, watching the taut muscles quiver in his wake, and with his other hand, he used the Force to shut off the other male's cell barrier, a thought in his direction making the man shuffle out to stand with his back against the wall, his arms raised as restraints bolted him against the cold surface, his breath uneven and shaking when Kenobi let go of his mind, his awareness returning.

"Ttis'ah," the Chiss on the wall said, his voice shaking as he watched as the female was also released, commanded to stand beside him, and was also restrained to the wall, a far more defeated look on her face as she braced for what she knew was coming. It was the same torture every day, without remorse and without mercy, becoming more effective as their jailer and Master learned more about them. " K'ir nah k'ir csei s."

C-3PO hesitantly turned to Obi-Wan. "He said-"

"I _know_ what he said," Obi-Wan said softly, holding his hand up to stop the droid. "Five days of the same things repeated over and over, how am I supposed to become _fluent_ of they just say the same things?!"

" _Well_ , you _could_ try _talking_ to them," the droid intoned, and Kenobi quickly dismissed the notion with a wave of his hand.

"Vzah csihn vim ch'ah csah nah tisib vah vuct'icu'asi," the Sith Lord gently said, his hand resting delicately on the chest of the Chiss on the table, the blue skinned alien's heartbeat fast and strong and frightened under his fingertips as the Cheunh words rolled easily off his tongue. "Veo k'ir vah vsabah ch'ah csarcican't tisib hah ch'at vah non?" _Five days and I have not shown you mercy. What makes you think I will show it to you now_?

He could hear the circuits inside C-3PO whir, and after a moment, the droid indignantly said, "Master Kenobi, if I am unneeded for translation purposes, why do you insist on my presence?"

"Oh, 3PO, I _do_ need you!" Kenobi drawled, tapping the droid on his chest. "I need you to record my work, and if I make errors, I need you to correct them. Cheunh is a difficult, _complex_ language that I desire to master. I will need constant correction, and my _guests_ dislike correcting me." He paused, looking thoughtfully up at the ceiling. "I wonder why..."

"You speak with an accent," the droid said flatly, and Kenobi rolled his eyes.

"I _know_ that, there isn't a language I speak that _isn't_ affected by my accent..."

"And you attempt to be far too direct with the language," 3PO said, drawing up and his tone become light and patronizing, almost as if he forgot what was about to happen in the room he stood in. Kenobi didn't seem to mind, and carefully listened to the droid as he prepared a syringe, filling it with a light blue liquid and flicking the small vial to knock any excess air out of it. The droid prattled on, oblivious to its surroundings, occasionally stopping to answer questions Obi-Wan occasionally had as he continued to work, tuning out the Chiss' begging for mercy as he slid the needle into his neck and injected the liquid. The red eyes clouded over almost instantly, his breathing becoming slow and measured, his mouth hanging open as all tension left his body, the drug rampaging through him and leaving him in a haze.

"You are," C-3PO concluded, "possibly conversationally fluent in Cheunh. Though you make errors, your intention is often clear." He was silent for a moment as he watched the Sith Lord, a pen in hand and drawing white lines down the blue skin of the Chiss on the table. "...you are at least conversationally fluent if the conversation takes place in a _torture chamber_. Or a morgue." He was met only with a faint, cruel smile from the Sith Lord. "Oh dear..." the droid bemoaned. "Are you preforming another autopsy?" There was no answer from the Sith as he prepared another syringe, this one with a pale pink liquid within the thin vial. "This does _not_ follow the protocol of a proper dissection, Master Kenobi, let alone the proper treatment of a prisoner. He is still alive, sir!"

"I _know_ , droid," Obi-Wan drawled, sliding the needle into the Chiss' arm and injecting the liquid into the vein. "That's why this isn't a dissection. It's a _vivisection_."

"A vivisection!" C-3PO repeated, completely aghast, and Kenobi nodded as he walked away from the table, allowing the drugs time to do their work, and he sauntered to the two Chiss shackled to the wall.

"I lack complete understanding if I do not see the Chiss internal organs as they are working," the Sith Lord quietly explained. "They may look like humans internally, but the organs may function differently while the subject is alive. I need to be made aware of any variances, and I will benefit from a first hand view." Kenobi grinned as he dragged his finger down the woman's cheek, drawing closer as she shivered under his touch. "Three subjects...one for observations on physical pain, one for studying the effects of the Force on your bodies, and _you_ , my dear..." He kissed the woman's neck, the female gasping as teeth nipped at her blue skin, and she wriggled in an attempt to get away, but to no avail. "I will break you with pleasure. You've been resilient so far, but I have more time with you than the others."

"Csei s carcir csoscan'cahn!" the woman gasped, and Obi-Wan swiftly withdrew, his finger pointed toward her as he felt at her mind.

"Oh, _sweetheart_ , hah carcir nor csoscan'cahn bah vah k'ir hah cseo. It is only torture if you make it so!" He pressed his finger to her forehead, and the glowing red eyes instantly began to glow brighter, her breath hitching as Obi-Wan stimulated the pleasure centers of her brain, sending wave after wave of euphoria through her, and he could feel arousal rush thick and heavy in her blood, heightening her sensations to a maddening degree. She shut her eyes tightly when the Sith Lord hooked his fingers under her chin and forced her face to face with him, her limbs shaking as her hands clenched into fists in her resistance, and a long, deep moan in her throat as lust gripped her and pulled her toward painful, maddening arousal.

"Sir, my basic programming-"

"Droid, mute your audio output until I say otherwise," Obi-Wan said softly, waving his hand before the male beside the panting, moaning female, and his body convulsed, pain exploding behind his eyes and setting fire to every nerve that ran through his body, His teeth clenched and he grunted in pain, but to his credit, he did not scream and no longer tried to beg. The Chiss were strong, their mentality admirable, a proud race with reason to be so, if the specimens he captured were typical of their species. Regardless, he had to assume that Thrawn was _atypical_ , extraordinary among his own people, be it physically or mentally, he did not know, but the patient planning, the testing, the information gathering all spoke to a genius mind, one very much in line with Palpatine's own careful political machinations.

However, it was not the memories contained within the minds of the Chiss that provided Obi-Wan with his most important piece of information. It was the datablock, a thing that he had slowly been reading through as he became more competent with the dense, complicated language of the Chiss. There was nothing confidential, no secrets, nothing that could be potentially damaging should someone with ill-intent get their hands on it, but it _did_ contain military records, mostly closed and confidential, but the files _were_ there, offering up basic information on their considerable force. Useless information, for the most part. Active members of the Chiss military force held no interest to him, but a quick perusal of the files found his attention drawn to one in particular. A high ranking officer in the military, his file stamped in red with the Chiss word, Cavpet. _Exile_. And _that_ was very interesting. The reasons for the exile were missing from the report, but in time, Obi-Wan would come to understand why it was that Mitth'raw'nuruodo had been cast away from his people.

 _Thrawn_. A man without a people, without a home, and adopted by Darth Sidious for his brilliance. Such an enemy was a dangerous one, fiercely loyal, but somehow, Obi-Wan thought he could use this. True, this slightly diminished the secondary aspects of his plans, but perhaps there were some yet unseen benefits to this. After all, he didn't yet know Thrawn terribly well, and how he may react to the deaths of his people in light of his exile was an unknown factor. But he'd soon find out.

"Nah nat'sah k'ir nah roncacehe'ah ch'at tucan'si," Obi-Wan said softly, picking up a long, sharp blade from among his tools and drumming his fingers on the chest of the drugged Chiss on the table, his cruel, golden eyes locked on the pleasure-flushed face of the female. " _Tur ea_. You do not submit to domination by anyone. That is what you said to me the day after I captured you, is it not?" he continued in Cheunh, his words accented as C-3PO had said, but the woman was able to easily understand him, and she looked back at him with glowing red eyes, hazy with arousal but still staunchly defiant, even as her body shook under the pulses of pleasure.

"We will _not_ be dominated by you," she growled in a quivering voice, and a wide, delighted smile spread across Kenobi's face.

"We shall see, Seg'rotth'uruodo," he said, drawing out the syllables of her name and watching as shivers of pleasure caused her to bite her lip to stifle a moan, her hips involuntarily rolling in search of contact and relief, but finding none, the arousal she felt spiking into a painful, needy ache. "But I doubt your people have ever truly encountered something like me before." He paused, holding the knife in a loose, easy grasp as his other hand stroked his beard in thought. "The Force," he said in Basic. "Qyâsik, to my people. Bazehn, to yours, I believe. You even have a word for the warriors of the Force. Tocu'ren'mur." Kenobi grinned wickedly. " _Jedi_."

"You are no Jedi..." the woman said in a breathless moan, her eyes shut tight as she struggled for control, the needs of her body beginning to seep into her mind and infect her thoughts, turning her away from fear and toward lustful need for something, _anything_ to help relieve the painful ache of arousal.

"You're right, I'm not," he said softly, slowly walking toward her and stopping just inches from her struggling, writhing body, only just out of her reach when she arched her back toward him, a silent plea for contact. "I don't know if your people have a word for what I am. You know the Jedi, you know the Force, but my kind are... _different._ Ch'ittoco tocu'ren'mur. _Dark Jedi_ , if you will. _Sith_." Red eyes fell on him, filled with sudden fear beyond the lust.

"Ch'ittoci'ren'musi," she said softly, her voice shivering and quiet as she softly moaned, her eyes closing and her head lowering in submission.

" _Ch'ittoci'ren'musi_ ," Obi-Wan slowly repeated, looking to the droid for confirmation, and after a moment, the soft whir of the processing carried in the air, C-3PO bowed slightly, and Obi-Wan looked back to the woman, reaching up and stroking her cheek, and with a long, needy moan, she leaned into his touch. "The Sith...Masters of all we touch, all we see, all we desire. Even _you_ , ch'eo vir. So much for not accepting domination. You have no choice. None of you have a choice." He laughed lightly as the woman trembled in a final resistance, but her will was quickly failing. "Seg'rotth'uruodo...such a name. Your naming conventions would see you called Grotthu among your inner circle, yes?" She didn't answer, but the Sith smiled anyway. "How _appropriate_. In Sith, your name directly translates to slave. Fitting, yes? You were _made_ for this." He stepped away, a loud, keening whine torn from her throat at the prospect of the man leaving her in such a state with no satisfaction. "But not today."

He turned from the woman, his eyes closed and breathing deeply, a soft sigh of satisfaction on his lips as he listened to the desperate, wanting moans from the woman and the short, sharp gasps of pain from the man beside her, the music of the Dark Side, insufferable agony and mindless pleasure mixing interchangeably with each other. The Sith walked around the table, observing the drugged Chiss firmly secured to it, his red eyes razed and rolling, his jaw slack and mouth opened as he gaped for air, and Obi-Wan laid his hand on his chest, felt the beating of his heart, strong and even in relaxation, and he ran his fingers lightly down the white line of dashes drawn upon the blue skin.

"Begin recording, droid," Obi-Wan softly demanded, and when C-3PO hesitated, forced to comply to the order but clearly objecting to what it was asked to do, Kenobi rolled his eyes. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I need to get a droid..."

"I've been saying that for _years_." Obi-Wan's eyes shot up to the room's entrance, watching as Cody walked in, datapad in hand, and the female Chiss on the walls began her moaning anew at the presence of a new and hopefully more compliant male, loud and demanding as she rolled her hips, a yearning for contact and an open invitation for _anyone_ to enter her. Cody looked at her cooly, unmoved by the wanton display. "Didn't you tell her there's no sex allowed in the _Umbra_?"

"Yes, but nobody listens to me." Cody snorted with laughter, his eyes roving over the body that he knew would belong to the Sith Lord the second they were groundside.

"Maybe you're just garbage at the language," the clone suggested, coming to stand beside the droid as the Sith Lord considered the work laid out before him on the operating table.

"That is a distinct possibility, yes," Kenobi said softly, putting the knife down and picking up the pen, carefully drawing new lines across the blue skin of the drug-hazed male. "The language isn't so complicated as Sith, but it is very intricate, and there are some vocalizations that I am just not able to produce." He frowned. "Language has always come quickly to me, but I don't suspect I'll be fluent for some time." He shrugged, grinning madly when his subject shivered as the pen was dragged down his neck. "The grammar is easy enough. Nothing at all like Sith. I shall have to see how their throats move when they speak, I should like to find a way to mimic it."

C-3PO made a strangled sound, almost as if he were gagging, and both men looked at the droid, Obi-Wan with disgust and Cody with something just short of pity. "If you had your own droid, you could program it without moral parameters. This wouldn't be a problem," Cody drawled, and Obi-Wan nodded as he capped the pen and took up the knife, gesturing to the droid with it.

"Now that you're here, I don't need him. Shut him down." C-3PO drew up in surprise, a gasp of shock emitting from his vocal output just as Cody reached behind him and switched the droid off, the light in its eyes shutting off as it slumped forward at the waist.

"Feeling merciful?" Cody asked, vaguely amused, and Obi-Wan shot him a glare that lacked the menace it usually did, the golden eyes soft, a look reserved only for Cody and his children.

"There's no pleasure to be had in torturing a droid, they don't feel pain or fear. It's all just...programmed responses." He sighed heavily. "I _hate_ droids...delete its memory of the past five days, Cody. No sense giving that thing even more anxiety." Cody nodded, quickly opened the golden droid's back panel and reached inside, pulling out a long connecting cable that he plugged into his datapad, and with a few quick swipes of his finger, he began downloading the recorded files to save to his own device before the deletion program was run.

"What about Syndulla's droid?" Cody asked, setting up the holorecorder on an empty tool table and making the necessary adjustments, making certain that both the entire Chiss and the Sith Lord could be seen in frame. "You like that one."

"Yes, but only because it isn't mine..." Kenobi grumbled, his elbows resting on his prone subject as he watched Cody work. "It's a terribly foul tempered construction. I need something that I can speak to, something that _isn't_ bogged down by protocol."

"You can reprogram a droid to do anything, sir."

"Yes, but a collapse of the basic programming can result in...problems. I'm not looking to build a droid from the ground up." He sighed heavily. "Sidious had a droid. _Wonderful_ creation, inherited from his Master." He absently stroked at the Chiss' chest, the drugged man groaning softly at the tingling, gentle sensation of a warm caress against his chilled skin. "11-4D. _That_ was a droid. Absent of any pesky moral constraints, obedient, _versatile_." He shrugged. "Not much in terms of personality, but one doesn't keep a droid for the illusion of companionship."

"You might, you sentimental bastard," Cody said, a wry, knowing smile on his lips as he swiped his fingers across the datapad and began running the deletion program on C-3PO's memory, and though he didn't look up, he could feel the Sith's golden gaze upon him, not narrowed in anger, but appraising and curious as he reflected. "I'll secure you a droid that matches you, brother," the clone said softly, placing the datapad down and smirking at Kenobi. "You need a companion that will last you a long time."

"I do _not_ need one, I have you." Cody chuckled and shook his head.

"Obi-Wan, I'm-"

" _Don't say it_ ," Kenobi snarled. "Don't you _dare_." Cody obeyed, but he didn't need to say anything for the look in his eyes to convey exactly what he was going to say. _Everybody dies, and eventually, everything ends_. It was a cold, hard truth, and one that he knew all too well. Everything ended, and the things Obi-Wan touched all seemed to end before their time, by his hand, or by another. His son and Satine, Padmé, Quinlan, Ventress, Dooku, Barriss, Grievous, Luminara, hundreds and hundreds of others, the Chiss that had fallen into his tender care included. All of them, dead. Some of it was fate, meant to be, but so, _so much_ was cruelly ripped from his grasp, the price he was unwilling to pay for the powers he had come to possess. Before, his connection to the Dark Side was anchored in pleasure, in the joyous glee of his own powers, bolstered by vanity and the many things he possessed, and by a lingering hatred of those that betrayed him, a deep fissure of resentment toward the Jedi.

He drifted toward Mastery only when he lost it all, his tremendous strength coming from hatred and anguish, agony rooted in the deep, bleeding wounds where his friends and lovers used to rest in his heart. It was gone now, a gaping, bloody void the only evidence of the heart he once possessed, or it would have been, had Cody and Luke and Leia not clung to the edge, bright, shining points of light in oppressive darkness. Perhaps it was them that kept him from the deepest reached of the Dark Side, from achieving the awesome powers of Sith Lords like Nihilus and Valkorion, but there were some things that even he couldn't give up. It was a weakness, yes, but it was also a font of strength, the one thing that kept him human, the _only_ thing that stopped him from putting the entire, wretched galaxy to the torch and being done with it.

Even Vader once had a heart that beat so strong for Padmé Amidala that it had ruptured, spilling forth blood and darkness in his quest to keep her and make her his, possession and jealousy that the Jedi forbid for that exact reason. There was a reason those that stood in the light of the Jedi were forbidden for such things. If one owned nothing, there was nothing to steal, nothing to seek vengeance for, and without Qui-Gon Jinn to bandage the gash the Sith had created within him, Anakin Skywalker bled out, kindness and humanity and decency the first victims of his turn to darkness, just as it had been for Obi-Wan so long ago. It all turned to hatred, to rage, to revenge, to _murder_ , and each one only made the next one easier. The Jedi had been right. Once the first step was taken, there was no returning from it. Darkness begot more darkness, and that had never been more clear than with what had happened to him and Vader.

If there was something left of Anakin Skywalker inside Darth Vader, than Obi-Wan couldn't see it, though he had never truly known the boy when he was a bastion of the light, if he had ever been. Sidious had designs upon him from the very beginning, so it was unlikely that the young Jedi ever stood a chance, not with how well Sidious played that particular game.

It was...astounding to Obi-Wan how skilled and how dark Sidious was, and he struggled to understand _how_ he had come to be that way. Unlike Kenobi, Sidious didn't have refined or expensive tastes, saw no use for wealth or opulence, took no pleasure with women, had no lovers. For him, the only thing that had ever mattered was the Dark Side and the pleasure of his own power. It made him... _different_ from the other Sith. Obi-Wan had fallen because the Jedi were wrong, because the Republic was weak, and through the Sith, the galaxy could be brought to order, and as he grew, he embraced darkness for the power it gave him, for the thrill of passion, the freedom to do as he wished with the powers he was born to. Even Dooku had been politically motivated, fallen to ease his growing disgust and disillusionment with the Jedi Order and the Republic they served. Vader, he suspected, fell out of desperation, a man forced into a corner that reached for savagery and cruelty to overcome his foes, and when the battle was over, had nothing left but the Master he now served.

But Sidious...was never a Jedi, never _fell_ , not like the others. He was simply born... _empty_. Without emotion or kindness, without the spark of light that gave the living the potential for good. Within him was a void, not made, but _born_ , and inside it, there was only darkness and a lust for power, a pull so strong that it attracted the notice of the Sith. The training would make him wrathful, filled with hate and anger, but Sidious was too patient, to calculating to burn with the fires of passion as the other Sith did because the flame _didn't_ burn within him. Fire burned, casting shadows, but also light, and there was no light within Darth Sidious. Just cold blood and murderous intent, a patient killer that had been clever and cunning enough to ascend to the seat of Emperor on stairs built from the bodies of those he had slain.

Obi-Wan was different from Sidious. But not by much. He too would come to rule the galaxy through the execution of those that stood in his way, even if he was disinclined to slaughter. He would much rather make allies, inspire _true_ loyalty, even force submission, if need be, but murder was a tool, and one that he used well and effectively because he stayed his hand more often than not. But not today. Today, murder was necessary. Not just for preparation for his gift to his former Master, but... _for science_.

 _Everything ends eventually_. Obi-Wan chuckled bitterly and pushed aside the tightness in his chest as he stood above the Chiss and rotated the knife in his hand, his eyes focused on the clone as he fiddled with the datapad wired to C-3PO. Cody would not end, if he had anything to say about it. But this Chiss was going to.

"Are you ready to begin?" Obi-Wan asked softly, and Cody looked up from his work, his dark eyes meeting the Sith Lord's, and he smiled, small and genuine and warm, a stark contrast to the torture that was happening in the room.

"Whenever you are, boss. Recording now."

With a quick, cruel smile, Obi-Wan touched the tip of the blade to the pit of the Chiss' neck and cut downwards, the cut long, but not deep as it ran along drawn lines, the drugged face registering no pain, no recognition of his state as the Sith Lord peeled back skin and muscle and exposed his innards to the chill of the air, each one pulsing and moving and beating with life as though nothing was wrong, the work of powerful drugs to separate the mind from the body, and awareness from the mind.

The other two Chiss, however, knew _exactly_ what was happening, and despite their own torture, one sexual and one through the Force, they screamed for their comrade, calling his name and begging and pleading for their torturer and executioner to have mercy. The Sith didn't listen, only looked over to them, his golden eyes glowing with sinister delight, and he increased the pressure on them, the male howling in pain as the pain increased tenfold, and the female moaning loudly in mind-numbing ecstasy, chasing the pleasures of fulfillment that lay just out of reach. Cody looked at them and shook his head.

"We're going to have to edit this," he said to the Sith Lord as the man began applying nodes and electric needles to different areas and quickly jotting down notes as he observed. "If you plan on giving a report, their screaming is going to drown it out."

"I was planning on doing that anyway," Kenobi muttered as he worked, reaching into the open cavity and beginning to remove organs he considered non-vital and dropping them into small stasis containers, sealing them when they held what was needed and setting them aside for later when he delivered them. "We have all of tomorrow to get it done, I'm finishing it today. Can you contact Organa and tell him I will return his droid within twelve hours?" Cody looked over at the screaming Chiss, then back at the Sith Lord.

"What, now? You don't think the screaming may put him in something of a foul mood?" Kenobi rolled his eyes.

"Not _now_ , you idiot, when we're done. I want to stop by before we head to meet our smuggler." He removed a large organ from the body, held it in his hands as if weighing it, and dropped it inside the container, his lightsaber quickly in hand as he touched the blade to the bleeding blood vessels and cauterized them. "Maybe we can pick up Leia while we're there, I don't think Organa will mind if we're a day early."

"I think he might, he loves that girl."

" _Everyone_ loves my girl. We'll have to get Luke too. Can you sand word to Owen?"

"Will do, boss." Obi-Wan smiled in satisfaction, his heart beating faster with the prospect of seeing his children a day ahead of time. Their birthday was the day after tomorrow, and he was going to make the most of it.

A swift, violent jerk from the Chiss' open body sent the precision blade of the scalple on the Sith's hands tearing jaggedly through one of the creature's kidneys, and with a quick curse, Obi-Wan removed the bleeding organ as fast as he could, but the damage had been done. The pain and horror of what was happening hit the Chiss, his red eyes wide and suddenly unclouded as shock and fear overcame the drug haze, and he violently jerked to get away, which only worsened the situation. A string of curses left Obi-Wan's mouth as he swiftly slit up the man's throat, exposing the trachea and the vocal chords within, and he leaned close as the man began screaming in a thin, strangled voice, watching the mechanics of his voice work. It wasn't ideal, and it became less so when he began convulsing as he went into shock.

Kenobi reached out with the Force, trying to grab hold of his life and stabilize him, but it was to no effect, and when his heart stopped, he couldn't restart it, not with the Force, not with jolts of lightning summoned from his fingers, and moments later, the Chiss was dead, the third of the five he had captured. The Dark Side howled, fed and bolstered by the life spent and craving more, and with little else to be gained, Kenobi allowed the Dark Side to move in unison beside him, filling him with power and strength and cruelty far beyond what it had been before, and he laid his savage eyes on the last remaining of the males, a hungry glow in his intense golden gaze.

"Cody..." the Sith said in a whisper, his voice dark and hungry and not his own. "Are we alone."

"No ships in the surrounding area, Master, and we're ready to make the jump to lightspeed at a moment's notice." Cody stepped back, keeping a respectful distance. Years of living beside not just Kenobi, but the beast that lay within him had taught the clone exactly how to navigate safely around the man when he was at his most dangerous. This was it, the culmination of five days of listening to screams of pain and frustrated moans of pleasure, and the raging, wrathful Dark Side could take it no longer. It was best to stand back and let it have what it wanted.

"Good..." the Sith whispered, his hand extended toward the Chiss as he felt his panicked breathing, his elevated heart rate, and with a sigh, Cody turned and left the room to head for the cockpit to make the jump to the nearest planet. It was foolish to think that the Sith Lord would finish without finally putting his hands on the lustful, achingly aroused female.

Lumis laid his hand on the fearful Chiss' chest, his fingers clutching at the smooth blue shin, his heart throbbing under his palm, and the Sith reached deep within him, felt the frantic flow of his life pulse in the Force, and slowly, Obi-Wan controlled it, commanded it, contained it, and the Chiss relaxed under his grasp, his eyes still wide and fearful, but his body sagged with submission. He knew what was coming, but his Master had commanded him not to fight, and he no longer had the ability to do anything but obey.

Slowly, the Sith tightened his grip and began to pull, drawing the Force to him and grinning wickedly as he took the flames of his life in his hands, flickering and jumping in terror, and he softly soothed it, not extinguishing the fire, but consuming it, the Force compelled to fly from the Chiss and flow directly into the Sith Lord. The man was dead in moments, his skin paling to a pale, icy blue, the glowing red of his eyes darkening as the very Force within him was torn out of him, and he hung limply in his restraints, the body seeming somehow shriveled and dead far longer than just a few moments. Beside him, the woman shut her eyes tightly, her body still gripped in the throes of insatiable lust as she turned her head away.

Obi-Wan leaned his back against the wall, his eyes closed and his hands in his hair as he felt the Dark Side within him rise up to tear and consume the life it had taken, absorbed, and Kenobi could feel it spread within him, warm and blissful and intoxicating, far more than any alcohol, far more potent than any drugs, and he relished the feeling he felt so rarely, denying himself the pleasures of consuming life because of the dangers the act possessed. Like any drug, it was _highly_ addictive, and even now, only moments after he had consumed the life of the captive Chiss, he yearned for it again, his entire body aching with the craving for it as ravenous golden eyes stared intently at the panting, moaning woman.

With a deep, feral growl, Kenobi strode the small distance between them, slammed his hand beside her head and kissed her, hard and deep and hungry, as if the act could draw the Force out of her on its own. Her quick, insistent movements against him stoked the Dark Side into a roaring, snarling frenzy, not for blood or life, but for pleasure, the desire for satisfaction and satiation through lust pushing away the powerful drive for consumption and the need to submit to the addiction that edged at his mind.

"I think," Lumis growled deeply, his hands running over the sensitive, receptive body before him, "that I'm going to record what I do to you and send it to my friend Thrawn...he needs to know what his people are to the Sith." He kissed her again, harder than before and pressing closer when he touched her mind and found all her previous fight gone, replaced instead with lust and submission, and he only pulled away when the intercom crackled, filling the room with a swift burst of static.

"No sex in the _Umbra_ ," Cody's voice said, and the Sith could only respond with a ferocious snarl, his hand tightening possessively on her hip as he bit at her neck, a sharp cry of pain and pleasure rushing through the sole survivor. "Really, brother, your current state is upsetting Yoda. If you don't calm yourself, I feel he may tear through the hull."

There was silence for a long while as Kenobi rested his forehead against her shoulder, his hand wandering and petting and stroking and eliciting sharp cries of pained yearning from the woman. His eyes closed and breathing deep, Obi-Wan slowly pushed away from the wall, hissing curses under his breath in every language he knew as he backed away and slowly sat, his legs folded underneath him, his hands resting on his knees, and his golden eyes never leaving the moaning Chiss' face.

Even as he felt his body revitalizing, the Force rushing through him and repairing the damage time had wrought, leaving him younger, faster, stronger than before, he knew there were other ways to feel the darkness. The addiction took many forms, and he was strong enough to resist the pull that Darth Nihilus had so eagerly embraced. Consumption of life, death, blood, murder, pain, lust, all these and more fed the Dark Side, fueled it, the sacrifices required to achieve true power, the price that had to be paid to walk the Dark Side. But he was patient, he was careful, and above all else, Obi-Wan was a _Master_ , one that could let the Dark Side rage through him like the beast it was, only to be quickly brought to heel when he commanded it to still.

His gaze never left the writhing woman, his next conquest, his next slave that wore the chains the Dark Side had fashioned for her. She would accept him, willingly or no, despite the fact that he had tortured and murdered her crew before her eyes, and in time, even she would choose her chains to freedom, just as Maul had once done, just as Thrawn _would_ do.

"Let me know when we land, Cody," Obi-Wan said softly, his gaze never leaving the woman as he sunk into the Force in attentive meditation. "There's only two days before Empire Day, and I still have much to do."


	13. Check

**AN:** **A few days between chapters. This one went through a few rewrites before I got what I wanted. The next one should go smoother, but...well, it's going to be a bit longer, so it'll take a day or two to get it done. Also, I FINALLY got the inspiration I needed to start a story I had been meaning to write for a while and just couldn't think of how to start it. If things go well, I might actually have the first chapter of that one up tonight, since I know exactly how I want it to go, so the writing should be fast. Don't worry, this one isn't falling to the wayside. this is still my primary project, but when I have chapters I'm stuck on, it'll help me to divert to something else, just to get the creativity going again.**

 **So! Expect a few more chapters of one-shots in In the Shadows, since I have two or three really good ideas planned for that one, and the first chapter of a new something within the next day. Enjoy, my lovelies! You're the best. Oh, and let me know if you want to see something, in this thing, or the one-shots or otherwise. I've got a few really good suggestions from people, and your ideas help me craft a good story.**

 _Chapter 13_ : _Check_

Darth Sidious stood frozen to the spot, his yellow eyes glowing with untempered fury as he stared at the four crates sitting before his throne, their silver sheen dull in the darkness, the shiny surface reflecting the glow of the Sith Master's yellow eyes. It was Empire Day, and he had come to expect the day's celebrations to be punctured by _gifts_ from his former apprentice, the lost, wayward Darth Lumis. The young Sith's actions were that of a rebellious teenager, a child cut loose from his parent and discovering for the first time that there no rules upon him. His actions were little more than irritations, sometimes immensely destructive irritations, but even at his worst, Lumis didn't leave a dent in the Empire's might. He _could_ , but Lumis didn't.

Instead, he opted to be as frustrating as possible, a virus, a disease, but not a particularly malignant one. Lumis was less akin to a contagion than he was to a splinter dug deep within the skin, irritating, but ultimately harmless, though Sidious knew that even the smallest wound could become infected and fester were it to be ignored. Since Lumis showed no sign of dying on his own, possibly _ever_ , he could not afford to ignore him, but validating him by lavishing attention and resources on him was only giving the rogue credence as a threat when he was, in fact, no threat at all. Not against the Empire and not against him, at least not yet, and when the Death Star was complete, there would be nothing Lumis could do to oppose the Empire. There would be nothing _anyone_ could do.

Infiltrations, uprisings, sex scandals and coy, teasing messages had marked each Empire Day starting from year one, when Lumis had sent the Sith Master a holorecording of one of his newly appointed Moffs in the Outer Rim, naked and on her knees before twelve known Separatist agitators as they used and debased her willing body. The recording was delivered by the Moff herself, her eyes hazy and unaware and clearly under the sway of Lumis' manipulations. There was no choice but to kill her, of course, and the message was clear. Nobody was safe from Darth Lumis, and without the threat of the Jedi, with Vader crippled and soundly beaten on Mustafar, there were very little that could stand in opposition to the renegade Sith.

Sidious could, of course. Even now, he felt the touch of mastery, the grace of the Dark Side, and he knew he was stronger. Vader and Maul both thought Lumis to have achieved the same feat, bore the mark of a Master upon him, but the apprentices knew _nothing_ of true darkness. None of them did. None of them had seen what Sidious was capable of, none of them understood the gravity of what he had accomplished, what it had meant that _he_ had been the one to finally bring about the revenge of the Sith. And nor would they. That was part of the point. All they needed to know was that he was stronger, all they needed to feel was the depths of his power, and they did. They knew. He was the Master, and would be for a thousand years to come, and beyond even that, if he could manage to finally unlock the secrets of the Dark Side.

It was part of the reason for Vader, his powerful, wrathful, _crippled_ apprentice, a man that existed only to feel pain and the hate that stemmed from it. One day, together, they would stand in complete dominion over the Dark Side of the Force, subjugate and master it like none had ever done. With the powerful nexus of Vader to act as a lure for the Dark Side, Sidious would harness all the power there was, all the strength there was to be had in the Force, and the galaxy would _bend_ to his whim, remade by his design. Even Lumis would be caught in the trap, unable to escape, bound to his weakness, his pitiful connections and attachments, and he would be made to kneel once again with all the rest.

A part of the problem was he had trained Lumis _too_ well, a mistake he did not repeat with Vader. With his power greatly diminished by the wounds inflicted upon him, Vader had become a shell of his former self, the castoff of greatness, the result of a duel he was far too unstable to win. It ultimately didn't matter. In a galaxy without Jedi, Vader stood far above the rest, far above the Inquisitors, far above Maul. Just not so far as he should have. Sidious hadn't expected that, hadn't anticipated it, had thought the raw power and fury of Vader would be enough to topple the insane, grief-stricken Lumis, but his foresight was not perfect. _Far_ from it. In the Force, he saw the many possible outcomes of a single event, but he never saw where the Force was actually taking him. He did what he could to manipulate events in his favor, doing everything in his power to achieve his desired outcome, usually with great success. But in the Force, he never saw the outcome that had come to pass.

It was...a mistake. _An error_. A grievous oversight. Lumis was a manipulator, a man skilled at hiding his intentions, his thoughts, his desires, his very presence, just as Sidious was. In this, he had trained Lumis far too well, for the ambitious young Sith had eventually come to learn to hide himself from his Master, all without Sidious' knowledge. And now, this monster of his own creation roamed the galaxy, undermining the Empire at every turn simply to _spite_ him. It mattered not. In the end, Lumis was necessary. He had somehow discovered immortality, and his visions, his foresight was a _gift_ , a powerful one that still had use to Sidious. Lumis had a part to play still. His death wasn't the goal. Lumis needed to be captured, subjugated, _enslaved_ , as he had enslaved so many others with his tremendous talent for domination of the mind.

The threat Lumis posed meant that Sidious would have to do this himself, but in this, the task was far more difficult. Sidious ruled the galaxy, was the Master of _everything_ , and yet, in his role, he was trapped, constrained, _constricted_ , his position as Emperor keeping the watchful eye of the galaxy upon him, which meant keeping up the guise of Palpatine. Who he actually was remained a secret, one of the best, a thing meant only for only a select few. Keeping the nature of the Force a secret kept any potential threat away from true power. But in time, he would have to deal with Lumis himself, just as he had once left Coruscant to deal with Maul on Mandalore.

He could see it in the Force, the many outcomes of Darth Lumis, all of them vague, clouded, changing and shifting with the constant flow of the Force. His victory after defeating Vader, Maul, Tarkin, Thrawn, anyone that Sidious came to throw at him, only to fall to the Master himself, his confidence bolstered by the victories he had achieved. He saw an inferno, blazing and raging across every planet, every system as everything burned to ash, and in the middle of it, he saw Lumis, gold eyes given way to blood red and glowing with the Dark Side and the depths of unending insanity, broken, bloody bodies scattered around him as he destroyed everything. He saw him kneeling, defeated and lost upon the realization that fighting against the Empire only saw those he cared about brought to a grisly end, and head bowed in submission, the eternally youthful Sith Lord didn't move as Vader's red blade cut through his neck.

But above all else, the outcome he saw, the one he focused on was Lumis hanging suspended on the wall behind the throne, his gold eyes vacant, his consciousness lost forever within the pull of the Dark Side. His body remained, a living nexus for the Force to rage through, pouring the future into his head as it so often did, visions that were bright, vivid, _accurate_ , provided they could be properly interpreted. Sidious saw _many_ outcomes, all vague, all ever changing, much to his irritation. But Lumis saw _one_ , a clear, perfect picture of the future that the young Lord misinterpreted often, but the Master could easily decipher. Together, he and Vader ruled the galaxy uncontested, perfect foresight brought to them through Darth Lumis, forever contained in a slavery he could never escape, lost forever within the grief and darkness of his own mind. _This_ was the vision Sidious sought to create. Lumis would serve, as he was meant to, _when_ he was meant to, and the day was coming when he would meet his wayward apprentice again face to face. He could _feel_ it, and then it would be over.

Lumis deserved no less. For years, he had been an irritating thorn in his side, a persistent buzzing in the back of his mind that occasionally erupted with noise and spectacle, only to fall back into obscurity again, and Empire Day was always the worst, a day that Lumis seemed to hold for celebration by sending his former Master gifts, a thoughtful gesture made both gruesome and humiliating by sending the Emperor heads in boxes, entire crates of dismembered bounty hunters, recordings of public orgies starring Imperial Officers, both male and female, as the starring, wanton centerpieces of lust, made mere vessels for the genetic material of a dozen different species. There were explosions, riots, anti-Imperial graffiti, legions of stormtroopers controlled into doing _ridiculous_ things like preforming opera, discharging their weapons to leave obscene gestures burned into the walls of government buildings, or walking entire platoons into walls or lakes. Officers had been found staggeringly drunk in the streets, leaving Imperial installations without any leadership while the local populace did as they wished.

All of this was mere irritation, Lumis playing with the powers he had been gifted with, demonstrating how difficult it was to fight against the mental control and domination he so skillfully commanded. But then there was the more damaging things, the more _personal_ ones, precision strikes against the Emperor that were made not to slight, but to _hurt_ the Master he once so loyally served, punishment he saw fit to dole out for being abandoned and cast aside for Anakin Skywalker by yet _another_ Master.

The theft of his holocrons, a move that trapped Sidious on Coruscant. The corruption of the Dark Side acolytes on Dromund Kaas, forcing the Sith Lords to execute the entire population of the Temple, destroying the trained adults from which the Inquisitors were drawn from and thereby destroying their ability to replace Inquisitors were they to die, making them a rare and valuable resource instead of the disposable tools they had been intended as. The takeover of the holonet, announcing the rise of the Shadow King, casting immediate suspicion on the Mandalorians that served the Empire, and ligitimate or not, it served only to push fickle Mandalore away from the Empire.

The theft of the _Carrion Spike_ and the subsequent destruction of Desolation Station, killing dozens of scientists and pushing progress on the Death Star back _years_. The rain of Genonsians upon Coruscant five years ago, not only triggering a rapid descent into absolute anarchy that lasted across the planet for nearly two weeks, but brought galactic attention to Geonosis and the genocide of the entire populace, a move that would have exposed the plans of the Death Star, were it not for some quick thinking by Tarkin and Vader.

Sidious had come to expect things on Empire Day, an irritating, frustrating end to usually very good days that resulted in the Sith Master taking out all his frustrations on his hapless apprentices. Every single time, Lumis would somehow overcome the ever-increasing security, would change his tactic and the nature of his slights so drastically that it became impossible to detect and predict. After the Geonosian incident, the increased security expanded not just to cover Empire Day, but the days before, then the weeks before, and it seemed to work. The past few years, Lumis' attacks had been mild, almost friendly in comparison, though they were still insulting and rage-inducing, the irritation of having a single man at large for fifteen years building until Maul and Vader began fighting to be the one _not_ present on Coruscant during the festivities.

Executing Obi-Wan Kenobi publically was a move that seemed to defang the young Sith, at least for the time being, and since then, Lumis' actions had _greatly_ diminished. Robbing the man of his influence, of his name seemed to work, the double-edged sword to the eternally young Sith in a world where immortals simply did not walk. He was _young_. He couldn't be the Separatist leader, the original Shadow King, the man that burned Ord Mantell. He could establish a new identity, yes, but it would not be easy.

But _now_ , things had suddenly changed. Now, fifteen years after the end of the Republic, Darth Sidious stood staring at four crates sitting before his throne, the room dark, the sky outside the windows only just beginning to pale with the rising sun. This was new. _Different_. This time, the wayward apprentice had the indecency to deliver the gift before the _sun had even come up_. Sidious could feel a foul temper rise within him. Not even dawn, and the day was already ruined.

He was beginning to wish he had stayed in bed. Like he _wanted_ to do.

Sidious stood there staring at the crates for a long while, his rage slowly building, the room beginning to lighten with the first rays of light. Even when he heard heavy, metallic footsteps on the cold, hard ground, he didn't move, only listening as the steps grew louder as they drew near. By the time he felt the presence of the man walking into the long hall of the throne room, his breath had quickened in anger and his shoulders were tight with rage. If it was going to be a bad day for the Emperor, it was going to be a bad day for _everyone_.

The footsteps shuffled, stopped, stood still for a moment, then began again, quicker and lighter than before. "Master!" Maul chirped lightly, striding toward the hooded Emperor, his chest bare and covered in a sheen of sweat, returning form his early morning training. "I didn't think you'd be up," he continued, completely oblivious to his surroundings until he saw the Sith Master's cowled head turn, and from the darkness of his hood, he could see those pale, yellow eyes glowing with fury. He stopped, suddenly cautious, uncertain what he had done wrong until he looked behind the Emperor and saw crates, four of them, brilliant in their sheen, except for one, which had been painted with a large, smiling, decapitated head, and a severed hand giving a thumb's up.

 _Empire Day_.

"Oh, _shit_!" Before he could move, bolts of lightening so dark blue they appeared purple hit the Zabrak in the chest, lifted him in the air, and slammed him against the wall, the man's mechanical legs striking the ground with a loud clang. Maul quickly scrambled to his feet and began to run from the room, only to find his legs suddenly pulled out from underneath him, his face slamming against the ground and sliding along the floor as he was pulled back to Sidious, his fingers desperately clawing at the ground in a futile attempt to get out of the Sith Master's grasp.

"Maul," Sidious rasped, his eyes narrowed in anger as he rose the Zabrak into the air with the Force, the squirming man gasping for breath and clutching at his throat as his air flow was deprived. "What. Is. _That_." Sidious snarled, pointing toward the crates by the throne, the Zabrak's chin forced in the direction of the Master's finger. Despite the crushing grip on his throat, Maul swallowed hard.

"...boxes, Master?" he cautiously squeaked, and he was rewarded with a tired sigh from his Master, followed by searing agony from deep within his brain. Maul gasped, his eyes rolling in the back of his head as his entire body went limp with submission, a reflexive, instinctive action that he had learned from Kenobi.

" _Boxes_ , yes..." Sidious hissed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I don't suppose you'd want to open them, Maul." He released his hold, and Zabrak fell crumpled to the floor, and for a moment, he didn't move, simply laid there and looked at the crates in resignation. He knew there was something awful in there. Something that was going to make his day even worse, as it _always_ happened on Empire Day, but in the past, it had been the evenings that had been reserved for torture. Why was Lumis doing this so _early_?!

"I _really_ don't want to..." Maul muttered against the floor.

"Open it." Sidious demanded, and with a sigh, Maul rose to his cybernetic feet and slowly dragged them to one of the crates, his hand resting on the cold, shining surface.

"... _or_ ," the Zabrak said slowly. "How about we _don't_ open them." A furious, angry glare was his only response, and before he had a chance to continue pleading his case, deep, assisted breathing could be heard coming down the hall, and Maul watched as Sidious' jaw clenched in rage. A moment later, and Darth Vader entered the room, his breathing deep, even, pendulous, his cape billowing out behind him his focus absolute as he came before the Emperor and dropped to one knee.

"Master," he said in his deep, modulated voice. "The Grand Inquisitor has arrived on Lothal to root out the persistent rebel insurgency there. A surviving Jedi is said to lead them." Sidious said nothing, and cautiously, Vader looked up at his Master, the mask hiding his expression, but Maul could _feel_ his confusion turn to swift anger and irritation as he looked upon the crates. _Empire Day_. And it had come early this year. He managed a long-suffering groan before he was slammed to the ground with the weight of the force, and a moment later, the Zabrak hit the floor next to him. Maul looked into the black, expressionless mask with a deadpan look on his face.

"You know..." he whispered to Vader, the breathing from his mask still even, though Maul could hear small vocalizations of pain from the man. "Lumis was a _much_ kinder Master."

" _Lumis_ ," Vader snarled, "sapped you of your will and left you an empty, mindless slave."

"Yeah..." Maul sighed. "I miss that..."

"You are an _idiot_ ," Vader growled, scoffing as Maul's face contorted with pain as the Sith Master grabbed him through the Force and bent to punishing the man for his insolence, for his _stupidity_ , because it was Empire Day, because _crates_ blocked the Emperor's path to his throne. Or all the aforementioned. He didn't need a reason to torture them. He just _did_. But mostly Maul.

"If only you hadn't so _stupidly_ killed sweet Satine..." Sidious mournfully bemoaned, his hand gently raising and falling in the air, sending Maul into the air, only to be slammed back down over and over again. "I would have had a _leash_ on Lumis. An unbreakable chain. He would have done _anything_ I asked of him to defend his beautiful lover and powerful son from me. _I_ would have had a new apprentice in the boy, a tool to use _against_ his father, and he would live in fear of what would happen were he to disobey..."

"Would he not have tried to kill you, Master?" Vader asked, groaning as he attempted to stand, only to have Sidious casually wave his hand and send him crashing back down to the ground.

" _Of course_ he would have tried to kill me. He was planning on doing so anyway, do you think I could not see through his emotional motivations?" He glared at Vader, his mouth curling up into a vicious sneer, and his yellow eyes drifted back to Maul, the man still on the floor as he gasped and sputtered, blood running out of his mouth from a bit tongue and splits in his lips. "I allowed him to keep Satine as a means to control him, just as I would have allowed _you_ to keep Padmé Amidala." Vader's regulated breathing never faltered, but his mechanical hands clenched tightly, his shoulders shaking.

"That was a long time ago, Master," he managed to say without emotion, though they all could feel the cold, the dark, the hate swirl around Vader like a vortex.

"A long time ago, yes..." Sidious snarled, flicking his wrist and sending both apprentices skidding across the ground to slam against the four crates. " _Open them_."

Maul swiftly leapt to his feet and immediately began pacing before them, almost as if trying to choose which one to begin with while Vader slowly rose, grunting in effort. With a vicious growl and a gesture of his gloved, prosthetic hand, the lids of all four crates flew off, hitting the far wall with a clattering bang. Maul glared at him.

"Showoff."

" _Coward_."

" _Enough_!" Sidious hissed, striding quickly forward and peering into one of the crates. For a moment, the Sith Master drew back in disgust and disdain, his eyes narrowing as he peered within at the empty, open cavity of a blue skinned alien. A Chiss. His eyes quickly darted over to look inside another box to find another of the same species. _Not_ Thrawn, then, but one of his race, one that looked a great deal like the Imperial Admiral, so far as Sidious could tell. Maul leaned in to one of the crates and came up with a datapad, stood beside his Master and powered it on, and they were immediately greeted by a recording of Lumis' smiling face.

"K'ates Ect'asei Csihn, ch'eo Crahsystor!" the young Sith said brightly, and Sidious' eyes narrowed, and quickly summoned his droid, the modified medical droid wheeling its way toward its Master from beside the throne, and it stopped, it's circuits churning as it listened to the datapad. "Bav vim vzah sevti carcir csot ch'at csitan'ci. Veah vah tucan'si veb, ch'ah csah g'evot'o veah na. Tascarah ch'ah ch'at tisci bah vah vei ch'ah csah k'un'bah bohn ch'eo tiscah tur vah hsisah." Sidious paused the recording.

"Droid, translate that," Sidious quietly commanded, and after a moment of silence, one of the droids many arms seemed to rotate in irritation.

"Sir, this language is not stored in my databanks." Sidious hissed in irritation, his fingers steepled together as he returned to the recording, Vader and Maul peering over his shoulder as they watched Darth Lumis preform a dissection on two Chiss, cut open and study one as he lived, and slew another with the Force, all the while his amused clip narrating over the footage.

"Lord Vader," Sidious said softly after the recording had concluded. "Contact Admiral Thrawn and tell him to report to me immediately. You are to take up his position until he returns." With a deep bow to Sidious and a swift look at the groaning Maul, Vader swept from the room. The Master slowly moved his hand from the air, clearing the crates away from the throne as he sat upon it, his hand on his sallow cheek, the other raised and crackling with Force lightning. Maul looked at the Master and swallowed hard as the Sith began to watch the recording once again, and there was no escape for the Zabrak when Sidious forced him to his knees and sent lightning through him.

* * *

" _I have to ask myself, what makes a Thrawn_?" Obi-Wan Kenobi asked in Cheunh, not perfectly, of course. His grammar was faulty in places, and his manner of speaking was accented, though pleasantly so, almost aristocratic, his chosen words descriptive, as the language required, but the word choice was basic and simplistic, as opposed to the ornate complications inherent in the Chiss' native tongue. Though, for an outsider, he spoke it _quite_ well. Thrawn watched impassively as the rebel preformed two autopsies on a male and a female Chiss, a process he found both scientific and thorough as he listened to the man's post-recorded findings on each subject he examined. His research was completed when he had taken a living Chiss male and cut him open, observing and prodding the man's innards as they worked and pumped with life. His findings were _extremely_ accurate, something of a marvel for one who would have had little to no contact with the Chiss before that moment, which meant that Kenobi had not just done this before, but the _way_ he made his cuts, the swift, brutal precision with which he took the bodies apart suggested that he had done this _many_ times, indicated that the man was something of a researcher, a mad scientist in a lab making large strides without the constraints of morality.

It was as horrific as it was... _admirable_.

Kenobi finished the display off by killing yet _another_ male in a way that Thrawn didn't understand, through the Force, no doubt, but the Chiss became _pale_ , his skin dry and leathery as if he had been dead for ages, and the body of the man in the crate confirmed that it wasn't simply a trick of some clever editing. The body was _dry_ , the organs shriveled and blackened, the bones brittle, as if something had sucked the marrow from them, the very essence of life from each and every cell. The recording concluded with the final captive, a female, screaming as Kenobi thrust within her, first with cries of pleasure, then with grunts and shouts for him to stop his relentless assault, and finally, with soft, tired moans of submission. _That_ was difficult to watch, and not just for Thrawn, but for the Emperor's associate, red-skinned Maul, who looked away and bit his lip, shivering the entire time the woman was broken.

" _My conclusions, my friend_ ," Obi-Wan gleefully chirped at the end of the recording, a final edition that had been added after his experiments, " _are fairly complete, as you can see. Even the Chiss will submit, will accept and embrace their domination if it is done right. Now, I have learned Thrawn's language. Let's see if he will learn mine. I know that you have been working_ very _hard to expunge all records of the Jedi and the Sith, but perhaps you will allow him to learn our language. If not, I will send the necessary tools he will need to teach himself to his ship_."

The yellow eyes narrowed, and the Sith Lord leaned in closer to the holocam he had been recording on, his eyes darting back and forth as if he were searching for something, _feeling_ for something with his attuned senses. " _Or, have you been teaching him? Has your Admiral been allowed to study the Sith? Has he been studying like I have? Have you given him one of your own to dissect, as I have to his people?_ " He scoffed _._ " _Don't think I haven't noticed that Vader has been conspicuously absent from the scene. Did that heap of scraps and wasted potential end up on a dissection table so that Thrawn may learn the secrets of what makes a Sith Lord_?" Kenobi grinned. " _I do so look forward to the day I finally get to meet Thrawn. I have_ such _plans for him, and after the tragic deaths of four of my Chiss slaves, well...the female is lonely for a companion. I think Thrawn will make a fine addition_." He smiled quickly and waved. " _Happy Empire Day, Palpatine. Perhaps I'll still celebrate this momentous day when_ my _Empire controls the galaxy_."

The recording stopped, and the room was silent, save for Maul's soft, nearly insane whimpers, and Thrawn moved from crate to crate, observing the bodies once again and the organs that hand been neatly, methodically packed away into transparent containers. He already knew Kenobi to be meticulous based on his behavior, but now he had morbid physical proof of it. What's more, he was adept at language, learning the complex Cheunk to study his opponent, much in the way Thrawn had done to him. Thrawn had a lead of several years on the renegade Obi-Wan, but he was quickly closing the gap, insinuating now that he even knew the ship on which he was stationed. The situation was becoming... _dangerous_. The Chiss Admiral felt his heart begin beating faster, his face flushing, the feeling of adrenaline coursing through his veins.

Thrawn _loved_ this.

The most interesting thing about this, however, was the nature of the message. Despite being delivered in Cheunk, this message was _not_ intended for Thrawn. The point had been to draw the Admiral into this matter, but the message was not for him. This message was for _Palpatine_ , delivered in a way that forced the Emperor to use a medium to understand, and because of the highly reclusive nature of the Chiss and their relegation to the Unknown Regions, it was unlikely that a droid would be equipt with the ability to translate the language. Having Thrawn present was a calculation, and one that had paid off. Kenobi _wanted_ Thrawn there.

The Admiral's mouth twitched with the ghost of a smile, and he quietly added a point to Kenobi's score in the game they played. This was an exceedingly clever move. But more than that...

The assumption was that Obi-Wan was a rebel, a faction leader that pressed for the liberation of worlds from Imperial rule, but that wasn't what he wanted. Obi-Wan was an _Imperial_. One that fashioned himself a greater Emperor than Palpatine. To be sure, if there was a greater rebellion, then Obi-Wan Kenobi would be at the head of it, but what he had intended for _after_ , were he to be successful...it seemed less of a rebellion and more of a coup, at least from Kenobi's perspective. It changed a vital part of Thrawn's analysis of the man. He had been intent on capturing him alive to make his death an example to anyone else who wished to rebel, but _now_ , Thrawn wanted to talk to him, to find out exactly the man's intentions.

"Well?" the Emperor asked after the Chiss had been silent for a long while. "What is the point of _this_?" he growled, gesturing to the crates with the bodies.

"In part, a show of dominance," Thrawn quietly mused. "My people are a proud one. One that does not submit to domination." He pointed into one of the crates where a neatly folded black jacket lay on top of a container that held a heart. "That is the jacket of an officer in our defense force, so he went a great deal out of his way to find them. This is a targeted strike."

"A warning to you," Palpatine stated, and Thrawn slowly shook his head.

"No, not this one. This is... _curiosity_. He is studying me as I have been studying him. More brutal, perhaps, but the methodology is the same."

"And the message?"

"A dissection report, for the most part," Thrawn quietly said. "A rather complete one at that. He does, however, wish you a happy Empire Day." Maul winced, a mad, nervous laugh torn from his throat swiftly silenced by a glare from the Emperor, and Thrawn watched him _very_ closely.

"Tell me," the Emperor said, and with a slight nod of his head, Thrawn began translating the extensive transmission word for word. It was clear there was more to Palpatine than the mild tempered Senator made Emperor that he portrayed himself as, mostly because he commanded Darth Vader, the galaxy's most fearsome Imperial agent, a man that lay outside the chain of command and yet, exerted his command over everyone _except_ the Emperor he swore allegiance to. He was an almost mystical presence, one that wielded the Force like a weapon, one of the few left in the galaxy that could do so.

Thrawn's studies of Kenobi led him to learn about the Sith, the ancient, extinct order of Force sensitives that stood in opposition to the Jedi since a philosophical difference divided the Jedi thousands upon thousands of years ago, and it seemed like a statistical improbability that Vader _wasn't_ Sith, which could only mean one thing. According to their doctrine, Emperor Palpatine was more than the Emperor that Vader served, but his Dark Side Master, the Lord of the Sith himself, or else Vader simply would never follow him with the fanatic loyalty he demonstrated.

What was more, Thrawn knew _exactly_ who Darth Vader truly was beneath that mask of his, a fact that he had shared with the Emperor long ago in their first meeting. Palpatine had neither confirmed nor denied it, though Thrawn always suspected that his correct assumption of the Dark Lord's true identity had been part of the reason that Palpatine had been so ready and willing to accept his service, despite his status as a near-human. A pledge of loyalty and an endorsement by an Imperial officer went a long way, but the knowledge of the Empire's greatest secret bespoke of genius and cunning that the Emperor simply couldn't pass up.

Early in his time within charted galactic space during the Clone Wars, Thrawn had the privilege of witnessing the Jedi first hand, a thing that was difficult to forget. The force was a mysterious, unknown, random variable, one that turned certain defeat into victory, one that could crush armies at a whim in what appeared to be something akin to dumb luck, and it had no place in a galaxy built on logic and reason. He had seen such a thing in his own people, on very rare occasion. People that could move objects without touching them, that possessed speed and reflexes that existed on the very edge of the body's limitations, that seemed, by all accounts, to be supernaturally lucky.

And yet, Thrawn found that a tactical mind was a much better, far more reliable asset. After all, the Jedi Knights were all dead now, and the Force had been powerless to save them. Had they not relied so heavily on an ultimately unpredictable variable for their success, perhaps the Jedi would have concentrated on a careful examination of their surroundings, an analysis of the things in their environment that simply didn't make sense. Instead, they had grown accustomed to the nonsensical, brushing it off as simply the Force working in mysterious ways, and so hadn't seen the storm approaching.

Their attention diverted toward dealing instead with the Sith threat in the form of Obi-Wan Kenobi and, most likely, in Count Dooku as well, they had failed to notice things, _small_ things, that foreshadowed their inevitable fate. An Empire was at hand, and the Jedi would never stand for such. The solution was a simple one. The Jedi needed to be destroyed to bring about unification under one, single voice. Thrawn would have done the same.

Of course, _all_ the Jedi hadn't been killed, though the one Thrawn focused on was Darth Vader himself. Because of his close relationship with Governor Tarkin and his high opinion of Palpatine, it seemed _very_ likely that Vader was none other than Jedi Knight and hero of the Clone Wars, Anakin Skywalker. Having had the opportunity to have seen the prodigious Skywalker in action during the war, Thrawn was able to confirm the Dark Lord's identity through an analysis of the fighting styles of both Vader and Skywalker. Vader's movements were slower, heavier, more brutish and severe, almost as if he were in constant conflict with the cybernetics that Thrawn knew made up his arms and legs. But the blade work was nearly identical, a thing far too coincidental to be a matter of chance, especially with all the different forms of lightsaber combat and in light of his other information. There could be no doubt that Vader was Anakin Skywalker.

Thrawn knew when it was best to hold his tongue, and since their first meeting, he had not brought up Vader's identity to the Emperor again, nor did he express his suspicions about Palpatine's own adherence to Sith doctrine as its Master. If Palpatine was what he believed, then he already knew anyway. That was the trouble with the Lords of the Sith. They were everything the Jedi were, but untethered by moral constraints, focused on power and domination over all else, and they had been gifted with sensitivity to the Force that allowed them to reach those ends with ease. It made them ideal rulers and leaders, beings that commanded fear and obedience, but in a galaxy where the Force was largely dead, it left the entirety of its power the express domain of beings like Palpatine and Vader.

And Obi-Wan.

Thrawn always found tactics and a superior intellect a greater asset than the power of the Force, a thing that allowed him time and time again to triumph over his foes, but when a being had both a genius mind _and_ the Force...it was something to be feared. Palpatine was one such being, he was sure, but so was Kenobi, as the current display before him showed. Thrawn believed he could still triumph over the renegade Separatist leader. Kenobi was holding back, guarding _something_ , something that Thrawn had yet to discover, and so their game continued, moving pieces, setting up traps and feints, attempting to bait the other into action, but both were too cautious to fall into the other's traps, now that they knew a game was being played.

Though today, it seemed as if Obi-Wan had moved into check. He was playing a piece that he had been holding close, a key player that should have been in Thrawn's assets, but the Admiral now found that this may not be the case. A powerful wildcard that played by no rules but his own, one that the other players were forced to maneuver around, and now, Kenobi may have found a way to place that piece directly between himself and Thrawn.

 _The Emperor_.

But in the end, it wouldn't matter. Thrawn held the winning card. He just was not willing to play it until he _knew_ the game would be decisively over the moment he laid it down, and a great deal needed to be in place first before that could happen. But that day was getting closer.

"He knows your ship, Admiral," Palpatine said in a low, menacing whisper.

"He knows a great many things. He is...a formidable adversary."

"One beyond even you, it seems." Thrawn's eyes narrowed as he watched the Emperor look within the crates, the hood of his robes keeping the Admiral from seeing the expression on his face, though he doubted old, wizened Palpatine was bothered, or he wouldn't have been looking. Thrawn was... _insulted_. Obi-Wan was one man. A powerful man, yes, but he had taken many strides against him, and even now, even as the rogue drew closer, the noose was tightening. Kenobi would get the meeting he desired, but it would be on _Thrawn's_ terms. It was time to take a defensive position, one that would draw the Negotiator out into the open, one that would throw him off the Admiral's trail, and already, the Chiss' quick and clever mind was churning with a plan. He just needed the Emperor on board, just needed to get the wildcard back in his hands, lest the game be prematurely ended with Thrawn's removal.

"My Emperor," Thrawn began slowly, "Obi-Wan Kenobi is one man, and since my involvement, his attacks against the Empire have greatly diminished, even with his adoption of the mantle of Shadow King."

" _He knows your ship_ ," Palpatine said, more forceful this time. "A man that has been known to _steal ships_ knows your vessel."

"I disagree," Thrawn said swiftly. "I believe he knows the _name_ of my ship. That is quite a different thing from knowing _my_ ship. And even if he _does_ happen to be familiar with my ship in particular, which I sincerely doubt, he has yet to do anything with the information. Instead, he goes out of his way to find my people so that he may capture, torture and study them." He stroked his chin in thought. "No...this is not a man on the offensive. Your Obi-Wan is...cautious. Careful. He is protecting something, or someone, and I mean to find out what that is."

"And how do you intend to do such a thing?" Palpatine asked, indicating to the crates behind him. "Five years, you have hunted him and yielded no results."

"Five years, and I know everything about him," Thrawn said defensively. "I know how he works, how he acts, how he moves. I do knot know where he disappears to, but I know how to draw him out, but his connection to the Force is not one to be underestimated. I will not strike until I am _certain_ I can trap him."

"All the while, he can strike you at _any_ time," Palpatine said in a voice that left no room for argument. "Nobody is irreplaceable, Admiral Thrawn, but I see little point in _wasting_ an asset such as you. You will no longer be hunting the Shadow King." Thrawn frowned deeply. _This_ was the point of Kenobi's message, this was the move that he had played, though it was not in the game between Sith and Chiss. _This_ move was in the extended contest between the Negotiator and Palpatine, two men with a history that were competing for rule of the galaxy, with Palpatine as Emperor and Kenobi as the pretender, the small, sharp threat what would bring death not in a bold spectacle, but with a thousand tiny cuts.

Haatyc or'arue jate'shya ori'sol aru'ike nuhaatyc. Better one big enemy that you can see than many small ones you can't. It was _very_ Mandalorian. But...what of one big enemy that you _couldn't_ see? What was to be thought of something like that? He needed every asset. He needed the weight of the Empire behind him to close his trap. He had a plan, a way to force cautious, powerful Obi-Wan into a corner, and done correctly, he could deprive the Sith of his powers, could overwhelm him, could take him _alive_. With enough patience and planning, even the unpredictable factor of the Force could be relegated to a negligible variable. This was, at the end of the day, a battle of wits, and Thrawn would not lose.

"My Emperor," Thrawn said in his flat monotone, "this is a calculated move by our enemy specifically done to remove me from the picture. If not, why not just send you the message in a language you understand?" Palpatine said nothing, only stared at the Chiss, and eventually, he gestured for the man to continue. "All of this was done in an effort to bypass me by addressing you directly, and he made certain I was the focus of this message, the subject, not the recipient, by making my people his victims." He looked pointedly at the Emperor. "Removing me from my fight against him is playing right into his hands."

"Do you seek revenge for your people?" Palpatine asked, his eyes narrowed. "Is this why you argue with my will? You told me once that loyalty to the Empire will supercede your loyalty to your people."

"And it does," Thrawn reassured. "If Kenobi's intent was to get an irrational, emotional reaction out of me, or draw my ire by torturing, murdering and raping my people, he has failed. This is simply an attempt to draw me out, and I will not take his bait. I do not need to. He will come to me. He _has_ to if he wants to keep his possessions safe, and he knows this. This is the tactic he used to draw the Jedi out during the Clone Wars, and it will not work on me."

Palpatine was silent for a long while, simply looking the Chiss over, his hand on his pale chin, and Thrawn evenly met his gaze. He did not fear the Emperor, no matter the nature of the beast he may be. After a long while of deafening silence, punctuated only by short, soft occasional whimpers from the forgotten Maul, Sidious nodded his head.

"Do you have a plan?" He quietly asked, and Thrawn clasped his hands behind his back and stood up tall.

"I do. We name fifty Star Destroyers in the fleet _Chimera_ and equip them all with ISB surveillance nodes in the event that Kenobi attempts to attack one. In doing such, we can find a pattern in his behavior, see if he is taking chances or carefully planning. That will address the current threat he has issued, at least for a time." Sidious nodded his approval.

"And in doing so, it increases your presence and serves to hide your true location. I'll have it done." He pointed a long, gnarled finger at Thrawn. "But do you have a plan to _capture_ him?"

"...I do." Red eyes drifted over to the cowering Maul. "When I once again have him on the defensive, I will force him back into a corner, and he will willingly go where ever I point."

"An animal fights hardest when its cornered," Palpatine said, and a small smile crossed the Admiral's lips.

"That is so, but a beast will find it difficult to fight back when it has been declawed and defanged, and for one as dependent on the Force as Obi-Wan Kenobi, depriving him of it will leave him at a serious disadvantage."

"And you believe you can simply take it away from him?" Palpatine asked softly.

"I know I can. When his friends are concerned, Kenobi has time and time again walked into traps, and in the case of Luminara Unduli, he stepped right into a containment field without hesitation."

"He escaped."

"Yes, but I have learned from that," Thrawn said, his voice affecting a smooth, pleased tone. "Anger makes him dangerous, and baiting him with one that can no longer be helped is a good way to turn his wrath on his captors. But provide him with _living_ bait, a friend that can yet be saved, and his attention is divided. He is rendered careful. Cautious. And in such, he may be captured. I believe Mand'alor Bo-Katan Kryze will prove to be more then sufficient for this purpose." The Emperor was silent for a moment as he observed the Admiral.

"You believe her to be a traitor?"

"It is _very_ likely, but I think she will be more useful to us were we to keep her close." His red eyes turned back on the shaking Maul. "To put my plans into action, my Emperor, I will need _him_." He pointed a long, blue finger at the Zabrak, and slowly, Maul looked up and met the intense stare, and pointed at his own chest.

"M-me?" He looked to his Master. "Why me?" A clever smile passed over the Chiss' features as he slowly approached the Zabrak.

"Stories fly in Mandalore about the Lord of the Shadow Collective, a foolish Zabrak that rose to topple an empire, only to be made a slave to the Shadow King." His eyes drifted down Maul's suddenly shaking arm. "Given your... _physical_ state, it is a fair assumption that you are the one that made Kenobi famous among his Jedi brothers. The Sith Lord that was bisected by a _student_." Maul snarled viciously, crouched down to lunge at the Chiss, but the firm hand of Sidious stopped him, forced him to drop supplicant to his knees before the intimidating Admiral.

"That," Thrawn continued, "gives you motivation for your attack against him, and the scar on your hand you seem _so_ fond of..." he said, pointing with his chin to the Zabrak's hand which he was, in fact, rubbing. "Dentition indicating..." The Chiss took Maul by the wrist, the Zabrak whimpering as he pried the fingers off the base of his thumb, and the Admiral closely observed the deep, prominent scar. "Yes, an adult human, almost certainly, and female, based on the size, shape and depth of the indentations. Were I to guess, based on how fixated you are on it, it was left there by Mand'alor Satine Kryze before you _killed her_..."

Maul looked away and whimpered loudly, his hand beginning to shake in Thrawn's grasp, and a pleased smile spread across his face. He had the right of it. "Emperor Palpatine," the Chiss said firmly. "I should like to borrow Maul. I believe what he knows can help me optimize my trap for Obi-Wan Kenobi."

Maul's wide, frantic eyes shot to the Emperor, but he was unmoved. With a flick of his hand, he quietly commanded, "Go. Maul will see to it that your questions are answered. See to it that my work is done." With a deep, respectful bow, Thrawn softly demanded the Zebrak follow him, and when Maul had risen to his feet, the Admiral strode from the room with the Force sensitive silently on his heels. The chains were tightening. He would have Kenobi soon enough.


	14. Automatize

**AN:** **Ta-da! Alright, kids, few days, I know, but, you know...work, other stories to work on, blah, blah. And this one is actually taking a lot of work, since we're getting into some serious canon divergence, so, you know...lots more planning, rereading, rewriting involved.**

 **"But you bitch!" you might be saying. "You used to update EVERY SINGLE DAY! And now it's only every other day!" Well, yeah, but if you haven't noticed, the chapters have gotten longer. Like, twice as long. Hence, every other day. Pfft, do the math, my beautiful lovelies! Expect new chapters of something every other day. If we're very, VERY lucky, you might get more than that but...uh, I don't want to turn out crap.**

 **Speaking of crap! For those of you that don't know, I've started another story about the Mandalorian Clan Wars, entitled Blood of Mandalore. If you need a break from Sith!Obi and want some Teenage!Obi, head on over there and check it out. I've gotten a pretty good response on the first chapter, and people seem to like it, so maybe it'll be worth your time. Who knows! Regardless, this here is my main bitch, and Blood of Mandalore is my bit on the side for when I need some extra time to think and plan on this one. So fear not. I've got this.**

 **That's all, my lovelies! I do hope you enjoy this one, it was SUPER fun to write. As always, suggestions are welcome. Buh-Bye!**

 _Chapter 14: Automatize_

"Come on, Kenobi!" Kanan pleaded over the encrypted comlink, the distance between them causing the device to crackle with static, muffling the Jedi's voice. "It's going to be a blast! _Literally_! We're going to blow up their new TIE Fighter! There's going to be fireworks and everything! All hail our glorious Empire!"

"Sounds like one of Sabine's plans," Obi-Wan said softly, a faint smile on his lips as he watched Luke and Leia running through the abandoned factory, the twins eagerly calling to each other when they found something of interest. It hadn't been long abandoned, only within the past twenty years, the factory belonging to the Czerks Arms abandoning their interests on Separatist Dantooine in a great hurry after the Clone Wars began, fleeing for safer, less contested territory in order to conduct their business. Obi-Wan was of the belief that technology and information found in the factory could lend aid to the nearby Rebel Base, and the twins were all too eager to join him in his search.

It was their birthday, so he _really_ couldn't say no.

"Well, sort of," Kanan casually admitted. "I mean, all of us planned the attack. We had to. This new ship of theirs looks like bad news."

"So, what?" Obi-Wan softly asked as he ambled down the long halls and peered into the storage spaces. "You destroy one ship." He paused. "Tell me, how many of these TIE Advanced Fighters do you suppose they manufacture on Lothal?"

"It's a _symbolic_ attack, Kenobi," Kana said after a moment's pause. "What do you expect us to do, blow up the entire production factory?"

" _Well_..."

"You know, for a man that makes a _mess_ basically everywhere he goes, you sure seem reluctant to get in on the Empire Day celebrations." He paused for a moment. "Are you sick, Kenobi? Oh, kriff, are you _dying_?!"

"What?" Obi-Wan gasped softly, holding his comlink away from him and examining it as though it had somehow offended him. "No, I'm not dying, I'm _fine_. I told you, I'm busy on Empire Day. I've already celebrated, in any case, though I do wish you the best in your revelry. I'll keep an eye on the holonet for word of your success."

"You're a real bore, Kenobi. This whole thing could be _much_ bigger if you were helping."

"What, and deny you your fun?" Obi-Wan drawled. "Wouldn't do that to you, Jarrus. Besides, there isn't much I would be able to do that you aren't already doing. Blowing up the TIE they are unveiling is good. Sends a strong message." He paused to bite his lip. "It ultimately does _nothing_ , but the gesture will be taken as an insult, which is good. It's the best you can do, in any case. Even I wouldn't be able to do anything about the factories, they're too heavily guarded."

"Well, damn, what good are you then?" Kanan asked, laughter in his voice and clearly not expecting an answer. "I'll be in touch by the end of the day."

"May the Force be with you, Kanan," Kenobi said softly, smiling as Luke excitedly waved him over. "Give my regards to your lover, the kid, the cat, the tin can, and my favorite little Mandalorian."

"You're really not biased at all, are you?" Kanan asked, and with a swift, good natured laugh directed to someone else, the com cut, the static dying as Kenobi pocketed the device, and he lengthened his stride to quickly reach his children, the two standing in a room filled with boxes they had opened and overturned, leaving the ground scattered in droid limbs and spare parts. Propped on a crate they fashioned into a workstation was a droid, its frame showing signs of age, but its entire body intact and seemingly in working order. The unassuming, humanoid construct would have appeared to be some sort of protocol or service droid had it not been covered in red durasteel plating, a thing more typically seen in highly advanced military droids. Despite his disinterest in droids in general, Obi-Wan had been part of the initiative to cease production of the B1 series Battle Droids in favor of a smaller, more advanced force, and he _recognized_ this particular model as something very close to one of the droids that came out of that investment.

 _This_ was an HK Series Assassin Droid.

"Well, father," Luke said, a pleased smile on his face as he watched the Sith Lord reach out and lightly touch the red plating. "You said you wanted a droid."

"I did say that..."

"I don't know, father," Leia said, her lips pursed and her arms crossed over her chest. "This thing looks _ancient_. One of the Fulcrum agents just returned from a mission with a disabled Imperial security droid. I think you should take a look at that one."

"Any droid can be fixed, Leia," Luke said firmly, lifting up the head of the droid and looking at the circuitry under its neck. "Even ancient ones." He patted the red metallic chest. "Its body integrity is solid, though the power cells need to be replaced. We can work on it together!" Luke smirked softly, something mischievous and vaguely manipulative in his eyes. Kenobi frowned. He'd been spending too much time with Leia. "For my _birthday_."

" _Please_ , father!" the twins both said in perfect unison, their eyes wide and hopeful smiles on their faces, and through the Force, Obi-Wan could feel the two of them reaching out to touch his mind, a gentle insistence, a _suggestion_ , the slightest attempt at using their powers to compel him to bend to him.

 _Those little shits_...

Without even the slightest indication he was doing anything at all, Obi-Wan grabbed their presence in the Force and pulled _hard_ , sending the two children pitching forwards and wincing as their ears began ringing, as if they had been clapped on the side of the head. "If you think that trick is going to work on _me_ children, you have another thing coming," the Sith Lord growled, his golden eyes blazing as he looked at them just not as their father, but also their teacher. "Though, if you are so inclined, I will teach you about true mental domination, and one can only learn such through _personal experience_."

"No, no!" Luke quickly said, his head bowed and his hands raised in surrender. "I'm sorry, father, I am!"

" _I_ want to learn," Leia said, standing tall, but her head lowered cautiously as she faced off against the Sith. "I'm not afraid." Obi-Wan carefully studied the girl, her brown eyes bold and daring, her presence in the Force self-assured, yet wary, but true to her word, she showed no fear. In time, she could grow to be a powerful wielder of the Dark Side. A _true_ Lord of the Sith. But not today.

"You're too young for such a thing..." Obi-Wan muttered, turning from the children and sorting through the mess of components upon the ground and carefully selecting ones that may be of use. "In ten years, perhaps. Besides," he said, sighing heavily, "neither of you need to use mind tricks to get me to do as you wish. If you want to waste your day repairing a droid, then so be it." The twins gasped excitedly, and Obi-Wan reeled on them, his arms full of components he thought would be useful, and he dumped them into one of the empty crates. "But I am _not_ dragging back to the ship! You want it, you take it yourselves."

"This is going to be the _best_ birthday ever!" Luke said, raising his hand in the air, and the droid floated into the air, and he carefully set it down inside an insulated, cushioned crate that now sat empty in the room.

"You say that _every_ year, Luke," Leia said absently, sifting through the components on the ground beside the Sith Lord and placing the ones she determined she needed within the crate that Kenobi began to fill.

"Well, _yeah_ ," Luke intoned as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Of course things continuously got better for them. "This year, we are _all_ getting droids! And father said he's going to help us with our ship modifications!" he chirped, sealing the droid in the crate and lifting the heavy, metallic box with the Force. "We can go _anywhere_ now that we have starships of our own!"

"Maybe you can..." Leia grumbled, lifting the crate of components with the Force and following the Sith Lord as he strode back out toward their ships. "I have _responsibilities_. Being a princess is _literally_ the worst."

"I don't know..." Luke said slyly as he jogged to catch up, his crate floating effortlessly beside him as he leaned around his father to look at his twin. "You don't complain about being a princess when you get to see Raal Panteer..."

"Luke, _shut up_!" Leia said between clenched teeth, her face flushing with embarrassment when glowing, golden eyes looked furiously down at her. From his place on the other side of their father, Luke began very enthusiastically making kissing sounds. Leia looked up at her father, a worried expression on her face when she felt cold, contained rage pulse through the Force. "Father, you _can't_ kill every boy that shows interest in me!"

"Oh? Can't I?"

"Well..." she pursed her lips, her hand to her chin as her swift mind thought, but she could already feel the presence of her father deep in her mind, his hands clutched tightly around her presence. Lying was out of the question now. "You _could_ , but I don't _want_ you to kill this one, father. Raal is _nobility_. He'll be missed. The others were scoundrels and drunks in cantinas. You _saved_ me from them. You don't need to save me from Raal, I _like_ him."

"But they _kiss_ , father..." Luke said, elongating his words and making it seem _far_ worse than it was. Leia was _not_ amused.

"Are you _trying_ to get him killed, Luke?!"

"And the ones father _did_ kill were your fault!" Luke said indignantly. "You sense their attraction to you and you _use it_ to get what you want!"

"They died, Luke," Kenobi softly growled, "because they _looked_ at your sister in a way I didn't like. They were dead before she did anything." His eyes drifted from his son to his daughter, glowing with warning and brimming with threat. "Nobody touches my girl. _Nobody_."

"W-what about me, father?" Luke asked, daring to be hopeful. "Do _I_ get to-"

"Nobody _wants_ to touch you, Luke," Leia said, so swift and casual that Luke felt he had been punched in the gut. "Oh, _what_!" Leia asked when the brother shot her a wounded expression. "You're a _farm boy_ in a desert and you're always covered in sand. No girl wants that! Do you even know how to _talk_ to girls?"

"Of course not, how could I?" Luke asked, leaning in and smirking at his twin. "I've never _seen_ a girl before..."

"Oh, you are _mean_!" Leia cried, but her voice was alight with laughter and she smiled with delight when the crate she had been so easily levitating dropped to the ground when she pushed Luke Back with the Force. His focus disturbed, Luke dropped his as well and pushed back, the two beginning a back and forth test of their Force might that lasted until their father stopped and quickly turned into a room. Together, they rushed in after him, smiling and laughing as they gazed about the room filled with terminals, some hopelessly broken, others simply waiting to be turned on. Obi-Wan laid his hand on one and activated the power grid, the table flickering with lights as the holographic display blinked rapidly for a moment before it stabilized, a low, electronic hum filling the air.

Obi-Wan stepped out of the way when the display prompted for a password and gestured to the controls, and as they had done many times before, Leia skipped over, flashing Luke a cocky grin, and laid her hand on the console, her eyes closed, her being centered as she touched the Force, and moments later, she was quickly imputing the password, the display flashing and giving them access to the database. Leia moved out of the way, and the Sith Lord bent over the console, the twins looking over his shoulder as he quickly scanned the contents.

"This is not a matter I need to address with Luke," Obi-Wan said softly, his fingers gently running along the keys on the console. "I don't know if Luke would know what to do with a woman if I put one right in front of him."

"S-sure I do!" Luke cried defensively when Leia snickered, a fierce blush on his cheeks. "You _talk_ to her!" Kenobi smiled faintly.

"And this is why I don't have to murder anyone on Luke's behalf. He's _oblivious_ , and he doesn't get off the farm much. _You_ , princess," the Sith growled, looking up at his shoulder to Leia's sheepish face, "are a flirt, and I don't much like the rogues and scoundrels you seem so _eager_ to attract."

" _Father_ ," Leia said smoothly, turning on the charm she always employed when she attempted to get what she wanted. The look in Kenobi's eyes said in no uncertain terms that it wasn't working. "You can't kill _every man_ I find attractive."

"Bring one home that is worthy of you, and I'll see about letting him live," Obi-Wan grumbled, and Leia scoffed loudly.

"Father, according to you, _nobody_ is worthy of me!"

"That's right." Obi-Wan stood as Leia groaned, her brother laughing at her expense, and with a gesture of his hand, he approached the main terminal and it began to spark as wires were snapped, metal groaned as it was pried open, and moments later, the rectangular datablock was torn out of the device, held suspended in midair by the Force. Obi-Wan grabbed it and tucked it under his arm. "We'll send a recovery team from base to collect anything else they may need. We're done here."

With a quick look at each other that issued a silent challenge, Luke and Leia went tearing out of the room at full speed, flying out into the open space of the abandoned factory and grabbing their crates with the Force as they rushed by. Keeping one hand raised to hold their cargo and the other extended toward the others as they attempted to use the Force to knock the other off-balance, the twins raced all the way toward where the _Umbra_ sat flanked by two X-wings.

The X-wings had been a gift from their father for their birthday, the excited children having received them just that morning when they had arrived at the Rebel Base on Dantooine. They had been heavily modified by the Sith Lord himself, equipt with the finest hyperdrives and defensive systems he could acquire, in addition to state of the art in flight systems and a rudimentary stealth drive based on the _Umbra's_ full cloaking abilities. Sleek in design, the X-wings were built with black titanium and accented with green on Luke's ship and blue on Leia's to reflect the colors of their lightsabers. Immediately, the twins had demanded their father take them flying, and the better part of their afternoon had been spent flying low and reckless over Dantooine's surface, which was no trouble for the twins, already boasting talents in flight that could only be called prodigious. Luke _was_ better, but only because he had little else to do on Tatooine, much to Owen's dismay. He was good. _Very_ good. Kenobi wondered what Hera would have thought of his boy. Flying was, after all, in his blood.

In addition to the starships from their father, Bail Organa had gifted the twins with the droids that had come into his possession after Padmé's death, the two droids once owned by their biological parents. Leia gained ownership of C-3PO, the fussy, worry-prone protocol droid that she had come to take a liking to, not just because of its many uses, but because 3PO's perfect memory was filled with stories about Padmé Amidala, Naboo Queen, Senator, wife to a Jedi Knight, lover to a Sith Lord, and mother of Luke and Leia. Built by her biological father for the young Queen, C-3PO was something of a perfect gift for the Princess, a thing of both her mother and her father, before he became the man that had burned so hot for vengeance, he was willing to kill his own children to cleanse his wife. Leia would sit and listen to the droid for _hours_ recount the many tales of her mother's exploits, her heroics, her flaws, her strengths, _everything_ , and 3PO seemed happy enough to be listened to.

Luke was given the astromech R2-D2, an adventurous, loyal and courageous little thing that had once belonged to his mother, only to have found its way into Anakin Skywalker's possession. He didn't understand the little droid's beeps and whistles unless someone was translating, but he knew he would come to understand. Already, he felt a connection to the assertive, pushy thing, and though the astromech and his father got along about as well as a bantha and a hungry rancor, Luke loved the little R2 unit. The droid had proved itself to be quick thinking and resourceful, and when Luke and R2 had piloted his new X-wing together, Luke had never felt more at home. Him, the ship, the droid were _one_ , a singular unit that moved and thought together so perfectly that Luke could feel the Force itself freely flowing through him. His mind cleared of everything but his ship and his droid and the awareness of them both, he could feel _everything_ , from Leia in the ship beside him, to the feel of the air as it was sliced by the starfighter's wings. If only he could bring this focus, this clarity out of the skies and into his training, Luke felt he could truly be great.

It wasn't the only gifts they had received. Owen's gift to them was far simpler, for he was a simple man, but it was no less precious. The farmer had fashioned twin leather bracelets for the siblings, each one adorned with a smooth, light blue disc harder and stronger than any metal, a thing that caught the light and reflected a prism of colors and emitted warmth even in freezing temperatures. A scale from the mighty Krayt Dragon that lived in the sands below the Lars homestead, a beast tamed by Obi-Wan and ordered to protect young Luke and his family. Its sharp, rough edges were painstakingly smoothed by the farmer, and both Luke and Leia had been nearly moved to tears by the gesture from a man they knew they had caused no small amount of grief.

All in all, it was easily their best Empire Day.

When they landed back at the Rebel Base, people were running about and shouting, the tension palpable in the air, but Obi-Wan could feel nothing amiss in the Force. There was no danger, no signs of warning, nothing but the ripples caused by humans in a state of anxiety. Obi-Wan whistled at a man that ran past, and he quickly stopped and turned to face in the direction of the one that had called him, and he quickly stood at attention.

"What's going on here?" Obi-Wan asked softly, and the man drew up even taller, his back straight as he saluted.

"Princess!"

"Princess?!" Obi-Wan hissed. "Who are you calling _princess_ , fool?!"

"He's talking about _me_ , father," Leia drawled, pushing past the Sith Lord and standing before the suddenly _very_ excited rebel. "At ease, soldier," Leia said, her voice strong and commanding, every bit the leader she had been raised to be, and Luke stood close to his father, watching his sister with admiration. He wasn't nearly so charismatic as his twin, and he certainly couldn't imagine himself leading like she did. "Can you tell us what's happening here?"

"Y-yes, princess!" the soldier said swiftly, his voice tight with both excitement and tension. "Captain Andor returned to base the other day with an Imperial security droid he had disabled. He just finished reprogramming the droid, and... _well_..." He took a deep breath. "It isn't obeying orders, princess. Captain Andor _isn't_ a technician, and its programming is rife with errors and glitches. We're trying to disable it again so we can remove its memory bank and gain access to the Imperial files, but it isn't letting us near it."

"Sounds like the droid we were discussing," Obi-Wan muttered. "If its causing a problem, _destroy it_. I see no need for this chaos." The soldier looked at Kenobi appalled.

"Sir, this droid was a nightmare to acquire, and the information in it might be valuable. If we destroy it-"

"The information it holds means _nothing_ if the droid destroys the Rebellion in the process." He tapped the kids on the back. "Come on, let's go see what's going on with this droid." With a gesture of his hand, the room full of soldiers and pilots saluting toward Leia dropped to their knees, genuflecting low upon the ground, and the Sith Lord grinned viciously at an unamused Leia. " _See_?' the Sith drawled. "They may salute you, but they _bow_ to me."

"Only because you made them."

"Yes, well, that _is_ how you dominate a people, you _make them_ bow." Leia rolled her eyes and glared at Luke when he chuckled quietly, and the twins followed the Sith Lord through the base, following the rushing of people like a river to their destination. They found it soon enough, and as they approached, the soldiers in the hallway parted to allow them to pass, and they found themselves standing in the base's central control room, the area lit by the glow of the holographic displays and the minimal lighting that hung overhead. Encircling the round room were soldiers, their blasters primed and pointed at a dark gray, humanoid droid that stood in the middle over the central console, its interface arm held above the data center as if threatening to plug in. Its white ocular sensors shifted to look at Obi-Wan as he entered the room, the Sith Lord standing cross armed behind the man that appeared to be standing off with the droid.

"Trouble?" Obi-Wan asked softly, his voice laced with amusement, and with a disgusted, impatient hiss, the man glared over his shoulder, and looked away.

"I don't need your help," he snarled, raising his weapon against the droid. "I'm warning you, you defective bucket of bolts, I-"

"I'm only defective because _you_ messed up, Captain Andor," the droid said in a light, male voice that sounded almost bored, _affected_ , and Obi-Wan couldn't help the broad grin that spread across his face.

"Oh, my heart can't take this," Obi-Wan said, his voice straining with repressed laughter. "I might actually _like_ this droid!" He whistled, loud and piercing, and every soldier circling the room looked cautiously toward him. "Drop your weapons, children, opening fire in here is just going to get you lot killed in the crossfire."

" _See_?" the droid said, turning his head to face the man supposedly in charge. " _He_ understand. Finally, an organic that understands reason." None of the rebels moved, and with a heavy sigh, Obi-Wan raised his hands and used the Force to tear every blaster away from the soldiers that held them, the weapons skidding to the ground before the Sith Lord. The droid drew up from its hunched position over the central console and began scrutinizing the new young male.

"When did everyone stop listening to me?" Obi-Wan asked nobody in particular as he slowly ambled in toward the droid, every eye in the room staring at him in absolute bewilderment.

Obi-Wan crossed his arms in front of his chest as he stood before the dark gray droid, the hulking frame standing over six feet tall, a thick, armored torso on legs that seemed too thin for such a powerfully built body, and arms that hung too low, the tips of its long fingers touching its knees. Atop its sloping, rounded shoulders sat a head that seemed too small, a humanoid thing that looked like it was wearing a breathing apparatus over its mouth. Its ocular sensors glowed white, two circles of light covered with a lense to resemble eyes. On its upper arms by the shoulders was stamped the Imperial insignia in white, and Obi-Wan's mind raced with the possibilities of owning such a droid.

He needed to keep it.

"They say you are disobeying orders," Obi-Wan said, a faint smile on his lips as the droid tilted its head, the lights of its eyes blinking and shifting as it processed his words.

"To be fair," the droid said, "the instructions were unclear at best."

"From this lot?" Obi-Wan asked, looking around the room. "I just bet they were. What were the instructions?"

The droid drew back, almost as though it was offended by something that had been said. "They said I am a _rebel_ now." The droid made a noise that amounted to a scoff of disgust. "A _rebel_. And they try to _shoot me_ for rebelling against their instructions!" The droid dropped its head slightly, giving the impression of it leaning forward with slumped shoulders. "You can understand my confusion."

"You're right, that _was_ unclear," Kenobi said with a smile on his lips. "What are you?"

"I am..." The droid paused, the faint whir of its processor's churning heard through its massive chest. "I am a...reprogrammed KX-Series Imperial Security Droid, now in service of..." It looked up, swiveling its head upon its neck as it looked around the room. "... _this_. The Rebellion." It quickly looked back at the Sith Lord. "How is it that this Rebellion even manages to function? You have no order, no uniform, no _rank_. How can you tell who is in charge in this disorganized mess? A rebellion by its very nature is made of _rebels_. Those who reject rules and orders. How is it you manage unity at all?"

"I admit, it is a problem," Obi-Wan said softly.

"It makes your chances for success against the Empire rather low." It paused. " _Very_ low." Another pause. "...the chance for success is less than one percent."

"Exactly the sort of odds I like," Obi-Wan said with a smirk. The droid stared blankly back at him.

"...you're all going to die."

"I love your enthusiasm..." Obi-Wan drawled. "Look around. Can you determine who is in charge?" Again, the droid looked up, looked at each person in turn, and returned its unblinking gaze to the Sith.

"You are the most likely candidate for command." Kenobi smirked.

"Do you know who I am? What does your databank have to say about me? As a security droid, you should have _extensive_ files on me." Again, the droid stared at the Sith Lord, its processors whirring as its sensors scanned him, and after a moment, it drew its head back.

"Visual recognition scans indicate with one hundred percent accuracy that you are Obi-Wan Kenobi," it calmly recited, as if reading off the files themselves. "Leader of the Confederacy of Independent Systems following the death of Count Dooku. Separatist Negotiator and former Jedi Knight." Obi-Wan didn't look behind him, but he could feel the eyes of Captain Andor burning through him, his gaze intense and disbelieving and hopeful. "Captured on the planet Algor in the Tion Cluster and executed on Coruscant in the thirteenth year of our Empire." The droid was silent for a moment, staring with its fixed gaze at Obi-Wan, before pointing its long arm in an accusing manner at Captain Andor. "You! You have tampered with my records, Captain Andor! This man was publically executed last year! He is _supposed_ to be dead!"

"Sir," the Captain said, his blaster still raised and pointed at the droid. "This... _droid_ is attempting to download information from our central computer." Obi-Wan looked back at the man, his gold eyes looking right through him, a defiant, proud, _ruthless_ person who had the feel of a man that had been fighting his whole life. His eyes narrowed slightly as he dug deeper and felt bitter resentment for the Empire, but also a tight, immediate respect that shouldn't have been present in the defiant, rebellious man. _A Separatist_. Kenobi smiled slightly. The droid had been right. It was a wonder that this rebellion was being held together at all. He'd have to make time to commend Bail Organa for his stellar work.

"What's your name?" Obi-Wan asked the man, and dark brown eyes looked at him, widening slightly in surprise as he cautiously lowered his weapon.

"Uh...Cassian Jeron Andor." He swiftly saluted. "Sir."

"Did you not reprogram this droid for our use?" Kenobi calmly asked, and the Captain scoffed, pointing at the droid with the barrel of his blaster.

"I _was_ reprogramming it," Andor said firmly. "But I haven't finished. There are still glitches in its programming. I left it alone for _one minute_ while I went to get something to eat, and when I returned, it had gotten off the table and came _here_!"

"Well!" the droid happily chirped. "I have identified your problem, Captain Andor. If you _hadn't_ the need to consume nutrients, we would not be in this situation." It pointed along finger at the flustered Captain. "You must see how this is _your_ fault." The droid drew up to its full height. "I will now accept your apology."

"Seems to me that the errors and glitches in your incomplete programming of the droid had led to it developing self-awareness," Obi-Wan said patting the droid on its broad chest. "Well done, Cassian. I'll take the droid from here."

"...wait, _you_?" the man balked. "Sir, we haven't had the chance to run any diagnostic on the droid, we don't know if its even safe!"

"Well, _I'm_ not the one waving that blaster around," the droid said, offended. It looked between the dark haired, threatening Captain and the calm, commanding ease of the blond. "Can _I_ have a blaster?"

" _No_!" the Captain said swiftly.

"Oh, _absolutely_!" Obi-Wan chirped immediately after. "You and me, droid, we're going to go places! Come on!"

"Places?" the droid asked, slowly following the man as he turned and began leaving the command center. "Technically we are in a place now. What places? I find you just as vague and confusing as the others."

"Sir, this is _extremely_ ill-advised," Andor said, his voice low as he stood before the Sith Lord, stopping his progress. "We haven't run any of the checks, we aren't finished with-"

"You wanted the droid out of the command center, and I am escorting it out," Obi-Wan said with a heavy sigh. "Don't worry. I'll take it from here."

"Sir, I _insist_ -"

"Droid, remove this human from my path," Obi-Wan said firmly, and without a moment's hesitation, the lumbering security droid outstretched its long arms, grabbed Cassian under the dumbstruck man's arms, and gently set him down to the side. "Oh, look," Kenobi casually drawled. "It seems like it _does_ follow orders." He patted the droid on the chest, smiling softly as the twins filed in next to him as he walked down the hallway back toward the hangar where they had set down the _Umbra_.

"I _told_ you this droid would work for you, father," Leia said, a pleased smirk on her face.

"We can still build the other one, right?" Luke asked, worried for a moment before Obi-Wan nodded shortly.

"We're going right now, yes. Do you have a call sign, droid?" Obi-Wan asked softly. "It seems I'll be in possession of two droids rather shortly, and there might be some confusion if you are both just _droid_."

"KX-Series Security Droid K-2SO," the droid recited, and it leaned over and looked at Kenobi. "What am I supposed to call you? My programming doesn't have a rank designation for dead Jedi Separatist scum." Kenobi chuckled softly, trying and failing to get the twins to stifle their laughter.

"Sounds like a Master to me."

"Master..." the droid tested, its processors whirring for a moment before it shook its head.

"No, no, I don't think I like that, Master."

"Never asked you to like it, K2," Kenobi said with a smirk. "We're going to build a droid. Want to help?"

"Is this droid going to be a replacement?" K-2SO asked. "Am I already being replaced? Is this about that mess in the command center?" It leaned over to look at Obi-Wan. "I told you, that was Captain Andor's fault!"

Obi-Wan didn't respond. He simply folded his arms into the sleeves of his robes and listened to Luke and Leia trade shots with the quick thinking droid. By the time they reached the _Umbra_ , the Sith Lord was resolved to keep the sassy, sarcastic mechanical.

* * *

"You know what I like best about mandatory celebrations?" Obi-Wan asked, his hands deep inside the open chest of the recovered HK droid as he fiddled with wires and connections, using the Force to help with the precise adjustments he was making. "It makes it _so_ easy to ensure maximum chaos when the festivities are attacked." He looked up at the holographic projection opposite him, the channel tuned to the holonet's Galactic News Network where ashen news corespondents reported on a rebel attack on Lothal, terror and fear gripping the city as the Empire Day parade was destroyed when the newly unveiled TIE Advanced was blown up by insurgents who were still at large in the city.

"Looks like your friends managed to pull it off," Leia said, handing the Sith one of the power cells when he held out his hand for it.

"I don't know, they could have done better if you helped them, father," Luke said, his back toward the hologram as he held the delicate circuit board in his hand, his eyes narrowed in focus as he applied small shocks to different nodes with a precision instrument, his eyes drifting to the datapad at his side to check the readings on the tests he was preforming, and he made the necessary adjustments.

"I can't do everything for them, son," the Sith Lord said softly, focused on the task at hand. "And they are more than capable on their own. They will not grow if not exposed to adversity, you know that. It's the primary reason the Jedi became so weak."

"Y-yeah, I know..." Luke sighed heavily as he replaced the circuitry and picked up the datapad, his finger swiping over the surface as he tasked it to run a quick diagnostic. "I just want to go on a mission! _With you_ , father!"

"What, your adventure on Florrum wasn't enough for you?" Obi-Wan asked dryly, a wry smirk on his lips as he looked up at his pouting son. "So far as I'm concerned, you two are _still_ grounded."

"That was _years_ ago!" Luke cried. "We were just kids then!" His chest puffed up in pride. "We're fifteen. I'm a _man_ now! And Leia..." He looked over at his sister, an expression on her face that told Luke he needed to tread _very_ carefully. "...well, she's _Leia_ , father."

"You think yourself a man, _boy_?" Obi-Wan said pointedly, and amused look on his face as he installed the power cells and ran his own checks. Luke crossed his arms over his chest.

"Well, _Mandalore_ considers me a man," Luke said stubbornly. "You said Mandalorians boys become men at fifteen!"

"I _said_ ," Kenobi sighed, "that Mandalorians become adults in the eyes of the clan when they first go to battle, which typically happens between fourteen and sixteen. _You_ , my son, have been _in_ a battle, but you haven't _fought_ in a battle. There's a difference."

"How are we supposed to be _in_ a battle if you don't take us!" Luke cried indignantly, and the Sith Lord sighed and returned to working on the droid, Luke following suit when Leia took the datapad from him to finish running the diagnostic. "...father, you were a _Jedi_!" Luke said insistently after a moment of silence. "At our age, you were running around and saving the galaxy from criminals and murders and keeping the peace and serving justice!"

"Oh, is that what it was like?" Obi-Wan asked. "I didn't know you were there, Luke." The boy flushed a deep shade of red and turned his gaze downward, his hands so deep in the tangle of wires and circuitry it was as if he were trying to crawl inside and hide.

"That's what the Jedi did, isn't it?" he mumbled, and his father nodded.

"That is what they did, yes, though not quite so young. It wasn't until I was sixteen that I was in a situation that required me to kill, and that same year, I was sent to war on Mandalore. I became a man there," the Sith said, a faint, nostalgic smile on his lips. "In more ways then one." Luke wrinkled his nose and flushed an even deeper shade of red while Leia leaned in with intense interest. Kenobi pointed his calibration tool at his son. "And if you can't talk about sex without blushing like a Naboo schoolgirl, then you aren't a man yet. And _no_ ," he said, pointing the tool at Leia, "just because you _can_ doesn't mean you can go out and start having sex! I was older than _both_ of you before I started doing the things you two want, and _I_ had the makings of a Sith Lord. You two can _wait_."

The twins sighed heavily and quietly returned to their work on the droid. "I just don't think a Kenobi should be sitting still!" Luke tried again after a moment. "It just...doesn't feel like the Kenobi way."

"...you'll have your chance soon enough, Luke," Obi-Wan said softly. "You both will. Don't be in such a hurry to get to it." He took his hands from the droid's innards and sat back, smoothing back his hair and sighing heavily. "I have failed to protect everyone that has needed me. I'm in no rush to see you in danger." Luke bit his lip and looked at Leia, the girl seeming almost as guilty as he felt, and together, they tightly embraced their father, sighing happily when he pulled them close and they could feel his presence wrap protectively around them, not the cold, harsh feel he usually exhibited, but something warm and gentle and soothing that was reserved exclusively for them.

It was...familiar, a feeling they had known their entire lives, one they knew they had felt even before they were born when they lay huddled close together inside their mother, fearful and hidden to all but one. A Sith Lord, a murderer, a cruel, vicious creature warped and twisted, corrupted by the Dark Side and the weight of grief and insanity, but within him, there was only warmth and love for the twins, light and protection for the children of his enemy that he vowed to raise as his own.

"Are we ready to power the droid on?" Obi-Wan asked after a long moment, pressing a swift kiss to their temples, ruffling Luke's hair and gently running Leia's long braid through his hand. The twins swiftly nodded and together, they fixed the heavy chest piece back onto the droid, reached behind its neck, and switched on the power, and the two excitedly moved back to their father's side, looking at the red mechanical expectantly.

Nothing happened.

"Huh..." Kenobi said, sitting the droid up fro a moment and lookint it over, his finger pressing the power switch a few times to no effect. "We must have missed something. Open it up, kids." Quickly, the twins laid the droid back down and immediately removed the chest piece, both pairs of hands diving into the innards the moment they were exposed and removing the power couplings and circuitry and checking them for faults and errors. Kenobi looked over his shoulder at K-2SO, the droid's interface arm plugged into one of the _Umbra_ 's many access ports. "Hey, k2. Doing alright over there?" Despite his expressionless face, the droid managed to give Kenobi a look that screamed frustration.

"This ship is _highly_ uncooperative!" K2 complained. "It is resisting all instruction, countermands every command, and _three times_ has tried to slave my systems to its interface!" K2 turned away from the Sith Lord, it's arm hissing and clicking as it disconnected from its lock in the port, and pulled away, only to find its shoulder pulled uncomfortably, the arm remaining within the wall. The droid pilled again, but was met with similar results. The droid's interface arm was _stuck_. K2 made a sound between a sigh and a groan. "Oh, wonderful. Your ship will not release me."

"Aw..." Obi-Wan drawled, a lopsided smirk on his face. "Must be love."

"On the contrary, _Master_ ," K2 said in a deadpan, sarcastic tone. "I don't think I've ever experienced a ship that actively _hates_ droids like this." K2 tugged its arm back once again and looked mournfully at the junction when it failed to free itself. "You'd think the ship of _the_ Separatist commander would be more considerate of droids."

"You'd be surprised," Obi-Wan said softly. "Be gentle with her, K2, it's her first time."

" _Gentle_?!" the droid cried indignantly, yanking its arm back once again and making no progress in freeing itself. "Master, your _ship_ isn't being gentle with me! This is a construct of impressive engines, fine durasteel, and _sass_."

"Just the way I like her."

"I almost didn't believe it when they said you were here, Kenobi," a clear, self-assured voice said from behind him, and Obi-Wan looked back to see Ahsoka Tano leaning in the now open doorway, a smile on her face as the twins immediately dropped what they were doing and rushed toward her, throwing their arms around the Togruta, a gesture that she happily returned. "Not one droid, but _two_?" she asked in disbelief when the twins let her go, and she chuckled softly and shook her head, her long lekku swaying across her shoulders. "You're going soft, Lord of the Sith."

"I find myself in need of assistance..." Kenobi muttered, standing and walking toward the Togruta, laying his hand upon the intercom button on the wall. "Since my help is _useless_!" he shouted into the speaker. The intercom burst with static as it was activated from another area of the ship.

"I told you, brother," came the slow, slurred voice of Cody on the other end. "You make me drink that much to your children on their birthday, and I'm taking the day off." There was a slight pause. "So I'm taking the day off."

"Oh, to do _what_ exactly?" Kenobi said as he rolled his eyes.

"...to drink more, to be honest," the clone drawled. "And I can't drink like I used to. Not all of us can be children forever." Cody chuckled loudly. "It's a celebration, you Sith bastard! All hail our glorious Empire!"

"Yeah, yeah, sleep it off, you alcoholic," Obi-Wan said, removing his hand from the intercom and sighing. It was a yearly thing they did. Obi-Wan would spend the day with the twins and prepare to watch Empire day go up in flames, and Cody would retreat for the day, doing what he wanted, for the most part, but mostly, he drank, and he remembered Shaak Ti. It was the only time he ever truly allowed himself to grieve for her. Just once a year.

"You know," Ahsoka said, "the man that droid belongs to..." She pointed to K-2SO, who stared at her blankly, unmoving, and without taking his eyes from her, gave a quick tug of his arm. "Captain Cassian Andor? He's one of my Fulcrum agents, and he's _not_ happy you stole his droid from him." Kenobi scoffed.

"Well _he_ stole it from the Empire, but I don't see you lecturing _him_ about it."

"And he pointed a blaster at me," K2 said, his tone offended. "Master Kenobi only enslaved me. I think I prefer slavery to death." Ahsoka looked pointedly at the Sith Lord.

"It took a lot of work to secure a droid like this. We need it back."

"Not going to happen, Fulcrum." Ahsoka did not look amused. With a roll of his eyes, Kenobi pointed to the trapped droid. "Just look at him! He and my ship are _inseparable_! How can you break up such a beautiful union, what they're doing is basically _machine sex_!" K2 looked at the Sith Lord, then back at the wall, and began pulling his arm in earnest, harder and more frantic than before. Ahsoka just shook her head and sighed. She learned in the Clone Wars that getting between Obi-Wan and the things he considered his was a _bad_ idea. It was best to let this one go.

"Father, we're ready to try activating the HK unit again," Luke said quickly, and when the Sith Lord nodded, the excited boy reached around on its neck and touched the power. Nothing happened. "Son of a..."

"We'll try again," Leia said swiftly, taking off the chest piece again. "I have an idea." The twins bent to work, quietly talking to each other and passing tools back and forth, and as they worked, Obi-Wan nudged Ahsoka.

"Got a gift for you," he said softly, handing her a smooth, rectangular data drive. "From our reconnaissance of the Czerka warehouse on the other side of the planet. There's a lot of good information on there. Schematics, weapon and droid designs, you name it."

Ahsoka flashed him a wry smile. "Making up for stealing my security droid?" she asked smoothly, drawing closer to the Sith Lord. "Or am I next in your long string of lovers?"

"No..." he said softly, his tone amused as he watched her turn the datablock over in her hands. "And no. The string isn't that long, in any case, and I'm not looking to expand it. My lovers never end well." He shrugged. "I just thought I'd contribute. Call it an advanced gift for the information you're going to give me on Thrawn..."

"It's a _very_ advanced gift, then," she said, smiling sheepishly when the gold eyes narrowed in irritation. "It can't be helped, Kenobi, the _Chimera_ isn't an easy ship to find. And anyway, my focus is on finding Galen Erso. That weapon should be _everyone's_ top priority."

"The weapon won't matter if Thrawn takes us all out first," Kenobi softly warned, keeping his voice down so the children didn't hear anything. "This rebellion can do without me, but it can't do without _them_. They're strong, Ahsoka. Stronger than any of us know, and so long as Thrawn is around, they aren't safe." The Togruta sighed heavily. "I'll see what I can do, Obi-Wan. I'll get my best agents on locating the ship."

"That would be much appreciated."

"Alright, ready, father!" Leia said excitedly, and the two of them looked expectantly at Obi-Wan.

"Third time's a charm, kids. Go for it." With an excited grin, the twins reached behind the droid's neck, and this time, there was a low hum, the body of the droid lurching as power was restored. The twins quickly backed off, rushing to stand beside their father and looking on with excitement in their eyes as the droid's components came to life, flexing and moving as its internal start-up diagnostic was run, the whirring and churning of the processors and mechanics filling the air. Slowly, its ocular sensors began to glow with an orange light, soft at first, than blazing, and the droid arduously sat up, its head slowly turning to take in the room, its sensors landing on the Sith Lord as he stepped forward.

"Droid, state your designation, identification, and primary function." It was silent for a moment, its movements jerky and uneven, and finally, it slid off the table and stood.

"Response: HK-Series Assassin Droid. I am identified as HK-45. My primary functions are..." It paused, its sensors sweeping over the room before it looked back at Kenobi. "The assassination and execution of any meatbag I am pointed at." It tilted its head at the Sith Lord. "Quarry: Have I come into your possession? Do you want me to kill something?"

"Oh, I'm going to _like_ you..." Obi-Wan cooed, swiftly taking the datapad in Luke's hands and swiping his finger across the screen. "Good call, son, this is _exactly_ what I needed..."

"And what about me?" K-2SO called from his spot on the wall, his shoulders slumped in defeat.

"Aw, sweetheart, you seem to be exactly what the _Umbra_ needs." Kenobi smirked. "I always said she was a discerning little bitch." He handed the datapad to the assassin droid. "HK-45. I am Darth Lumis, Lord of the Sith, Master of all I see, including yourself. That's my file. Take some time to familiarize yourself with my work." The red droid tilted its head, its processors whiring as it interfaced with the datapad, and after a moment, it emitted a deep, mechanical grind, its orange sensors shooting up to look at Obi-Wan.

"Exclamation: _you_ are a _murderer_! How _magnificent_! I predict a long and prosperous relationship between us, Master."

"Oooh..." Luke said, leaning in toward Leia. "Maybe this _wasn't_ such a good choice..."

"To be fair, brother, it _does_ look like a protocol droid."

The ship's comlink began to beep, and keeping an eye on his new droids, Obi-Wan checked the ident of the caller and rolled his eyes. The _Ghost_. Typical. He picked up the call, his arms crossed as he leaned against the wall.

"Lover, if you keep calling me like this, people are going to get suspicious. I never took you for the needy type." On the other end, Kanan laughed softly, though his voice was high. _Tense_. Something was wrong. Obi-Wan held up his hand for silence, and everyone stood still, Leia muting the holonet to give him complete silence.

"Spectre Zero, I will let you bend me over the control deck and take me _hard_ if it'll get you to come help us."

"If I wanted to do that, Spectre One, I'd have done it already. I don't need your permission to take what I want from you," he said softly, his smooth voice dark with concern. Code names weren't a good sign. The line was encrypted, and if anyone was listening, the transmission would come out scrambled, but still. Precautions. "What is it, what's wrong?"

"We...did something," Kanan said reluctantly. "We executed our plan at the-"

"Skip the details, Spectre One, I know your plan was a success." Nervous laughter came from over the com.

"R-right." Kanan cleared his throat. "We found a missing Imperial fugitive. A Rodian working for the Imperial Information Office. He's been implanted with an AJ^6 Cyborg Construct." Obi-Wan quickly muted his end of the com channel when Ahsoka's eyes narrowed, her presence in the Force shifting from curiosity to rapt interest.

"It's a cybernetic device attached to the back of the head," Ahsoka quietly explained. "It had nodes that implant through the skull and directly into the brain, and it works sort of like an external hard drive for the mind and memory. It turns the brain into a miniature computer, sacrificing personality for productivity." She took a deep breath to calm her excitement. "They're kept under heavy guard. If the Spectres managed to get hold of one, we _need_ that Rodian." The Togruta smiled softly. "Maybe its time for them to join us after all."

Obi-Wan nodded and un-muted his end of the com. "Spectre One, I'm with Fulcrum right now. Is there anyway you can make a delivery of the Rodian?"

"I was hoping you'd say that," Kanan said, but he still sounded worried. _Distracted_. A long silence followed. "Spectre Zero," he said softly. "We took a look at the information he has stored in the implant. There's...some shit in this thing..." Ahsoka looked at Obi-Wan, her blue eyes wide as she quickly tapped her fingers on the comlink on her own wrist, issuing swift commands to her network. This pick-up just went from urgent to critical. "There are schematics in here for new TIE Fighters and Walkers. Schedules for stormtroopers, tactics and strategy, a five year plan for Lothal and every other world in the Outer Rim."

"Alright, when you said some shit, you lied, Jarrus, this is _major_ shit. This sounds like plans from the desk of kriffing Grand Moff Tarkin, that indolent _bastard_. We're coming for you now, Spectre One, send us your coordinates."

"Uh...negative, Spectre Zero," Kanan said softly. "That's part of the problem. We're being tracked."

"... _what_."

"They got a tracking device on the _Phantom_!" the Jedi said, exasperated. "We're in hyperspace now, but they know where we are and where we're going."

"Well, dump the _Phantom_ , you idiot!" Kenobi snarled, and the Jedi started _laughing_.

"Yeah, Spectre Two wanted to do the same thing."

"I always said she was the smart one."

"Spectre Six and I are going to take the _Phantom_ to draw the Imperials away from their actual target so Spectre Two can have a chance to safely deliver the Rodian to Fulcrum," Kanan said somberly. Obi-Wan looked over at Ahsoka, the Togruta swiftly tapping her comlink and giving Kenobi a nod of ascent.

"That's a go on your plan, Spectre One," Kenobi said. "Forwarding rendezvous coordinates to you now." The Jedi's voice was muffled as he talked to the people on the ship, and with a few additional directions imputed into her comlink, Ahsoka turned to leave.

"There's a complication," Kanan said softly, and Ahsoka froze. "It's not just the Imperials chasing us. It's the Grand Inquisitor." There was silence for a long moment, the only sound in the room the muffled, panicked shouts and commands of the Specters on the _Ghost_. Ahsoka looked at Obi-Wan for a long while, her eyes filled with caution and concern. "We need help," Kanan said softly. "Please, we're going to be alone, and he's _better_ than me. I don't know if I can hold out long enough for the _Ghost_ to extract us."

"...I-I can't!" Obi-Wan stuttered, looking at the twins, their eyes wide and expectant.

" _Please_!" Kanan cried desperately, and Obi-Wan felt himself waver.

"Standby, Spectre One," Obi-Wan said as he muted the com and took a deep, shuddering breath. "Ahsoka..."

"We _can't_ , Obi-Wan," the Togruta said firmly. "We can't bring them into the greater rebellion now, not with the Grand Inquisitor hounding them, not when you've confirmed he's connected to Thrawn." She exhaled sharply. "We can pick up the Rodian, that's it, but if we get involved now, we risk exposing the entire rebellion. They're too great a risk. If the Inquisitor is after them, that means he was on Lothal, he's _hunting_ them."

"Which means he needs to be out of the way," Kenobi growled. "If I have him in my possession, I can open his mind, find Thrawn, turn him against the Empire, _anything_."

"If you go after him, Obi-Wan, you're exposing yourself as a member of the Lothal insurgency," Ahsoka said firmly. "You _can't_ have any contact with us until the Inquisitor has been dealt with. It makes you a _target_."

"...understood," Obi-Wan muttered and un-muted the com. "Spectre One, transmit your destination. I'm on the way." Kenobi could hear Kanan nearly sob with relief before he quickly composed himself.

"Thank you...please hurry." The com cut, and Obi-Wan quickly turned to Ahsoka.

"Move quickly to secure the Rodian. I'll see you when I've shown this Grand Inquisitor what a Sith Lord really is." The Togruta swiftly nodded.

"May the Force be with you, Obi-Wan. Take care of that Jedi. I need him in the rebellion as soon as the cost is clear." She smirked. "Consider this the final test for the _Ghost_."

"I'll be sure to let them know." With a smile, Ahsoka rushed off the _Umbra_ , and Obi-Wan sighed heavily, running a hand over his face. "Luke, Leia..."

"Father, _please_ don't send us home!" Luke said quickly, stepping forward with a wide, frantic look in his eyes. "Please, we can help you on this mission!"

"You need to go quickly, don't you?" Leia added. "You don't have time to drop us off, and you can't just leave us here! _Please_! We'll stay in our armor, nobody will think we're anything other than Mandalorians!"

"We'll stay in our X-wings, nobody will even _see_ us!"

Obi-Wan looked at the twins in silence for a long while. The mission was dangerous because Inquisitors were dangerous, and any being with the Force had the ability to turn the tide of battle. He wasn't about to underestimate the man just because he wasn't as powerful in the Force. After all, the Inquisitor was backed by Thrawn. And that Chiss bastard was a formidable opponent. However, this attack seemed to have the Empire off balance. Thrawn was _absolutely_ watching, but it was a very real probability that this wasn't one of his traps. This was simply the _Ghost_ taking an advantage and running with it, and the _Ghost_ was a _very_ fast ship.

And Luke and Leia...had grown so tall, their bearing noble and proud and strong, their presence in the Force safely concealed but so, _so_ powerful. When had they grown up? It was like he had looked away for just a moment, only to find them again and see that they had become adults. _Fifteen_. It was so young, but not much younger than Obi-Wan had been when he had gone to war on Mandalore. They were even older than Ahsoka had been when _she_ joined the front lines of the Clone Wars beside Quinlan Vos. They would join the fight someday. They would _have_ to. He could feel in the Force their importance in this conflict. Luke and Leia would bring an end to this Empire. They...had to be ready at some point. It was better that they were made ready instead of forced to be ready.

He could feel his heart break slightly. This is not what Padmé wanted for her children. This isn't what _he_ wanted for his children. But...they would have to grow up one day. It was best to ease into it.

"You will follow my orders _exactly_ ," Obi-Wan said firmly, and the twins tensed with excitement they tried so hard to repress. "I will have no argument, no debate. You will _listen_ , Luke and Leia Kenobi, or so help me, I will make certain you _never_ leave the ground again." The twins were nearly bubbling over with excitement, and Obi-Wan pinched the bridge of his nose. "Come on. Get your armor on and meet me in the cockpit. We have a mission to plan."

HK-45 followed the Sith Lord, its legs moving smooth and easy as if it were meant for swift, agile movement. "Quarry: are we going to get to murder someone, Master? Your record is extensively impressive. Shall I kill something for you?"

"That seems to be a distinctive possibility, yes..." Obi-Wan said as he left the room, the excited twins bounding off before him and the assassin droid walking respectfully behind.

"Don't worry about me," K-2SO cried after the departing group, his arm still held tightly in the ship's interface. "I'll just wait here."


	15. Gathering Forces

_Chapter 15: Gathering Forces_

"I still don't see why we have to do this," Ezra muttered, his arms crossed over his chest as he sat in the one of the passenger chairs of the _Phantom_. "If we just dumped the _Phantom_ like Hera said, we wouldn't need to go down to this asteroid with the nasties on it!"

Kanan sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I told you already, Ezra. The Inquisitor is after us. I can sense him, which means he can sense _us_. We stay on the _Ghost_ , and we jeopardize the mission. And you have nothing to worry about," he said, a reassuring smile on his lips. "I'll be right there beside you. I've got an idea. Something I saw Obi-Wan do the last time we were here."

"Oh." Ezra frowned. "Hey, Kanan?"

"Hmm?"

"Weren't you _staggeringly_ drunk the last time you were here?" Kanan groaned.

"Well, _yes_ , but-"

"Are you _sure_ you saw Obi-Wan do something? Or were you just imagining it?"

"Look, I _know_ what I saw because he did a large scale, evil version of _exactly_ what I have been trying to teach you," Kanan growled. "He controlled the beasts on that rock, he connected with them. I've been trying to teach you to do the same, and today, you're going to do it so we can survive this mess."

Ezra looked at the Jedi, completely horrified. "Kanan, we're being _hunted_ by the Inquisitor, is this _really_ the best time for a lesson?"

"No," Kanan said casually, "but it's learning the way you do best. By _surviving_." Ezra groaned loudly, got up from his seat, and walked to stand behind the pilot's chair, his eyes fixed out the viewport as Kanan skillfully flew them through the asteroid field.

"Why come back here, huh?" Ezra asked quietly, shivering as he thought of what awaited them on the asteroid. He hadn't seen the creatures, but he listened to Sabine talk about it, the little Mandalorian explaining in vivid detail about the trial she and Hera had faced. It was...a nightmare, one he knew still frightened the young Mandalorian, though she would never admit it. "We could go literally anywhere else in the galaxy, so _why_."

"We can't go _anywhere_ , Ezra," Kanan gently, patiently explained. "Open space will see us shot down, we go to a planet we're familiar with and we'll only drag the Empire there in force. And believe me, two Jedi are going to bring out the big guns." His hands tightened on the yoke. "No, we need somewhere we're familiar with, but they aren't. Somewhere remote. Somewhere where we have the advantage, and somewhere they can't bring in their big ships." He shrugged. "The asteroid belt will limit the size of ship they can safely pilot through, which should limit their forces, and if we can get control of the beasts in the cave..."

"So...we're luring them into a trap where they're going to be eaten?"

"Eaten, yes," Kanan said, nodding. "Eaten or mauled. All we need to do is make sure that doesn't happen to us."

"...if the Inquisitor's with them, Kanan, some animals aren't going to be able to take him down."

"No, but it will give us a better chance." He tilted the nose of the _Phantom_ down when he saw the asteroid below them. "If we can survive long enough, Kenobi's coming to help. All we need to do is survive..." Ezra swallowed hard as Kanan piloted the ship down near the asteroid, the abandoned base coming into view, and the _Phantom_ flew along the ground and right into the open maw of the hangar turned cave, the home of the beasts that inhabited the rock.

"I-I can't do this!" Ezra cried nervously as the _Phantom_ was swallowed by the darkness of the cave. "Kanan, I'm afraid, I-"

"Everyone's afraid, Ezra," the Jedi said as he landed the _Phantom_ among the rocks and rubble of the abandoned hangar. "Admitting it, though...that isn't easy. All you have to do now is confront your fear and overcome it. You can't become a Jedi until you do."

"Yeah, _great_ , no problem..." Ezra muttered, and Kanan rose from the seat, patted the boy on the back, and opened the back hatch, and the two Jedi stepped out into darkness punctuated by glowing yellow eyes and the sounds of the creatures as they prowled and hissed, carefully examining their prey. Kanan climbed up the ladder on the side of the ship, hie eye on Ezra as he stood on top of the transport and disengaged the magnetic lock on the tracking device that had affixed to its hull. He frowned, turning the tracker over. Such a small thing caused such a big problem, a thing that only compounded itself with the knowledge that an Inquisitor was on their tracks.

Not just any Inquisitor. _The_ Inquisitor. The _Grand_ Inquisitor. He didn't get to that position by being a nice guy. _This_ man was strong in the Dark Side, patient and cruel, and unquestionably stronger than Kanan was. He knew his every move, understood Jedi lightsaber combat, could tell who trained him just by _observing_ the way he fought. True, he had run when faced with the awe-inspiring might of Darth Lumis, Lord of the Sith, but really, who wouldn't? This Inquisitor had probably slain a hundred Jedi, maybe more, and Kanan wouldn't soon forget what it was like to see the body of Jedi Master Luminara Unduli hanging on the wall in that cell. The Inquisitor may well have been responsible for that as well.

The asteroid and the beasts that lived upon it were Kanan's bets bet, so far as he had concerned, and he was banking on the strong inclination he felt within Ezra to bond with others to save the day, at least until Obi-Wan showed up to do the dirty work of murder. Kanan had a great deal of skill in the Jedi art of animal friendship as well, and were he to play his cards right, the creatures that were slowly circling them now would prove to be allies against the Imperial storm that was coming. True, the Inquisitor had the same abilities and the benefit of being fully trained, so far as Kanan could tell. The Dark Sider would certainly be able to control the beasts as well, though Kanan knew that the ability was inherently different, and it was in this difference where the Jedi held the advantage.

All Kanan and Ezra had to do was connect with the creatures, calm them, sooth them with the Force, work in harmony with the natural flow of the beasts. It was not so with the Dark Side, the ability there being one of domination and control, _not_ unity, a thing that was, by its nature, a much more difficult thing to do. He's have to fight _against_ the beasts' nature, not work alongside it, dominate its mind, bend its will, and that was no easy feat. Kenobi could pull it off. Hell, Kenobi _did_ pull it off, and he did so with such success that a mighty rancor was forever changed, dominated, made docile and tame, affectionate even, unless its Master willed it otherwise. Obi-Wan had pushed past the initial domination and settled into something of a dark and beautiful peace with the creature, but to build such a bond would have taken _years_. The Inquisitor didn't have the benefit of time, and the skill was a difficult one. Kanan felt it unlikely that these creatures would be used against him and Ezra.

No, it was far more likely that the Inquisitor would simply kill the beasts, and that wouldn't be a difficult thing to do with an opponent that wielded a lightsaber. With any luck, strength in number could overwhelm the Inquisitor, buy them time for Kenobi to arrive, and hopefully, they wouldn't be slain in the process.

That was assuming, of course, that they didn't get eaten first.

The beasts prowled around them, far more skittish than they had been the first time Kanan had seen them, perhaps a result of Kenobi's savage assault against them, but they were growing bold, hungry, _violent_ , a savage frenzy whipped up around them because of _Ezra_. The boy was afraid. _Terrified_. So much so that the Force swirled and rushed with tension and cold, no vestige remaining of the calm, still waters it should have been, and it was stirring the beasts into a frenzy.

"Ezra, _focus!_ " Kanan shouted, jumping down from the top of the shuttle and landing beside Ezra, his hands extended before him as he projected calm through the Force at the beasts, but it had little effect. The beasts were keyed into Ezra's disturbed presence, and they could focus on little else. One of the creatures snarled and hissed and swiftly approached, and Kanan extended his hand toward it and reached out, the beast growling dangerously, but slowly backing away, it's glowing eyes enraged and cautious. "Let go, Ezra!"

" _I can't_!"

" _You can_!" Kanan asserted. "Don't be afraid, let go of your fear!"

"I-I'm not afraid of _them_!" the boy said frantically, waving his hand toward the creatures, and Kanan stepped closer to him, putting himself between the boy and the beasts.

"I know..." the Jedi said softly. "Confront your fears, Ezra, face them, _accept them_. Make them a part of you, and they will never be able to control you." Ezra looked up at his teacher, his eyes wide, and he swallowed hard and nodded, his eyes closing as he took a deep, shaking breath. He was not calm, and he was consumed with fear and concern, and Kanan knew exactly why that was. The boy hadn't been lying when he said he wasn't afraid of the beasts. He wasn't. What plagued him was something deep, something that had sat and festered for years, something that he had pushed away until today, when he had been forced to confront it.

The fate of his parents.

The Rodian they had rescued had once, long ago, been a friend of the Bridger family, had spent time with young Ezra, had been silently supportive of his mother and father's broadcasts against the Empire, and when they had been found out, when the family was suddenly in danger, the Rodian abandoned them, refused to render assistance for fear of being caught himself, and as a result, young Ezra found himself an orphan, alone in the world with nowhere to turn to. Ezra was resentful and angry, and when he had found out the full depths of the Rodian's betrayal today, he had advocated throwing the creature out of the airlock. But worst about it all, was in the Rodian's cybernetic, disassociated state, he had mentioned something about Ezra's parents, something that made the boy believe that maybe, _just maybe_ , they were alive.

It was tearing the boy apart.

"I-I don't know!" Ezra cried frantically after a moment of silence, the beasts snarling and hissing as they drew closer and closer. "I don't know what I'm afraid of, I-"

"Yes you do, Ezra!" Kanan swiftly interrupted, his voice as calm and steady and commanding as he could make it. "You have _always_ known! You've never run from anything in your life, Ezra, don't run from this now!"

And he didn't. His shoulders tense, his eyes shut tight, his body shaking in fear and strain, Ezra quietly said, "I'm afraid...of what happened to my parents, I'm afraid of _knowing_ what happened..." Ezra gasped softly, his body suddenly relaxing as he filled with sudden warmth, and he felt lighter, like a weight had been lifted, like something within him tightly coiled had suddenly released. Breathing came easier to him now, and he could _feel_ the presence of Kanan beside him, calm and brave and reliable, could sense the teeming lives of the beasts that surrounded them, could even feel, somewhere far off, the cold, dark ball of hatred and rage swiftly drawing closer, the same presence they had felt before at the Spire, and again that evening on Lothal. The Inquisitor. He was coming closer, and he'd be here soon. When Ezra opened his eyes, he felt calm, at peace, one with the Force that flowed all around them, and the snarling, prowling beasts sat, staring at the two Jedi, not with hunger as before, but with kinship.

"I-I did this?" Ezra asked softly, and Kanan lightly patted him on the shoulder and knelt upon the ground, his eyes closed in meditation.

"You let go and allowed yourself to connect. It's a powerful thing. The Force that flows within them is the same that flows through you and me. We are _all_ connected. Everything that lives is as one within the Force." Ezra knelt beside Kanan, mimicking him as best as he was able.

"Even Kenobi?" Ezra quietly asked. "Even the Inquisitors?"

"...yes, even them." Kanan sighed deeply. "Anger and hatred and resentment has made them... _different_ ," he said softly, pausing for a moment to collect his thoughts. "Their emotions keep them isolated, not from the Force, but from others. They are bitter and angry, they hate and look down on others, they see themselves as superior because of their power...so they are alone. Which makes it even worse. It's a cycle, Ezra, and they're trapped within it." Kanan sighed heavily. "It doesn't matter how open you are if the path before you is closed."

"You can force the path to open then," Ezra said after a moment of consideration. "That's what Sabine would do, she's just blow up any obstacle in her way." Kanan chuckled softly, his hand extended as he silently issued a command to the beasts, and quietly, they moved to sit behind the Jedi, their glowing eyes focused on the entrance to their lair.

"You're right, that _is_ what Sabine would do," Kanan said. "But forcing a path where there is none, fighting against the will of the being that blocked it to begin with...that's the way of the Dark Side, and that's a _very_ different thing from what we're doing now."

Ezra wasn't sure he understood, but he nodded anyway, closing his eyes and focusing on his breathing, on the feel of the creatures he was connected with, on the elevated beat of his heart, on the calm and peace that Kanan exuded. In time, he'd understand. In time, he'd learn to be _just_ like Kanan, his wise and fearless teacher. But for now, he was content to feel so one with the warmth of the energy that surrounded him now, though his thoughts continued to drift toward the fast approaching cold. It would be here soon.

 _Soon_.

* * *

The Grand Inquisitor wasted no expense in this matter, let no resource go unused, bore the weight of his influence upon the Imperial command, reluctant to do as he wished, but they complies anyway. He was fortunate in this. The Inquisitors had no true authority over the Imperial troops, as they existed outside the chain of command, but they were so fearsome, so _powerful_ , that their presence was often enough to cull any resistance to them. Not so with Governor Pryce, the overseer of the Lothal sector. However, the governor happened to be on Coruscant, invited to attend the Empire Day festivities alongside the Emperor himself, a reward for her continued good work in her piece of the Outer Rim.

In her stead, Minister Maketh Tua would directly govern in her absence, and she had neither the strength of will nor the authority to resist a demand from the fearsome soldiers of the Inquisitorious. Furthermore, Admiral Thrawn backed _all_ his actions, and while the Chiss was on Coruscant himself and unable to render aid, he had sent a directive to ISB Agent Kallus instructing him to lend his complete support to the Inquisitor in his hunt for the insurgents that attacked Lothal, especially given how real, living Jedi were a part of this rebel cell. Especially since this rebel cell had been directly linked to Obi-Wan Kenobi.

The Inquisitor didn't believe that Kenobi was involved in this attack, though the Sith had a history of attacking on Empire Day, and Thrawn agreed that Kenobi was not part of the Lothal attack. Too quickly, in fact, which made the Inquisitor believe that Thrawn knew something he didn't, something the Chiss wasn't telling him, something that he was keeping _very_ close to his chest. It was...frustrating, yes, but he had come to learn that the Admiral did everything for a reason, and if he was not being forthcoming, it had been carefully calculated. Regardless, Thrawn believed that Obi-Wan _would_ arrive to lend assistance, and he had directed the Inquisitor to take careful note of the scene, observe when he came, _how_ he arrived, with who, _everything_ , and then he was instructed to _leave_. The information was prize enough, and the goal was survival, not victory. Not yet. Not until it was assured.

And if Obi-Wan didn't show up, _well_ , two dead Jedi was no small victory.

His Master would be pleased, and Lord Vader so rarely was.

The Inquisitor had other ambitions, of course. While Thrawn was dangerously clever, he, like so many others, was _blind_ , ignorant of the Force and its power. He didn't truly understand the threat that Obi-Wan Kenobi possessed. Perhaps one day he would come to understand, but that would only come from a _very_ personal brush of the Sith Lord's powers, and by then, it would be too late. Thrawn would be dead or enslaved, and gone would be the Empire's master tactician. As always, it would be left to the Force to end the traitorous Lumis, and so the Inquisitor came _prepared_. He had orders to retreat, yes, but he would not leave without a fight, and he brought an arsenal fearsome enough to give Kenobi pause. It was not what Thrawn ordered, no, but the Admiral's carefully made plans wouldn't matter if Kenobi lay dead.

 _He_ couldn't kill the Sith Master, no, but in his experience, there was very little that could withstand an Imperial bombardment. In any case, it was worth a shot. The worst that could happen was...

He didn't want to think about _that_. Perhaps retreat was not such a terrible idea.

When the rebels they had been tracking made a sudden drop out of hyperspace, the Inquisitor followed suit and tracked their presence to an asteroid field in a remote system, a vast and dangerous expanse of space that prevented him from bringing the Star Destroyer _Relentless_ too close. The field would have to be navigated in smaller ships, as the signal from the bridge of the _Perilous_ was unclear, giving them a wide search area among dozens of planetoids. Disembarking on an Imperial shuttle and followed by a squadron of transports carrying stormtroopers, the Inquisitor opened himself to the Force and felt for the Jedi, allowing their pull to guide him right to them, their location identified on a particularly large asteroid in the belt, a body of rock containing an old base dating back to the Clone Wars.

He had them. He could _feel_ them.

The shuttle landed on the long airstrip on the asteroid, a remnant of the base that once stood on the planet that used to be here. The ramp extended, and a compliment of stormtroopers marched out, blaster rifles in hand and ready, the Grand Inquisitor following behind them and observing his surroundings, taking in the bright sun in the distance, the asteroids that floated in th sky above them like so many starfighters, the groaning hiss of the transports as they set down behind the shuttle, their hatches opening and soldiers poured out, quickly falling in line with the others. They flanked the sides of the airstrip, their lines straight and even, and the Inquisitor walked between them, his eyes focused straight ahead at the opening of the heavy door leading into what was once the closed hangar, opened like the maw of a cave and just as dark. He breathed deeply, the air dry and burning his thin nostrils. It smelled like anticipation. Like focus. Like _fear_.

The stormtroopers filed in behind him as he passed, their weapons raised, the butts of the rifles braced against their shoulders as they advanced, the searchlight affixed to their blasters switching on as they entered the dark of the hangar, though the Inquisitor could see clearly without it. He was a creature of darkness, and the Force gave him his sight. There was darkness here, not just in the lack of light, but in the Force. Something unsteady and disruptive, something that craved and wanted for power, something, _something_...

The Inquisitor saw them before the troops did. _The Jedi_. Kneeling upon the ground, their eyes closed, their faces calm and peaceful in meditation. And surrounding them... _beasts_. Perhaps twenty creatures, their sleek skin in the darks of black and blue and purple, their eyes blazing yellow in the low lighting, the pack just sitting around the Jedi, a reflection of the humans in their calm. Just silent and watching, _waiting_...

"Sir!" one of the troopers called, his blaster raising and priming, his squad following suit as they planted their feet and stood their ground. They didn't manage to get off a single shot before the Jedi raised an arm each, not opening their eyes, not saying a word as they pointed toward the stormtroopers, and with a piercing, collective roar, the beasts rushed forward, weaving through plasma bolts as the troopers opened fire too late to stop the wave from crashing into them. Screams intermingled with snarls and growls and short, aggressive howls and barks, the air alight with blaster fire as the stormtroopers began to retreat, raining suppressing fore on the creatures that now ripped into their comrades that had stood on the front line. In the span of seconds, it was _chaos_.

With the wave of predators tearing into the stormtroopers, the soldiers turned their sights from the Jedi to the perceived more immediate threat, their focus less on the death of the two humans and more on not getting mauled and devoured by the carnivorous quadrupeds. Out of the corner of his eye, the Inquisitor saw a lone beast pounce at him from the shadows, and with a careless wave of his hand, he sent the beast slamming back against one of the old, derelict structures that once served a purpose here in the Republic hangar. The creature sharply whimpering when it struck, and it fell silent with a loud, wet snap as its spine was broken.

" _This_ was your plan?" the Inquisitor asked, his eyes narrowed as he slowly approached the Jedi, reaching behind him to grab the circular lightsaber hilt from its mounting on his back. "You meant to lure us here so that your beasts may do your dirty work for you?" He chuckled, a cold, sinister sound in the air when the older of the two Jedi opened his eyes and looked back at him defiantly. Another of the beasts leapt at him, this time from behind, and the Inquisitor quickly reeled around and bore his lightsaber down upon the hapless creature, the beast uttering not a sound as blazing plasma seared through skin and muscle and bone. He turned around quickly to find the Jedi rushing toward him, his blue lightsaber blazing, and with a relaxed, practiced ease, the Inquisitor's blade met the Jedi's.

It only took a moment for the Inquisitor to realize that the man was _much_ improved from the first time they had met, his movements more fluid, his step more assured, his blade work more precise, more focused, more varied. Gone were the constraints of Soresu, the form that had seen him meet his defeat on the Spire, and in its place was something new, something far changed from his Master's style, which he had favored before to a ridiculous degree. He had been practicing. More than that, he had found a _teacher_. A new Master. The Inquisitor couldn't help the grin that spread across his face as he effortlessly dodged out of the way of the Jedi's strikes, his red blade meeting the low sweeps and hard downward strikes, the stabs meant to kill, not disable. There was potential in this Jedi. With the right training, he could be _strong_.

But it was all for nothing. Today, this Jedi would die.

Kanan dodged out of the way of the red blade as it quickly cut across the air, swiftly changed directions as he stabbed in, and Kanan only just managed to bring his blade to meet it, sparks flying as the lightsabers clashed again and again. The Inquisitor was bold, self-assured, already confident in his victory, the red blade held lightly, _delicately_ in his hand, his other hand tucked behind his back, his shoulders relaxed and at ease. Kanan, on the other hand, was giving it everything he had, his grip switching from one hand for more reach to two hands for stronger strikes, but the Inquisitor met each blow almost effortlessly. Despite his training sessions with Obi-Wan, it wasn't enough, the practice too infrequent, his teacher too unavailable, his ability to practice on his own severely limited. He was still a long ways off defeating this Inquisitor.

He could feel Ezra through the Force, the boy in careful command of the beasts that occupied the stormtroopers, his confidence in his Master absolute, and Kanan's eyes narrowed in focus. He didn't need to beat the Inquisitor. He didn't need to kill him or disarm him, he only needed to drag the fight out, extend it for as long as he was able to keep the Dark Sider's attention away from his student. He only needed to create an opening, a chance to escape, and failing that, he only needed to hold off long enough for Kenobi to get here. _If_ he got here. And if not...well, at least the rest of the _Ghost_ crew was safe. He had done all he could, and he trusted Ezra to survive.

Kanan's hopes rose when he heard the sound of incoming ships, a wry smirk on his face as the stormtroopers outside the hangar began shouting, and those hopes were dashed when he heard the loud, mechanical sound of heavy steps and churning gears, all too familiar and always unwelcome. _Walkers_. AT-ST's from the sound of it. Imperial reenforcements, _not_ his own. His heart pounding in his chest, Kanan swung his saber low, high, stabbed forward, swiped down, the Inquisitor's blade arching up to meet his own, the surrounding area lighting up with the clash of plasma and a shower of sparks. Years and years of practice coupled with his own swift reflexed made Kanan _extremely_ quick on the draw, and faster than the Inquisitor could see, Kanan drew the blaster strapped to his leg and fired a shot at the Inquisitor's face.

He sensed the Jedi's intent the second before he pulled the trigger, and the Inquisitor quickly jerked his head out of the way, the superheated plasma grazing him on the side of the neck, singing his high collar and searing a black line of burning flesh across his throat. He hissed, his yellow eyes narrowing with pain, and with pain came anger, rage, _hatred_ , all the things that fueled him, all the things that made him strong. He felt the Dark Side open up, cold as ice and howling in fury, and he drank deep of that well, just as his Masters did, just as he was taught to, and with the claws of the Dark Side grasping him, he took the plunge into the wrath of the Force, the dominion of his Masters, his powers amplified beyond anything he had ever felt. He may not have been Sith, but in that moment, he felt like one.

He was _invincible_ , cloaked in the power of the Dark Side where no light could touch him, and with a savage grasp, he tore the offending blaster out of the Jedi's hand, the weapon flying far out of reach. The Jedi's eyes widened for just a moment in surprise, but it was enough. The Inquisitor reached out with the Force and took hold of Kanan, throwing him back hard against the dented metal of a ruined structure, the entire metallic monolithe shaking and groaning with the impact, and with a flick of his wrist, the Inquisitor slammed the Jedi against the wall, over and over again until the durasteel caved and the Jedi's body went limp, the lightsaber cutting off and dropping from his hands when he was released, and Kanan laid motionless upon the ground. The Inquisitor softly begun to laugh, the Force snarling in feral wrath as he felt the Padawan's focus break, his control over the beasts released as he screamed for his fallen Master.

"Your meager training is nothing in the face of true power..." the Inquisitor said as he slowly advanced on the unconscious Jedi, reveling in the anticipation of dealing death to his enemy when the Jedi's lightsaber moved and flew to the Padawan's hand, the blade igniting as the boy charged to stand between the Inquisitor and his Master. The Dark Sider rolled his eyes. This boy was as nothing.

"I won't let you near him!" Ezra shouted, pointing the lightsaber at the advancing Inquisitor, and a moment later, Ezra found the blade torn from his hand, flying to the Inquisitor's grasp. Fear gripped the boy as he looked at the menacing creature, his previous focus gone, fled in the face of his panic and fear. Slowly, Ezra began to retreat, the Inquisitor following him with both blades held relaxed and easy at his sides, the blazing tips burning into the ground as he advanced.

"Your devotion to your Master is admirable," the Inquisitor said in a low, menacing voice, his dark tones tinged with cruel amusement and anticipation and bloodlust. "But it will not save you. _Nothing_ can." With a gesture of his hand, he sent the boy flying back, not to harm, but simply to toy with him. He was defenseless, without a weapon, without a Master, without the training necessary to do _anything_.

" _Get back_!" Ezra snarled, quickly scrambling to his feet, his panic and fear and encroaching grief turning quickly to anger, and the Inquisitor simply laughed at him, which only served to stoke the flames that were steadily growing within him.

"Good, _good_!" the Inquisitor said in a breathless voice, his body shuddering as he breathed in the swirling dark around him. "Unleash your anger, and I will teach you what your Master could not," he said, his voice tinged with sinister laughter.

"You have _nothing_ to teach me!" Ezra cried, his anger spiking as he stood tall and defiant, a gesture that only seemed to make the Inquisitor more pleased, his already powerful presence swelling and churning in vicious waves and currents.

"You're right..." the Inquisitor said softly. "The darkness is too strong for you, _orphan_ ," he spat, drawing on the fears he sensed within the boy and rewarded with a snarl of savage anger, of fear and desperation. "It will _consume_ you, tear you apart, _drown_ you..."

"No..."

"Your Master will die."

"No!"

"Your _friends_ will die," he continued, drawing ever closer to the boy as he pushed him, the child already standing on a knife's edge in the Force with nothing but a fall int darkness awaiting him. "Everything you hoped for will be lost. This is the way your story ends. Not a Jedi. Not a rebel. Simply _nothing_."

He had given the boy the final push, and without his Master, without the training to resist, without being fully prepared for what he was faced with, Ezra fell, reached out, and grabbed hold of the darkness as it rushed swiftly toward him. Power surged through him, savage and uncontrolled, a feral beast with a lust for blood that ripped and tore at everything in its path, including the boy that summoned it. His hands shaking as his arms tensed, Ezra's hands twitched and tensed, his fingers curling inwards as if he were closing his fist around something, and the beasts that rushed about the cavern leaping at stormtroopers and tearing limbs off the fallen suddenly scattered. The wind rushed, howling in Ezra's ears as his eyes narrowed with rage and fury, rocks and debris scattered about his feet suddenly rising up with the power of the Force that surrounded him.

An ear-splitting roar echoed about the cavern, and from behind Ezra rose a creature, one of the beasts that prowled the cavern but _far_ bigger, monestrous in size and standing twice the teenager's height, Ezra's fury filling it as its will became one with the young Force sensitive. With a sweeping gesture, the enraged Ezra pointed his hand at the Inquisitor, and with a mighty roar, the beast charged toward him, its fangs bared and its claws sharp as it swiped at the pale man. His will expressed, the darkness suddenly left Ezra, poured into the creature that now executed his command, and deprived of his powers, Ezra dropped to his knees, and darkness took him.

Kanan awoke to the sound of savage, vicious howls, the calls and commands of stormtroopers, the heavy steps of the walkers and the thrumming of swiftly moving lightsabers. He groaned and opened his eyes and saw nothing but faint red and blue light, becoming more clear and focused the longer he stared at it. There was the Inquisitor, his double sided red lightsaber spinning at a rapid rate as he athletically moved around one of the largest, most savage beasts he had ever seen, the creature hissing and cautious as it batted at the Inquisitor, only to have its mighty paw struck by one of the lightsabers. One of those lightsabers was Kanan's, and the Jedi groaned as he rolled over, his head pounding as he tried to push himself to his feet and failed. He only found the strength to move when he caught sight of Ezra laying unmoving upon the ground, and with his heart humming in his chest, Kanan staggered to the boy's side.

He dropped to his knees beside his student and carefully took him in his arms, the boy's skin cold to the touch, but his neck pulsing with the beat of his heart. He was alive. He quickly patted the boy's cheek, called his name, and with the quick, sudden contact, Ezra regained consciousness, his movements slow and sluggish.

"Kanan?" he softly groaned, his bleary eyes struggling to focus on the Jedi's face. "What happened? I-I feel so cold..." he said weakly, shivering, and Kanan held him tighter as if it would help warm him, though the Jedi knew it wouldn't. This was a cold that came from within.

"I know," Kanan said reassuringly. "It's okay. We're leaving." Kanan looked over his shoulder when he heard a loud, feral scream, and he watched in horror as the Inquisitor drove the two blades through the beast's forehead, it's eyes slowly closing as it sagged on its feet for just a moment before it collapsed, falling to its side instantly dead. They were running out of time. Kanan looked toward the _Phantom_ , only to see stormtroopers, _lots_ of them, between himself and the shuttle. Their exit was blocked. Their limited time was up. The stormtroopers slowly advanced, circling the Jedi and the Padawan, both too weak to fight, both weaponless, and both quickly trying to figure a way out of the situation.

"You may very well be the last Master and Padawan pair of Jedi left in the galaxy," the Inquisitor said as he slowly approached, the red and blue blades blazing in his hand, and Kanan reached out with the Force to take his weapon back, only to find himself pushed hard to the floor. "None of that now, Jedi, it's pointless to struggle." The Inquisitor grinned wickedly, showing his pointed teeth. "I find myself debating what to do with you. You _are_ rebels, and your capture and interrogation will lead us to your friends and the rest of the rebels."

"You can't make us talk," Ezra said weakly, and the Inquisitor laughed as the sounds of blaster fire echoed through the cavern from the walkers out on the landing strip, the stormtroopers shouting commands over the sound of screeching ships and deafening roars. The Inquisitor craned his ears to listen and frowned. Not _his_ ships.

"It seems your rebel friends have found us, which means we are out of time." The lightsabers twirled in his hands. "Which makes your lives _pointless_." He smiled wickedly. "Before I kill you, shall I tell you how with story ends?"

"Oh, _please_ do." The Inquisitor sucked in a sharp breath. The voice was close. _Very_ close, the soft, accented tone spoken through a speaker on a mask or helmet, and the Inquisitor looked up to see a Mandalorian sitting carelessly on the protruding ledge of a rock formation, his black and red armor woven seamlessly with black robes, his helmet adorned with sweeping horns, and through the visor, he could see the blazing glow of golden eyes.

 _Darth Lumis_.

The Inquisitor staggered backwards, all his previous strength, all his might in the Force from before suddenly vanishing as if it were nothing more than an illusion created with smoke and light. _How_ had he gotten in here without anyone seeing him?

"I do so _love_ stories..." he drawled carelessly, and though the Inquisitor found himself too afraid to look away from the Sith Lord, he could see the Jedi out of the corner of his eye, a triumphant look on his face. "My favorite stories are _revenge_ stories." He tilted his head. "Do you like those, Inquisitor? I've got one for you. A story about a Sith Lord and his Jedi lover, a dear and faithful friend since childhood, and now...she is gone." He rose from his seated position, standing on the edge and looking down at the closely huddled, injured Jedi, the terrified Inquisitor, the mass of stormtroopers. They looked so _small_ , so insignificant, so _lifeless_.

" _Stolen_ ," the Sith Lord snarled, his lightsaber flying to his hand and igniting in a burst of bloody red, "by _you_ , _Grand Inquisitor_ , and the price for her life has yet to be paid."

Thrawn's plan suddenly seemed like a _very_ good one, and with a quick command to his troops, the Inquisitor turned and ran as fast as his legs could carry him, the stormtroopers following close behind, and they quickly stopped, their way blocked by three figures. A Mandalorian warrior, his armor black and red to match his King's, a droid, humanoid in appearance, protocol in design were it not for the intimidating assassin rifle in its grasp, and a rancor, its skin white as fine ash, its head topped with a crown of vicious, sweeping horns, and a helmet on its head, it's eyes a glowing blaze of red and yellow that looked Sith in appearance.

The droid pointed the rifle at the group. "Greeting: you're all going to die, meatbags," it said in a cheerful chirp, and without wasting a moment more, the droid and the Mandalorian opened fire, the rancor howling in fury as a large, savage claw swept through the mass of stormtroopers, the impact killing several instantly and sending even more flying, the very unfortunate impaled and stuck on its sharp claws. The Inquisitor drew up his lightsabers, ready to deflect the shots from the rapidly firing blasters but he was quickly distracted by the swiping claws of the rancor, the savage, uncontrolled beast suddenly seeming _very_ focused in its rage when its puplis narrowed into slits in the sea of gold and red, a savage roar shaking the ground of the cavern as ti rushed straight for the Inquisitor, heedlessly knocking stormtroopers out of the way in its wrath.

Obi-Wan dropped from his ledge and landed in a crouch beside Kanan and Ezra, the two Jedi worn and beaten, and with a groan, Kanan rose to his feet, picking up his student and carrying him like a sack upon his shoulder. "What took you so long?" Kanan asked Obi-Wan as he limped toward the _Phantom_ , the way to the ship now clear to them as the stormtroopers struggled and died against the deadly accurate shots of the Mandalorian and the crazed, joyous laughter of the droid as its rifle turned bodies into hole-ridden, gory messes.

"Yoda was having a nap, it couldn't be helped," he said softly. "And I was a _very_ long way from here. This asteroid is highly inconvenient, you should have chosen a better place to be stranded."

"That's what I said..." Ezra wheezed, his breathing labored and heavy as Kanan laid him on the floor inside the _Phantom_.

"Wait for my signal before you fly out of here," Obi-Wan said, quickly moving to the controls and punching in something that Kanan couldn't see. "I brought an escort to take you safely out of here, I'm patching you in to their com channel," he explained, answering Kanan's unasked question.

"An escort?" he muttered, leaning down to look out the viewport at the raging rancor, its wide, sweeping swipes taking out rocks and people and old structures indiscriminately as it pursued the Inquisitor, the man swinging his lightsabers simply to keep it away, not attack it as he escaped. Kanan winced as his blue blade struck across the rancor's arm just as his clawed hand connected with the Inquisitor, sending the pale man flying and skidding along the ground toward the open maw of the cave. There was a black, smoking line across the rancor's arm, but the beast seemed to take no notice as it charged after the escaping prey.

"Kenobi, you're rancor, he's-"

"He's fine," the Sith said swiftly. "It's carbon scoring, nothing more. I'll scrub him when we're done here and he'll be good as new." Kenobi stepped away from the console and quickly headed out the back of the ship. "Your escort are flying the ships _Penumbra_ and _Antumbra_. Follow their commands and you'll be fine." He pointed toward the Jedi. " _Don't_ leave before I tell you to."

Kanan nodded. "...hey, Kenobi?" The Sith Lord turned his head and looked at the Jedi through the slits of the visor. "...the Inquisitor has my lightsaber." Obi-Wan scoffed.

"You are _so_ demanding. You better be waiting for me naked on your bed and ready for me to take you when I get back." Ezra snorted with weak laughter, and Kanan could only flash him a slight smile.

"I'll see what I can do."

Without another word, Kenobi raced away from the _Phantom_ and disappeared into the darkness.

The Inquisitor ran outside, blinded by the sun and squinting against it. His breathing hard and his heart racing as his legs carried him quickly across the air strip toward the shuttles. His vision slowly returned, and blinking, he looked up just in time to see one of the walkers burst into flames, sway on it's feet, and come crashing to the ground. The other walker lay in a heap near the shuttle, its heavy body crushing two of the transports that had ferried the stormtroopers in, though the shuttle seemed in tact. Up in the sky above him were two X-wing starships, black as night and accented with blue and green, their engines screeching as they spun and wove around the asteroids so effortlessly the task seemed effortless, like a child could do it. They flipped upside down as they looped around, diving in fast toward the asteroid on an attack vector.

The Inquisitor sprinted toward the shuttle, jolted into action when he heard the roar of the rancor and the screech of the engines, and he suddenly stopped, his body frozen in place for only a moment before he was ripped backwards, the lightsabers tightly in his grip as he watched the distance between him and his escape on the shuttle grow, and all hope was dashed when the X-wings swooped down low, their weapon systems firing and striking the shuttle and the remaining ships. The last thing the Inquisitor saw before he was pulled back into the darkness of the cave were the fires from the explosion as powerful engines ruptured.

He slammed hard against a hard metal structure, its fragile frame crumbling and falling to the ground with the force of the impact. Immediately he was grabbed again, this time in a hard, cold grip, like icy hands wrapping tight around him, and the Inquisitor was slammed against walls and stone and floor, over and over again until his head swam and his vision became spotted with light. Once, he felt himself slam against something soft and warm and wet, looking for only a moment to find himself pressed against the open carcass of a half eaten stormtrooper. Nausea hit him like a wave, though he suspected it was less from revulsion and more from the repeated abuse. Finally, he was lifted high into the air and dropped, and he didn't have enough wits about him to flip around and land on his feet. He landed on the ground _hard_ , the earth seeming to shake beneath him as he lay there, the lightsabers somehow, miraculously, still in his iron grasp.

He watched through hazy, bleary eyes as the droid and the Mandalorian paced before a group of stormtroopers, disarmed, injured, or simply having laid their arms down in surrender, captives of the massacre that occurred here, a bloody loss on what should have been a quick and easy victory. Bodies lay scattered about the ground, most of them in pieces or badly brutalized, and he could see the light from outside reflected brightly off the ground slicked with blood. Occasionally, a stormtrooper would make a run for it, only to be quickly gunned down by the Mandalorian. The droid paced before them, counting as it pointed to each trooper in turn, and almost randomly, it would suddenly stop, point its rifle in the face of the selected soldier, and pull the trigger, a random, senseless execution of prisoners, but nobody was there to object.

With a groan, the Inquisitor pushed himself to his knees, his eyes focused on the Mandalorian and the droid and taking quick note of the rancor, the beast far off to the side and hunched over a pile of the dead, a collection of torn limbs and savaged bodies in its grip as it happily chewed all it shoved in his mouth as it gorged itself, blood and saliva running think down its chin and off long, sharp fangs. Through the clear pane of its helmet, the Inquisitor could see the rancor's eyes, dark and cold, devoid of the light of Sith fire, its Master's presence withdrawn.

 _He could do it_. It wouldn't be much, but he could kill the droid and the Mandalorian. He could rush to them, lightsabers in hand, and slaughter them both before the rancor could be mobilized once again. There would be no victory here, no escape, but perhaps he could still kill the Jedi, the ship still present within the cave. It wouldn't be much, but it would be _worth it_. With a growl of pain and anger, the Inquisitor reached deep inside the darkness for strength and found it, the lightsabers in his grasp igniting with a hiss as he stood on his feet.

As quickly as it had come to him, the Dark Side suddenly fled from him, leaving him weak, his legs shaking, and he staggered backwards, only to hit a hard, cold body, and long-fingered hands tightly closed around his wrists. The grip was crushing, _painful_ , and the moment he struggled, he was drawn hard against the armored body and warm lips pressed against the painful burn on his neck, teeth quickly biting at it and sending agony lancing through him. His head was swimming. He was going to be _sick_.

"Didn't Maul ever tell you what happens to people who touch my things?" Lumis softly whispered in his ear, the smooth, cold voice sending a shiver up his spine. The Inquisitor couldn't answer for fear of retching upon the floor, so he kept his mouth shut. The Sith Lord's foot found the back of the Inquisitor's knees, and with a gasp of pain, he dropped to the ground, his body held upright against the Sith by his wrists, and try as he might, he couldn't move the sabers into position to cut the man. In his mind, the Inquisitor could hear Maul's voice, high and strained with tension.

 _If he captures you, if he defeats you, if it looks like there's no escape...take your own life. End it all_.

The Sith's hand tightened around his wrist. "Drop your weapon." The voice was smooth, expressionless, _commanding_ , and the Inquisitor suddenly couldn't remember what had been said to him, only that the man _had_ spoken, commanded him to obey, but he wouldn't. _He wouldn't_. He was stronger than this. Trained in the Jedi Temple as a Guardian, a stalwart defender, shown the truth of power by the Sith, made leader of the Inquisitors because he was _strong_ , because he was everything the others aspired to be...

The Inquisitor's hands opened, and he dropped the lightsabers.

He stared wide eyed at the weapons on the ground, his mind his own, but his body obeying the command of another, and he almost sobbed in fear when a hand released one wrist and tenderly stroked his cheek, his jaw, his hairless head in a mocking gesture of affection. It was gentle, yes, tender and almost sweet, the touch of a lover that his renegade body willingly leaned in to, but with the gentle caress came domination, possession, _ownership_.

"Tell me..." Lumis said gently, the hand drifting to the Inquisitor's chin and forcing him to look up into the Sith's eyes. "What was it like to kill Luminara? How did it feel to take my beautiful friend's life in your hands and extinguish it?" The Sith Lord laughed, harsh and cold, the hand holding his wrist suddenly tightening and flipping him to the ground, and before he could move, Kenobi's heel stepped hard on the Inquisitor's wrist, the pale man howling in pain as the Sith held his other arm up. "You don't need to tell me, I'll have a look myself."

Lumis knelt, his knee replacing the heel that kept the Inquisitor's right hand pinned to the ground, and he pulled the dazed man against him, a hand on his head as he kissed the pale creature's cheek, and the Inquisitor could feel his brain _moving_ , crawling, like a hundred worms boring within him, like shadows, like thin wisps of smoke, like _hands_ that opened his mind up against his will and too what it wanted. He shivered in the Sith's grasp and could do nothing else as he was violated, helpless to resist the touch of the Master upon him. Lumis owned all he touched, just as Maul had said, and now, the Sith owned _him_. His will was not broken, and he resisted the very idea of it, but with the way he touched him, the way he violated him, _raped_ his mind...belonging to the Sith Lord was the only thing that made the brutal act bearable.

"You should have listened to your Master..." Lumis said, his voice gentle and sweet, a stark, violent contrast to his violent actions. "You should have kept away from what's mine. Luminara was mine. Those Jedi are mine, their rebel team is _mine_." Kanan's lightsaber floated before the Inquisitor's eyes, and all he could manage was to stare at it blankly. "That makes this lightsaber mine as well." Lumis' grasp tightened around the Inquisitor's left wrist, crushing tendons and ligaments, the pressure forcing the hand to open, the fingers fully extended. "How do you suppose we should punish theft, hmm?" Lumis laughed lightly and kissed the Inquisitor's fingers, the man trying to move, trying to struggle and get away, but the weight of the knee on his right wrist, the strong grip on his left, the awkward angle his body hung at all prevented him from doing anything but wriggling.

Before his eyes, the Sith's red lightsaber ignited, and the Inquisitor whimpered as Lumis held the blade above the erect fingers. "Oh, I don't blame _you_ , pet..." Lumis drawled. "I blame your thieving little fingers." He leaned over the Inquisitor and grinned brightly. "I think I'll take them."

It was painstaking, slow, agonizing, and the cavern filled with bloodcurdling screams as the red blade lowered, not severing the fingers, but slowly, _slowly_ allowing the blazing plasma to burn them and disintegrate them into nothing.

* * *

Kanan and Ezra sat closely together in the _Phantom_ , the boy's eyes shut tight and his hands over his ears to block out the screams, his body shivering with the cold from the oppressive Dark Side that hung heavy around them. Maybe Obi-Wan forgot about them. Maybe the Sith Lord was lost within the embrace of the Dark Side, fulfilling his pleasures with blood and pain, like so many Sith throughout history had done. Maybe-

"Word from the Shadow King, boys," a voice said from the open hatch of the ship, and Kanan looked swiftly over to see Cody, his peppered black hair disheveled as he leaned against the ship's wall, his arms crossed over his chest. "He says it's time for you to go."

"I he coming?" Kanan asked softly, and the clone quickly shook his head.

"No, not yet. He'll rendezvous with you within a few hours. He still has work to finish here."

"Dare I ask?" Kanan asked, and the clone simply chuckled.

"Just clean-up. It's hard to move a rancor when it's in a food coma, like he is now. And we've got a Chiss aboard the _Umbra_ as a... _guest_." The clone chuckled. "He'll be spending the next few hours celebrating here with her. And any number of the female stormtroopers HK and I have detained." The clone smirked. "Understand?"

"Perfectly..." Kanan grumbled, quickly powering the ship on and preparing all the pre-flight scans, a thing that took only a moment to calculate because of the _Phantom_ 's small size. "Will you, uh...be celebrating as well?" Cody shrugged.

"I might. After Kenobi breaks them in a bit, I don't like them quite so wild as he does." The cone quickly saluted. "Safe travels, boys. Give your escort my regards."

"Will do," Kanan said, swiftly closing the hatch and flying the _Phantom_ off the asteroid as quickly as he was able. He was _done_ with that rock. Once in the air, Kanan saw the escort almost immediately, two black X-wing starships, the two craft flipping and spinning almost as if they were showing off instead of _actually_ doing something, though the state of the airstrip below showed that the two pilots had done more than their fair share of the work. The entire strip was flanked with fires and twisted, burning metal, wreckage of Imperial vessels and the towering, dangerous walkers, all reduced to _nothing_. Kanan couldn't help but wonder where Kenobi _got_ these people.

The shipboard com burst with static for a moment before a female voice came clear over the speaker, her tone strong and commanding and much younger than Kanan expected. " _Phantom_ , this is _Penumbra_. Lock on to our vector and follow us out. We'll get you safely home."

"Copy that, _Penumbra_ ," Kanan replied, doing exactly as he was asked, the ship locking on to the black and blue X-wing's course while the other one flew not before them, but in circles around them.

" _Antumbra_ to _Phantom_ ," a male said clearly, the other pilot, and also far too young. "We have a stop to make within the system. When we give the signal, disengage your course and keep a safe distance."

"Safe distance?" Kanan asked skeptically, pulling back on the yoke and following the X-wings as they raced out of the asteroid field and into the dark, star-marked reaches of space. Immediately, Kanan saw what they were talking about, and his jaw dropped, his eyes wide as he looked at the massive wedge of a Star Destroyer hanging in space before them.

"The _Relentless_..." the boy said, wonder and excitement in his voice and an eagerness that was... _infectious_. Even Kanan could feel his chest burn with excitement and daring far beyond the caution this situation actually called for. "Disengage from our vector, _Phantom_. Return to the asteroid belt if you are detected or jump to lightspeed. We'll catch up."

"Uh, excuse me?" Kanan asked, pushing away the sudden swell of confidence and adopting his more cautious attitude. "What is it you're planning on doing exactly?"

"We're going to bring the ship down." the girl said. "Orders from the Shadow King. He showed us _exactly_ what to do, and he even prepped the ship for us! He says it's _practice_."

"Practice!" Kanan cried. "Practice for what?!"

"I dunno," the boy said. "He never tells us anything. But I _do_ know he's right." He laughed excitedly.

"Sit back and watch the show, _Phantom_!" the girl said. "It should be _great_! Happy Empire Day!"

" _Wooo!_ " the boy cried as the X-wings sped forward, the wings opening up and assuming the shape they were named for as they began on their attack vector. "Empire Day! I love it!"

"All hail our glorious Empire..." Kanan muttered as he leaned back in his seat and watched with Ezra beside him, their eyes slowly widening and their jaws going slack as they watched the swift, agile ships flip and spin and race along the massive hull of the Star Destroyer, covering each other and working in perfect, _beautiful_ harmony as their precision shots took out the cannons and weapon systems of the ship before ducking behind the massive, burning engines. For just a moment, it looked as if the area of space around the Star Destroyer shimmered, the telltale indication of the shields powering on, and before the field stabilized, it disappeared.

TIE Fighters swarmed out of the forward hangars, but before the little, buzzing starships had a chance to begin their attack, flames burst out along the hull, followed by a series of explosions erupting in a line from stern to aft, each one bigger than the last until the final one detonated near the engines. For a moment, there was nothing, and then, in a blinding flash of light, the engines exploded, a shockwave rushing through space that rocked the _Phantom_ , even from its considerable distance.

It was... _impossible_. Kanan rubbed his eyes and looked again, but sure enough, the Star Destroyer was a _wreckage_ , little more than burning hunks of metal and debris, might reduced to little more than space dust. When Kanan saw the little X-wings return, their wings folded together in preparation for their jump to lightspeed, Kanan couldn't help but stare in wonder at the beauty of them. These were, without question, the best pilots in the galaxy.

"Who _are_ you..." Kanan asked, touching his hand to the viewport and reaching out with the Force, but he felt nothing. Some things, he mused as the _Phantom_ and the X-wings made their jump to lightspeed, were just not meant to be known.


	16. Falling

**AN:** **I know, it's been a few days since this has been updated, but I needed to get the first few chapters of Blood of Mandalore up first. If you haven't read it, go read it. I've been having a blast writing it, and I think it's turning out really good. Next chapter of this one should be up in a day or two, since it's going to be sort of a big chapter (I think). Also, next week is spring break, which means I basically live at work. So chapters will be slower to come out. Just a head's up. Enjoy!**

 _Chapter 16: Falling_

The _Umbra_ didn't arrive in the Lothal system until early that morning, and when it did, it was a few hours until it had allowed the _Ghost_ to dock. For a long while, it simply sat in space, the two X-wings magnetized to mirroring spots just under the ship's wings. Kanan would have been watching closer had his own circumstances not been so... _difficult_. As it was, his thought kept turning to Ezra. The boy was mercifully sleeping now, and with any luck, would be for the next few hours. They day had been difficult, not just physically, but emotionally and mentally as well. The fact of the matter was that Ezra Bridger was _drained_ , and Kanan felt responsible for that.

He hadn't prepared his young student well enough. _He_ hadn't been prepared for such a difficult student. And now, when things got tough, when Ezra felt backed into a corner, he had reached for the Force in anger, with hatred and death in his heart, and he had used the connection he had formed with the beasts on the asteroid in the most sinister of ways. He had called upon the biggest one he could find, warped his ability to connect and used it not to work peacefully alongside, but to _dominate_ its will, and in doing so, Ezra had unwittingly reached for the Dark Side.

Despite their contact with a _kriffing Sith Lord_ , Obi-Wan had been not only more than helpful, but also decidedly not evil. While they were looking, in any case. Not only that, but as a Master of the Force, as a man who had been known throughout the galaxy for his formidable swordsmanship, for a man that had _never_ lost to a Jedi and had soundly kicked his ass over and over and over again, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Lord of the Sith, looked like the coolest guy around to young, impressionable Ezra, and the boy knew that Kenobi reached for darkness.

Meanwhile, Kanan had done little to actually prepare the boy. Ezra had only very recently begun his training, and was growing quickly. More quickly than Kanan had anticipated, and he hadn't yet found the time to teach Ezra the dangers of the Dark Side, nor how to recognize it when it came calling and how to defend against it when it reached for him. He had, in a word, failed. _Again_. Perhaps there was wisdom elsewhere that they could turn to. He had hoped that Luminara could teach him before they discovered her to be dead, but maybe, _maybe_ there was some lost knowledge of the Jedi somewhere. Something to help set the boy on the right path. Ezra could be great if he could learn to control his emotions and the power that rested within him. But in the wrong hands, he could also be fearsome, and the galaxy didn't need anymore darkness.

Kanan sat with Hera in the living space upon the couch, the two close together, their fingers intertwined, the pair leaving slow, languid kissed on necks and cheeks and lips, alone in the quiet of night as the rest of the ship slept. Kanan wanted to stay up and wait for Kenobi, and Hera had been all too willing to wait with him, the briefing on their respective missions becoming a quiet, personal talk as the night wore on. What had happened on the asteroid had shaken Kanan, and Hera had never been one to let her lover suffer alone. Ezra had made a dangerous connection through the Force, one that Kanan wasn't certain could be turned away from, and he needed to test the boy somehow to see if he was ready to actually do this. A way to see if Ezra was meant to be a Jedi...or not. He needed an expert opinion, but in a galaxy where the Jedi were dead, there was only one other he could turn to.

The moment the _Umbra_ docked with the _Ghost_ , Obi-Wan strode on to the ship, much like he owned it and quickly made his way to the couple on the couch, both Jedi and Twi'lek rising to meet him.

"We need to talk about your student," the Sith Lord said in a commanding tone, the Jedi staring at him slack-jawed for a moment at the Sith's directness. He _always_ knew, somehow, Obi-Wan _always knew_.

"Well, hello to you too, sweetheart..." Kanan drawled in a lazy, affected tone. "Nice to see you." A wry, sly smirk replaced the hard, serious expression on the Sith Lord's face, and he drew closer to the Jedi, predatory in his mannerisms.

"In need of foreplay, Jarrus?" Kenobi asked softly, a cruel, hungry, _dominating_ edge to his voice, and the Jedi could feel the Sith Lord pushing against him with the Force. His jaw clenched tightly, Kanan pushed back, and those golden eyes lit with excitement. "I _did_ tell you to be ready for me. This goes against our arrangement."

"Eh, I'm more needy than I thought," Kanan said with a carefree shrug. "It _is_ my first time, after all..."

"Kanan..." Hera said in a low voice laced with warning, and the Sith Lord laughed when the Jedi shot her a sheepish, apologetic look.

"No need to worry, Syndulla, I won't be too rough on him," Kenobi said as he drew possessively closer to the Jedi. "I don't like to break _all_ my toys..." Kanan stood defiantly up to his full height as the menacing Lord drew closer and stepped between Obi-Wan and Hera when it looked like the fiery Twi'lek may give him a piece of her mind, the very implication of possession setting the Twi'lek's nerves on edge, a result of her people being enslaved since...well, since _forever_.

"I don't break so easily, Kenobi," Kanan said firmly, more for Hera's sake than for anything else. "I think you're going to find it difficult to get what you're after."

"Oh?" Kenobi chuckled, deep and amused by the potential challenge. "Well, I have something that may make it easier for you to spread your legs for me, you Jedi slut." Obi-Wan took Kanan's hand and before the Jedi could pull away, Obi-Wan pressed a cold, familiar cylinder in Kanan's palm, the Jedi forgetting to breathe as Kenobi closed Kanan's fingers around it. His lightsaber. He was certain he'd never get the precious thing back.

"You got it..." Kanan muttered, and Obi-Wan scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Of course I recovered it. You belong to me, Jedi, and I take care of my things."

"Hera, I'm going to sleep with this Sith Lord." Hera tilted her head as she looked at her lover, and with a heavy sigh, she shook her head.

"I'd be more surprised if I didn't know you were so easy." Kanan grinned broadly at Hera and winked before he turned his attention back to the Sith Lord.

"You have my thanks, Obi-Wan."

"I don't want your thanks, Jedi, I want your smart, pretty mouth on my-"

"Is the Inquisitor dead?" Kanan asked quickly when Hera flushed furiously, the Sith Lord frowning as he was interrupted.

"I would be _happy_ to discuss that somewhere more private."

"Not without me you're not," Hera said stubbornly, and for just a second, the gold eyes flashed dangerously, vicious and wrathful, and like it wasn't even there, it suddenly faded, but Kanan _knew_ he saw it. He intertwined his finger's with Hera's, drawing himself up taller defensively, and he could feel the Sith looking straight through him.

"Very well..." Kenobi drawled, his tone light and easy, an arrogant smirk on his lips. "If that's what you're into, so be it. I never turn down a threesome."

" _Well_ ," Kanan said as deep and smooth as he was able, a sly smile on his lips and his eyelids lowering seductively. "Since the kids are asleep, I thought we might go back to _your_ room..."

"As you wish..." Obi-Wan said softly, a look of triumph on his face that lasted all of two seconds before it dropped away into stunned silence before a wide grin split his face. "Oh, you cheeky bastard."

"I _really_ like that rule about no sex in your ship, Kenobi," Kanan said, carefree and easy as he and Hera followed the smirking, laughing Sith Lord through the docking tunnel and into the confines of the _Umbra_. They were immediately by the sound of electronic snapping, and Kenobi groaned, rolled his eyes and led his guests around the corner to see two droids, both protocol in appearance, one dark gray and the other a deep red pointing at each other's chest plates accusingly. The moment their visual sensors landed on the displeased Sith Lord, the two droids stopped what they were doing, not daring to move, and fell silent.

"Well?" Obi-Wan said after a moment of silence. "Care to explain this one to me, you useless heaps of scrap?"

"Master, this droid is defective!" the gray droid said indignantly. "It is going against its programming and is trying to take control of the _Umbra_ from me!" K-2 Paused. "...I _love_ the _Umbra_." It emitted a sound that was the equivalent of an angry huff. "And all because it claims that it has greater value to you!"

"Declaration: That is a fact," HK said, turning its visual sensors to the security droid, and then back to the Sith Lord, lowering its head slightly. "Isn't that true, Master?"

"The HK is _ancient_ ," K-2 quipped. "It is outdated and long past due for its scheduled salvage date." It looked back to the assassin droid as it sidled up toward its Master, and K-2 gave a dismissive scoff. "It tried to access my central processors and _sabotage_ me!"

"Accusation: the KX droid started it."

"Alright, _enough_!" Obi-Wan snapped, his eyes shut tight and his fingers rubbing his temples. "Thank you for reminding me why I hate droids. I ought to throw you both out the airlock and be done with it."

"That is acceptable, Master," K-2 said, drawing up to its full, towering height. "I can survive in space."

"Statement: I have detected changes in your brain chemistry that is indicative of what you squishy, frail organics call a headache." The HK unit stepped closer. "Consoling: there, there, Master. We can fix this. Is that why you have brought these meatbags?" it asked, indicating to Kanan and Hera their strained, repressed laughter at the absurdity of the situation quickly dropped away in favor of apprehension when they noticed the wicked, modified rifle on the droid's back. "Are we going to kill something to make you feel better, Master?" Obi-Wan started to respond, frustrated, and quickly stopped, his eyes widening and stroking his beard as he considered the droid's proposal.

"That _is_ a good idea..." he said, lost in thought, and a quick look over his shoulder at his horrified guests brought him back to the situation at hand. "But not now, and not with these people." He straightened up, his hands folding behind his back. "I thought I made myself clear on your roles within my ship, _droids_. You serve different functions to me and are here to _compliment_ my efforts, not hinder them with your senseless bickering."

"...Master, _well done_!" K-2 said in a drawl that was nearly sarcastic. "Your work upon the asteroid this evening was truly inspirational."

"Congratulatory: we should kill something to celebrate!"

"Oh, _good_!" Kenobi snarled when Kanan and Hera burst into laughter. "I am _so glad_ you are suddenly getting along so well!" He pointed a finger menacingly at the two droids, his golden eyes narrowed. "Listen up, you defective rust buckets. K-2's domain is the _Umbra_ , including the security of her systems, and if you can't keep an _assassin droid_ out of the system, than _maybe_ I should have it doing your job instead. And _you_ ," he pointed at the HK, "you are part of my away team, and you are _not_ to access the _Umbra's_ systems unless instructed to do so. Unless, of course, _you'd_ rather stay here and manage the _Umbra_. I can always give K-2 your gun and take it instead."

"Distress: Master, that would be a gross misuse of my primary functions."

"No, actually, I'd like that," K-2 said, leaning over and looking at the assassin droid carefully. "Can I have his rifle, Master?"

"If he tries to hack into your systems again, you most certainly can." Obi-Wan grinned wickedly. "Am I understood?"

"Perfectly, Master."

"Affirmative."

"Excellent." The Sith Lord brushed his fingers in the air. " _Get to work_." The droids wasted no time in leaving, the HK swiftly on the fluid motions of its legs, and the K-2 with a slower, easier gait. With a frustrated sigh, Obi-Wan motioned for the two Spectres to follow him.

"I find it curious," Kanan said, his eyes drifting out the transparent viewport walls, "that the leader of the Separatists waited until fifteen years after the end of the Clone Wars to get a droid."

"Why is it even called the Clone Wars?" Obi-Wan quietly mused. "Why couldn't it be the Droid Wars? There were more droids fighting than clones. By the time I took over, the droids were more expensive to manufacture than the clones." He huffed and ignored the confused look Kanan gave him as he effectively derailed the conversation. "Our numbers were greater, we spent more money...it _should_ be called the Droid Wars."

" _We_ lost more lives," Kanan countered, and Kenobi considered it for a moment and nodded as he accepted the notion.

"Why is it curious?" Obi-Wan asked, and Kanan stuttered, taken aback by what he saw as obliviousness.

"W-well...you had a droid _army_ , you'd think-"

"The droids weren't mine, they were Dooku's, and I never commanded them, that was Grievous." Obi-Wan felt his chest tighten, his anger rising, and he balled his fist to keep it down, the darkness creeping through him, brought on swiftly by the loss of his friends. "...you can't mentally dominate a droid. You can't make a droid feel fear." Despite his best efforts, his mind wandered, and memories of Dooku and Grievous flooded his mind. It seemed that so many of the people he would eventually grow close to had begun with hatred.

Grievous, arrogant and jealous and proud, who Obi-Wan despised as an inferior creature that strove for greatness when it was far out of his reach by augmenting himself, and it still wasn't enough. Also, he looked like a droid, and he hated droids. He had come to respect him as a warrior, as a fellow slayer of Jedi, as a commander. He had died at the hands of hated, _hated_ Anakin Skywalker, though he knew now that the general was likely the target of the first mission executed by Darth Vader.

And Dooku, his fellow Sith apprentice, the first of their kind since Darth Bane to exist simultaneously, the Rule of Two forever broken, and they _hated_ each other. Forced to compete for the favor of their cruel Master, Tyranus and Lumis built their relationship on sabotaging each other, on constantly striving to make the other fail, to look weak in comparison. Obi-Wan saw him as old, as _frail_ , as well past his time, hardly the legacy that the Sith needed to move forward. The only thing that kept them from killing each other was their Master's command not to, because doing such would harm the Sith Imperative. Time and time again, they would make temporary alliances in order to get a job done, only to have it swiftly fall apart when one betrayed the other. And when Obi-Wan needed it most...Dooku was there, stood by him when he had lost everything, their last alliance miraculously sticking, and when it made sense to stay far, far away from poor, mad Darth Lumis, Tyranus never turned away. And Dooku had died by Obi-Wan's hands, gripped tight in the jaws of insanity.

And even Satine, dear, sweet, _beautiful_ Satine had hated him in the beginning, only to have them slowly, _gently_ fall in love as they grew to know each other. It was a love that had lasted, even when Obi-Wan had done everything in his power to push it down when he committed himself to the Jedi. Though had she simply asked him, he would have left the Order without ever looking back. But she didn't ask, and when they had finally met again, he had already fallen, and the love he felt for her could no longer be contained. And now...even she too was dead. Her and their son, _stolen_ from him by Maul because he hadn't been strong enough to protect the thing he held most dear. Because the Dark Side demanded blood, and in exchange for power, it had taken hers and the child growing within her.

Thoughts of her plagued him. It had never stopped, not once left his mind. When he slept, he dreamed of her, of all the things that could have been and weren't, like she was right beside him, _always_ matching his step, her fingers intertwined with his. He could smell the floral scent of her hair, could feel her smooth, pale skin under his fingertips, her lips upon his, the warmth that wound tight within him as he slid inside her. Every time he closed his eyes, she stood before him, when he slept, when he meditated, when he _blinked_ , always, always, and each time, it tore wider the hole where his heart once was, a void occupied with only her. It was pain, and pain made him powerful, but he would have given it all away if it would bring her back. It never could. He knew it never could, and so he embraced the pain, and he grew stronger. _She_ made him stronger, as she always had.

He felt the Force stir and looked back quickly to see Kanan staring at him, breathless, his teal eyes filled with pain as he felt the powerful, miserable pull of the Sith Lord, and it made Obi-Wan burn with hatred as he slammed his feelings back into the deepest depths of him to fester and grow and poison the rest of him.

"You _certainly_ are staring out the viewport a lot, Kanan," the Sith Lord snapped, the the harsh tone pulling the Jedi out of his examination of the Sith Lord.

"I, uh..." Kanan cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck, feeling like a kid that got caught doing something they weren't supposed to. "I was looking for the X-wings...our escorts. They were here a while ago."

"I sent them home," Obi-Wan said, brushing the matter off. "The mission was over, I had no further use for them."

"Who are they?" Kanan asked softly, his eyes drifting back out the viewport. "They were the best pilots I have ever seen, they destroyed as _Star-_ "

"Mandalorians," Obi-Wan swiftly interrupted. "I _am_ the Shadow King. When I call, my people come."

"What, Mandalorians fly X-wings?" Hera asked, tilting her head to the side as she looked at the Sith. "Those aren't used in the Imperial Forces."

"Not all Mandalorians serve the Empire," Obi-Wan muttered. "You have a Mandalorian working with you. You should know that." Before either of them could say anything, Obi-Wan quickly said, "How did your part of the mission go? Did you meet with Fulcrum?"

"U-uh...an intermediary, yes," Hera said slowly. "Any word on when I'll meet _the_ Fulcrum?" Kenobi shook his head.

"Fulcrum doesn't tell me anything," Obi-Wan muttered as he laid his hand on the console beside the door to his room, and it slid open with a smooth hiss, and he bowed, ushering the two inside. "Right to business, yes?" he asked, sitting on the edge of his bed and motioning for Kanan and Hera to sit in the couch opposite him. They did so in silence, sitting close to each other, and Kanan grasped Hera's hand in his. "To answer your earlier question, Kanan..." Kenobi drawled, his gaze sliding far away as he looked out the viewport, Lothal's primary shining brightly in the distance. "No, the Grand Inquisitor is not dead."

" _What?!_ " Kanan cried, letting go of Hera's hand and leaping to his feet, his eyes blazing with fear and anger. The Sith was unaffected. "Kenobi, that man is a serious threat! We need him gone, he's hunting us! He's-"

"He's no threat at all," the Sith said calmly, gesturing for the Jedi to sit, but Kanan would not. The golden eyes narrowed, the fires within suddenly glowing brightly, and Kanan gasped, his body tensed, and he slowly lowered himself on to the couch. Obi-Wan's eyes were hard when he folded his hands in his lap and crossed one long leg over his knee. "I am a Master of the Sith, Kanan Jarrus, the Lord of all I touch, and the servants of the Dark Side are _mine_. They must be. They have no choice." He scoffed. "Slaves to the Dark Side, and I walk in Mastery in the shadows of the Force. As they serve the Dark Side, they also serve me, willing or not."

"Kenobi, he's _hunting_ us," Kanan said again, more desperate this time. "This isn't a game, and Ezra..." He grit his teeth and looked away, but said nothing more, and Hera rested her hand on his leg and looked at Obi-Wan, her eyes wide and pleading.

"...he's mine, Kanan," Obi-Wan said softly. "He knows it deep inside him, and he will lead me to _my_ enemy when the time is right." He chuckled softly. "He's my toy, and a broken toy is no use to me."

"...I don't understand," Kanan said quietly. "You're _Sith_ , aren't you? Murder and death and blood is what you do. He's an enemy, why let him live?" Obi-Wan was silent, his hands pressed together as he slowly organized his thoughts, determining what to tell the Jedi, and decided that keeping to the truth as much as he was able was for the best. Kanan was...peace. He was order. He was a great deal of what a Jedi, a _true_ Jedi should be. Unafraid, duty driven, but deeply feeling, he did what he felt was right, and that was the point. He _felt_. There was no separation from him and his passions. He could have love, could feel hate, could _live_ , and still be a Jedi.

Qui-Gon would like him.

"The purpose of the Sith is not to kill all those unfit to live," he said quietly. "We are the predatory swarm that culls the herd, yes, but all we do must be in service to the Dark Side, all we do must be for the preservation of the Sith. That does not mean the indiscriminate murder of the innocent or guilty, as it were." He smiled softly. "Such a thing so often draws the attention of the powerful and of those that would seek justice. In the past, that was the Jedi, but now, it's other Sith, and one far more powerful than me." His eyes drifted out the viewport again, looking far beyond what he could see. "I must survive...the Force is not done with me yet, I am _needed_..."

"If the survival of the Sith is the goal, why are you fighting?" Kanan asked, and for a minute, it seemed as though Kenobi didn't hear him, his golden eyes lost elsewhere. With a gasp, he looked back at Kanan and smiled softly, almost modestly.

"It was the will of the Force that the Jedi be destroyed," Obi-Wan said, and he took no pleasure when Kanan tensed, his presence in the Force suddenly turbulent and disturbed, and when Obi-Wan closed his eyes, he could see the night it all ended within Kanan's mind. The Jedi Purge. The betrayal of the clones. The death of his Master. The young teen's world _shattering_. "They had lost their way," he continued, "and for change to happen, the slate needed to be wiped clean so it can begin anew. New Jedi. _Different_ Jedi."

"Different how?" Kanan croaked, his voice raw with emotion he struggled to keep to himself.

"I don't know, I'm no Jedi." Obi-Wan looked down at his hands clasped in his lap. "The Sith are ever changing, ever evolving. The Rule of Two has ended, and my former Master reigns as the Master of the Sith. The Force is his kingdom, and even it bows before him. He has made a slave of the Force." The golden eyes narrowed as he looked at the Jedi. "But the Force isn't a slave to me. The Force is my friend, my ally, and where it takes me is where I go. I bend to its whims, and so it yields to me as well. And it is _striking back_."

"What, against the Sith?" Kanan asked, and Kenobi nodded.

"Against the Sith, yes." He sighed and looked at the ground. "...thousands of years of constant change and adaptation, and it takes one to bring it all down. The course my former Master has set is an affront to the Force itself. The Order of the Sith...must change as well."

"And you're going to be the one to change it?" Hera asked, and the Sith Lord shrugged.

"I really don't know. I certainly hope so, I've always been different from my fellow Sith Lords."

"Is that why you're rebelling against the Empire?" Hera asked excitedly as she leaned in. Before, it had been all eternal, all the realm of the Jedi, all talk of the Force, things she didn't understand. But now, it was all tying together. Hera understood being a rebel. She knew what it meant to work for a growing, active rebellion, and Obi-Wan was at the heart of it. She had thought her shoe into something larger was Fulcrum, but the more she listened to Obi-Wan, the more he was sounding like a founder of the rebellion.

"...yes," Obi-Wan said after a moment of silence. "In a way. Mind you, I don't object to the Empire." He smirked when Hera gawked at him, but Kanan looked unsurprised. "Does this offend you, Syndulla?"

"The Empire does _terrible_ things!" she gasped, shaking her head, her lekku squirming in agitation. "It's a beast that consumes everything around it just to feed itself! It spreads suffering everywhere, the people are just... _slaves_ now! All there to serve the whims of the Emperor! They don't care what's destroyed so long as they get what they want!"

"All this is true," Obi-Wan said softly, and he pointed a finger at the Twi'lek. "But is the Empire to blame for that, or does the fault lie in the Emperor to which it serves?"

"Of course he supports the Empire," Kanan said, his voice low and dark. "He helped create it. He isn't against the Empire, he's against the _Emperor_. This isn't a rebellion against a corrupt government to restore democracy and freedom, this is a _coup_. He's overthrowing the Emperor, not the Empire." Kanan's brow furrowed. "But...why?"

"You've managed to puzzle it out so far," Obi-Wan said, soft and amused as he looked at the Jedi. "You tell me."

"For power, you want to rule for yourself," he said quickly, but immediately gasped and fell silent, considering his knee-jerk reaction and the enigmatic, expectant look on the Sith's face. "...no, that can't be all it is. This is a Sith Empire." A small, frightened smirk crossed Kanan's face as understanding settled on him. "Emperor Palpatine it the Master of the Sith. _He's_ your Master."

" _Former_ Master, yes..." Kenobi corrected, the gold eyes glowing with pleased amusement. "Very good, Kanan."

"So is that your plan?" Hera asked, her voice tight and angry. "You kill the Emperor and become Emperor yourself? The Sith still rule the galaxy for their own cruel, selfish purpose, and _nothing_ changes?"

"Like I said, I'm not like other Sith," Obi-Wan growled. "More problems will arise from just throwing out the Empire altogether. The Imperials will need a place to go. You can't just force them to submit to your new Republic, that will make you no better than our current Emperor."

"It's _not_ the same!" Hera growled, and the gold eyes narrowed on her.

" _It is_. The Empire has brought peace, prosperity and stability to _many_ systems."

"Through _fear_!"

" _No_ , through a surge in the economy, through increased productivity. True, it is only through the Core Worlds, but the galactic center has _flourished_. Everyone works for the Empire, industrial, ambitious people are rewarded for their work, and are held responsible for their failures. You destroy the Empire, Syndulla, and _billions_ will be without jobs, without the security they have come to trust, the economy would _collapse_." He scoffed when the Twi'lek looked unsure and uncertain, her convictions suddenly wavering. "Did you truly think the matter to be so simple? This is more than a military effort, this is _more_ than rooting out the corruption and greed and _filth_ that rots the galaxy. Don't forget, most Imperials are _just people_ , trying to be law abiding citizens and get by. They believe in the security the Empire provides them. They may be ignorant of the atrocities committed by their government, but that changes nothing. They are just trying to make an honest living. And our war will kill them."

"T-the Empire is evil," Hera said in a wavering voice. Kenobi just smirked.

"Such a _simple_ point of view...but you're right. This Empire is not ruled the way it should be."

"And you think you can do better?" Kanan asked, and for a moment, he thought he saw the flicked of something deep inside Obi-Wan, a glow of something in those golden eyes that spoke of devotion and love and unending sorrow, a deep, consuming pain that carried with it a thousand unspoken promises. Kanan didn't know what to feel about that, but for some reason, he wanted to trust it.

"I know I can," Obi-Wan said softly. "I don't know exactly the form my Empire will take, but this galaxy is too bag, its people too varied to run a _galactic_ Empire. I believe...both systems can exist. The systems should be allowed to choose to whom they belong. If I can relocate the Empire after we defeat them, if I can take those loyal to Imperial government away and incorporate them into _my_ Empire...I believe it will solve a lot of problems."

"...does Fulcrum know your plans?" Hera asked, and Obi-Wan frowned, irritation simmering just beneath his skin.

"Not yet. I don't suspect it will go over well with the Rebel leaders, but...we shall see." Kanan and Hera were silent scooting closer together and absently stroking the other as they thought. "Now!" Kenobi said, disrupting the silence. "I have told you what you want. Now we will discuss what _I_ want. Your student, Kanan. I saw what happened. I _felt_ what happened." He smile softly, almost nostalgically. "He looked like _me_ when I first touched the Dark Side."

Kanan could feel his heart pounding in his chest, a pit drop deep in his stomach, and he felt cold rush through him. He couldn't breathe. He looked at Obi-Wan, his eyes blazing with the corruption of his soul, and all he could see was Ezra, his young student, so bright and promising, so good and just, his eyes burning with the yellow flames of the Dark Side. There was so much good in him, so much potential...but there was darkness as well, as there was in everyone. Ezra lacked discipline, but deep inside him, Kanan saw the Jedi he could be if he just had the right teacher. A _real_ teacher. The best intentions could lead down a dark path, and if Ezra was headed that way...

"I don't know what to do..." Kanan quietly confessed. "Master Yoda once said that once taken, the Dark Side will continue to dominate your destiny. Is _that_ what is in store for Ezra? Obi-Wan, _please_ ," the man said, his voice shaking and desperate. "Help me. Help _him_."

The Sith Lord sighed. "Understand this, Kanan. Ezra will _never_ be a Jedi. He is too reckless, too proud, too arrogant, too much of _everything_. A Jedi is raised to be temperate and understanding, but Ezra grew up on the streets, and _everything_ was for survival. He is bitter and angry and selfish. Surely you must see that."

"There is _good_ in him, Kenobi!" Kanan said, his voice raised and tense. "So much of it! I see what he can be, and he can be _great_! Powerful!"

"Once the path of darkness is taken, it will forever dominate your destiny..." Obi-Wan muttered. "Once, long ago, like Ezra, I reached out and grabbed the Dark Side for power, I used it to fuel me to save my Master, and in doing such, I defeated a Sith Lord in single combat. But that wasn't when I truly turned to darkness. I was young, and I was desperate."

"You went through the same thing!" Kanan said, a sliver of hope creeping into his voice. "You've experienced it, you know! If that isn't what made you fall, then we still have time, we can still stop this."

"Kanan, that may not have been when it happened, but I _did_ fall," Kenobi said apologetically. "I know nothing about stopping it or resisting it, because in the end, I _became Sith_. There is no escape from the Dark Side. The Jedi were right when they said it forever haunts your destiny, because it _does_. I've only known two to ever escape its pull. Asajj Ventress turned from darkness and never looked back, and Quin-" He choked, his voice cracking for a moment, and he had to look away from the Jedi. "...Quinlan Vos sacrificed himself, an act of selflessness that just doesn't come from the Dark Side. And in the end, they _both died_ , Kanan. If they never got involved with the Dark Side...it's possible they would be alive today. You don't need to be steeped in darkness for it to haunt you."

"So there's no helping Ezra?" Kanan asked, his voice tense with nervous laughter. He shook his head. "No. No, I don't believe that. If you didn't fall until later, then there's still time. We can stop this."

"If we can, I don't know how. There is too much fear in him, too much anger, and he's tasted true power. It will be difficult to keep him from it."

"...do you think you could have turned away?" Hera asked the Sith quietly. "After that first time. If you were..."

"Stronger?" Obi-Wan asked, and the Twi'lek nodded. "Perhaps. I don't know." He sighed and turned his gaze back to Kanan. "Listen, Kanan, I know darkness, and I feel it in Ezra. I can teach him the ways of the Dark Side, I can show him how to keep it from consuming him, but I can't show him the way without it. That is up to him. I know what he feels, I know what he is going through, but I fell in the end. I know nothing about turning away from it because I never did."

"So you can't help," the Jedi said plainly, and the Sith nodded.

"I'm sorry. This is beyond my power."

" _It is a complicated matter, I confess_." Kanan breathed deeply and closed his eyes, and noticed a moment later that something felt... _off_. He opened his eyes, and beside Obi-Wan, holding the full attention of the Sith Lord, was Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, ghostly pale and glowing with faint blue light. His jaw went slack. He _had_ seen this before, but after he sobered up, he dismissed it as a drunken hallucination, a figment of his imagination woven into his memory by entirely too much alcohol. But he wasn't drunk now. He _wanted_ to be, but he was unfortunately entirely sober.

"It isn't one you can solve, Qui-Gon..." Obi-Wan said to the spirit. "You only drove me deeper to darkness."

" _You never wanted to be turned away_."

"You don't know that Bridger will want to."

"This what I told you about!" Kanan whispered to Hera when he felt her tense and softly hiss as she exhaled.

"What, that Kenobi is absolutely _insane_?" she asked, but the Jedi only grinned.

"This just confirms it for me, I thought I was seeing things before, but-"

"He's _talking to himself_ ," the Twi'lek said between clenched teeth, and Kanan looked at her, confused for a moment before he understood. The spirit was a manifestation of the Force. Hera wouldn't be able to see him because she lacked a sensitivity to the Force.

"He's not..." Kanan quietly explained, leaning over to whisper to his lover. "A...Force spirit, he's speaking to a Force spirit."

"...a ghost?" Hera asked, genuinely interested and highly curious, and Kanan nodded.

"A ghost. A _Jedi Master_. And he was one of the best."

"Don't flatter him, Jarrus, it'll make him unbearable," Kenobi growled, and the spirit beside him chuckled softly.

" _Hello, Caleb_ ," Qui-Gon said softly. " _Good to see you again_."

"Uh..." Kanan looked sidelong at Hera who was very, _very_ confused. "...does this ever get any less... _awkward_?"

"Never, and he doesn't get it," Kenobi grumbled.

" _Trouble with your student_?" the spirit asked, and before Kanan could answer, the Sith Lord reeled on him.

"You are a _failure_ as a Master, Qui-Gon! There is nothing you can do to help the boy! Jarrus wants him _saved_ from the darkness, not pushed toward it!"

" _You are needlessly cruel_."

"I am a _Sith Lord, Qui-Gon Jinn_!" Obi-Wan shouted at the smirking, amused spirit, and Kanan got the impression that this... _ghost_ rarely left Kenobi alone.

" _The situation is a dire one, Caleb. You are right to be worried_ ," Qui-Gon said as he stroked his beard. " _Unfortunately, Obi-Wan is right. There is nothing I can do to help him_. _There is nothing Obi-Wan can do._ "The spirit looked at the Sith Lord. " _But there may be someone who can_."

"I _told you_ already, Qui-Gon," Obi-Wan said, eyes closed and pinching the bridge of his nose. "Because of the events on the asteroid, the Inquisitor now has confirmation I am a part of the Lothal rebel cell. I cannot go back to my allies until he had been handled." He took a deep breath as he slowly opened his eyes, the red around the golden edges beginning to glow brightly. "And when I finally deal with him, I will have Thrawn in my grasp..."

"Wait, you're _staying_ with us?" Hera asked, Obi-Wan flashed her a cocky grin. "And when exactly were you going to be telling us this?"

"Eh, when it came up. And it just came up." His grin widened. "Why? Got a problem with that?"

"Not at all, the Twi'lek said, running her hand slowly up her unsuspecting lover's inner thing, and the Jedi tensed as he shivered, a desperate, needy moan escaping his throat before he managed to catch himself. "I'm just thinking you're going to be doing a _lot_ of babysitting." Obi-Wan groaned loudly and rolled his eyes, and the spirit smiled softly at the Twi'lek that could not see him.

" _I don't mean for you to go anywhere or meet with anyone_ ," Qui-Gon said. " _Not physically_."

Obi-Wan's eyes narrowed. "You don't mean-"

" _I do. His training is complete, and he needs to practice so he does not run into the same trouble that I did_." He smiled. " _Let him test the boy. Let him see if Ezra is even ready to be a Jedi like Kanan believes._ "

Kenobi laughed in disbelief when Kanan looked at him with wide, questioning eyes. "Even if that was possible, and I _doubt_ it is, we would need a place that is _remarkably_ strong in the Force to even make it likely. We don't-" Obi-Wan followed Qui-Gon's gaze as he looked out the viewport, and the Sith Lord groaned loudly. "Of course..."

"Uh, am I missing something?" Kanan asked, both of Hera's wrists grasped in his hands to keep her from wandering, a deep flush on his face as he avoided eye contact with the mischievous Twi'lek.

"Turns out," Obi-Wan slowly drawled, "that there _is_ someone that can help Ezra." He folded his hands in his lap. "He can tell you everything you need to now about Ezra, and he'll help you devise a plan. Just...give me a few days to research this..." He scowled. " _Meeting spot_."

"Who?!" Kanan asked excitedly, leaping up from his seat. Obi-Wan gave him a slight, knowing smile.

"Perhaps the last true Jedi left in the galaxy."


	17. The Growing Circle

**_AN:_** ** _Alright guys, I did it. I broke my wrist. Typing is pain. Everything is pain. Pain pain pain. Which means turning out chapters is going to be limited by hos fast I can hunt and peck with two fingers. Because, you know, not writing bothers me. I do have a great idea for this next chapter, and for the next chapter of Blood of Mandalore, so I'll be writing those...sort of simultaneously, I think? Also, spring break means LOTS of work, so...I don;t know, expect an update Friday or Saturday? Maybe earlier, if I can. I hope I can. Alright, my hand hurts. Enjoy, lovelies!_**

 _Chapter 17: The Growing Circle_

Despite the additional danger that came from being openly associated with a Lord of the Sith, Kanan was excited to have Obi-Wan around as a more permanent member of the gang. When he thought about it, it was...unsettling. Obi-Wan defied nearly everything that Kanan had been told about the Sith by the Jedi the more he got to know about the man. It was true that the Sith keep things close to his chest, but through their training in the days that followed the disaster on the asteroid, Kanan managed to glean quite a bit about Obi-Wan as a person.

He was quiet, isolated, a man that mostly kept to himself, given his own devices. He'd sit in meditation with his holocrons, the red pyramids open and spinning in the air, whispering in a low, seductive hiss in a language that Kanan didn't understand, but it made his head swim, made him dizzy, his mind fuzzy like he was being drugged, or like he had indulged in one of his drunken binges. It felt... _good_ , and he craved more, was overcome by the impulse to just sit and let the smooth words slink into his ears and surround his mind, but something deep inside him dug its heels in and resisted the call, snapping him back into himself with a startled gasp of how easily, how _sweetly_ the Dark Side could draw one in, only to tear them open and feast upon them.

But not Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan sat in that poisonous mire and drank it in like water, and the acrid effect of it only served to corrode that which held back his potential. True, it _did_ contaminate him, but he was so far gone, so deeply ingrained in darkness that venom pulsed through his veins like blood. He was one with the Dark Side, and the price for the power he grasped in his hands had already been paid in full many times over. It had made him cruel and cunning, his vast intelligence and way with words turned to vile, sinister purpose. He had no morality, no sense of what was right and wrong, good or evil. All any person, any action was to him was a tool, useful or not, a toy, fun or broken, and were anything to stand in the way of what he wanted, they would be handled in a way that suited him. In this, he was _exactly_ like the Sith the Jedi had warned about. Power with no constrictions, resulting in something monstrous.

But then there were the times when Obi-Wan thought nobody was looking, the times he trained with lightsaber and staff and blaster, the times he sat in meditation in front of one of the viewports of his ship or out in the rugged nature of Lothal. In those times, Kanan could see his thoughts wander, and those golden, corrupted eyes grew distant and dull like he was somewhere else, or with _someone_ else, and his presence in the Force _shivered_ , and though Obi-Wan's actual presence was difficult to detect, the waters around him rippled with grief so profound, it was as if the wound was fresh, and Kanan could feel the waters of the Force run red with blood that poured from the Sith's torn heart.

Kanan had come to realize that Obi-Wan was...just a man. Violent at time, cruel often and murderous on occasion, but he felt emotion deeply. Grief and loss he could never let go, never forgive, never forget had turned him bitter and hateful, but it was pain none the less. He took care not to show it, choosing instead to hold it close, as per the demands of the Dark Side, and it had over time knifed through him, old tragedy continuing over time to turn everything inside of him into bloody ribbons.

The other morning, Kanan had heard the names on the Sith Lord's lips, names like a mantra he said over and over again the way a Jedi may chant the Code. Satine. Quinlan. Padmé. Luminara. Others, many, many others, some Kanan recognized and many he didn't, all said softly, _lovingly_ , over and over again as he sat beside Cody and the rancor, the clone's hand gently on the hunched man's back. It was one of the most human things he had ever seen. Kanan was certain that Obi-Wan had seen him, but if he did, he didn't say anything about it. Whatever it was exactly that turned Obi-Wan into Darth Lumis, whenever the exact moment was, the man before him was driven by grief over the loss of love and friendship, two things that weren't of the Dark Side. Perhaps the man he once was simply would not be so easily extinguished, a testament to the resilient Jedi he could have been.

What struck Kanan hardest, though, was the stray, dark thought that crossed his mind as he watched Kenobi shiver with the cold that the Jedi knew was the grasp of the Dark Side. If _Kanan_ had lost everything, if he had survived to see the deaths of his friends, Zeb and Sabine, of his student, Ezra, of his lover, Hera...he wasn't so sure he would behave differently. He'd have _nothing_ to lose, and pushed to that length, Kanan wasn't so certain he wouldn't reach for darkness as well. Such a thing would make _anyone_ dangerous, but his connection to the Force made it much worse. Pain in exchange for power was enough to keep the ambitious practitioners of the Dark Side alive, but Kanan wondered if Kenobi had been without the Force to convert his grief to god-like powers if he wouldn't have just taken his own life.

When Kanan had been found staring stupidly at the Sith, Obi-Wan had simply rolled his golden eyes and told Kanan that training was at first light, and his apprentice was to join them in the afternoon. It wasn't a demand, it was an invitation, one that Kanan thought would have been warm and friendly had Kenobi not been in clutched in the hands of grief. He saw the Sith Lord in a new light. One that was haunted by ghosts that he desperately clutched for, both in his best and in his worst moments. Their touch was all pain, but Kanan swore he could see pale, ghostly hands tightly clutching the Sith Lord's, and though it hurt, Kenobi would never let go. It was the true difference between Jedi and Sith. The Sith _felt_ , embracing deep and unrelenting passions, from the highest joys to the deepest pain. The Jedi rejected it, sacrificing feelings of love and joy in exchange for shielding themselves from pain.

Kanan wouldn't reject the offer, and so he had told Ezra to be ready for the next day, and he retreated himself for the night, a grateful Hera joining him in his bed when Obi-Wan had out of the blue requested the other Spectres accompany him to pick up supplies in the nearby town Kothal and to scout out Imperial troop movements near the local garrison for Fulcrum in order to compare them to the data provided by the Rodian. True to his word, Obi-Wan _was_ good to what he considered his, and the Spectres were _undeniably_ in the Sith Lord's circle. And when the kids were returned back to the ship safely and _not_ drunk as Hera had expected, even the difficult to please pilot begrudgingly admitted that, at time, Obi-Wan wasn't the second worst person in the galaxy.

Kanan rose early that morning, packed his lightsaber and his holocron, the only two things he had left that connected himself with his old life, and he headed out of the ghost into the canyons of Lothal, the _Ghost_ and the _Umbra_ parked in large, open caves opposite the other in the winding corridors cut through the rock. The sun had yet to rise, and the sky was still dark, only the faintest hint of the coming dawn visible on the horizon, and breathing deeply, Kanan took in the feel of the warm, dry air, the sounds of the wildlife scurrying through the canyon, the feel of the creatures in the Force, and through it all, his superior ears could hear the faint sound of blaster fire and the thrum of lightsabers, and in the Force was the familiar feel of one of millions, a feel he had come to fear and despise.

Kanan sighed heavily. It was the clone. Kenobi was already up.

Following the faint hum of the lightsabers echoing through the canyons only led to him getting turned around and lost, the sounds seeming to come from everywhere and nowhere at once. It was a terribly clever way to conceal one's presence, Kanan thought, which was why Obi-Wan had been so hard to find, both for the Republic and the Empire. Though...he could suspect no less from a man that was trained by _Emperor Palpatine_. The unassuming Senator had gone unseen by the Jedi for...Sith Hells, how long had it been? When did Palpatine become a Sith Lord? When did he begin hiding from the Jedi in the shadows, quietly seeing his plans come to fruition, subtly moving his pieces into place? And how could the Jedi not have known?

There was no reason to doubt Obi-Wan. Even though he was cruel, violent and had killed _billions_ of people, there was something about him that rang true to Kanan. His dedication to the destruction of the Emperor was undisputable and _highly_ personal, and Kanan had no doubt that Kenobi wouldn't stop until Palpatine lay dead, or he did. And more than that, his vision of the world _after_ Palpatine was dead...it made sense. It made _lots_ of sense, and Kanan couldn't help but feel that maybe, _maybe_ , under Obi-Wan, under _Emperor_ Kenobi, perhaps the galaxy could settle into peace.

Or they would have a new, powerful enemy when the Sith brought his army down on a fledgling New Republic. One of the two. It was worth the risk, in any case. From what he could tell, it took a lot to push Obi-Wan into being disloyal, and if they managed to forge a bond of friendship, Kanan thought it would be difficult to break it.

Instead of listening with his ears, Kanan listened to the Force, opened himself up to its feel and reached for Obi-Wan, and slowly, like a faint tug upon his mind, he felt him, calm, collected, commanding, and answering the Jedi's call. Kanan knew _exactly_ where to go. Allowing the Force to direct him, Kanan made his way through the long, twisting canyons, climbing his way up the cliffs when there were placed for his hands and feet to gain purchase in the hard stone, and he finally reached one of the mouths of the many caves that dotted the mountainous region, the sound of humming lightsabers and blaster fire growing louder.

Not far back from the entrance stood Obi-Wan, a strip of black cloth tied over his eyes and red and blue lightsabers in his grasp as he effortlessly swung them, the blades twirling and spinning in his deft hands as he deflected rapid bolts of plasma shot at him from a wicked looking rifle in the hands of the red droid, an HK unit, if Kanan remembered correctly. Behind Kenobi stood the clone, fully clad in his red and black Mandalorian armor and gripping a blue lightsaber in his hands, which he brought to bear on the Sith Lord he served. Obi-Wan spun out of the way, ducking and dodging both blaster fire and lightsaber as the swiftly moving blades blocked and deflected everything he could not simply avoid.

It was...stunning to watch. Beautiful and captivating, the sabers tracing patterns of light in the air and moving so fast the blades could not be seen through the brilliant, bleeding colors. He moved by feel, by _instinct_ , as if he were seeing every bolt, every blade where it _would_ be, and was positioning his blade accordingly. His body moved in perfect harmony with the present, in the moment, but it seemed as though his mind was always two steps ahead, plotting and planning, careful and methodical. His smooth, even motions only changed when the droid needed to prime more charges, the Sith Lord flipping high into the air and grabbing the HK with the Force and pushing it back against the wall, tearing the blaster from its hands. His attentions on Cody, the Sith moved swiftly, slipping between his guard and spinning out of the way when the clone immediately moved to counter it.

Kenobi's blades moved at blinding speeds, the weapons striking against Cody's blue lightsaber and keeping a persistent shower of sparks flying from the weapons, The clone didn't have the Force, so Kanan was uncertain how the man could even stand against such a flurry. He was good. _Very_ good, but against someone with the Force, someone who could connect to the crystal within the hilt, it just wasn't possible to be s good, even with training, and certainly not as good as a master of lightsaber combat. But still, the blades struck, and when they didn't, he managed to somehow just avoid the blade's point. Then, without warning, Kenobi made an error, a hole in his perfect defense appearing for fraction of a second as his foot slipped slightly. It was... _impossible_ , Kanan thought as he watched the clone take note and drive his blade through the Sith's defense, the blue plasma piercing the Sith's chest, and with a hiss, Obi-Wan jumped back, switching off his lightsabers and clipping them to his belt as he took the blindfold off. He was _grinning_.

A slow smirk spread across Kanan's lips as he understood. He had done it on _purpose_. All of it, not just creating a flaw in his guard. The rapid attack, the blows that always struck blade, the swings that just barely missed the clone, all done to train, to _teach_.

He wondered when the Sith Lord would ever be so kind to _him_.

"Well struck, Cody," Obi-Wan said softly, rubbing at his chest and laughing softly as the clone removed his helmet, a proud smirk on his face as he sauntered toward the Sith Lord.

"Our enemies won't be giving me openings, brother," Cody said softly, and Kenobi's grinned widened.

"They won't be giving you openings _on purpose_ ," Kenobi corrected. "But they _will_ give you openings. The Inquisitors are nothing special. Children with fancy tools, but they are little more than blunt instruments trained only well enough to carelessly hack through their opposition. They never needed to be more." He grinned. "Until now. Right, Jarrus?" Obi-Wan turned to face the Jedi, and a faint, wry smirk crossed over Kanan's face.

"You ever going to give _me_ an opening, Kenobi?" The Sith Lord scoffed.

"Not a chance, Jarrus." He shrugged. "You have the Force. You are _always_ armed, and you always have the advantage."

"Not against you," Kanan said, and the Sith Lord slowly nodded.

"No, not against me..." he quietly confessed. "Though that could change at any moment. There's no telling which way the Force will flow. Even against a stronger opponent, the Force may, for just a moment, favor you above one with a stronger command." The high whine of a blaster being charged echoed around them, the origin of the sound coming from behind Kanan, and the Jedi's eyes widened as he looked at the glowing golden eyes in the dim light gleaming with amusement. "Then again...there isn't any advantage to be had against _that_."

"Exclamation: well done, Master! Did you bring this meatbag to practice with? Are we going to execute it?" The HK's vocal modulator groaned with satisfaction, and Kanan paled considerably. "Oh, Master, did you bring one for me as well?!"

"Not this one, HK," Kenobi drawled. "That isn't just your average meatbag. That's a _Jedi_."

"Jedi!" the droid exclaimed excitedly. "Master, this is a fine opportunity to practice hunting the Jedi!" Its circuits whirred in a low hum. "Thoughtful: the Jedi are tricky opponents, Master."

"There aren't any Jedi left, HK," Kenobi said softly. "The Sith killed them all." The droid turned its visual receptors on Kanan.

"Statement: not all of them, Master."

"You would think the stormtroopers you slaughtered would be enough for a _short_ while," Kenobi hissed. "You've the temperament of a psychopath."

"Correction: Master, I have the _programming_ of an assassin." Obi-Wan rolled his eyes and draped his arm over Kanan's shoulder, leading him out toward the mouth of the cave, his eyes on the sky as it began to lighten as the sun rose.

"Your training today has entirely to do with your student. I can't bring you to the one that can help him, but we can bring him here." He paused, his jaw clenched tight in frustration. "In a sense..." He exhaled sharply and refocused himself. "If we can find a place strong enough in the Force. Lucky for us, Lothal _happens_ to be home to a Jedi Temple." Kanan's jaw dropped.

"Wait, it is?!" he cried, wincing when he heard his voice echo through the canyon. "Where?" he asked, much quieter this time. "Does it still exist? The Empire is all over this planet, if one was here, they must have destroyed it by now."

"It exists," Kenobi said, his eyes closed as he felt through the Force. "But the location is clouded to me, as I believe it may be clouded to all those that walk in shadow..." He sighed heavily. "So _you're_ going to find it. Open yourself, reach through the Force and...what are you doing?" the Sith asked, interrupting himself when Kanan dropped the pack on his back and began rummaging through it. "A _holocron_?" Obi-Wan asked when the Jedi pulled the cube from the pack, the device floating into the air before the Jedi and slowly beginning to spin as it opened, flooding the cave with soft blue light. "Kanan, what does a holocron-"

"There's all kinds of information on this," he said quickly. "Luminara's message to the Jedi when the Republic fell, lectures from Masters, and data from the archive." He grinned as light spread around them, shaping to form the image of the galaxy projected around them. "Including a map of the locations of Jedi Temples."

"...that's cheating."

"Is it?" Kanan asked with a crooked smile on his face. "I call it utilizing my resources." Obi-Wan grumbled, but raised no further objections. Instead, he stepped forward into the light of the projection, his eyes roving over the information presented before him. This was...not the same map as the one in the Archives of the Jedi Temple. Something as simple as a galactic map wouldn't be stored in a holocron so...what was this map doing here? What was different about it?

"The Empire has access to all the records in the Jedi Archive," Obi-Wan muttered. "Do you believe they have access to this?"

"I thought that as well," Kanan said, sinking to his knees and sitting back on his heels, his hands on his thighs, and as the Force swirled around him, the map shifted and changed in response to him, and to Obi-Wan, it looked... _hazy_. The holocron was preventing him fro accessing the information. "It's why I've been hesitant to look into any of this," Kanan said, a twinge of sadness in his voice. "If the Empire knows..."

"Then the Temples serve only as a way to trap the Jedi that return," Kenobi finished. "It's what I would have done." He watched the hazy map as it twisted and formed, his eyes consistently drifting back to the Jedi, who seemed to see it clearly. "There's a reason the Empire chose Lothal," Obi-Wan whispered. "Perhaps they saw the Temple on the map. Perhaps it is merely the kyber crystals present in the ground, the reason the Temple exists in the first place. Regardless..." He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. "I can _feel_ it. It's here."

"I see it," Kanan said, a smile on his face becoming a wide grin when he felt the Force well inside him. The Temple was there. It was _still_ there. The Empire hadn't found it, or they didn't know it was there. "I don't have exact coordinates, but I have a general area. I can find it."

"I know you can," Obi-Wan said quickly. "But you won't. Your student will. Consider this the first part of his trial."

"Do you really think this can help Ezra?" Obi-Wan nodded.

"If there is to be any helping him, yes, this is it. _You_ , on the other hand..." the Sith said as the Jedi recalled the holocron to his hand. "You need more training. You have trials you must face as well, _Padawan_."

"You really just want to beat me senseless with a lightsaber, don't you?" Kenobi grinned wickedly.

"Oh, that's a given, Jedi scum. But that's not it, not this time. This isn't about a lightsaber, it's about the Force." He knelt down, dragging his finger through the dirt on the ground as he drew small pictures and symbols. "There aren't many trained Force users out there anymore, but the ones that do exist are better than you with a lightsaber. There's no making up for all your years of never touching your blade."

"It's not like I had a choice, Kenobi..."

"I'm not blaming you," the Sith quickly cut in. "And I can train you to make you much, _much_ better, but no amount of training is going to make up for the fact that those we face have had _very_ good teachers, and they have been training tirelessly." He pointed to one of the drawings on the ground, one that Kanan instantly recognized as the image of the Grand Inquisitor, and he frowned when he saw that Obi-Wan had drawn a heart around his image. "But their powers are _weak_ ," he growled. "Blunt instruments left untempered by their neglect in their training with the Force. They are fearsome, yes, in the way Grievous was fearsome. But our advantage lays in our connection with the Force, not with the blade in our hands."

"...I understand," Kanan said, looking at the drawings as Kenobi pointed to them. "So,,,what are we dealing with?"

"The Inquisitorius..." he mumbled, pointing to the drawing of the Grand Inquisitor, and another that represented the organization of dark Force wielders to which he belonged. "With intensive training, I believe that you can overcome them."

"...Kenobi, they swept the galaxy and hunted the Jedi down," Kanan said, his voice tight with caution and the touch of fear, and he felt the Sith Lord ease, his shoulders relaxing.

"Yes, at a time when it was _very_ bad to be a Jedi. Don't forget, the best of you fell when the clones betrayed you, and many more fell into traps like you nearly did with Luminara." He paused, his eyes downcast. "...like _I_ nearly did with Luminara..." He was silent for a moment, his finger casually adding detail to the other three drawings on the ground, one which Kanan recognized as the Imperial insignia, but the other two faces he had never seen before. Slowly, the Sith began to draw two more faces, human, from the look of them, and one Kanan recognized instantly.

"Grand Moff Tarkin?" the Jedi asked. "He doesn't have the Force, does he?"

"No, but that doesn't make him any less dangerous." He pointed to the two new drawings. "Tarkin and Thrawn...not sensitive to the Force, but no less dangerous than one who is. They are exceedingly clever and _very_ well defended. It will take more than just the Force to even have a chance to get near them, and I suspect even then, they will be difficult to defeat."

"Even for you?" Kenobi laughed at that.

"Yes, even for me. I had a chance at Tarkin before, but I let him go to move pieces into position, a move I don't regret. But _Thrawn_..." He ran a hand through his hair as he looked at the image of the Chiss he had drawn, a likeness that he had found within the Inquisitor's mind. "If I had a chance at him, I'd have taken it by now. I'm drawing closer, but he still evades me..." He pointed to the other three images. "That leaves _you_ , Kanan, with three foes that are far beyond you. The Emperor, Maul, _Darth Vader_..."

"Darth Vader?" It was the only one he hadn't heard of. He knew about Maul from his time with the Jedi, the legend of their fallen hero Obi-Wan, a Padawan that had overcome Maul, a Lord of the Sith. He had inexplicably survived, though, and Kanan wasn't surprised to hear that the creature was alive still, back in the service of his Master, Sidious. _Palpatine_. But the other...

"Darth Vader..." Kenobi repeated, staring off into the distance at seemingly nothing at all. He looked back quickly to the Jedi when he felt the expectant silence between them. "My... _replacement_ ," he said slowly. "I beat him and left him for my Master when I found out he meant to replace me with him."

"So you are stronger?"

"...perhaps." He sighed heavily. "I haven't seen much of him since the Republic fell. Fifteen years of training under Sidious is nothing to joke about. I _did_ cripple him in our last confrontation, but when I won, it wasn't because of my skill with a lightsaber, it was because the Force tore itself open to rush to my aid. He...may have been better with a blade than I was, and he is _certainly_ better than you." Obi-Wan ran his fingers through the dirt, ruining the drawings. "The longer the fight, the better I get, but not everyone had the defenses I do, and Vader from what I hear has been trained to end fights quickly and brutally. You are no match for him, and I can't train you to be. You see him, you _run_."

"I'm not worried," Kanan said casually, smiling at the Sith Lord. "I mean, _you'll_ be there for us, won't you?"

"...you can't rely on me to always be there." Obi-Wan was silent for a moment before he grinned at the Jedi. "Which is why we're training, yes? We still have some time before we are to meet your student. Shall we begin?"

* * *

Ezra was late. _Hours_ late. The sun was swiftly heading toward the horizon when the boy showed up, running across the canyon floor toward where Kanan and Kenobi stood sparring, blades blazing as they clashed, the Sith periodically stopping the fight with swift cuts to the Jedi's arms so that he might correct his form or instruct him upon a technique to be used in specific situations. Ezra watched them for a moment, eyes wide and excited as he watched the two furiously fight, ended when the Sith Lord swept low and took Kanan's legs out from under him with his foot, the red blade stabbing into the prone Jedi's chest as he fell.

"You're an _asshole_..." Kanan groaned from the ground.

"I find pain to be the swiftest teacher."

"Not for me, apparently, since you keep beating me senseless." Kenobi shrugged.

"What can I say, I like hurting Jedi, and there are _so few_ of you left..."

"Well, in that case, I'm _honored_ ," Kanan said, rolling his eyes as he pushed himself to his feet and looked at Ezra. The boy just smirked.

"Sorry I'm late, Kanan, I was with Sabine."

"Oh, forsaking the Jedi to run off with a Mandalorian?" Kenobi lazily drawled, smirking when the boy turned a fierce shade of red. "Sounds familiar..."

"You don't say..." He sighed. "I don't think you're taking this seriously." Ezra rolled his eyes.

"Aw, come on, I-"

" _No_!" Kanan snapped, harsh and frustrated, and any words, any excuse that the boy had suddenly flew from his mind. "You don't see the importance of this, Ezra, you don't _see_ , and that's the problem! You made a dangerous connection on that asteroid, and now I _have_ to know if-" Kanan stopped and took a deep breath, running his hand over his hair as he calmed himself, but his heart would not stop pounding. He was nervous. He knew he felt something in Ezra, something _great_ , something good and deep and empathetic, but...but Obi-Wan had sensed something too. Something much, _much_ darker. Fear. Anger. A drive for justice that would not be satiated until every slight had been corrected, and that was a dangerous thing.

"I have to know if you're ready," Kanan finally said, calmer than before.

"...ready for what?" Ezra whispered, his voice shaking and nervous, the bluster and bravado at least temporarily taken out of him.

"A test," Kanan said, stepping toward his student. "One that can determine if you were meant to be a Jedi." He paused. "Or not."

"W-wait, you said I was a Jedi!" Ezra argued. "Why else would you be training me unless-"

"I never said you were a Jedi, I said you have the potential to become one!" Kanan said quickly in mild annoyance. "But you lack focus. _Discipline_. Hours late for training because you'd rather spend your time with a girl doing what _you_ want to do isn't behavior befitting a boy that wants to _be_ a Jedi!"

"Wait a minute!" Ezra snapped, stepping up to the Jedi and drawing to his full height, which was a full head shorter than the towering Kanan. "You and Hera-"

"We have _never_ put what we have before anything else!" Kanan snapped, his temper quickly rising. " _Everything_ comes before us! You, Zeb, Sabine, our mission, your training, everything, _everything_ comes before _us_!" He growled and turned away from the boy, breathing deeply in an attempt to calm himself. "...as much as I wish it could be otherwise..."

"Kanan, I..." Ezra started, but he quickly swallowed his words, his eyes cast to the ground in shame. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize..." The Jedi put his hand in the air and the boy stopped talking, his ears burning and feeling sufficiently scolded.

"I chose you, Ezra, because I saw something within you." He pointed toward the Sith Lord, leaning against the wall of the cave, his arms crossed over his chest, his body relaxed, his eyes observing Master and student _very_ carefully. "But so did he. Fear, impatience, anger, all these things lead to the Dark Side, and that isn't a path you want to walk. It is cruelty, and more importantly, it is _pain_. It's a cycle of pain and power that _never_ ends, Ezra. I see it in Obi-Wan every time I look at him." He looked at the Sith Lord, unflinching when golden eyes met his. "Everything he once was is dead, changed and corrupted by darkness and cruelty, and there is _nothing_ but pain inside him." The Sith's glowing eyes dulled, and he tore his gaze away from the Jedi. "...I don't want that for you, Ezra."

"I-I'm not used to all these rules, Kanan, you _know_ how I grew up..." Ezra quietly explained, inching closer to his teacher. "I want to become the Jedi you see in me, I do! I just...I don't know _how_."

"Which is why you need _discipline_ ," Kanan said softly, laying a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Being a Jedi is much more than being sensitive to the Force and wielding a lightsaber. There are _lots_ of Force sensitive people in this galaxy, but not a single one of them is a Jedi."

"Except for you," Ezra said proudly, and for a moment, Kanan's face fell.

"Kenobi says there's another. But yes, the Jedi as I knew them are gone." He sighed and looked down at the ground. "And I'm hardly a Jedi myself. I do my best, there are so many rules, so many parts of that life I abandoned after the Purge..."

"You're better for it," Kenobi said softly, drawing the attention of both Master and student. "The Jedi of old died for a reason, and when I destroy my Sith brothers, the Order will be mine to change as I see fit. The old ways are dying. We need a new way."

"Jedi and Sith, working together..." Kanan muttered. "I'd never have thought such a thing was possible."

"...we'd better go," Obi-Wan said quietly. "I don't want to waste more time than we have already. As it is, we'll be lucky if the one we're meeting is even there at all." He smirked at the boy, the light back in his eyes. " _Thanks, kid_."

"Hey, don't call me kid!"

"I'll stop when you stop acting like one, you child," Kenobi drawled as he strode past the boy and ruffled the irritated Ezra's hair. "Perfect, beautiful Hera said we could take the _Phantom_. Come along, Jedi."

" _Why_ you gotta talk about my woman like that, Kenobi?!" Kanan asked as he followed the Sith Lord up the ramp of the _Ghost_ , followed by a laughing Ezra. "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you noticed, but when _you_ say it, it make it sound like you're up to something."

"I _am_ up to something, Jarrus..." Kenobi said, sweet and smooth, and said no more, leaving the flustered Jedi to hound him all the way to the _Phantom_.

Ezra walked around the large, smooth rock formation protruding out of the ground. It was _massive_ , taller than some buildings he had seen and wide enough to put the _Ghost_ and the _Umbra_ inside with room to spare, if he could only find the entrance. _This was it_. He knew it, could _feel_ it through the carved stone beneath his fingertips. This was the Jedi Temple Kanan had told him about, the Temple that he had been told to guide them to, even though he had _no_ idea where it was. But he opened himself to the Force, cleared his mind, and he could hear it call him, _pull_ him, and soon enough, they were there.

 _Too_ soon, it turns out, since Kanan had been flying the _Phantom_ right over it. Kenobi told him so after they landed that it had taken the boy four passes before he could feel it. He _also_ told Ezra that he was hopeless and he should just give up, but...well, the man was Sith. He didn't get to where he was by being nice.

Of course, the Temple wasn't a Temple so much as it was _just_ stone. No doors, no cracks, no sign of an entrance at all. It was no wonder Kanan and Kenobi believed the Empire hadn't found this place. It was _just a rock_. And yet, he could _feel_ something, something deep, something calling to him, telling him that the path would reveal itself to Jedi Master and Padawan. He just didn't know _how_. He peeked around the stone toward where Kanan sat cross-legged in meditation and Obi-Wan laid upon the ground, drinking deeply from a bottle. Ezra snickered. He supposed that was the difference between Jedi and Sith. One say upon these sacred grounds with gravity and respect. The other simply didn't give a shit.

"Hey, Kanan!" Ezra shouted from behind the stone. "I don't see anything!"

"Don't see, Ezra, _feel_!"

"Gods of the Sith, you Jedi are so _trite_..." Kenobi drawled beside the Jedi, Kanan glaring at him as Obi-Wan closed his lips around the bottle's mouth and turned it upside down.

"You got better advice, oh great and mighty Lord of the Sith?" Kanan asked, glaring at the man as Ezra approached, and Kanan stood to meet his student.

"He alright?" Ezra asked, pointing to the Sith Lord on his back, and Kanan just rolled his eyes.

"Apparently, it's Sith policy to be _completely_ blasted before dealing with Jedi." He pointed to the stone formation. "What did you feel?"

"Nothing!" Ezra said, frustrated and running a hand through his hair. "I just know that you and I need to enter together, it didn't tell me _how_." A slow smile spread across Kanan's face.

"In the only way there is, my student. With the Force." Kanan stood, his eyes closed and his hand out before him, and Ezra quickly followed suit, the two focusing through the Force, feeling the flow through the stone of the Temple and far beneath the earth. Slowly, the ground began to shake, gently at first, and then with greater force as the stone monument before them twisted, unscrewing itself from the ground and raising even higher into the air, the entrance revealing itself and locking into place before them. Ezra stared wide eyes at the structure, taller now than before and the entrance revealed, just as he had felt.

Walking carefully beside Kanan, Ezra followed the Jedi toward the door and peered inside, a long, narrow corridor of steps leading deep into the earth. Exra swallowed hard as he felt the chill of the air pour out of the doorway smelling stagnant and old, like it had been sealed for ages.

"How long do you supposed this Temple's been sealed?" Ezra asked his Master, and the Jedi shrugged.

"There's no way to tell. Though...it's possible this place has been sealed since before the Jedi Purge."

"This feels...off," Ezra said, shaking his head. "I thought we were supposed to meet someone here? How can the Temple be closed for so long if this Jedi was supposed to meet us inside?"

"Oh, you have _so_ much to learn..." Obi-Wan drawled, patting Ezra's shoulder as he walked past him, descending deep inside the Temple and drinking from a completely different bottle from before. "Come on, Jedi...nothing to be afraid of, just ghosts down here." They could hear his laughter as he disappeared from view. "Oooh, _spooky_..."

"Hey, Kanan," Ezra said as he looked down inside the Temple. "It feels like he's mocking us..."

"It feels that way because that's _exactly_ what he's doing..." Kanan sighed. "Come on, we can't let that Sith bastard think we're afraid."

"But I _am_ afraid, Kanan..." Ezra whispered, gluing himself to Kanan's side as he walked down the steps into the cool, old air, the Temple shuddering as the entrance behind them slid closed. The boy whimpered. "Obi-Wan's _never_ afraid..." the boy grumbled, looking around as they stepped into a huge, circular room filled with pillars that held up a high ceiling. "Hey, do you think he's brave because he's drunk?" Kanan rolled his eyes.

"First off, he's not drunk, not yet," he muttered, watching as the Sith stood in the center of the room, drawing a large circle in the sandy ground with the toe of his boot. "Secondly, he's not brave, he's _fearless_. There's a difference. Bravery is being aftrai, but going through with it anyway. And lastly-"

" _Holy shit, is that a skeleton_?!" Ezra shrieked, his voice cracking and high as he backed away from the ghostly visage of a withered, age-worn corpse in the robes of a Jedi. Kanan knew instinctively what they were. Jedi Masters, long dead, waiting for Padawans to return from their trials, _still_ waiting for their Padawans to return. There was peace here. Silence, any spirit that may have once existed long since passed on, released into the Force and accepting of their fate. Kanan watched the Sith down another bottle, wavering slightly on his feet. He was bothered, clearly, and Kanan wondered if it was the peace of the tomb or the supposed Jedi they would be meeting that was driving him to hit the bottle so hard. Maybe Obi-Wan would be more at peace if the spirits were restless, just as his own ghosts were. Peace could, to the right people, be painful.

"You must focus..." Kanan said to the jumpy boy.

"Dead guys are distracting!" Kanan rolled his eyes.

"In here, you'll have to face your fears and overcome them, and if a couple of long dead men distract you, you will not succeed in there without me."

"...wait, without you?!" Ezra cried, looking up at the Jedi severely concerned. "Kanan, I can't do this alone!"

" _You can and you will_." The voice echoed from behind them, sounding almost hollow in the open space of the Temple, and both Jedi turned to see Qui-Gon standing before them, and Ezra screamed, hiding behind the Jedi and grabbing for the parts of his lightsaber that hung disconnected from his belt.

"Ezra, _stop it_!"

" _Ghost_!" the boy shrieked, reaching for Kanan's blaster when the Jedi took his lightsaber out of his grasp. The spirit just stood, his hands folded into the arms of his robe.

"It's a Force Spirit, you big idiot!" Kanan snapped, prying Ezra off of him and pushing him forward. "Of a Jedi Master, one of the bests. Have some respect!"

"Is this what Jedi have to put up with?!" the boy asked quickly, looking between the ghost and the Jedi. "...is it too late to take up that Sith thing?"

"You can't be Sith..." Obi-Wan said from his spot on the ground, his voice slurring slightly. "There's too much fear in you. The Sith are without fear." Embarrassment burning his cheeks, Ezra straightened up, giving the skeletons and the spirit a quick once-over before clearing his throat and calming himself.

"So, uh...when do we begin this trial?" Ezra ventured, trying to sound braver than he felt.

"Not we," Kanan said. " _You_." Ezra's jaw dropped, and the Jedi gave him a ressuring smile. "Don't worry. Thousands of Jedi have gone through tests like this. I went through one as well."

"And what will you be doing while I'm in there, huh?" Ezra asked. Kanan pointed to the skeletons.

"Waiting with them. Masters of students who failed."

"... _you just said_ -"

"Success is _never_ a guarantee, Ezra!" Kanan swiftly interrupted. "But I have faith that you will return."

" _Great._ " Ezra kicked at the sand. "So, when does this test begin?"

"I don't know," Kanan said, turning to Qui-Gon. "When _does_ the test begin? Kenobi said he had a Jedi that would be testing him. He wasn't talking about you, was he?" Qui-Gon shook his head.

" _No, I'm afraid not. But he won't be long._ " Kanan nodded and laid a hand on Ezra's shoulder.

"Try and calm yourself, alright?" The boy nodded, took a few deep breaths, and Kanan walked slowly over to Obi-Wan, the Sith Lord just beginning to crack open his third bottle. He pointed to the pack beside the Sith as he drank. "You got an endless supply in there?" Obi-Wan laughed softly and shook his head.

"Endless, no, not endless. But when dealing with Jedi, I've learned to be prepared."

"You deal with this Jedi often?" Obi-Wan looked at the ground, slowly swirling the alcohol in the bottle.

"More often than I'd like..." he muttered. "But less than what's really necessary. It's complicated." He held the bottle out to Kanan. "You might be joining the dead here today. I don't think he'll pass. You have _lots_ to drink about." Laughing softly, Kanan sat beside the Sith Lord and took the offered bottle, closed his eyes, and drank deeply.

"Such little faith have you, Obi-Wan?"

It came back to Kanan like a harsh, crashing wave, memories flooding him and showing him images of himself as a very young child in the Jedi Temple, attending class with a large group of other younglings and practicing the basics of lightsaber combat with the Order's most distinguished Master. He didn't need to see him to know who that raspy voice and that particular manner of speech belonged to.

The alcohol that was in Kanan's mouth was spewed upon the ground.

"Oh, _come on_!" Obi-Wan snapped, grabbing the bottle out of Kanan's hands as the bottle tilted in his loose grip and began spilling its contents upon the ground. "This is _expensive_ , you little shit! I may be made of money, but I _absolutely_ care that you're wasting it!"

" _Master Yoda_!" Kanan gasped, his mouth suddenly dry and unable to form words as he stared wide-eyed at the tiny Master. He was _just_ as Kanan remembered him. But something was... _off_ about the soft smile, the kind gleam in his eyes. He seemed...unstable, as if he weren't really there, like he was a hologram or a projection or...or a _ghost_. Kanan looked over to Qui-Gon, the Master kneeling beside the tiny creature, and while there was a real difference between them, Yoda seemed to be made of the Force, just as the spirit was.

"Caleb Dume," Yoda said softly after examining the gaping man for a moment. "Warms my heart, it does, to see you live. Well, you have done, to survive in this galaxy. Unkind to Jedi, it is."

"You're dead..." Kanan said in barely a whisper. "You're dead too..." Yoda simply smiled.

"Death, there is not. Only the Force. Remember the Code, do you?" Kanan absently nodded. "Dead, I am not. But discuss this later, we can. A student, you have, yes?"

"T-that's me!" Ezra said, rushing forward, his hands clasped before him, then behind him, and then the boy began fiddling with his fingers, uncertain what to do. "I-I'm supposed to be tested..." Yoda hobbled over to the boy, squinting his eyes as he peered up at him, a soft growl in his throat.

"Much anger there is in you. Much fear. Prey to the Dark Side, you have fallen."

"Surely it's not too late!" Kanan cried, scrambling to his feet and starting to rush to the Master's side, only to swiftly stop when he thought to keep a respectful distance. "Master, there is so much potential in him!"

"See this, I do. Obi-Wan." With a groan, the Sith took a long swig from the bottle. "Too late, is it, for Ezra Bridger?"

"How should I know..." he muttered, turning away from the Jedi. "For him, I think so. He reminds me of _Skywalker_ , if Skywalker had been _talentless_." Silene hung heavy among them, though Ezra didn't know why. He'd never heard of Skywalker, and couldn't decide if this was a good thing or not. He looked to Kanan for guidance, but the Jedi seemed just as confused as he was.

"Talent, he has, Obi-Wan," Yoda finally said. "Strong in the Force, he is. Great potential for good there is inside him." He frowned. "But anger and fear, darkness there is, and touched it, he has."

"It's not too late!" Kanan said swiftly. "It can't be! Not after once, I just don't believe that!" He laughed sharply and pointed back to Obi-Wan. "I don't even think it's too late for _you_ , Kenobi! I don't think it's _ever_ too late! The Dark Side is strong, yes, but we are stronger! Not as Jedi, as _people_!" Obi-Wan looked over his shoulder at the Jedi, so desperate, so afraid for his student, and he felt a twinge of sympathy for the man.

"...it is too late for me, Kanan," Obi-Wan said softly. "It was too late for me the moment I touched the darkness. There is no atonement for me, no salvation, no forgiveness, not for all I have done."

"...test your student, I will," Yoda said softly, gesturing with a three fingered hand toward an open door on the wall. "Wait, we will, for your return," Yoda said to Ezra, and swallowing hard, the boy steeled himself, nodded, and stepped through the door. "May the Force be with you," Yoda said, and with one last look at his Master, Ezra walked inside, the door slamming closed behind him.


	18. Path of the Jedi

**AN:** **HEY GUYS! Long time no see!**

 **Few reasons for the delay on this one. First off, wrist is ouch, writing slow. Secondly, spring break means work work work. Third, and this is the big reason...Thrawn, and Star Wars Celebration.**

 **Thrawn is a really big part of this story, and the book is, first of all, amazing and you should all go and read it NOW instead of reading this garbage. And secondly, it's given me a lot to think about, which means things in this story get altered to accommodate new information. I needed a few days to retool. Also, Star Wars Celebration means Rebels information, and Season 4 is going to be the last one. I have NO IDEA how long this story is going to be, but if I can integrate the new season, I'm going to. I might get this out so fast that I catch up, in which case, I'll end the story where I was planning on, but with my secondary project, Blood of Mandalore (psst, shameless plug, go read it...) and busy, work filled summer coming up, that seems unlikely. Anyway, we'll see.**

 **Apologies for the delay, but you can see there's a lot going on. I haven't forgotten about this one, never you fear. It's still my primary project, and I have the next two chapters already planned, so expect that this week.**

 **This chapter's a little different than the others, but I think it turned out pretty well. A bit longer since you guys had to wait. Just for you, my lovelies! Enjoy!**

 _Chapter 18: Path of the Jedi_

Ezra followed Kanan through the tunnels of the temple, a spring in his step as he followed his Master. Of course Kanan came for him, of course he changed his mind and decided to follow. Kanan wouldn't allow him to face this alone when he was as scared as he was. All Ezra needed to do was stay close, and everything would be fine. Kanan rushed forward, rounding a corner ahead when he heard something, and Ezra followed, only to hear the thrum of a lightsaber as it struck on, and the corridor filled with glowing red light.

He skidded to a stop right before he ran into the tall, intimidating form of the Grand Inquisitor, his double bladed lightsaber blazing, and Kanan rushed to stand between them, his blue blade in hand. Ezra gasped, stumbling back and falling, paralyzed with fear as he watched the Jedi strike blades against the Inquisitor, defending his student for all he was worth. With a wicked slash, the Inquisitor knocked Kanan's blade to the side, and spinning quickly, he thrust the lightsaber behind him, impaling Kanan Jarrus upon the wicked blade.

Eyes wide, a sharp gasp in his throat, Kanan sunk to his knees as the blade was withdrawn, and he fell sideways, tumbling down into a black, endless abyss. Ezra watched in horror, in fear, in despair as his teacher, his friend, his hero fell, dead at the hands of unstoppable evil, the Inquisitor's eyes laying on him next as he slowly advanced.

Ezra ran.

* * *

"No, _you listen_!" Obi-Wan slurred into his comlink, the Sith Lord laying flat on his back in the center of the dusty room, the bottle in his hand empty. On the other end of the device, Cody sighed heavily. "I need you to come here with more...with more..." Kenobi laughed drunkenly, staring with unfocused eyes up at the tall ceiling. "The bottles are _empty_ , you clone bastard! And I need you to bring me my woman, I've never defiled a Jedi Temple before! It's time for it!"

"Is there anyone else there I can talk to, sir?" Cody asked in a weary voice. "Kanan didn't go with the kid, did he? You said the trial is meant for him alone, so..."

"Hey, Cody," Kanan said, leaning against the nearest pillar and staring warily at the Force spirits as they sat cross-legged on the ground, their eyes closed in meditation. Like they were _alive_ or something. He didn't trust this, and talking to a clone and a drunk Sith Lord was preferable to dealing with whatever this was.

"Jarrus, I'm going to need you to make sure that Kenobi isn't driving that shuttle of yours back."

"You kidding me?" Kanan scoffed. "I let him drive and Hera will never forgive me. Can't afford to piss off the missus. You know how it is."

"No, I don't..." Cody drawled. "Shaak Ti wasn't just my lover, she was my slave, she did as I commanded."

"...wait, _Shaak Ti_?!" Kanan shouted. "As in, Jedi Master Shaak Ti?!"

"Do you know another?" Cody asked, and from his place on the floor, the ghostly shape of Yoda looked up and frowned, a low, displeased growl on his voice that echoed through the air. Obi-Wan lifted his head up and glared angrily at his comlink.

"Hey! She spread her legs for me too!"

"You enslaved her too?!" Kanan shouted, his chest clenched tightly and his stomach churning. He didn't know Shaak Ti, but he knew _of_ her, and that was enough. "So, what, did you corrupt her before you killed her?!"

"Don't you dare judge what you know nothing about, _Jedi_ ," Cody snarled. "She may have been our captive, but we treated her well and I _loved her_." There was silence in the air, heavy and awkward for Kanan, especially when the ghostly forms of Qui-Gon and Yoda stood and drew closer. Kenobi put the empty bottle to his lips, slipping his tongue into the bottle in an attempt to lap up any lingering drops. "For the record," the clone said, "she was killed by Vader. Not that it matters, does it."

"Matters, it does not," Yoda softly rasped, and Kanan nearly jumped when he heard the tiny Master down by his feet. "One with the Force, Shaak Ti is."

"He can't hear you, you wizened old troll," Kenobi lazily drawled, attempting to throw the bottle toward one of the pillars, but he released far too early and it dropped uselessly out of his hand and landed beside him. "He doesn't have the Force. You need _the Force_ to hear spirits, dead or not."

"When dead I am," Yoda said, standing over the intoxicated Sith Lord and looking down at him, "haunt you, I will, Obi-Wan."

"Oh, _come on_!" Obi-Wan brought the comlink to his lips. "Cody, come quick. The ghosts are everywhere. I'm not drunk enough."

"Negative on that booze delivery, sir," Cody said. "I'm inviting Hera over. I hear she likes older men."

"Wait, _what_?!" Kanan shouted, his face flushing in anger, and the Sith Lord shot up to a sitting position, his eyes narrowed and angry as well.

" _No sex in the Umbra_! And if she likes older men, I get to ride her first!"

"You most certainly do not!" Kanan snarled, snatching the comlink from the Sith Lord's hand. "Clone, you better make haste on that booze delivery, because I'm not drunk enough for this conversation!"

"Better bring Hera too," Obi-Wan slurred, grabbing the Jedi's arm and yanking him to the ground so he could speak into the comlink. "She and the Chiss can pleasure me _together_..."

"Can I have a day off from you Force sensitives?" Cody asked. "It's very difficult playing the sane man to the likes of you, and I was really enjoying my nap before you called."

"I like the droid better than you, _clone_ ," Obi-Wan spat, and Cody just laughed. "Have K2 bring the _Umbra_ here."

"I'll see what I can do, brother," Cody said, his voice laced with sarcasm, and a burst of static signaled that the call had been cut. Obi-Wan closed his eyes and drew circles in the sand, trying in vain to drown everything out.

"Everywhere I go..." Kenobi drawled. "Jedi, Jedi, _Jedi_." His lips curled up into a sneer. "And here I am, waiting for another to overcome trials to become a Jedi as well. He won't succeed, you know. Ezra is doomed to fail. I have seen it."

" _If that were true, we wouldn't be here now_ ," Qui-Gon said, and Obi-Wan simply laughed harshly.

"We are here because _Padawan Jarrus_ fights the inevitable. Bridger's already touched the Dark Side, Yoda. What chance does he possibly have?" Kanan looked over to the tiny Master when he frowned, his ghostly little three fingered hands clasped tightly together.

"Dangerous, the Dark Side is," Yoda said. "Know this well, you do, Obi-Wan."

"Ooh, dangerous, the Dark Side is," Obi-Wan mocked. " _Powerful_ , the Dark Side is, Yoda. Infinite power, as much as you're willing to take."

" _In exchange for suffering that will rip the heart out of you_ ," Qui-Gon said softly. " _Was it worth it_?"

"I don't know, could I have saved Satine if I didn't fall to the Dark Side?" the Sith Lord snapped, cold and vicious and pained, and Kanan looked at the man carefully, trying to gauge what was in his head, hoping that in his intoxicated state, the Sith would be easier to read. He wasn't. It was _far_ more difficult. Kenobi scoffed when Qui-Gon said nothing. "Of course not...Maul would have gone for her whether I fell or not, because I traded her life for mine by achieving victory over that _scum_ that day on Naboo, so _yes_ , it was worth it. Were I a Jedi, I would have nothing and she'd _still be dead_! At least now I have power!"

" _And suffering_ ," Qui-Gon added, and the Sith Lord's hand tightened around the sand on the ground, and the grains began to smoke as they started to melt in his grasp, arcs of static surrounding his fist.

"Which is no less than I deserve for failing her, _now is it_!?" Kenobi threw himself back on the ground and turned on his side, his back to the Jedi as his shoulders heaved with pain turned physical. "What should have changed, what should have happened differently...I should have split him down the middle. I should have separated his left from his right. I should have aimed higher and taken off his vile head!"

"Deeper into darkness, you would have gone," Yoda said softly. "Followed your path, suffering would have. Saved her, you could not." Obi-Wan slowly turned his head, his golden eyes blazing so bright Kanan could almost not look at them.

"Don't you _dare_ tell me what could have been!" the Sith Lord snapped as he leapt to his feet. "You know _nothing_ , you have _always_ known nothing! We sat beneath your Temple and infected your Order for thousands of years, so much so that you were _all_ blind! All of you, every single one of you, is a _failure_ as a Jedi." He pointed at Yoda. " _You_. Grandmaster of the Jedi, you produced Dooku, _Darth Tyranus_. _You_." He pointed to Qui-Gon. "You made _me_ and..." He trailed off, his eyes drifting to Kanan. He waved his hand dismissively. "And you're not even a Jedi. And let's not even talk about the collection of rage and fear that is Ezra Bridger, the Sith Lord _you_ will train." He glared at the Jedi. "The brightest spots in the galaxy, and look what you have produced. _Nothing but darkness_."

" _That's enough, Obi-Wan_ ," Qui-Gon said softly, and the Sith merely scoffed in response and slowly lowered himself to the ground, using one of the pillars for support.

"You're right, it is," Obi-Wan hissed. "I'm far too sober for a conversation with you Jedi." Qui-Gon sighed, and Kanan looked at him carefully and saw nothing but sadness and pain on the spirit's ghostly face. There must have been a reason he was haunting the Sith Lord. Maybe the Jedi had been wrong about the Dark Side. Maybe somehow, Obi-Wan could still be saved.

* * *

 _Kanan is dead_.

It was the only thing running through Ezra's mind as he wandered the halls of the _Ghost_ in a haze. He didn't know how he got here, he just knew he did. How was he going to tell the others? How was he supposed to tell Zeb that when he should have fought like him, like a warrior when his friend needed him, he was instead paralyzed with fear. How was he supposed to tell Sabine that when he should have bravely stood down evil, he ran like a coward. How was he supposed to tell Hera that the man she loved was _dead_...

How were they supposed to continue on after that?

He could hear them speaking in the cargo hold they converted into a lounge, and instead of entering, instead of going to them and telling them that Kanan, their fearless leader, was dead, all he could do was stand, filled with despair, and listen as they spoke about _him_. About how Hera had taken him on only because she felt bad for him. About how Zeb thought it best to leave since he only got in the way. About how Sabine asked them not to be so hard on him because he was _just a kid_.

He was useless to them, and they were right. Kanan was gone, and he could do nothing to help him.

Ezra retreated from the _Ghost_ , and his fear gave way to hopelessness as the wicked thrum of a lightsaber filled the air, followed by the screams of the Spectres.

* * *

"So..." Kanan asked, shuffling his feet as he approached the ghostly form of Yoda, having finally gotten the nerve to speak to the Jedi after nearly half an hour of silence. The tiny Master patiently looked up at him. "You're _not_ dead, then?" Yoda chuckled and shook his head.

"Surprises you, does this?"

"Uh, yes," Kanan said before he thought and shook his head. "Well, no...I don't know. What surprises me is that there are things that still surprise me. Ever since I got hooked up with high and mighty Sith Lord over there, nothing has made sense." He thrust his thumb in Kenobi's direction, but refused to look at him. He knew what Kenobi was doing, knew he was sitting upright and just _staring_ , his fading intoxication driving the drunk Sith Lord into the embrace of seething anger. "See, the thing is..." Kanan continued when the Jedi said nothing. "You sort of _look_ like a ghost."

"Dead, I am not," Yoda calmly explained. "But here, I am not. On..." He frowned and looked over at the Sith Lord, the man's entire body tense with warning, the hazy gold of his eyes suddenly shining bright through his inebriation, and Yoda nodded slowly, as if something unspoken had passed between the two. "Traveled, my consciousness has, through the Force."

"So, what, you're in hiding somewhere?" Kanan said in disbelief, and he laughed bitterly. "The great and mighty Grandmaster Yoda, the most powerful Jedi of the Order, is _hiding_?"

"The only thing to do," Yoda said. "Time, it was not, to stand against the Sith. Powerful, the Sith Master is. Patient, he was. Careful." He frowned. "But also ambitious. Greedy, was he. Planted the seed of his destruction, he did," the Master said, gently indicating towards Obi-Wan, the Sith Lord still and unblinking and _furious_ as he looked at them. "Allow it to grow, we must. Right, the time is not. But soon."

"So, what..." Kanan asked, a confused look on his face. "You're just going to _sit_ there and do nothing while Kenobi runs around? I thought you'd have...you know. A mission." He laughed harshly. "After the Purge, I was so sure I was the only one left because directions never came, and I never heard about any other survivors. I thought..." He huffed. "I thought that if you were alive, you'd have a _mission_. A task, something you were doing to help destroy this evil!"

"Hmm, think, do you, that nothing, I have done?" A mischievous smile came to the tiny Master's lips, one that spoke of secrets and cleverness, one that said to Kanan that not only was there a plan, but Master Yoda had been deeply involved. "Teaching, I have been."

" _Yoda_!" Obi-Wan snapped from his place where he sat glowering on the ground, the thick haze of drunkenness momentarily parting to give way to his fury, and the Jedi frowned.

"Dislike secrets, I do."

"That is kriffing bantha shit, and you know it! You _love_ secrets! You Jedi love them so much you _speak in riddles_."

"Trust Caleb, do you?" Yoda asked, and Kenobi glared at him.

"Not at all," he snarled, and Kanan held his breath, his eyes narrowing in anger as he looked at the Sith. "I don't _know_ Caleb Dume." He sighed, the fury in his eyes dimming to a dull, muted yellow, his shoulders slumping against the pillar he leaned against. "But I do trust Kanan Jarrus." His lips curled up into a faint snarl when he felt the Jedi looking at him. "Tell him what you will, but remember this. He is being hunted, and my record in protection is quite frankly abysmal. When they probe his mind, consider carefully what you want them to see."

Yoda nodded and closed his eyes, the faint glow of the ethereal body seeing to waver in the air for a moment. Kanan didn't realize he was holding his breath until his chest began to ache. There was so much he didn't understand. Why was Yoda, Grandmaster of the Jedi Order, working with a _Sith Lord_? And why was that Sith Lord working with him? For that matter, why was Kenobi working with _anyone_? He had helped bring about the end of the Jedi. He had been personally responsible for the deaths of many, including Masters that sat on the Jedi High Council. He had no reason to work with any of them, and yet, there they were. Working with a Sith Lord.

He was far too sober for any of this to make sense.

"Warned the Jedi, Obi-Wan did," Yoda finally said. "Too late, it was, to save everyone. Too late, it was, to stop Darth Sidious." He smiled, soft and enigmatic. "But saved the future, we did."

"What does that even mean?" Kanan asked, his frustration slowly rising as he remembered what it was like dealing with the Jedi. His Master always used to speak in riddles as well, or in proverbs where the meaning was never quite clear. _Fear not being out on a ledge_ , one of them said, _for soon you will be off of it_. Which, so far as Kanan was concerned, could mean one of two things. That safety was just up ahead, or...that you were falling off of it. That was the problem with the Jedi. They always seemed to assume things would turn out for the best. No wonder the Jedi all got killed.

"Leave it at that, Jarrus," Obi-Wan muttered. "Nothing good ever came from digging too deep."

" _We spoke about this before_ ," Qui-Gon said softly. " _The first time we met. Do you not remember?_ "

"I was _really_ drunk at the time," Kanan muttered, his hand running over his hair. "I don't remember much of that day." He paused, lips pursed for a moment before he suddenly understood. "Wait, are there more Jedi out there? Did the Order survive?"

"Gone, the Jedi are," Yoda said. "Soon, the last of the Jedi, you will be." He smiled softly. "But survivors, there are. Saved many, did Luminara and I." He pointed to the glowering Sith Lord, and Kanan stared at Kenobi in wonder. "Because of Obi-Wan. Many lives, has he taken. But many he has saved. Compassion, mercy, these things once in Obi-Wan lived. Twisted, corrupted, the Dark Side has made him. Evil, his actions have been." He shook his head. "But good as well. Within Darth Lumis, Obi-Wan lives."

Kanan stared at the Sith Lord, his face cold and expressionless, almost bored, as if he had heard this tired assertion before, but to Kanan, it made a great deal make sense, and it explained a lot about what had been happening. Why Luminara, Master of the Jedi Order, remained close to a Sith Lord, why she had become his lover, even after all he had done. Why Qui-Gon Jinn, one of the Jedi's greatest and most controversial, continued to believe in his fallen student, and even after his death, returned to walk beside him like he hadn't been able to do in life. Why Yoda, the Order's Grandmaster, came when he called. Why Kenobi himself didn't simply kill him, a loose end in his quest to exterminate the Jedi and fulfill the Sith's revenge.

What did it even mean to be a Sith Lord?

"You saved the Jedi?" he asked Kenobi softly, and the man simply scoffed.

"I saved no Jedi."

"But you saved _someone_. You saved me. You saved Ezra and Sabine and Hera, and Master Yoda is saying that more survived. More than just me." He paused, his eyes widening with realization as the Sith snarled. "We were spread so thin, and none of us were warned. The only way many could be saved is if they were called together, but none of us were." He gasped softly when the sneer on the Sith's face deepened. "You saved those in the Jedi Temple."

"I saved _nobody_ ," Kenobi growled. "The night we executed Order 66, I was on Raxus slaughtering the Separatist leaders."

"But you _warned them_ ," Kanan said breathlessly. "If this is true...Obi-Wan, what _are you_?"

"I am _Sith_ ," Obi-Wan said, his voice low and dangerous. "Never forget that." He turned his cruel gaze on Yoda. "You are misleading him on purpose. _Why_."

"The truth, I have told him," Yoda said softly. "Dark and corrupted, you are. Lost to us forever. But an ally, you are. Lives in you, the light does." The Sith's golden eyes narrowed dangerously. "Capable, you are, of mercy, of compassion, of love. Seen it, I have."

"You know why you can't sense me, _Jedi_?" Kenobi said, his voice low and soft and so cold it sent a shiver up Kanan's spine. "It isn't because I am skilled at concealing my presence, though I am, and I have _always_ been. It's because there is _nothing_ left inside me." The edge of Kenobi's mouth twitched with barely concealed anger, and Yoda's ghostly presence began to waver as sand and dust was kicked up in a sudden, violent wind, stirred to life by the Dark Side in the hands of the wrathful Sith Lord. " _Understand_?! No heart, no soul, _no light_. There is just _darkness_."

" _You are so much more than that, Obi-Wan_ ," Qui-Gon said softly, unaffected by the winds that whipped around him. He simply stood, calm and serene and unafraid of the predator that preyed on the emotions of others, and slowly, the frigid wind died down, leaving Kenobi looking pale and drawn and exhausted, like he hadn't slept or eaten in days. Kanan couldn't help but wonder if that was actually the case.

"Of course I'm more than that," Obi-Wan hissed, but the menace had gone out of him. He just looked tired and drunk and annoyed by the company he kept. "I am power. I am a Lord of the Sith. I am the Dark Side itself."

"And somehow, you got cut out of the Sith Empire," Kanan casually drawled, drawing the ire of the Sith as the irritated glowing eyes fell on him. "Pretty ungrateful, if you ask me."

"...yes, it was." Obi-Wan took a deep breath and held it, his gaze drifting toward the ceiling as he lost himself in thought. "Things will be different when I'm Emperor. The Sith need to be destroyed, just as the Jedi were. The Code of the Sith demands we change, we evolve, we progress. And it's time."

"Change into what?" Kanan asked warily, and Kenobi took in a shuddering breath.

"...that has yet to be seen," Obi–Wan said, and for just a moment, Kanan thought the Sith Lord looked... _lost_. Like he was trapped in the dark and couldn't find his way out of it. "Satine, ner kar'taylir darasuum, ner nau, alorir ni at vaii Ni enteyor cuyir..."

"Hey, Kenobi," Kanan drawled after a moment of silence, the Sith Lord looking up at him warily through hazy eyes. "I know you're the embodiment of darkness and all, but...well, if you need a light, I can be that for you."

Obi-Wan said nothing, simply muttered under his breath and turned over, and for just a moment, Kanan thought he felt gratitude rippling through the Force.

* * *

Ezra wasn't sure what he was seeing. He ran far, and he ran fast, and still, he could feel the Inquisitor's presence creeping ever closer. But now, the feeling faded, lost in a cold snap so severe that Ezra couldn't move. Everything was bathed in red light, dark and foreboding like blood, the stench of death thick in the air. Before him, three shadowy figures stood. One tall, his movements stiff and mechanical, one lithe and small and fidgeting, one old, smaller than the others, calm and _powerful_ , commanding in his presence. Before them, on his knees, his head bowed in defeat, knelt Obi-Wan, his breathing labored, his body battered and beaten, a long slash burned across his back still smoking and filling the air with the smell of burned flesh.

The smallest shadow, the Lord, the _Master_ raised his hands and lines of blue lighting shot from his fingertips, striking Kenobi in the chest and sending him writhing to the ground. Slowly, the man stilled, his ragged, pained breathing evened into slow, shallow breaths, the golden eyes dull and vacant like an empty shell, and Ezra could do _nothing_. This somehow felt... _different_ from the other things he had seen, all at once more real and less, like a thing that could happen, _would_ happen, but hadn't yet. And it _chilled_ him.

Pale, sickly yellow eyes stared at him from the faces of the shadowed figures, and slowly, the Master began to laugh, cold and cruel and vicious, and Ezra was _certain_ that the shadows could see him.

* * *

The red eyed, blue skinned, _beautiful_ woman laid across Obi-Wan's lap, pressing long, lusty kisses to the inside of his thigh, her hands wandering and stroking as the Sith Lord drank deeply from a new bottle, his other hand slid in the woman's blue black hair, encouraging her to continue her attentions. Supplying the Sith Lord with alcohol and the attention he craved had significantly improved his mood, though with the new additions to the temple, they had divided into groups. The Jedi stood close to the door that Ezra disappeared through in silence, waiting for the boy to return to them, the ghostly Masters' eyes closed as they reached out to the boy through the Force to monitor his progress.

On the other side of the temple, closer to the entrance as if they were itching to get out, was the Sith Lord's entourage, consisting of his blue-skinned slave, a very mouthy Imperial droid, and the quietly amused Cody, who sat and drank beside Kenobi, the two quietly talking about something that Kanan couldn't hear. Whatever it was, Obi-Wan looked...peaceful. Pained, yes, open and emotionally raw and grieving deeply, but there was a familiar serenity in it, something nostalgic and reminiscent that made Kanan think of the Master he had lost, a painful memory of a woman he loved dearly. It always hurt to think of Master Depa Billaba, but he never wanted to forget. It was painful, but it was also nice to think about her now, the sharp stab of grief mingling seamlessly with the fond memories he had of her, and Kanan wondered who it was the Sith and the clone were talking about.

Kanan was certain that this conversation wouldn't have been quite like this if he had been anything other than overwhelmingly drunk, as he was right now, the copious amounts of alcohol repressing the Sith's considerable rage and allowing something deeper and far more emotional to bleed through. In that moment, it was easy to see that Kenobi was little more than a man that had lost everything, one that didn't know how to deal with grief, one with wounds that would never heal, and the Dark Side made certain that the wounds would never close. His heart wasn't gone, it was _broken_ , and one look at Qui-Gon told Kanan that the Force spirit thought the same thing.

It was a _really_ good thing he had that clone.

"What are they talking about?" Kanan whispered to the ghost, and the Jedi Master never took his eyes away from his former student.

" _They are speaking Mando'a. I don't have a wonderful grasp on the language, so I couldn't say_." Kanan frowned at the spirit until he looked sidelong at the young Jedi, and with a heavy sigh, Qui-Gon ran a hand through his hair. " _If you are so curious, you could ask_."

"And you think he'd tell me?" Kanan asked in a tone that said he knew it was impossible. "No thank you. I'm in no hurry to die. But _you're_ already dead, so..."

" _I don't need to ask to know his heart_."

"...so you _do_ know." Qui-Gon sighed heavily.

" _I suppose I do_." Kanan frowned when the spirit said nothing more. It was terribly unfair. Kenobi was drunk, had a beautiful woman lavishing him with attention, and had his best friend beside him. All Kanan had were a couple of moody ghosts. Beside him, Qui-Gon chuckled softly. " _You are curious about the nature of the Dark Side that rests within him, yes_?" Kanan absently nodded, his eyes fixed on the Sith Lord as he grabbed the moaning woman by the hair and kissed her hungrily as if he meant to consume her.

"Ezra is going to struggle with it. I have to know if I'm going to help him. I've had a lot of time to think about things. If the Jedi knew more about the Dark Side, if they studied it, if they-"

" _The Jedi are gone, Kanan_ ," Qui-Gon said firmly. " _All of them. Yoda is all that remains of the old Order. Even you are different. Changed. You do not conduct yourself in the way the Jedi as you remember them would have accepted_." Kanan drew back, feeling his temper rise.

"If you're going to judge me-"

" _I'm not_ ," the spirit quickly cut in. " _There's a reason the Jedi are dead, Kanan Jarrus. If the Force willed it, we would have known. We would have had someone that could sense it, someone that saw the storm coming_." He pointed to the Sith Lord, returned to the bottle as the woman sat straddling his hips. " _We had Obi-Wan. And he fell, I made him fall..._ " The spirit breathed deeply and gazed sadly at his student. " _He was so badly mishandled, not just by me, but by all of us. But the Force moves in mysterious ways, and it moved Obi-Wan to the Sith_. _So we never knew. This was meant to happen. The Jedi, what we became...we were wrong._ "

"You're saying the Sith are right?" Kanan asked tentatively, and Qui-Gon shook his head.

" _No. The will of the Force saw the Jedi destroyed, and now it will see the destruction of the Sith, and Obi-Wan sits at the center of it. We all must begin anew. The Jedi will change. The Sith will change_."

"Do you believe we can work together?" Kanan asked, feeling the tug of hope deep within him, and the faintest smile crossed the spirit's face.

" _We are now, aren't we? Obi-Wan has done awful things. He's committed genocide more than once, he's burned worlds, he's tortured and killed to further himself, he's stolen life to feed his vanity, he's manipulated and controlled minds. Truly, he can be a monster._ " The spirit laid his hand over his heart. " _But I have seen within him. I have sat with him when he loses himself in the Force. Everything inside him has been burned and blackened to ash_. _He walks the Force hand in hand with the love he lost_."

"He's lonely."

" _Terribly so, yes_."

Kanan looked back to Kenobi, the Sith Lord clinging to the woman in his arms, needy and desperate as he sought physical closeness, and the Jedi felt his heart reach out to him. It wasn't the closeness he needed, nor the kind he craved, but pain kept him from seeking another lover, the memory of the women he lost held close to him and poisoning him, even as they strengthened him. Perhaps he was a monster. Perhaps he was evil and corrupted, but _something_ in him wasn't. There may not have been light within him, but there was love in him so strong, so lasting, that it threatened to break him. Kenobi was tied to the world, created attachments with clones, with droids, with ships, all things that kept him tied to this world, invested in it, and that was not the way of the Sith, who sought to rid themselves of the mundane to become something else.

"Can we save him?" Kanan asked softly, and beside him, he could feel the Force spirit waver.

" _Obi-Wan doesn't seem to think so_."

"Obi-Wan also thinks it's too late for him. It's never too late, not for anyone."

" _The Jedi believe there is no turning away from the Dark Side_."

"Well, _yes_ , but the Jedi also believe that nothing is impossible." The spirit at his side slowly smiled. "Ezra touched the Dark Side, but that can't be the end for him. He's emotional, yes, but he's also kind and compassionate, often to his detriment. He's a good person. His attachments are his strength, and I have found I fight harder when I am defending those dear to me. Emotions are strength, not weakness. It's not emotions and attachment that's to be avoided, it's _cruelty_. Balance is the key."

"... _Obi-Wan was right about you_ ," Qui-Gon said softly. " _You're right. There is hope for him, fleeting as it is. He will remain committed to the Dark Side, but above all else, he will follow the will of the Force_."

"You believe he can be redeemed?" Kanan asked.

" _I believe redemption is attainable to anyone who reaches for it. The true tragedy of the Dark Side is those seeped within it is hopelessness. They feel there is nothing else, that they have gone too far to turn back, that the things they have done_ _can never be forgiven. The Dark Side doesn't trap them, they trap themselves_."

"That sounds to me like someone we can help," Kanan said, grinning broadly, and the spirit nodded.

" _I believe so as well_. _I have always had hope for him_. _I have done what I can for him, but it seems as though there must be others that will help him forgive himself_."

"If there's hope for him, there's hope for Ezra,," Kanan said, his chest filling with warmth as he felt himself filled with new purpose. He had been reluctant and nervous to train Ezra, which had led his Padawan to be unprepared to face the darkness he had so casually reached for. But it was no fault of Ezra, it was him. He had never completed his own training. He was never truly a Jedi, he was never...

"Troubled, you are," Yoda said softly, and Kanan quickly looked at the tiny Master.

"Impatient, I hate waiting," Kanan said, harsher than he intended. "What's taking him so long?!"

"Worried for your student, are you?" Kanan nodded. "Be not worried. Fail, he may, yes, but in no true danger is he."

"Unless he fails!" the Jedi snapped. "It will be my fault! I was too reluctant to train him, I can sense that he's growing stronger than I can teach him!"

"Sense this, do you?" Yoda asked. "Or fear it?" Kanan quickly started to respond, and then stopped, his voice lost. What was it? He knew Ezra's failure was actually his own, but the fact was that he _was_ afraid.

"I lost my way for a long time, Master," Kanan said quietly, sinking down to his knees before the door, and Yoda calmly sat before him. "I have a chance to make things right now, but...but what if I'm wrong? What if I'm not ready? I'm not prepared to be a Master."

" _Nobody is prepared to be a Master_ ," Qui-Gon softly said, looking back at the student he had failed. " _It's a dangerous time you live in, Kanan. But you are not alone_." Slowly, a smile came to Kanan's lips as he thought about Zeb, loyal and strong and nothing but trouble, Sabine, feisty and free-spirited, and Hera, _lovely_ Hera, a woman worth defying the Code of the Jedi for. Without them, he would be just another lost soul, traveling from bar to bar and _never_ sober, drinking to forget and leaving a long string of one night stands behind him, careless and hedonistic and not giving a damn about what happened to the galaxy.

"I won't let him lose his way," Kanan said quietly. "Not like I did. Be it through darkness or light, the path is his to choose, but I will guide him safely through it."

Yoda nodded, grunting in satisfaction. "A Master, you sound like."

" _We'll be with you_ ," Qui-Gon said, looking over at the Sith Lord. " _We all will._ "

* * *

Ezra stood with his back against the wall, his eyes wide with fear as the Inquisitor slowly advanced, his lightsaber ignited in his hand. There was nowhere to run, but he didn't care anymore. Kanan was dead, his friends abandoned him, and even Kenobi had been taken.

 _Probably_.

He wasn't an idiot. This place was disorienting, but he had figured out that something was amiss. Nothing made sense here. _This_ was the test. This was an illusion. It had to be, or else everything was lost.

"You think this an illusion, boy?" the Inquisitor asked as he drew closer, and Ezra stood tall, defiant in the face of this creature that either killed his friends or wasn't real. Regardless, he had nothing left to fear, not anymore. "That may be so, but I assure you," he growled, reaching out to Ezra, and a pit dropped in his stomach when a firm, cold hand _touched him_ and forced him to look into blazing yellow eyes, " _I_ am not."

With a gasp of fear, Ezra tore himself away from the creature's grasp and focused on the lightsaber, the red blazing and pulsating like it ran with blood, and Ezra couldn't push aside the idea that his friends were dead. This Inquisitor was _real_. Maybe some of that hadn't happened, maybe Kanan was alive, but the man before him was tangible.

"Are you ready to die, boy?" the Inquisitor asked, his hand extended and laying on Ezra's chest, the heavy touch keeping the teen pinned to the wall, his heart beating wildly. "Or are you afraid?"

"I've never been afraid to die," Ezra said softly. "I've never been _anything_ , but my friends, the one you killed, or didn't, I don't know...they made me something. They made me more than I was, more than I could ever be on my own." His eyes narrowed. "I'm afraid of being alone. I'm afraid of letting down my Master. But I am _not_ afraid of death." He laughed bitterly. "Why should I be? I've got nothing left to lose."

"Despair?" the Inquisitor asked, raising his blade. "Interesting. Then _this_ is how you end." Ezra closed his eyes, heard the bloodthirsty shout of the Inquisitor, felt the heat of the blade as it descended, and then... _nothing_. He slowly opened his eyes, relief flooding through him as he found himself back in the room he started in. No Inquisitor, no dead bodies, no nothing. He dropped to the floor, breathing heavily as he tried to calm himself and stop the shaking in his hands.

"Great fears, you have, young one." Ezra's eyes shot open, his calming pulse taking off once again, and he focused on the tiny, shimmering image before him of the small, green Jedi Master he had met earlier, a look of sadness and sympathy in his large, expressive eyes. "Afraid of the Dark Side, are you?"

"Y-yeah, I suppose..." The Jedi closed his eyes and nodded sagely.

"Much to fear, is there in the Dark Side. But cause for fear, a true Jedi has not. Darkness, there is, in all of us. Face it, you must." He frowned and turned from Ezra, waving for him to follow. "Come. A guide, you need." Rising to shaky feet, Ezra cautiously followed, unsure what it was he was supposed to believe. This could be an illusion as well.

"Where are we going?" the teen asked softly, his voice softly echoing off the walls.

"The wrong question, that is," Yoda said softly. "Tell me of your visions."

"Why?" Ezra muttered, crossing his arms over his chest. "They weren't real so-"

"Illusions, there are, in this place," the Master said. "Made to test Jedi, they are. To see if ready, the student it, for the next step." He frowned deeply. "But a disturbance in the Force, there was. Felt it, I did, as did Obi-Wan. Close, he is, to the Force, to the future. A vision, you had. Different from an illusion, it is."

"A vision?" Ezra asked softly. "W-well, which one?! I saw a lot of things, and none of them were good! How can we know which one was a vision?" He gasped. "What if _all_ of them were visions?!"

"Possible, that is," Yoda said, nodding. "Tell me." Ezra swiftly nodded.

"I saw the Inquisitor kill Kanan! I saw...I saw my friends abandon me, I heard their screams as they died. I saw Obi-Wan and three shadows, I saw..." The tiny Master growled at his feet, a deep frown on his face, his long ears lowered, his expressive eyes narrowed. "W-what, what is it?"

"Different, that one is," Yoda softly rasped. "Your vision, it could be. Tricky, is the Dark Side. Clouds everything, it does." He stopped, breathing deeply as he stared at the corridor as it diverged into three pathways. "Show Obi-Wan, you must. Make sense of it, he will."

"...is this because I used the Dark Side?" Ezra asked, his voice filled with fear and trepidation.

"Sensitive to the Force, you are. Visions, sometimes, it gives. Not from the light or from the dark, are they."

"...I don't understand," Ezra said, sighing in frustration. "I don't understand anything, I don't even know why I'm here!" Yoda softly laughed, causing the teenager to flush slightly in embarrassment.

"Better questions, these are," he said. "Mysterious, is the Force. Understand little, we do. But less important, that is, than feeling what is right, than trusting in the Force." He indicated to the diverging tunnel. "Your path, you must decide." Ezra looked at the tunnels, each one dark, and he could see where none of them led to. It was unknown, and he was desperately afraid of choosing the wrong one. Taking a deep breath as he closed his eyes, he reached out with his senses, just as Kanan had taught him, and he knew just what to do.

Taking a step forward, Ezra ventured down the middle path.

"Why must you become a Jedi?" Yoda asked, the tiny Master walking just behind the teen as he allowed him to lead. Ezra shrugged.

"I don't know, Kanan thinks I can be one."

"Mm, _Kanan_ thinks so, does he?" Yoda asked, chuckling. "Matters not, what Kanan thinks. Matters, though, what you think."

"...I want to become stronger. _Powerful_ ," Ezra said, a soft growl of determination in his voice, his fists balling in front of him. "I will make the Empire suffer for everything it did! For everything it took!" he shouted, his voice growing louder as he went on and echoing through the tunnel. " _For my parents_! I don't want to be helpless anymore! I want to be _powerful_!"

"Ah..." Yoda said sagely. "Revenge is the Jedi Way, hmm? Teach you this, your Master did?"

"W-well..." Ezra stuttered. "N-no, but..." He huffed in frustration. "Kanan would _never_. He's a good Master, and better yet, he's a great man!"

"Then why seek you revenge?"

"Because..." Ezra sighed heavily. "They've done so much. This isn't revenge, this is _justice_!"

"Hmm..." Yoda mused, his three fingered hands steepling together. "Inside you, much anger. Much fear." He frowned deeply. "Correct, Obi-Wan was. Like Skywalker, you are, young one."

"Look, I don't know who this Skywalker is, and I really don't care!" Ezra said frantically. "I just want to be able to protect my friends! Not just them, _everyone_!"

"And this is why a Jedi, you must be?"

"Yes!" He hung his head, his frustration growing, but his anger was leaving him. "Before I met Kanan, all I thought about was myself, but Kanan, and Hera, and Sabine and Zeb, the things they do..." He laughed softly, his chest suddenly tight with emotion. "You should see the things they do...they _help_ people, everything they do is for others! I can never be like that...but I want to try..." Yoda was silent for a moment, his large eyes looking over the teenager, watching closely when Ezra's head snapped up, his eyes growing wide as his gaze caught something in the distance, and the boy's pace sped up.

"A difficult path, you will walk, Padawan," Yoda said softly, the tunnel around them lit with a soft, green glow originating from a point just ahead. Ezra reached out, his hand wrapping around the origin of the glowing light, and looked in wonder at the small, glowing crystal on his palm. "Come," Yoda said softly. "Time, it is, for us to return."

Nodding, Ezra turned, the crystal clutched tightly in his grasp and found that the Jedi Master was _gone_. He looked around him, but the ghostly figure was gone, and Ezra wondered if the tiny green Master was ever there at all.

* * *

"Is it true you're talking to ghosts?" Cody said as he approached Kanan, a bottle in his hand that he offered to the Jedi, and Kanan cautiously took it, a wary eye on the clone. "Kenobi says you're talking to ghosts, but he's _very_ drunk." He looked over his shoulder at the Sith Lord, the man now laying in the woman's lap in a state of near unconsciousness as the beauty deeply kissed him. "...like, I'm pretty sure there's more alcohol in his body than blood."

"You let him get like that?" Kanan asked, taking a drink from the bottle. "Aren't you supposed to protect him?" Cody laughed and shook his head, taking it in stride.

"Nah, he doesn't need me to protect him. That boy's going to live forever." He shrugged. "My job is to keep him happy and human. I've seen what he becomes when he retreats inside himself. I've seen what happens when the pain becomes too much, and believe me, nobody wants that."

"He's happy when he's drunk?" Cody looked at the Jedi like he was stupid and pointed to the Sith Lord and his moaning, lustful woman.

"Does he look unhappy to you?" Kanan grumbled and took another drink from the bottle.

"Yeah, I'm talking to ghosts."

"Hmm. Tell Qui-Gon hello." Kanan rolled his eyes.

"He can hear you, dummy, he just can't speak to you. _You're_ the problem in that relationship." Cody scoffed.

" _Typical_."

"So..." Kanan pointed over the clone's shoulder to the Sith Lord. "What were you two talking about?" Cody smiled devilishly.

"Describe what lovely Hera looks like naked and I'll tell you." Kanan choked, immediately coughing as his face turned bright red. "If you must know," Cody said before the Jedi recovered, "we were talking about our lovers. Being around your Mandalorian has made him ache for her, far worse than usual. Doesn't help at all that her name is so similar. It's actually very likely that she _was_ named after her, many children born under the Mandalorian Empire were named in honor of our glorious Mand'alor." He shrugged. "Her name, or a variation thereof. The Wrens are staunch loyalists, I bet Sabine _is_ named after her."

"U-uh..." Kanan wasn't prepared for that much information or that much honesty. The clone was... _proud_ , as so many Mandalorians were. "I-I wouldn't know..."

"That's alright," Cody said, patting the man on the back. "I'll ask her later." A sly smirk crossed his face. "You can tell me about Hera later. That _was_ your end of the deal, wasn't it?"

"This is why I hate clones..." Kanan said between grit teeth. "Sneaky, devious bastards, the whole lot of you..."

"Uh huh." Cody crossed his arms and looked back at the Sith, a worried look on his face. "The only time we can ever really talk about her is when he's completely soused," he quietly explained. "I do what I can, but..." He growled in frustration and shook his head. "I don't know. I know he's going to live forever, but there are days I think death would be kinder." He sighed, and when Cody looked back at Kanan, his previous worry was gone, replaced with confident bravado. "But not today. There's work to be done, and the Force isn't done with him."

A faint rumbling could be felt running through the ground as the door to the temple depths opened, and Ezra walked out, his hand clutched around a glowing green crystal. With a gasp of relief, Kanan rushed to his student.

"Welcome back," he said, laying his hand on the boy's shoulder. "I was worried about you. Is...is that a kyber crystal?" Ezra opened his hand, and Kanan's lips split in a broad grin. "It is! We can make a lightsaber with that!"

"W-we can?" Ezra asked, the shock on his face fading into excitement. "Alright, that's great!"

"I'll teach you how to make one when we get back to the _Ghost_." Kanan breathed a sigh of relief. "I guess that means you passed, huh?"

"Means that, does it?" Yoda asked, reappearing after he had disappeared earlier, and Qui-Gon whistled for Obi-Wan's attention.

" _Yoda and the boy have returned, Obi-Wan_."

"How wonderful for them..." Kenobi slurred, leaning back and kissing the Chiss on her flat stomach. "Batas ch'acacah csei s bazor nah vacosehn tahn..."

"Ch'ah bapun vah en'casn'ah ch'ah ," the woman said, her voice low and breathless as she ran her hands down the Sith's chest and kissed him.

"That's not Mando'a..." Kanan said to the fuming clone, and Cody growled.

"No, that's not Mando'a, that's _flirting. Kenobi_!" the clone shouted at the oblivious Sith. "You stop that immediately, the kid is back!" Obi-Wan ignored him. " _K2_!" From his place by the pillar, the security droid looked up, its visual sensors focusing on Cody. "Bring him over here, he needs to talk to the kid!"

"Me?" K2 asked, looking back at the Sith Lord, who was currently tangling himself up in his Chiss lover and didn't look to be coming up for breath anytime soon. "I'll have you know, I am not programmed to handle beings with a blood alcohol level as high as his." K2 stood up taller. "I think you should do it."

"Are you _sassing_ me, droid?!" the clone snapped. "One more time, K2, _one more time_!" With a weary sigh, the droid looked at the organics as the female slowly began peeling off the layers of the Sith's robes.

"I will have words with HK about this, and maybe he will reinstate your meatbag status. You may be manufactured, CC-2224, but as HK says, you are just as squishy any naturally created humanoid."

"Oh yes?" Cody said, menace in his voice. "How many droids do you suppose I destroyed during the Clone Wars? A thousand? Ten thousand? I don't know, Kenobi and I went on _sprees_." He gazed hard at the droid. "How many droids succeeded in destroying _me_?"

"...noted, CC-2224," K2 said as he stooped down to grab one of the Sith Lord's wrists, and he dragged the drunken man through the dust and sand on the ground. With a soft groan of displeasure, Obi-Wan reached out with his free hand and grabbed the Chiss with the Force, pulling her behind him as he was pulled by the droid. They stopped beside the clone, the Sith Lord hanging by the wrist in the droid's grasp, and Ezra had to cover his mouth to stifle the laughter.

"Obi-Wan," Yoda said, his voice low and serious, and a hazy blaze returned to the dulled golden eyes, the Sith Lord lifting his head up in his attention. "Right, you were. A vision, he had. About you."

"I'm in no state to look now," the Sith drawled, his vowels elongated as he tried and failed to not slur his words. "I'll purge myself when I return to the _Umbra_ and I'll have a look tomorrow."

" _You could purge yourself now_ ," Qui-Gon said, his arms crossed and his face stern, and the Sith looked up at him defiantly.

"I _could_...but I _like_ how I'm feeling." He scoffed. "You're dead, what would you know..."

"I-I saw you," Ezra said swiftly, the golden eyes turning on him. "I don't know of you died, but you were definitely defeated, and you were kneeling before three shadows..." The Sith's eyes focused, the blazing their glowing gold once again, and he grimaced, breathing deep as he shut his eyes, the Force churning within him as he purged himself of the toxins.

"Much fear, there is, in your Padawan," Yoda said gravely. "Failed the test, he did." Both Kanan and Ezra looked at the tiny Master in shock.

"But..." Kanan began. "But he came out with a kyber crystal, surely-"

"Belong to the Jedi, do all kyber crystals?" Yoda asked, and the Jedi shut his mouth. "Mysterious, the crystals are. Know not, do we, who they choose, or why. Chosen, Ezra was, but failed, he did. Too much fear, too much anger. Traits of the Jedi, he has, yes, but also something else, is there." He frowned. "Beyond my expertise, this is."

"S-so, I can't be a Jedi?" Ezra asked, his voice tense and afraid.

"The Dark Side is too strong in you," Kenobi said, his voice no longer slurred. "But clearly, a failed test isn't the end of the road. This isn't about passing or failing, it's about how you proceed."

"So what do we do?" Kanan asked. "If he can't be a Jedi-"

"A Jedi, he may still be," Yoda said. "But trained like a Jedi." He frowned and looked up at Qui-Gon. "Like Skywalker, he is."

" _Yes, I see it too_ ," Qui-Gon said softly. " _Jedi training didn't work for him because he was...many things. Fearful and angry, far too human, far too old, and you are even older. We need a different approach_."

"What happened to Skywalker?" Kanan asked, and an uncomfortable silence fell over the room. Kanan became instantly nervous, something gnawing at the back of his mind. There were secrets here, something deeply personal, though he wasn't sure for who. "He was the greatest general of the Clone Wars, he was what all the Padawans looked up to." He looked at each of their faces in turn, each one's eyes averted. "What happened to him?" Silence. "...if you're saying Ezra is like him, I need to know! I _have_ to know!"

"I killed him," Obi-Wan said, his voice hollow and bitter, the golden eye rimmed with blood red that made him seem so much more fearsome. "Slowly, piece by piece, I tore him apart until there was nothing left, and on Mustafar the night the Jedi died, I _watched him burn_." He never took his gaze away from the horrified Kanan and Ezra. "He's dead. That's all you need to know." There was something more there, something black and poisonous about it, but Kanan knew better than to pry. He wasn't even sure he wanted to know.

"Obi-Wan," Yoda said, breaking the tense, uncomfortable silence. "Teach Ezra the Dark Side, you will."

" _What_?!" Kenobi and Kanan both shouted in unison, but the little Grandmaster held firm, his eyes narrowing in his determination.

"Not the ways of the Sith," Yoda continued. "Consumed, he will be, if control it, he cannot. Teach him control, can you?"

"W-well, _yes_ , but-"

"Kanan," the Master interrupted. "Temperance, compassion, peace, you will teach him, as you have been. A Master, you are not, but know the way, you do." He pointed at Kanan. "In the Force, you must trust. Guide you, it will."

"...I understand, Master," Kanan said, inclining his head slightly. "We're striking a balance." Yoda nodded, a kind smile on his face as he looked at the Jedi, the Padawan, and the Sith Lord.

"Choose your own path, you will, Ezra." The teen looked up at Kanan, saw the Jedi pleased, and he smiled.

"I understand. I won't let you down."

"This is some kind of bantha shit..." Obi-Wan growled, shaking free of the droid and standing on steady legs. "I can't believe I sobered up for this..." He reached out and pulled the Chiss woman to him, his fingers digging possessively into her hip as she gasped and moaned softly. "Ch'ah csarcican't tsan'ah vah ch'itcuto g'et ch'ah seo csah..." Gold eyes narrowed as the woman moaned sweetly, her lips against his neck. "You will be on the _Umbra_ at first light so I may look into your head and see this vision of yours," he growled. "After that, your training will begin, _apprentice_." He pushed the woman forward toward the entryway. "I advise you don't keep me waiting. You won't like it if I have to come looking for you." The Sith Lord turned away from them without waiting for a response, gripping the Chiss close to him, the woman moaning loudly as he bit at her ear, and Cody and K2 fell in step behind him.

"Soooo..." Ezra drawled when Kenobi and his crew had left. "Will training with him mean I'll learn how to make girls do _that_?"

"Don't even think about it," Kanan growled. "That's a _slave_. At the very least, she's enthralled, and at the worst, she's been completely brainwashed."

"W-woah...I-I didn't know the Force could do that."

"The Force can do great things," Kanan said softly. "But it can also do terrible things. Between the two of us..." Kanan sighed. "This isn't education in the light or the dark. We're teaching you the Force. All of it." Kanan grew pensive for a moment, and nodded after a moment of silence. "You'll be able to choose your path from there."

Ezra clutched the crystal in his hand tighter, smiling as he felt the warmth flow from it. Despite his failure, Ezra felt he had come out ahead, not with one Master, but with _two_ , and very soon, his Force training would truly begin.


	19. Possession

_Chapter 19: Possession_

He sat on the cold, hard floor of the dimly lit room, his knees drawn to his chest and his arms wrapped around his legs, his hand tightly gripping his elbow as he clung to himself. It had taken them five days to find him. Five days on a rock with no night, only the bright, blaring sun and the moments when shadows cast darkness upon the ground as asteroids blotted out the light. It came and went at inconsistent intervals, lasting from moments to hours at a time. The shadows brought the beasts, fierce and hungry, made only more so by the smell of blood and fear that hung thick in the air. The light brought safety from the beasts, but it also brought searing heat that burned his pale skin and left him weakened and dehydrated. There was no sleep to be had. It was either too bright or too dangerous, and fear of sudden shadows kept him alert.

When he grew too hungry, too thirsty, too desperate, he had made quick voyages into the cave, his lightsaber held before him and snarling viciously at the swarming, prowling creatures that lived within as he made their way to their water supply, as he killed them both to defend himself and to eat. He'd retreat back out of the cave as quickly as he could, dragging his kills with him and taking refuge in the melted, ragged shell of one of the walkers he had deployed, that had been _destroyed_ , a symbol of his easy victory turned to humiliating defeat, but it didn't matter. Not when his sharp teeth sunk into sleek flesh to sate his hunger, feral and savage as fearful yellow eyes stared intently at the cave, his body involuntarily flinching at every shadow he caught out of the corner of his eye. Five days of _this_ , and none of it compared to what Darth Lumis had done to him.

He never thought his Master Maul to be weak. He wasn't. Savage and vicious, lithe and athletic, Maul was cruel, powerful in the Dark Side, delighting not just in the death of his opponents, but in their suffering, drawn to a challenge instead of a clean and easy kill. He would taunt and mock, he would injure and maim, he would draw a fight out as long as he was able simply to keep from getting board. He was not the swift, brutal efficiency of his other Master, Darth Vader. Vader was cold and effective, terrifying in his ruthlessness. Maul was in many ways the opposite, delighting in the thrill the Dark Side infused him with when he drank deep the fear of his enemies.

That was on his good days.

On his worse days, Maul was a gibbering, fearful mess, a cowering, twitching, borderline insane creature mentally broken by a man who knew that death was a mercy, and he had none of it in his heart. Mercy, kindness, compassion, all things that Obi-Wan Kenobi had once held dear as a Jedi had been torn from him, twisted and corrupted into malevolence, cruelty and savagery before it was thrust back inside him, giving birth to Darth Lumis, amused and delighted not just in the suffering of others, but in the complete mental domination of those around him. His enemies weren't murdered or simply tortured, they were _enslaved_ , left so broken in their violation that they were left craving the Sith Lord's touch again, left _wanting_ for the cruel hand that destroyed them. From powerful men were born slaves to Lumis' cruel affections, and powerless to resist, they came to want nothing more than to please their Master.

And now that same hand had touched the Grand Inquisitor.

What happened to Maul was...different. Deeply personal, the labor of months, the Zabrak driven to the edge of madness by a man even further in the grip of blazing insanity. It was punishment, revenge for the death of the mighty Mand'alor Satine Kryze, the embittered, grieving Sith Lord taking the mind of the man that set fire to his world and shattering it, not just destroying him, but _owning_ him,, taking the life of the former Sith in his grasp, the source of the pain that now fueled him, and cruelly, affectionately holding him close. It wasn't the same for the Inquisitor, but that same hand had touched him, a mere shadow of the touch that Maul had felt, but it was enough to break him, enough to feel the shadowy presence of Darth Lumis within him quietly urging him to submit, and everything within him yearned, _ached_ to obey. He could resist, he could remain strong, he could still drown the voice out...but only just barely. Either he was considerably weaker than Maul, more than he believed, or in the fifteen years of his independence in his mastery of the Dark Side, Darth Lumis had grown frighteningly more powerful.

Most likely, it was both.

He could still feel it now. Lumis' crushing grip on his wrist as he lovingly kissed at his neck, his teeth grazing the plasma burn and sending pain rushing though him. His long fingered hands gently petting, stroking, caressing his face, his head, his neck, his chest as he savagely tore open his mind and took anything he wished. There was pain, _so much pain_ , but he coupled it with affection, with tenderness, the warm passion of a lover paired with the vile cruelty of a torturer making him shrink away, even as he leaned in and yearned for more. He wasn't sure how long it lasted, wasn't cognizant of the passage of time at all, but it felt as though he spent an eternity in his cruel grasp, watching in horror as his wicked red blade slowly descended upon his extended fingers and burned them to _nothing_.

The pain was overwhelming, a searing, torturous thing that lit his every nerve on fire, and he begged, _pleaded_ for it to stop, desperately yearned for his cruel, mocking affection, craved the gentle, possessive touch, would willingly submit to his desires, his lusts, _anything_ so long as the pain would stop. And slowly, it did. Pain gave way to raw, throbbing pleasure as Lumis held his limp body, possessively petting him as he pressed burning lips to his fingerless palm, a shiver of revulsion running through the Inquisitor even as he submitted. It wasn't a reward for his submission. Submission was _expected_. The pleasure came when the Inquisitor realized that Darth Lumis cared for his possessions, was good to what he owned, and everything that wasn't was tossed away, used, abused and discarded. And it made him _want_ to be owned, if only to keep the pain away, to keep from being utterly destroyed when Lumis lost interest. There was pain, yes, but also pleasure in his slavery, and he _craved it_.

He didn't know how long he lay in Lumis' grasp, shivering in pain and fear and pleasure as the Sith lay claim to what was his. The way Lumis threw himself into the mental manipulation, the suffering he inflicted, the submission, the pleasure was nothing like anything the Inquisitor had witnessed. Lumis had... _enjoyed_ this, genuine pleasure and delight pulsing through him as he toyed with his new pet. This was truly a creature of passion, not just the pain and hate and anger that fueled the darkness, but with wild and reckless abandon, a lust for life, for possession, a creature that thrived on the lowest of lows and the highest of highs, and it was _intoxicating_.

His was a stark life, a hard one, cold and austere, the Sith Master Sidious claiming that pleasures were a distraction from what was truly important, from the ultimate goals of the Dark Side. But Lumis... _Lumis_ drank it all in. He was vain and hedonistic, took pleasure in extravagance, held on to his possession tightly and exalted them, a thing that made his pain deeper when he lost them. A thing that made him more covetous, more cruel, more reckless in his desires, his passions, his lusts, and the Inquisitor could feel it in his burning touch.

He had done all he could to resist Lumis, had built up his defenses, steeled himself against a man that was known for his ability to manipulate minds, but in the end, it had done him no good. Lumis flowed through the Dark Side like an unseen predator, and it was through his connection to the Force that Lumis was able to get within his mind. The slightest hint of darkness, the smallest touch to the coveted Dark Side was all Lumis needed to put his foot in the door and hold it open. The control of his body had come first. The way he leaned into the Sith Lord's touch, the way his heart pounded in his chest, the way his rebellious, traitorous did as the Sith Lord commanded, the way he made his throat constrict, his mouth move, his words drawn out of him ad the Sith forced him to call him Master. _Master_! And there was nothing the Inquisitor could do to stop it.

It was easier after the first time, his body quickly getting used to the way the word felt on his tongue, and his mind followed quickly after, the slow, repetitious chanting of his body changing the path his thoughts flowed upon. Soon, he believed it, had wanted to call him it, had felt compelled to, and soon couldn't understand how he had ever thought of Darth Lumis as anything but his Lord, his _Master_. Master, echoing in his mind, over and over again in a maddening need to serve and obey. Master, Master, _Master_...

And then he was gone. When Lumis had take what he wished, had claimed his pet, had finished ravaging his body and mind with pain and pleasure, he dropped him to the ground and left without a word, leaving the Inquisitor behind to ache and keen and mourn the loss of his powerful presence, to lay in relief that the pain was over. Lumis had only left him with one thing. A gift, and a soft command to deliver it, and the Inquisitor _would not fail_. Time lost all meaning, and it was only after he had been rescued that he found that five standard days had passed. It felt like more. And less. And he _hated it._

The Inquisitor shivered as he pushed the feeling aside, rejected it, his eyes falling on his fingerless left hand and whimpering in horror as he began to hyperventilate. He could hear the mechanical legs of Maul strike the ground as he paced, watching him carefully, intently, his yellow eyes wide and excited as he fed off the fear, the suffering, _the need_ within the Inquisitor, a feeling that they now shared. He could still hear Lumis, could still feel the need gnawing deep within him, but it was faint now, like a low, distant buzz instead of the overwhelming compulsion it had been. His complete domination had obviously not been the point, or he wouldn't have been allowed to return, not so soon. So...to what end did he serve? Which piece in Lumis' game was he, and with whom was he playing?

"You _saw_ him," Maul snarled accusingly, circling around him like a restless, hungry animal. "You felt his touch upon you. I can _feel it_..."

The Inquisitor closed his eyes, tried to push aside the voice, the memory, the glowing yellow eyes he saw within his mind, infinitely amused as they watched him struggle against the chains he so willingly accepted before Maul's strong, red hand shot out and grabbed the Inquisitor's chin in a crushing, furious grip, his eyes blazing with rage as he forced the shaking Pau'an to meet his gaze.

"Don't you _dare_ try to hide from _me_ , _boy_!" Maul snarled, possessive and competitive, the Zabrak exerting his dominance over the broken man, and the Inquisitor quickly submitted to his Master, his body going slack as he opened himself to the Zabrak. "What has Master done to you, what does he _want_ with you..." Maul said frantically, grabbing the Inquisitor's face and his eyes searching his features for answers, his entire being burning with jealousy. When he found ignorance, confusion and fear with no answers, Maul snarled and pushed him away, sending the kneeling man slamming to his hands and knees.

"I'm sorry, Master..." the Inquisitor said in a shaking voice, and Maul immediately reeled on him, a wild gesture of his hand sending the Force slamming down on his body and the Inquisitor collapsed on the ground.

" _Are you apologizing to me or Kenobi_?!" Maul snarled, drawing his lightsaber and igniting the double sided blade. "I should kill you, if he is within you, you are _useless_. You will poison the rest of the Inquisitorius, and your numbers are small already!"

"Master, _please_!" the Inquisitor said frantically, his eyes wide with fear. "My mind is mine, he doesn't own me! I... _hear him_ ," he said, pointing to his temple. "In here, so soft, so quiet, but I can tune it out! I can resist!"

"Nobody can resist my Master..." Maul said, his voice distant and monotone. "And I will not have competition..."

"Maul." The voice was soft, calm and commanding, and Maul's grip on his lightsaber tightened, his arm shaking as the Zabrak's rage left him, leaving him meek and timid and subservient. The lightsaber powered off. "I believe the Inquisitor has suffered enough for his error," Thrawn said, his hands folded before him as he sat in his command chair, his glowing red eyes carefully observing the projected artwork upon the walls. Maul quickly stepped toward him, circling around to approach the Admiral from the side so he did not obstruct his view.

"The Emperor would not want this creature to live!" he snarled, pointing the long, cylindrical hilt of his lightsaber at the reticent Inquisitor. "He is tainted! _Corrupted_! Poisoned by the hands of Darth Lumis!"

"As are you," Thrawn said, slow and measured in his even tone, his red irises flicking to the shaking Zabrak. He could see the heat radiating off the red skin, the muscles of his face and neck tense in rage, the pupils of his eyes dilate in his fear and submission. "And yet, our Emperor has allowed you to live. He keeps you close. Why do you suppose that is?"

"...I-I am of use to him," Maul whispered, barely audible.

"You are of use to him, yes," Thrawn repeated, his gaze returning to the art upon the walls. "Just as the Grand Inquisitor is now of use to me, and I would hate to waste a valuable resource simply because another has touched him."

"That touch is _poisonous_!" Maul growled, and a faint smile touched Thrawn's thin lips.

"Yes, it is...but his touch also leaves behind fingerprints." He took a deep breath, his eyes fixed on a painting depicting a battle between the Mandalorians and the Republic, their armies headed by thousands of Jedi. Then, Mandalore lost, defeated by the might of the Jedi Order, but now, the Jedi were gone. All that stood now was Obi-Wan against the might of the Empire, a man almost certainly backed by Bo-Katan Kryze, and Mandalorian culture dictated that their warriors follow the call of their Mand'alor. Historically, Mandalorians had difficulty uniting, but when they did, they were formidable. Now, only two potential Mand'alors existed, and those that did not support Bo-Katan stood behind the Shadow King. They may as well have been one army. It didn't look it, but Mandalore _was_ united. Mandalore for years had spoken in open support for the Empire, but nobody guessed that the Empire they supported was their own.

Obi-Wan Kenobi. Not a rebel, not a rebellion leader, but a usurper. And an _interest._

"Observe and retreat," Thrawn said softly, his glowing eyes drifting to the pale Inquisitor upon the ground. "I gave you this directive for a reason, Inquisitor."

"You lack the authority to reprimand me, _Admiral_ ," the Inquisitor hissed, his anger quickly rising, but a stern look from the Zabrak quickly cowed him.

"I do not seek to administer punishment, Inquisitor," Thrawn calmly explained. "Your failure to obey the directive has resulted in more punishment that I could ever hope to levy upon you. No, you have already reaped the consequences of your error, and the way I see it, all errors can be corrected, and therefore become valuable learning experiences." Thrawn's eyes narrowed. "But errors that remain uncorrected become mistakes, and mistakes will not be tolerated. Understood?" The Inquisitor met Thrawn's unflinching gaze, and slowly lowered his head, nodding. His Masters wouldn't be so forgiving as the Chiss. The prospect of leaving the Admiral's service to return to Vader and Sidious on Coruscant was not a good one. Answering to Thrawn may be the only way for him to save his life. After all, the Admiral was giving him a chance to redeem himself after his humiliating defeat.

"I understand, Admiral..." the Inquisitor whispered, and Thrawn leaned back in his chair, his fingers steepled together.

"I ordered you to retreat at the sight of Kenobi in order to keep you safe and alive," Thrawn quietly explained, and the Inquisitor looked at him with abject confusion on his face. "You are a rare and valuable asset simply by having sensitivity to the Force, even more so because you possess formal training. I avoid sending my men to die unnecessarily, and I dislike wasting resources. And your..." He gestured with his hand in the air, silent as he considered his words. "Your _treatment_ at Kenobi's hands was not only unnecessary, it was pointless."

"No!" the Inquisitor said, his voice tight with growing panic. "No, you study what he does, you can learn-"

"I have a better, more thorough specimen in Maul," Thrawn said cooly. "There is, of course, opportunity in your treatment, and I will use what Kenobi has given me to paint a more complete picture, but this was unnecessary because I can study the same in Maul." Thrawn leaned back, his eyes locked on the shivering Inquisitor. "Tell me what you saw."

And he did. In excruciating detail, he told the silent Thrawn about the two X-wing starships that destroyed his reenforcements, his walkers, his way of escape, about the huge, horned, white Bull Rancor that rampaged its way through his troops, savaging them, _eating them_ , and breaking their formation, making them easy targets for the single Mandalorian warrior and the protocol droid with a blaster rifle. And then there was Darth Lumis, who effortlessly subdued the Inquisitor, who claimed ownership over the two Jedi and the rebel crew that have been active around Lothal, who slowly burned off the fingers on the Inquisitor's left had to punish him for touching what belonged to the Sith Lord.

All the while, Thrawn sat, impassive and silent as he listened, only occasionally stopping the Inquisitor so he could ask specific questions about the Sith Lord's powers, his mannerisms, the methods, carefully taking note of the ways it was different from Maul's account, in which ways it was similar, and in the end, Thrawn had a very good understanding of what happened on the asteroid.

"Kenobi is a formidable and intelligent man," Thrawn said, his eyes roving around the art on the walls as he lost himself in thought. "What we thought was work to undermine the Empire is actually work to undermine the Emperor. He is...an Imperial." He breathed deeply, his thoughts drifting as he weighed the strength of Kenobi against the strength of Palpatine, and frowned deeply when he could reach no conclusion. His information on both counts was lacking. He desperately needed to meet this Obi-Wan. In a highly controlled setting, of course. The fact that the man could enter a person's mind and replace their will with his own made him a danger simply to be around, and there was no way of knowing if what he said carried the weight of the Force. This meeting would have to wait until he could be captured, subdued, and contained, and for that, Thrawn needed more time.

"Admiral," the Inquisitor said as he slowly rose to his feet and taking a small device from his belt. "Master..." He stopped, his hand shaking as he growled in anger. " _Lumis_ sent you a gift." Thrawn drew back, his red eyes widening in surprise as the Inquisitor approached and held out the device. Slowly, Thrawn took it in his hand and closely examined it. It was a datachip, a small one made to interface with personal datapads, too small to equip a transmitter or locator within it. Curious, he inserted the chip into the arm of his command chair, one of the projections on the wall vanishing and replaced with the contents of the chip after it had been scanned, cleared, and encrypted, a security precaution that would keep malicious coding contained to the chip and would scramble any signal it may have broadcasted.

It took Thrawn a moment to understand what he was looking at, and he felt his chest tighten when he read the hand scrawled note in his native tongue, a language he hadn't seen written for a very long time. It was... _perfect_. The elegant strokes of the pen across the paper, flowing without a single hesitation indicated not only a mastery of the language, but the confidence of the writer. The grammar, flawless, the word choice, sophisticated and refined, a tremendous difference from the spoken dissection report Kenobi had given on Empire Day. He had been practicing, and must have been speaking it nearly constantly and diligently to become as fluent as he appeared. To Thrawn's recollection, Kenobi may still have one Chiss in his possession. The female, the one who had so desperately begged for her own violation. It would have been an ideal way to practice.

" _Mitth'raw'nuruodo_ ," the letter addressed, and a faint, delighted smile found its way on to Thrawn's face. Kenobi had managed to find his name, his _full_ name, something that was rarely used anymore. " _I have learned your language, so it is only fair that you have a chance to learn mine. Here is all you need to teach yourself Sith, delivered to your ship, as promised_." The faint smile became a full one, his glowing eyes lighting up with interest and respect for his enemy, a man that seemed to grow more intelligent, more interesting the closer they came to each other. " _Do not tell Palpatine. He is very stingy about who learns the Ancient Tongue. It will be our little secret. I do hope we get a chance to meet_ very _soon_."

The Sith Lord's name was signed at the bottom in his looping, elegant hand, and Thrawn read the note over again several times, only remembering he was not alone when he felt Maul and the Inquisitor slowly creep closer, their yellow eyes looking with confusion between the Admiral and the projection.

"What is it?" Maul asked, and Thrawn never looked away from the note.

"As the Inquisitor said," Thrawn said, voice soft and low, his usually dull monotone tinged with excitement. _Our little secret_. "A gift."

* * *

Long, strong fingers tightened around the blue hip as he pulled her flush against him, biting down on her smooth, soft flesh at the crook of her neck as the Dark Side howled in triumph, its vicious snarls becoming tired, sated growls of pleasure as the Sith Lord pressed deep within her as he reached fulfillment, the Chiss moaning sweet and lustful when she felt him release. She had long since given up resisting her Sith Master. He was going to take what he wanted anyway, could _make_ her want it, and regardless of how she behaved, willing or not, he would find his way inside her one way or another. She had quickly realized that giving herself over to him, willingly accepting him, being an eager participant made the Sith Lord far kinder, his cruel, cold treatment of her becoming warm, even affectionate the more eager she became.

Resistance and reluctance and bitterness over her capture and the memory of watching her crew die faded quickly as her body and mind was conditioned to respond to the raging burn of arousal the Sith put inside her, a response and reaction that soon became her own. Each moment she had spent with the Sith Lord, which was often, both on the ship for study and mastery of her native tongue and off so he could release his passions within her, saw her thoughts of escape fade until they were a distant memory. She... _wanted_ to stay, wanted to pleasure him and serve him in any way he saw fit, willingly welcomed him within her, and more and more often became the one who initiated the stoking of his lusts. Every moment in his presence seemed to further indoctrinate her to his will, a thing she once resisted, but now only considered it with a tired shrug.

He gripped her close, clinging to her tightly long after the raging Dark Side released him, his fast, heavy breathing slowing as euphoria washed over him, and when silence fell, he listened to the soft sound of the Chiss' shallow breathing, felt the slow, even beating of her heart through her back held flush against his chest, seizing the passionate thrill as she softly moaned and whimpered in her sleep. He felt... _strong_ , a feeling of relief washing over him as he grasped tightly at pleasure and euphoria, the counter to the pain he had embraced so tightly since his Satine was murdered so long ago.

The wound would always hurt, would always bleed, not just with her loss, but with the loss of Quinlan, his dear best friend, of sweet Padmé, who he had been forced to kill to keep a promise, of Luminara, his last true lover and a dear friend, of so many more, all who haunted him. But the Sith were more than that. Not just pain and anger and hate, but pleasure and bliss were also the domain of the Sith. It had been so easy to forget among the sea of his losses, in the years of running and fighting, in the long, insufferable periods when he was unable to see his children, but now he stood in the shadow of a new dawn, close to but not quite part of a new family, and with Yoda's new directive to train young Ezra and with his own open association with the small rebel cell, he was slowly beginning to remember.

The breath of the Force was within him, warm and comforting, directing him to seize his reckless abandon for life, his insatiable drive to fulfill the lust that ran thick in his blood, his delight in his own powers and draw strength from the wild embrace of the Sith's wide range of emotions.

He pushed it quickly away.

" _Enjoying yourself_?"

Obi-Wan groaned loudly and untangled himself from his sleeping lover, the woman having been used far past the point of exhaustion, and he rolled over, eyes glowing furiously in the dark as he looked at the soft, pale glow of the Force spirit.

"You are really intent on ruining everything, aren't you?" Kenobi drawled, sitting up and glaring at the ghostly Jedi when he didn't move. " _Every time_. Why do you have to do this?! Do you like watching, is that it?!" He turned away from the spirit, hissing in frustration as he ran his hands over his face. "One night of rest and relaxation and indulgence before I begin my tenure as a Master to _Ezra Bridger_." He looked pointedly at Qui-Gon. "My vacation, if you will, and you are _ruining it_."

" _I'd have thought you would welcome the chance to corrupt a young, impressionable boy_."

"I have a student!" Kenobi snarled, throwing the sheets off of him and jumping out of bed, snatching his pants from off the ground and quickly sliding into them. The commotion had woken the exhausted Chiss, the woman clutching the pillow tightly to her as she watched the Sith Lord snap and snarl in one of the several languages he spoke that she did not understand, as he so often did after they had lain together. Her Master was restless, and perhaps a bit insane, but so long as she did her duty, she lay under his fierce protection.

"K'ir vah bapun ch'ah csaah?" she asked, her voice soft and thick with exhaustion, her fingers drawing casual circles on the empty space beside her. _Do you need me again_? The Sith's Mouth twitched with the hints of desire, repressed arousal, irritation, want and reluctance all at once.

"Nah, buscah. Ch'ah ran'as vah vehto tur ch'at ravzin't csact'i," Kenobi said softly as he moved to stand before the window, gazing out at the bustling city below. _No, sleep. I want you energized for the next time._ She didn't, but she did settle down into the comfort of the bed and she silently watched him.

"Luke and Leia are my students," Obi-Wan softly growled when the Force spirit appeared beside him. "Them, along with a thousand Mandalorian Force sensitives."

" _So what is one more to you_?" Kenobi glared at Qui-Gon for a moment before his gaze returned to the city. Garel was only a few minutes via hyperspace lanes from Lothal, which had transformed the otherwise bleak world into a bustling urban center centered around its vast spaceport, which served as a supply and dispatch depot for Lothal's substantial need for imports and exports to and from the mines and factories. The aptly named Garel City, therefore, was a vast and sprawling metropolis, and it served as an ideal place to get lost as one among the crowed.

Over the past year, Obi-Wan had visited many times, mostly for supplies, liquor and women, and had since purchased a terribly expensive apartment in the city's financial district in one of its premier towers. It was far beyond the paygrade of the Imperial troops stationed in the city, and any officer high ranking and influential enough to afford such a place wouldn't waste their time on an Outer Rim backwater like Garel. The building instead was populated primarily by independently wealthy businessmen who care for little more than turning a profit, which made them loyal to the Empire only so long as the Empire continued to be profitable. First and foremost, their loyalty was to credits, and where there was greed, there was security, which made the building uniquely well protected.

In short, it was a perfect place to hide.

"The people in this sector couldn't be anymore droll and creatively bankrupt..." Obi-Wan muttered, staring in contempt at the city below. "The people of Garel call their biggest city Garel City. The capital city of Lothal? No problem, Capital City it is..."

" _Would you prefer them to be creative_?" Qui-Gon asked. " _I'd have thought you would have had your fill of creative after Thrawn_."

"It would be more interesting, at the very least..." He sighed, his gaze drifting back to the lazy, pleasure drunk Chiss in his bed, the woman's presence heavy and thick with post-coital bliss, and he felt his heart ache. She had been more useful to him than just a vessel to thrust inside when he needed to, more than just a way to needle his Chiss opponent. She provided a keen insight into the Chiss mentality, and not only that, but she was terribly intelligent, an asset in learning all there was to know about the way her people thought. It didn't give him an edge over the dangerous enemy that Thrawn was turning out to be, but it was a step toward putting them on even footing. The Admiral had quite a head start on the Sith Lord, but with the woman's insight, most of it given freely through discussion, not through any compulsion of the Force, had allowed Obi-Wan to understand Thrawn better, though by all accounts, he was exceptional.

She didn't know Thrawn, but she knew _of_ him, since his circumstances were extraordinary among the solidarity of the Chiss Ascendancy. _Exile_. A thing reserved only for the most serious offenses, a thing so rarely done that each case was keenly remembered, even if the details were not public knowledge, as was the case with Thrawn. The Chiss did not believe in wasting the talents of their people, and assigned them places within their society and their military that best suit their demonstrated aptitude, regardless of what it may be. To exile a man like Thrawn, who was proving to be an exceptional talent when compared to practically everyone...either he had done something truly horrific, in which case Kenobi's Chiss lover would most certainly have had at least rumors about, or something wasn't adding up.

He desperately needed to meet this Thrawn.

" _Obi-Wan_ ," Qui-Gon said softly when the Sith had fallen silent. " _This boy_ -"

"Forget about the boy!" Kenobi hissed. "He is nothing to me, they are all nothing to me." Qui-Gon gave him a stern look.

" _You know as well as I that isn't true. I know your heart, Obi-Wan, you_ -"

"Luke and Leia are all that matter to me," Obi-Wan growled. "I don't need another student, I don't _want_ another student."

" _And yet you are taking one_ ," Qui-Gon softly pointed out, and was met with a bitter, vicious glare from the Sith Lord. " _You didn't have to accept this. Perhaps you are unwilling to admit it, but you must see something in the boy or you_ -"

"Oh, Qui-Gon, you sentimental fool," Obi-Wan sighed. "You're clinging to the hope I can be saved, aren't you?" Kenobi's eyes narrowed when the spirit drew up taller, his mouth pressing in a thin line. "Don't think I didn't hear your conversation with Kanan back in the Temple, sound carries _very_ well in there, and I may have been drunk, but I haven't lived for as long as I have by being unobservant."

"... _I can't bear to see you in such pain, Obi-Wan_ ," the spirit said softly. " _I need to believe that there's more than suffering on your path. You have always surrounded yourself with friends and allies, Obi-Wan, but now you are so very alone. You've retreated so deeply into your own suffering that_ -"

"And you would have me do something else?" Kenobi asked bitterly. "What, Qui-Gon, what would you have me do?"

" _Your rebel cell, the Spectres, they are a family, and you can be a part of that_."

"You know I cannot."

" _You can. Kanan_ -"

" _Kanan is dead, Qui-Gon_!" Obi-Wan shouted, his voice tight and controlled and furious, the glowing gold of his eyes giving way to seeping red. "Ezra is dead! Hera, Zeb, Sabine, they are _all dead_!" He pointed an accusing finger at the spirit. "You see it as well as I do. The have drawn the Empire's attention, they have Inquisitors after them, and not just any Inquisitor, but their _leader_."

" _You had a chance to kill him_."

"And why should I?! He is useful to me, he is a tool, a way to get to Thrawn, and I have _never_ discarded those who have use to me." He scoffed in disgust. "Besides, his death would only bring something worse. Killing the Grand Inquisitor would draw Vader, and I have no doubt that Sidious will follow closely behind. These rebels cannot handle an Inquisitor, what do you think's going to happen to them when Vader is after them? A survivor of Order 66 cannot be ignored, and..." With a heavy sigh, he turned his back to the city and leaned against the wall, his eyes casually running over the beautiful form of the Chiss in his bed. "And I can't protect anyone."

" _You've done a fine job protecting the twins_ ," Qui-Gon said softly, watching carefully and gauging the Sith Lord as his gaze fell to the floor.

"The Force is defending them, not me."

" _The Force acts through you_." Obi-Wan scoffed and glared at the spirit.

"Kanan reminds me of Quinlan." He frowned. "Too much like Quinlan..." Kenobi sighed, his eyes growing distant and forlorn. "I find myself drawn to him. It would be so easy to fall in with him, _so easy_ to grow close, to mentor him, befriend him...and for what?" His hand tightened at his side. "Vader took Quinlan from me. He'll take Kanan from me too, so tell me, Qui-Gon, what's the point of growing close to someone and allowing myself to feel that once again when it will only end in pain greater than what I have now?' The Sith Lord slowly shook his head. "I can't lose anymore, Qui-Gon, _I can't_...it's best if I remain distant. At least then when they die, it will be easier."

" _It isn't like you to fear anything_." The Sith Lord's eyes shot up to the calm, collected spirit and narrowed in rage.

"I am _Sith_ , Qui-Gon, I fear nothing! Not pain, not suffering, not loss, not emptiness because those things are already my reality. I have nothing to fear because I have nothing left to lose!" Qui-Gon rolled his eyes.

" _Oh, come now, Obi-Wan, you know that isn't true. Your connections and your attachments run deep. Luke, Leia, Cody, Ahsoka, that rancor of yours, the droids you have adopted, your ship..._ " He chuckled softly. " _I even sense some affection for Yoda within you_."

"A Jedi fool..."

" _One you trust with the lives of your children_." The Sith Lord's lips pressed into a thin line, and Qui-Gon smiled softly. He had hit the mark. " _But you also stand to lose yourself_."

"Don't you argue I already have?" Obi-Wan asked bitterly, and the spirit shook his head.

" _You are a creature of darkness, and I know how you like your power. But you are still my Obi-Wan. In you, I see the shades of the boy you were. I see a man grieving the loss of the girl we once defended on Mandalore. I see a man robbed of his best friend, or his lovers and allies. I watch you descend deeper into darkness, but I can reach you still, so you are not lost_."

"It doesn't need to be this way," Obi-Wan growled. "You remember what it was like, you _saw_ what it was like when all I saw was the galaxy burning." He shook his head. "I feel it within me. Just out of sight but always there, I can _feel it_." He looked up at the spirit, a tense nervousness on his face, his breath held in anticipation. "I started this all for power. For order. Because the Republic was _broken_. I became Sith in my pursuit of correcting the galaxy's ills, and I cannot do that if I am _insane_. I will rule an Empire, Qui-Gon. I will guide this galaxy to progress and peace and order, but if I lose more, if I suffer more losses, I stand to lose myself." He took a deep, calming breath. "I cannot protect my Empire if all I care about is watching the galaxy burn."

" _You have always drawn your strength from your bonds, Obi-Wan_ ," Qui-Gon said. " _If you sever them all, if you stand aloof and apart from the galaxy, what reason do you have to protect it? You need people to protect, Obi-Wan, you need a reason, or you will be no better than Palpatine_."

"...perhaps," Kenobi growled reluctantly. "But I have the twins for that."

" _You're no good without allies, you need more than just them_. _If something happens, if you lose them and have nothing else_ -"

"Don't say it, don't you _dare_!" Kenobi snarled, but Qui-Gon held firm.

" _Obi-Wan, anything can happen, and they are old enough to fight. They are powerful, and you have trained them well, and soon enough, you will have to let them out from your protection so they can follow their own path._ "

"The Force still has use for me," Obi-Wan said, his voice tight with fury. "The Force protects my children, and so must I. There's a reason for it, and they have a greater destiny to achieve. I must guide them to it."

" _And yet_ ," the spirit drawled, " _you now find yourself tied to Ezra, to Kanan, to the other Spectres. That is no accident._ "

"...and Ezra's vision is disquieting," the Sith softly confessed, shaking his head as he hissed in irritation. "I need to see this vision. Why hasn't the Force shown it to me?"

" _I don't have an answer for that_ ," the spirit said quietly. " _Perhaps you are unable. Perhaps that is why you have been guided to Ezra. Maybe the Force can't show this to you, and is guiding you to one who can._ "

"Or maybe there's something else at work. Regardless, I won't know until I see it myself." He paused, his eyes fixated on the Chiss in his bed as he thought, and slowly, a wry smirk tugged at his lips, his gaze drifting to the Force spirit. "Oh, Qui-Gon sweetie, did you interrupt my evening tonight to talk about... _friendship_?" A small, secretive smile spread across the Jedi's face, and Obi-Wan began to gag. "Oh, I'm going to be _sick_."

" _What good is haunting you if I can't be disquieting_?" Slowly, the Sith Lord began laughing, soft and light and easy, and the Jedi's smile grew wider. " _The path you walk is a painful one, and you have never been much good alone_."

"I'll... _consider_ it, how about that?"

" _That is as satisfactory an answer as I will ever get from you, isn't it, you Sith bastard_."

"Jedi scum," Obi-Wan quickly retorted, pushing away from the wall and sitting on the bed beside the Chiss, his hand leaving light, teasing touches against her blue skin, and with a soft, eager moan, she leaned into him as he stroked her to a quick arousal. "You know, if it weren't for you, Qui-Gon, I'd have been peaceful and contented as I _wrecked_ this woman, you do know how much I appreciate seeing my lovers lost to lust."

" _I can't say I'm sorry for interrupting you, in that case. A little introspection will do you some good._ "

"Kriffing hell, Qui-Gon, if I wanted to be introspective, I would still be a Jedi. You haven't the faintest idea how long I fooled myself into thinking the things I did were for the Jedi. I was Sith long before I left." Kenobi hissed, his pupils expanding as the squirming Chiss reached up and ran her fingers over the long, black scar across his chest. "I don't need to think about what's inside me to know it's there, Qui-Gon..."

" _I imagine focusing on that just makes the pain deeper_." Kenobi laughed softly and shook his head.

"Mostly it just makes me miss Bo-Katan..." he whispered, his hand cupping the Chiss' cheek and running his thumb over her lips. "Weird, isn't it?" He leaned over and kissed the moaning woman, much more gentle than the previous fury of his passions. "Bo-Katan...my little Mand'alor has done so much for my cause, has suffered the same loss, has been alone for so long..." His hand tightly gripped the woman's chin, the red eyes widening slightly, her breath held as she stilled, the Sith's fury clearly visible and barley contained. "I wonder if Tarkin has known the passion of my Mand'alor..."

" _It's possible_..." Qui-Gon quietly confessed. " _She has never been one to shy away from taking an advantage, and if she could manipulate Tarkin in such a way, if she saw greater benefit in consummation than in simply leading him along, I've no doubt she'd do it."_

"...I need to get her out of there as soon as possible, we need to join forces, we need... _I_ need her." He close his eyes and took a deep breath, the Chiss' hands slowly returning to their petting, their stroking as she tried to coax him out of anger and back into desire, a much safer, but no less intense state. Qui-Gon looked at him skeptically, gauging the Sith Lord's rapidly changing feelings and emotions.

" _You have been thinking of Bo-Katan often these days_..." the spirit quietly ventured, and the Sith Lord closed his eyes, his breathing slow and even as he gently pressed the squirming Chiss down to still her, his hand lightly brushing down her body to stroke her hips.

"I do confess, she has been on my mind as of late..." he whispered, lightly kissing at the woman's neck before he sat up and opened his eyes, his gaze distant. "Satine has been filling my thoughts. She... _calls me_. It's no wonder my thoughts drift to her sister. Perhaps Mandalore's time is coming." He sighed deeply, closing his eyes once again as he intertwined his fingers with the Chiss'. "Satine, my guiding light, tell me what I should do..."

" _There must be a reason she has been appearing to you so often. The Force must be trying to tell you something_."

"If she is the form the Force takes, it's a cruel bastard," he growled, his fingers tightening around the delicate hand in his own. "The Dark Side has always been a difficult mistress, but _this_..." He sighed heavily. "Oh, if only it was her ghost that was haunting me instead of you..." Qui-Gon smirked softly.

" _You crave affection, my Obi-Wan, you have always been emotional_."

"Yes, so you can see how easy it was for me to leave the Jedi when _you_ tossed me aside," the Sith said pointedly, and the Jedi frowned.

" _Yes, we are all aware of my failings_." Qui-Gon pointed at the pained Sith. " _You need a lover, Obi-Wan. A real one, not a slave, one you can get close to. You crave it, so much so that visions of Satine are plaguing you_."

"That has nothing to do with it. I'm in close contact with a Mandalorian with a similar name, _of course_ my thoughts drift to her!" Kenobi glowered petulantly as his hand tightened on the Chiss' hip, his heart aching as he looked at her. The sight of her eager, willing, beautiful body stoked his lust, his blood running thick with arousal and desire. And deep in his chest, yearning, aching emptiness, one filled with Luminara, with Padmé, with Satine, _always_ with Satine...

"I can't," Obi-Wan whimpered, soft and pained, the ache in his chest filling with the Dark Side as it was unconsciously called, the snarling, angry beast rushing to fill the void with seething, violent lust, banishing the painful yearning with a flood of dominating pleasure. "I can't do it, not again..." he growled, his hands swiftly pinning the woman's arms above her head, his golden eyes blazing as a blood red ring grew around his irises.

" _But you did,_ " Qui-Gon pointed out, his voice raised slightly so the growling Sith could hear him over his own growls, the woman moans, the roar of the Dark Side. " _You did it after Satine, you did it after Padmé. What are you afraid of, Obi-Wan? What pain could possibly be dealt to you that is worse than the death of your best friend, or the deaths of your lover and your son?_ "

There were none worse, but many more that could destroy him, but Obi-Wan spoke none of them as he tuned the spirit out and allowed the Dark Side to overtake him, the beast freed from its chains and quickly moving to take command of his body as he savagely claimed the woman with bruising touched and hard kisses and possessive bites. The twins, Cody, Bo-Katan, and of these would break him, would finally kill what was left of the man he was when he set out to build an Empire for his Mandalorian Queen and his Dark Side son. Kanan, Ezra, Hera, any of the others, any of them could come to mean that much to him, if he allowed it. It was too dangerous, too risky, especially since they were being hunted. Kanan couldn't beat an Inquisitor, Ezra couldn't withstand the fury of the Dark Side. How were they supposed to survive when something worse came along?

He gasped, his eye shooting open, and he pulled away from the woman, holding his breath as he sat between her legs, his knees pushing her legs wide for him. He quickly looked over the Qui-Gon, the spirit staring at him cautiously. "What if it's a warning?" he asked quickly, batting the woman's hand away when she reached up to stroke his chest. "Qui-Gon, what if I am seeing Satine so often because the Force is trying to warn me about Bo-Katan?"

" _That could be_ ," Qui-Gon said thoughtfully, a concerned look on his face.

"I need to get her out of there," Obi-Wan said swiftly. "Or at the very least, I need to find a way to communicate with her. She's too important to our plans, she's too important to _me_ , I can't..." He hissed, his eyes closed as he took deep, calming breaths. "Patience...Ezra, Kanan, the rebels, the vision, Lothal, Mandalore, Bo-Katan, Vader. Sidious. _Thrawn_." Obi-Wan absently ran his hand over the Chiss' stomach, the woman laying very still, uncertain of what to do. "Everything's coming together..." he whispered. "Soon, everything will be in line, and it will be time to strike."

" _Sounds like you have some meditation to do_ ," Qui-Gon said, a slight smirk upon his lips, and Kenobi nodded. " _See you in the Force?_ "

"I wouldn't miss it," Obi-Wan said, flashing the spirit a soft, genuine smile as he disappeared, and the Sith groaned in satisfaction when the woman wrapped her legs around him, a silent plea for intimacy. After tonight, vacation was over, the waiting was over, and he could feel excitement churn his stomach. He had spent too long running, too long hiding, and he could feel the deep, pervasive itch for action, for initiative, the Dark Side gnawing at him for his return to war. And tomorrow, it began. There was a great deal to be done.


	20. Premonitions

**AN:** **Shorter than normal, I know, but there's a lot going on here, and I wanted it to breathe on its own. Enjoy, guys! See if you can catch everything that's happening!**

 _Chapter 20: Premonitions_

"You need to relax," Obi-Wan said, his voice calm and soothing, sitting with his feet tucked under him and his hands on his knees Before him sat Ezra Bridger, his legs crossed and his eyes closed as he fidgeted uncomfortably, mostly due to the fact that behind them, Kanan was _pacing_. He was uneasy and anxious about this whole thing, and his reservations about this were bleeding into his Padawan. Kenobi frowned. Kanan's Padawan, and _his_ apprentice. He sneered at the thought, a slight flash of anger and bitterness running through him, which Kanan picked up on immediately, which only served to fuel his unease. Which made Ezra more nervous. Which made Kenobi more frustrated. Which made _Kanan_ -

"Kanan says this is a bad idea..." Ezra said meekly, opening his eyes only to be met by blazing, piercing gold, and he quickly looked away.

"Kanan has no bearing on the situation because while you are on my ship, you are _mine, apprentice_ ," Obi-Wan growled. "I need to see this vision, and you _will_ show it to me."

"I don't know _how_!" Ezra said, frustrated and frantic, and he winced and fell silent when the golden eyes narrowed.

"Because you do not _listen_ ," Obi-Wan snarled. "Now, _relax_. Clear your mind. Open yourself to me, let me in..."

"This is a _terrible idea_ ," Kanan said quickly, holding fast when Obi-Wan glared at him from over his shoulder. "No, _don't_ you look at me like that, Kenobi! You're a mind controller, you brainwash people! I've seen what happens to the people you touch, I've seen how broken you leave them!"

"Oh, _please_ , stop being so dramatic..." Kenobi drawled. "Besides, you've seen no such thing."

"Oh yeah?" Kanan asked, pointing over his shoulder with his thumb at the Chiss woman that languidly lounged upon the couch. "What about her?"

"Her?" Obi-Wan scoffed and waved his hand dismissively. "A lover."

" _A slave_!"

"Because she wanted it!" Obi-Wan cried defensively, looking back to meet the woman's gaze and smiling wolfishly. "Carcir csei nah bavrcso, ch'eo bustucah? Vah vust'ch'ah vim rt'eseci ch'at'iscan ch'at ch'ah."

"Sei ch'at vah, nor ch'at vah, ch'eo crahsystor..." the woman responded, her voice low and thick with arousal, her hips rolling in open invitation under the black tunic she wore, and Kanan quickly looked away. Ezra didn't.

"See?" Obi-Wan said, a triumphant grin on his face. "She _wants_ to be here. Some people crave their chains, Jedi."

"And some people are made to know nothing else," Kanan cooly retorted. Obi-Wan rolled his eyes.

"A technicality. She isn't imprisoned here, she can leave at any time." Kanan growled, his hand tightening at his side.

" _Fine._ What about Depa Billaba?!"

"Ah..." Obi-Wan leaned back on his hands and closed his eyes, slipping into the Force as he felt the minds of those around him. Only Kanan remained perfectly guarded, the personal nature of the inquiry lending him additional strength to resist the Sith Lord. "I did break her, yes..." the Sith said softly, his voice distant, and the Jedi tensed with anger. "Your concern has been noted, Kanan, but it's unfounded. I do not seek to break the boy, which is why I am trying to get him to _relax_. The wind does not break the tree that bends. Such is the case with the mind as well." Kanan arched an eyebrow.

"What's this, Jedi wisdom from you, Lord of the Sith?"

"Don't be an idiot, Jarrus, there were few things more rigid than the Jedi Order in the waning days of the Republic," Obi-Wan growled. "This saying is _Sith_. Every changing, ever adapting." Gold, predatory eyes fell on Ezra, and it took the boy a moment to notice and tear his gaze away from the seductive Chiss. "I _will_ see this vision, _apprentice_. I can make you relax, I can make you open your mind wide to me, willingly give yourself over to my will..."

"See, _this_!" Kanan shouted, pointing at the Sith. " _This_ is why nobody trusts you! Weird, creepy _mind powers_. You could be influencing people at _any time_ , how is anyone supposed to know their thoughts are their own when they're around you?!"

"They usually don't, that's the point..." Kenobi drawled casually. "Listen, I'm not in the habit of doing anything without purpose, and breaking your student, or you, or your lover, or any of the other people I have allied with is not conducive to my plans. I've been around you this long and haven't compelled you, why should I start now?" The Jedi said nothing, only continued his hard stare in Kenobi's direction, and Obi-Wan hung his head with a sigh. "Would you be more comfortable coming with us?"

"...w-wait, what?"

"Hold on, this will just take a moment," Obi-Wan said, raising his hand toward Kanan and splaying his fingers, and half a breath later, Kanan felt as though he was suddenly and violently yanked out of hyperspace. There was a rush of wind, so strong, so powerful that Kanan could see nothing but a dark, windblown haze, could hear nothing but the howling in his ears, could feel the storm ripping and tearing at him as if threatening to pull his skin off his body. He was falling into a deep, infinite chasm, and it only ended when he landed _hard_ , face first on the ground, his mouth filling with a bitter taste, and he quickly sat up, sputtering and spitting to clear the awful, acrid taste.

He squinted, rubbing his eyes to clear the haze that settled over him like a fog, and slowly, his vision came into focus, the Jedi looking around cautiously at the barren landscape around him. The sky was gray, thick and heavy with storm clouds that lit with arching lightning, the air filled with th sound of distant thunder. The horizon glowed with reds and yellows and oranges, flickering lights that came not from a sun, but from distant burning fires, the inferno massive and consuming, from the look of its effect on the sky, though it was clear that the fire storm was long past, and would not return. It _could not_ return. There was nothing left here to burn.

The surrounding landscape was peppered with dead, blackened husks of charcoal that were once trees in a verdant forest, the ground covered in a thick layer of gray and black ash that swirled into the air with each stirring of the wind, black ashes and red embers constantly drifting through the air like dust in an abandoned building. It was eerie and unsettling, made even more so by how desolate and alone Kanan felt just to look on this place, the cold gripping him and filling him with a profound sense of loss and a longing for life that he knew could never return. The feeling only intensified as his vision continued to focus, and he looked around him to see bodies laying scattered across the ground. Hundreds of them. _Thousands_ of them.

 _Jedi_. All of them, _Jedi_.

With a startled cry, Kanan scrambled to his feet, only to trip and fall backwards as he tried to get away from the bodies. Frantic, he backed away, trying to put distance between himself and the dead Jedi, his own memories of the terror of the Jedi purge flashing before his eyes, his quick and nervous movements kicking up ash and embers and sending them drifting into the air. He stopped when his hand touched something cold and hard, and he slowly glanced over his shoulder, afraid of what he would see, and his eyes widened as he looked down at his hand on the arm of Jedi Master Ki-Adi-Mundi, his skin pale, his eyes milky and lifeless, his torso ripped in half, blood and viscera soaking into the ash and leading like a gory trail to where his lower half lay nearby.

He was going to be _sick_.

Nausea beat back his panic as he rose to shaking legs and tried not to vomit, and he slowly removed himself from the grisly sight. And worst of all...he had been here before. He had stood in the field of ash, had seen the body of his Master laying dead upon the ground, but nothing so vivid as what he saw now. The same scene from a different perspective. Before, he had seen Obi-Wan here, standing calm and cool and collected and staring _right at him_. Like he could see him, like Kanan knew now that he _had_ seen him. Before, he had brushed it off as little more than a nightmare, but now, he saw things from a new angle.

He looked around him at the bodies, so many of them indistinguishable, but a few lay vivid and clear among the ashes, Padawans with their long braids, humans, non-humans, Knights and Masters. Most he didn't recognize, but among the dead, he had vague memories of a few of them, members of the Jedi Council, wise and strong and dead, fallen during the war at the hands of Obi-Wan Kenobi.

When the light from the distant blaze hit just right, Kanan could see...shadows. Ghostly figures walking the barren, open grave in an aimless shuffle, like they were lost, misplaced, their figures shifting and waving like they were struggling to maintain their shape, like they couldn't remember what they were supposed to be. Most were humanoid, some tall, others much shorter, males and females, ghosts, all of them. Drawn closer to them, Kanan slowly approached, though the distance between him and the ghosts never seemed to lessen. Still, if he looked close, he could make out small details, small differences among them that seemed to shift in and out of existence.

Yellow eyes peering out from one shifting form, a band of diamond shaped markings across the face of another. One small and lithe with shifting, purple markings on a smooth head, another tall and strong, its face marked by a yellow band. There were others as well, but he couldn't distinguish between them, save for one shadow, large and hulking and mechanical that for just a moment as it shimmered and shifted looked like an inky, impressionist painting of General Grievous.

Where the hell was he?

"Welcome to my domain, Kanan Jarrus," the smooth, clipped accent drawled, seeming to come from all directions at once, and Kanan slowly turned until he saw Obi-Wan walking toward him, his hand on Ezra's back and pushing the apprehensive boy forward, his eyes wide with horror as he looked around him.

"Where are we?" Kanan asked softly, and the Sith Lord rolled his eyes in irritation.

"We're going to get inside your student's head in the gentlest way I know how, which means taking the long way. We get him acclimated to the Force, and we go from there." He laid a hand upon his chest. "My domain. Here. Within me."

" _You_?!" Kanan gasped, looking around. "This is what's inside you?"

"As I said before..." the Sith drawled, extending his open palm before him, and one of the shadows broke away from the rest, gliding over to where they stood and reached out, laying it's mirage-like hand on Kenobi's, and his hand closed around it. The shadow faded away when he touched it, like mist on the wind, and Obi-Wan brought the pale hand he now held to his lips. "There's nothing inside of me..."

Kanan watched as the shadow faded, forming into a pale, blond woman, her eyes a brilliant blue, her features sharp and beautiful, and he looked between her and Kenobi as the Sith Lord pressed his forehead to hers, his eyes closed and his face peaceful and melancholy as their fingers intertwined. The environment around them seemed to shift in response to the emotions of the Sith, a beautiful harmony of love and loss and pain and pleasure brushing the ashes away, the bodies disappearing into nothing and scattered to the wind as the gray skies darkened to inky blacks and purples scattered with stars, the breathtaking beauty of space above them as they stood in emerald green fields on the shores of a sapphire lake, the brilliant blue glittering with reflected light from the stars above. When a gentle wind blew across Kanan's face, it felt like the breath of the Force itself.

"Hey, Kanan?" Ezra asked, creeping closer to the Jedi and gluing himself to his side, his eyes fixed on the Sith Lord as he quietly spoke to the woman in his arms in soft, gentle Mando'a. "I don't understand what's happening at all. Who _is_ that?"

"I don't know, but I can guess..."

"Haa'taylir lo ner kar'ta, Jetiise," Obi-Wan said softly, the woman's hand poised in the crook of his arm. "You wish to know my heart, Jedi. You've seen what rests inside me, and now, you need to _trust me_. We cannot train this boy correctly if we don't." Kanan looked at him for a long while as silent understanding slowly fell over him. The Sith's soul was a barren husk of ash and cinder, a place filled with the bodies of the dead and haunted by the ghosts of those once dear to him. It was...personal. _Intimate_. The Lord of the Sith was abrasive, intimidating, kept everyone at bay with the blade of his bloody saber, so for the man to bring Kanan and Ezra within himself when he could just as easily have forced himself within a broken Ezra's mind...

He was exposing himself. This was more than an act of trust. Kanan could only imagine what it took for the Sith Lord to bring someone this close after all his devastating losses. And with the woman on his arm, Kanan saw a side of the Sith Lord he didn't think was possible. There was no cruelty, no hatred or viciousness, none of the things that branded him as Sith. There was just...tenderness, a calm and sorrowful grace as he gently stroked the woman's hand, her arm, her thin hip, her high cheek. Kanan recognized the gentle, intimate caresses as a thing not just shared by lovers, but by one who held the heart of the other in their hands, and Kenobi's was held by a ghost. He had given it away, the recipient had died, and now it was gone, the shadow of it remaining only in his memory.

"Is that her?" Kanan asked softly, stepping forward, and the Sith's fierce gaze fell on the Jedi, tense...apprehensive, perhaps, his eyes searching Kanan's face and seeming to look right through him. Kanan felt the Force tug and pull at him in a natural ebb and flow, warm and thick in the air around him and filling his lungs with each breath he took. The Jedi Masters had spoken about being lost in the Force, about falling so deep in meditation that they could feel one with it, like there was little separation between their consciousness and the living Force around them. Kanan could only imagine that this was it, and Kenobi had dragged them in with him.

"...yes," Kenobi whispered, his voice tight with emotion he struggled to repress, his hand tightening around the woman's. "My Satine, she..." He stopped, shook his head, and turned away from the Jedi toward the waters. "She's not real," he said bitterly. "Come, we have work to do." When Kanan moved to follow, Ezra ran past him, a bright, excited smile on his face as he bounded to the Sith's side.

"Hey, is this part of the training?" Ezra asked Obi-Wan, walking so close that Kenobi edged away with an irritated scowl on his face, his arm draping over Satine's shoulders and possessively pulling her close. "Am I going to learn how to do this? Where are we exactly? Hey, are you going to see my vision?" Before he could move, a swift hand shot out and grabbed hold of his chin, and Ezra was faced with the blazing, furious eyes of the Sith Lord, spiked, blood red spreading around the gold of his iris as the Dark Side gripped him.

" _Yes_ ," Kenobi snarled, his voice a deep, resonant growl in his chest, "yes, the tides of the Force, and _yes_." He pushed the boy's face away and looked back at Kanan. "You are a _Jedi_ , have you taught him no patience at all?!" Kanan just shrugged.

"Ezra's difficult to teach, and I'm no teacher, _Master Kenobi_." The Sith Lord hissed, a sharp shiver of pleasure running down his spine.

"You _really_ know how to talk to me, don't you..." Obi-Wan muttered, pushing Ezra toward the shore, and Kanan just laughed.

"Hey, if calling you Master is all it takes to get what I want from you, you can be my Master _any_ day..." Kanan drawled, leaning in toward the smaller man and smirking. "Just don't tell Hera."

"Oh, I'm going to tell her..." Kenobi drawled, leaning up toward the smirking Jedi. "More than that, I'm going to get her to join us. You are _all_ mine, Spectres, each and every one of you..."

"Mm, how many Jedi have you seduced talking like that?"

"A few, and it seems to me like I'll be adding another to my tally _very_ shortly..."

"Is _this_ what you two do with each other when you're _training_? Flirt with each other?!" Ezra asked, a fierce flush on his face as he watched the Jedi and the Sith draw ever closer, each one challenging the other and neither willing to be the one that turned away first. With a slight smirk on his lips, Obi-Wan put his hand on Kanan's face and shoved him away. Bold and brash, Kanan was. So much like Quinlan.

"More or less, yes," Kenobi drawled, placing his hand on Ezra's back and leading him to the water's edge. "Now, as for you, my apprentice, touch the water, focus, let the Force flow though you and bring to mind the vision you saw in the temple."

"A-alright..." Ezra said, biting his lip as he reached down and touched the mirror-still waters of the lake, sending little ripples through it that made the starry reflections move across its surface. He could feel Kanan come to stand beside him, peering down at the water in interest, just as curious as his student was. This was the domain of Masters, of the particularly talented, of the living vergence , and he was as big of an intruder in this place as Ezra was. Closing his eyes and breathing deep, Ezra focused, reached into his mind, and the water began shimmering with light, reacting to the images in the boy's mind.

"Oh, _my_..." Obi-Wan drawled, a wicked grin spreading across his face as he watched images of tanned, heated flesh, rubbing against another's bare torso, sweat slicked bodies heaving as they moaned and panted and gasped in the heat of their passions. Kanan quickly turned his eyes from the image, but the Sith Lord simply chuckled, low and deep as he looked at flushed, _horrified_ Ezra.

"I-I..." Ezra began, swallowing hard. "W-what's-"

"The images within your mind, apprentice..." the Sith drawled, bringing Satine's hand to his lips. "It looks as though someone is having fantasies about a _certain_ rebel Mandalorian explosions expert..." Obi-Wan frowned. "Though, I must say, you're a little young to be having thoughts like this. I was a teenager when I started being plagued, _you're_ only ten."

"W-what?!" Ezra gasped, the flush on his face now not only from embarrassment. "I'm not ten, I'm fifteen!"

"...no, I don't think that's true..." Obi-Wan said thoughtfully as he stroked his beard.

"T-this is your fault anyway!" Ezra cried, tearing his hand from the water in hopes of making the images of the moaning teens disappear. It didn't. "If you and Kanan weren't busy _seducing_ each other-"

"Oh, to be _young_ again," Obi-Wan drawled, rolling his eyes. "To find arousal in next to nothing at all. At least you have good taste, Sabine Wren is _Mandalorian_ , superior to all save the Sith."

"I wonder what it's like to be as arrogant as you..." Kanan said, rolling his eyes and smacking the surface of the water, the splash and violent ripples blurring the image until the colors swirled together and disappeared back into the sky's starry reflection, the waters stilling as the Jedi hand calmed the waves to stillness. Obi-Wan watched Kanan carefully, a small smile on his lips as the man instinctively navigated the waters of the Force.

"Am I arrogant for knowing and accepting the truth?" the Sith Lord said softly, and the Jedi shook his head, rolling his eyes as he laid his hands on Ezra's shoulders.

"Focus, Ezra," Kanan said in a soft, calm voice. "Let go of everything, clear your mind." Nodding, Ezra did as he was told, shivering slightly when Kanan took his arm and dipped his fingers into the waters once again. "Your visions at the temple, imagine them now..."

"I _just_ told him the same thing, Kanan, and he gave me _sex fantasies_ about Sabine Wren," Kenobi said, rolling his eyes. "That advice isn't working." The water began to ripple, the stars swirling together and darkening, a faint red glow coming from under the churning waters as Ezra's visions began to take shape, flashing on the surface of the lake. "I kriffing _hate_ Jedi..." Obi-Wan muttered, his hand held out to the visions in the water and stopping the flashing images when he felt a strong pull of the Dark Side, and without wasting a moment, he shoved Kanan and Ezra into the water, the Jedi tumbling with a cry into the lake and disappearing beneath the surface.

Kanan kept a tight hold on Ezra as they sank, the water far deeper than he thought, his legs kicking to propel them toward the surface, or to push off the bottom, but there was no bottom, no surfacing, just falling and falling deeper into the water, the pressure on his chest increasing as they sunk into the depths. He held his breath, his lungs straining until Kanan could hold it no longer and he forcefully exhaled, the air leaving his lungs in a thick stream of bubbles. With nothing in his lungs, it took everything in him to resist the burning pain, the reflex to breathe, and he didn't last long. With pain pulsing within him, Kanan gasped as he inhaled, water rushing to fill his lungs, and he clutched Ezra close as he began thrashing as he drowned.

They struck the ground hard, both Kanan and Ezra coughing up lung fulls of water as they shivered against the cold, gasping for air now that they could breathe once again. On his hands and knees, Kanan looked around the new environment, his vision dark from lack of air, and slowly, his sight returned, the imposing form of Obi-Wan standing with his back turned toward the Jedi, his form backlit by red light, the woman that had been by his side gone and replaced by the blazing red glow of his lightsaber..

"Damn it, Kenobi..." Kanan groaned, pushing himself to his feet and dragging Ezra up by the arm. "Why-"

" _Hush_!" Obi-Wan hissed, low and serious and dangerous, and Kanan was immediately alerted to the warning in his voice, the Sith Lord looking dangerous and feral, his golden eyes spiked with red and glowing brightly with the fires that burned in his gaze.

"H-Hey..." Ezra whispered, drawing closer to Kenobi, heedless of the danger, and the Sith Lord shot out a hand, laying it on Ezra's chest and keeping him from getting closer. "That's it, that's what I saw in the temple."

"Is it exactly like it was?" Obi-Wan asked his voice seeming to resonate in his chest, the smooth tone deep and feral and not his own. Kanan laid a hand on Ezra's shoulder as he looked at Kenobi's face, his features shadowed by the red glow surrounding him, his jaw clamped together tightly, his features alert and wary, but the eyes...not the pure gold Kanan had grown accustomed to, but something primal and savage, something supernatural in its intensity, an open conduit for the Force. This wasn't Obi-Wan. _This_ was Darth Lumis. Kanan's hand tightened defensively on Ezra's shoulder and pulled him back toward him.

Ezra surveyed the scene, his eyes narrowed as he examined every detail, but something was... _off_. Like before, there stood the three shadows, the tall, imposing figure and the lithe, twitching man standing at the sides of the hooded figure, a beaten, defeated Kenobi kneeling on the floor before them, his head bowed and his breathing ragged, his black robes in tatters as smoke rose from a smouldering wound on his back. A soft, hollow cackling echoed in the air, and the hooded man raised his hands, lightning shooting from his fingers as it struck the image of Kenobi, and the Sith Lord fell to the ground, writing in agony before he fell still, the glow leaving his eyes as the golden color dulled, growing hollow and vacant. Kanan quickly looked toward the Sith, fear filling him as he watched the fate of the man play out before them. They couldn't allow this to happen. Whatever it was, the shadows in the room were _evil_ , more than the Sith he was coming to know.

"It's different," Ezra whispered, pointing toward the shadows. "Last time, they had glowing eyes. Like yours. I-I thought they could see me." He frowned and shook his head. "No, it _felt_ like they could see me. They stared at me, and I felt _so cold_ , a-and it felt like burning." Ezra laid a hand on his chest. "Here." The Sith Lord frowned as he looked at the scene before him.

"Stay here..." he muttered. "Don't move, Jedi, there's danger here."

"It's just a vision, isn't it?" Ezra asked nervously. "I mean, this hasn't _actually_ happened..."

"Not yet..." Kenobi said, his voice distant and hollow, and Kanan and Ezra both shivered with foreboding. "It may be a vision, but we are not the only ones who can walk the Force, apprentice, and I am not the only predator that swims the Dark Side..."

His hand extended to the Jedi in warning and his golden eyes narrowed and commanding obedience, Obi-Wan turned away from them and walked toward the figures in the vision with careful, cautious steps. Keeping his eyes on the shadows, Kenobi knelt beside the vision of himself upon the ground and looked at his reflection, his possible future. His chest slowly rose and fell with shallow breaths, but the body was otherwise lifeless, the gold eyes dull, vacant, devoid of the soul, the hate, the passion that burned within him. This was an empty shell, an open conduit for the Force, a living vergence turned into an object, a Force Nexus of Dark Side energy that could be used to channel the flow of the Force for the use of one that possessed it. He wasn't dead. This was _far_ worse.

Obi-Wan looked up to gaze at the shadows, the soft, hollow laughter echoing around him. To Ezra, they may have been just shadows, but to _him_ , they took on a whole different meaning. Maul, Vader, Sidious, the only other Sith Lords in the galaxy. The Empire's Sith Triumvirate. The three of them were powerful, _extremely_ so, even poor, broken Maul held strength that Sidious may one day find a way to harness, and Vader had been gone for so long, it became impossible to gauge how strong he had become over the years. Fifteen years of service to Darth Sidious was no laughing matter, and it was more time that Kenobi had spent as his apprentice. There was no good way to tell how powerful Vader was now, though it was a good bet that a torso on mechanical limbs simply couldn't rise to the heights he had been. Anakin Skywalker, Force Nexus, was dead, and it wasn't something that Vader would ever be able to achieve.

Just as Obi-Wan had been unremarkable as a Jedi, his fall to the Dark Side prompting in him a change that would see him become a vergence in the Force, Anakin Skywalker had been _born_ to be a conduit of the light, and when he had turned, the talent was burned out of him as darkness fell. It didn't make Vader weak. Compared to the Inquisitorius, compared to Maul, compared to the children that had been saved from the Temple as it burned, Darth Vader was power beyond their imagining, and certainly beyond their ability to fight. But for all his strength and brutality, for as great of a weapon he was in the hands of his Master, when faced against another Sith Lord, there was simply no contest. Kenobi wasn't in the business of defense, as the Jedi were, leaving them easy prey for the Dark Siders that ruled the galaxy, but in the business of _domination_ , and his blatant disregard for life that stood in his way was a dangerous thing to contend with.

No, the problem was Sidious. Gone were the days of cautious plotting and scheming as he manipulated galactic events in his lustful reach for power. Now, _Emperor_ Palpatine had people to rule his Empire for him, which would leave him the time he had craved for study of the Dark Side, and no doubt the Master hadn't been slacking. Sidious had been powerful when Lumis had been apprenticed to him, far more than he ever knew, and he still had no inkling as to how powerful he was, nor how powerful he had become. It was a serious problem, one that Obi-Wan thought about a great deal, because one day, he'd have to stand against his former Master and slay him, and when that day came, he needed to know he was stronger. And even if he was, Sidious had the uncanny ability to prepare for every contingency, to navigate the visions of the Force and produce the outcome he desired. Except in the case of Vader, but Obi-Wan doubted his former Master would be so careless again.

But the vision...

He looked back to the image of himself on the ground, his eyes milky and distant, his body beginning to twitch and convulse, his lower back arching off the ground as he so often did when the Force took him and filled his mind with visions. Was that it? Kenobi reached out and touched the pale cheek, his fingers passing through the vision. Could this have been his fate? Was this what lay at the end fo the road? Defeated and captured by Sidious, a Force Nexus to be used as a way to accurately predict the future. Sidious' visions had always been a wide net, showing him a vast array of possible outcomes, leaving him to discern which path to take to achieve a desired outcome, while Lumis' visions had always been more consistent, and far, _far_ more accurate. Was that the ultimate plan? To capture Lumis, destroy his consciousness, and use his body to channel the Force for the Emperor's own desires?

And if so, if this was his ultimate fate...why had it been _Ezra_ to have the vision?

The cold, hollow laughter suddenly became rich, amused, _chilling,_ and Kenobi felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, his head snapping up as he quickly stood to face the shadows and found blazing yellow eyes staring back at him from Sidious' image. This wasn't just a vision, the Sith Master was _actually_ there, and he _saw them_.

"Master..." Kenobi said under his breath, his eyes wide and locked with Sidious' triumphant gaze as he slowly backed up, putting himself between the Emperor and the two terrified Jedi. His eyes narrowed and a vicious growl in his throat, he raised his saber and pointed it at the shadowed man, red blades extending from Maul and Vader's hands as he did so. The hooded man just _laughed_.

"Darth Lumis..." the Emperor said in a soft, smooth rasp that sent a chill up his spine. " _I_ _see you_..." A bitter chill snapped through the Force as a savage wind rose, causing the vision of the room they stood in to disintegrate and be blown away in the storm, leaving them standing in a cold, black, long room before the mighty Imperial throne, the full weight of the Dark Side pressing down upon them, causing the shadowy figures of Maul and Vader to kneel. Kenobi was unaffected, but the Jedi behind him were not.

"Kenobi!" Kanan called out through grit teeth, kneeling on the ground as he struggled to rise, only to fall in a low, prostrate bow upon the cold floor, Ezra on the ground beside him, clutching his head and screaming as his pupils narrowed into pinpoints in his pain, and the blue of his eyes gave way to the glowing yellow corruption of darkness. " _Kenobi, help us_!"

"Did you truly think to stand against me, Lumis?" Sidious hissed, his voice bitter and amused as he reached out and pulled the empty Kenobi on the ground to him, the lost man's body held in the air by his arms, his head hanging limply to his chest. With a deep, cold cackle, Sidious reached up to stroke the bearded cheek, his fingers hooking under his chin and forcing him to look up, his sightless eyes staring straight ahead, gazing eternally into the Force.

"Kanan, _get out of here_!" Obi-Wan shouted, pointing his blazing blade out toward the Sith Master, his eyes narrowed and the Dark Side rushing to him like a vortex, the creature in the very depths of him pulsing to life after years laying dormant within him, its mighty eyes opening and focusing on Lumis, its gaze piercing through him and seeing him as it hadn't since his battle with Vader on Mustafar. In Sidious, he could feel the same pulse of power, could see those yellow eye widen in recognition of the meaning behind the movements of the Force, and then narrow in anger.

"It is futile to resist," Sidious growled dangerously, the hanging body of the broken Lumis lifted to hand above the throne. "This outcome has already been foretold. _This_ is your destiny, Lumis. Your presence here _assures it_."

"Yeah, we'll see about that..." Lumis said, defiance in his voice as he stared his former Master down. "This vision isn't mine, so it may yet be changed. I haven't seen this vision in the Force." A wide grin spread across Sidious' shadowed face.

"But you have _now_ , my apprentice..."

"Obi-Wan, _help_!" Kanan shouted, his teeth grit as he struggled against the weight of the Dark Side as he tightly, defensively gripped his screaming student to his chest. "I can't get Ezra out, he's too far in darkness! _Help me_!" Lumis snarled in frustration, refusing to take his gaze from Sidious' for a moment as he slowly backed up, and feeling the Jedi behind him, he knelt, his saber deactivating as he laid his hands on Kanan and Ezra's heads, his touch gentle and soothing as he ran his fingers through their hair.

"There is no escape, Lumis," Sidious said, laughter in his voice. "You have already lost." He gestured up behind him to where the empty shell lay hanging. "In the end, even you will serve me. Look upon your fate, _apprentice_ , and accept it."

With a rush of the Force around them, the throne room began to fade, the shadows blowing away in the powerful wind, and as darkness enveloped them, all they could here was the Emperor's amused, hollow cackle.

They fell back into their bodies, the three slamming to the ground, Kanan dazed and hazy for a moment before he heard Ezra's pained screams, and called to action, the Jedi scooped the boy up, looking in horror as the images from the vision bled into reality, the young Padawan's eyes stained a pale, sickly yellow. Before he had a chance to call for help, Kenobi was at his side, two fingers pressed to Ezra's forehead, and with a sharp gasp, the screams stopped, the boy's eyes closing as he fell limp in Kanan's arms. With a hiss of frustration, Kenobi stood and paced away, his long fingers rubbing his temples, the air he passed through cold in his wake. Gathering Ezra tight in his arms, Kanan stood and slowly approached the tense, angry Sith Lord.

"Obi-Wan, what was-"

" _I don't know_!" he snarled, Kanan drawing back when he saw the blood red in his fierce eyes, his voice deep and seeming to echo as if a second person spoke in unison with him, and for the first time, Kanan could _feel him_ in the Force, could sense the savage rend Kenobi's mere presence created. A moment later, his rapid, uneven breathing slowed, the fury on his face abated, and the Dark Side lifted, leaving the man contemplative, determined, _focused_. "I don't know, Kanan..." he said, his voice smooth and even once again.

"...is Ezra-"

"He's fine," Kenobi quickly cut in. "At least, he is for now. I'll need to meditate on it. As should you, Jedi." Kanan nodded.

"Obi-Wan, if that's the future...if we know what happens, surely, we must be able to take steps to prevent that from happening.

"Often times, the steps taken to prevent an undesirable outcome are the exact steps needed to ensure it comes to pass..." Obi-Wan muttered. "We don't even know if that's the future or not. This isn't a vision given to me by the Force, this came through Ezra, a boy already susceptible to the Dark Side and its manipulations. We can't trust it, not completely..." He breathed deep, a hand extended and calling a glowing red pyramid to float in the air before him, the holocron unfolding and opening as the Sith Lord sighed and took in the familiar drawling hiss of Ancient Sith. "And with Sidious present, it seems very likely that he could be manipulating what we see. I'll have to meditate on this."

Kanan nodded and laid his hand on the Sith's shoulder, the man flinching at the sudden contact, and for just a moment, Kanan could see how truly anxious Obi-Wan was. "We're with you, Kenobi, you hear me?" the Jedi said softly. "All of us, no matter the outcome. We'll see this through to its conclusion...whatever that may be." Kenobi sucked in a sharp breath, his golden gaze meeting Kanan's for a moment before looking away.

"...thank you, my friend."

They didn't say anything else. They didn't need to. Kanan sat with Ezra, the unconscious boy laid out on a couch as he recovered, and the Sith Lord seated on the floor, the holocron open before him as he slipped into the Force, and even there, hand in hand with the vision of the woman that held his heart, he couldn't shake the feeling of foreboding that pulsed within him.


	21. The Idiot's Array

_Chapter 21: The Idiot's Array_

Obi-Wan stared slack jawed at the holographic image of Ahsoka Tano, the Togruta standing with her arms crossed in front of her chest, a smug smirk on her face. It was rare to shock the Sith Lord, so rare that the rebel leadership had an ongoing betting pool on the matter, and now, Bail owed her money.

"Say that again..." Obi-Wan said, his voice calm and even and measured, as it always was when he was concealing his feelings and intentions, and Ahsoka grinned widely. It was better than she could have hoped for.

"Worth interrupting your meditations, Kenobi?" she asked, leaning in toward him. "I said, we found the _Chimera_."

"You found the _Chimera_..." Obi-Wan slowly repeated, and Ahsoka nodded.

"We found the _Chimera_."

"Oh, dear, sweet Ahsoka, I could kiss you!" the Sith Lord cried in excitement, laughing as he quickly swiped his fingers across his datapad and displayed the holographic map of the galaxy beside the Togruta's projection, and he quickly zoomed in to his current location just outside of Garel. After his dangerous foray into the Force with Kanan and Ezra, Obi-Wan had secluded himself in order to properly meditate on the matter, and the more he sat within the Force and played the vision over and over again, the greater sense of foreboding he felt. He didn't see Sidious again, never saw those pale, sickly eyes staring back at him from the shadows, but the vision remained. Him, kneeling before Darth Sidious, an empty shell for his use.

It wouldn't have been so bad if the vision stayed in the Temple it originated from, but it didn't. Night after night, with greater and greater frequency, the Force took Lumis, dragged him under the waters, willing or no, to look upon himself, beaten and broken before Maul, Vader and Sidious. It felt like his earlier visions, the battle between the Jedi he had been and the golden-eyed Sith Lord that always ended in him being slain by the wicked red blade. Until he wasn't. Until it was him holding the Sith's weapon, until it was _him_ that became the Sith that slew poor, fallen Jedi Kenobi. It felt like his visions of the face screaming in flames, the one that had plagued him for years, the one he had misinterpreted time and time again until he finally understood on the shores of Mustafar when he watched Anakin Skywalker burn.

This vision was real. Like the once before it, the Force pulled at him insistently, with warning and caution, but also with sorrow and regret, and as Obi-Wan looked upon the broken vision of himself, he couldn't help but wonder _why_. Why had Ezra been the first to see this? Had Sidious been correct about the vision becoming fate the moment he looked upon it? Why had the Force, his longtime ally, abandoned him to Sidious' clutches? Was his purpose finally at an end? Was his place in the Force's plans simply to raise Luke and Leia, and now that they were grown and able to fight, was his role over? He didn't know. Visions were so often misleading. Perhaps this meant something else.

But maybe it didn't.

With the Spectres on Lothal to restock and their two Force sensitive crew working to build Ezra's lightsaber as his training progressed, it gave Obi-Wan plenty of time to sit in solitude and see his own plans move forward between his meditations. So when good news came, it was very welcome, and Ahsoka really delivered this time.

"We have traced the movements of the Star Destroyer from here," Ahsoka said, pointing to a spot in the Outer Rim territories, Obi-Wan laying his finger where the hologram indicated, "to _here,_ " she said, pointing again, and Kenobi drew a line to connect the tow points. "It's been running patrols in the Meerian Sector for the past few weeks, mainly around Bandomeer dealing with smugglers and pirates harassing their supply convoys leaving the mining depots."

"All headed for their deep space project near Scarif, no doubt..." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Have we made any progress on that matter?"

"None," Ahsoka said bitterly. "Nobody can get inside the facility, and I've lost three Fulcrum agents and two squads of my best trying to get close when I heard Krennic was headed toward the facility. Whatever it is they're building, it's well hidden."

"Or it's moving..." Obi-Wan mused, stroking his beard as he looked at the map. "Do you think Thrawn is involved in the project?"

"If he's not, he should be," Ahsoka muttered. "With his record, you'd think so, but my sources say that the higher ups in the navy don't much like him. They've been trying to put him down for years."

"Mm, makes me like the guy even more..." He tapped his finger on the highlighted Meerian Sector. "He's been traveling up and down the Hydian Way, and the presence near Bandomeer suggests that he's dealing with smugglers and criminal factions."

"Which is more or less what he has been doing for years."

"Mm." Obi-Wan lightly traced the line of the hyperspace route, silent in his concentration as he observed the surrounding area. "Their patrol is very close to Dathomir and Mandalore, both which I am closely connected with. So what is our boy Thrawn doing out around Mandalore..." Obi-Wan growled in frustration. "Bo-Katan has been in my thoughts as of late. I don't like this."

"You think Thrawn's after her?" Ahsoka asked, visibly worried, and her anxiousness did nothing to ease Kenobi.

"It's possible. I don't know as much about Thrawn as I should, but he certainly knows a great deal about me. I'll have to ask him when I capture him and his ship..." He flashed a smile at Ahsoka. "This is good, Fulcrum. This is _very_ good."

"Hey, I just pass the information along," Ahsoka said, raising her hands in the air and smirking wryly. "I didn't do it for you. Thrawn is making it difficult for the rebel factions to unify, we need him out of the way as much as you do. He's a dangerous adversary, and you just happen to be the best one for the job."

"I'll head to the coordinates as soon as possible," Obi-Wan said as he cleared the map away. "I need to prepare, can you transmit all the data you have on Thrawn to my ship I want to compare our intel and make certain we are on the same page."

"Will do," the Torguta said, taking her own datapad in hand, her fingers running swiftly over it. "Happy hunting, Kenobi. May the Force be with you." With a flicker, the hologram shut off, the datapad in his hand chirping as it received Ahsoka's transmission, and he laid the device down, commanding it to interface with the ship as the message was decrypted and the data sent to the holotable to be viewed at his convenience as soon as the files were readable. At last, it was time to deal with Thrawn. An eye on the _Chimera_ was a very good thing, and given the importance of the target, Ahsoka would keep an eye on it until the matter was settled.

This would solve many of his problems. Having a man like Thrawn on his tracks had severely diminished his ability to move freely through the galaxy, which made it very difficult to see his children. Keeping the twins a secret had been their greatest priority, and each day Thrawn was allowed to continue was another day he had to discover their existence and identity. And if _that_ got to Sidious, to _Vader_...

"Master?" Gold eyes shot up to the door to see K-2S0 enter the study, and Obi-Wan felt irritation roiling inside him. Interruptions from Cody he could take. Interruptions from Cody he actually enjoyed, and any time he settled down to meditate on his increasingly disturbing visions, he had hoped the clone _would_ disturb him. But the droids were supposed to follow commands, and his droids, _both_ of his droids, were rife with errors and glitches in their programming, which had resulted in the semblance of sentience, and he wasn't sure how he felt about that yet.

"Which part of _do not disturb me_ did you not understand, droid?" Kenobi snarled, and K2 drew back slightly, his visual receptors shifting to look the Sith Lord over.

"I thought that was more of a recommendation than a command, Master," K2 said, its tone confused, its look almost accusatory. "CC-2224 never follows the directive. You can understand my confusion."

"If I need you," Kenobi said through grit teeth, "I will _summon you_. The same rules don't apply to droids and _real people_."

"...why not?" K2 asked, its head tilting to the side. "That's discrimination, Master. I find this all highly offensive."

"I find _you_ highly offensive!" Kenobi retorted. Childish, he knew, but the droid wasn't worth his effort, not when his mind was focused on bringing down Thrawn. "Get lost before I scrap you and let HK fly the _Umbra_."

"...you wouldn't do that to me," K2 said cautiously, drawing back slightly and emitting a gasp-like sound when the Sith glared at him as if he were daring the droid to test him. "Master, the HK unit is a savage creation, certainly not worthy of interfacing with your magnificent ship! We don't know if its murderous inclination extends to mechanicals as well as organics!"

"It extends to anything I point at, K2," Kenobi drawled, leaning in toward the droid. "Yourself included." He frowned. "Since you've already wasted enough of my time, what do you want?"

" _I_ don't want anything," K2 stressed, holding out a small, handheld comlink to the Sith Lord. "Ezra Bridger had need of you."

"Tell that idiot to go set himself on fire, I'm busy." The droid held the comlink up to his vocal modulator.

"Master Kenobi is busy and requests that you set yourself on fire, idiot," K2 repeated, and outraged curses spewed from the comlink's speaker.

"That wasn't a request, fool droid, that was a command!" Obi-Wan snapped. "Just like when I say to _leave me alone_!"

"Kenobi, this is important!" Ezra said frantically, the speakers crackling as his voice raised in pitch. "We need your help! There's a smuggler on the ship!"

"Yes, and her name is _Hera Syndulla_ ," Kenobi drawled. "Kriff, Bridger, do you not know your own pilot?"

"We aren't _smugglers_ , Kenobi, we-"

"Smugglers, fugitives, thieves, _murderers_..." Obi-Wan drawled. "The people with which the rebellion is built." The Sith Lord grinned in the silence. "Do your com have holo capabilities? I want to see your face."

" _Another_ smuggler is on the ship," Ezra ground out between clenched teeth. "Not a Spectre. And we've been roped into _working_ for him." That got Obi-Wan's attention, and with a hiss of irritation, he snatched the com from K2's hand and held it up before him.

"Now, see, that won't do. You belong to _me_ nobody touches my things. Apprentice, kill him."

"What?!" the boy asked, completely horrified at the thought. "Kenobi, that's _murder_ , I can't do that." With a groan of annoyance, Obi-Wan rubbed his temples.

"I suppose you're a bit young to commit your first murder... _officially_. But keep in mind that every Imperial you kill has a family they won't be returning to..."

"Right, only _they're_ trying to kill _us_. It's self-defense!"

"Oh?" Obi-Wan asked, a teasing drawl in his voice as he tapped K2 on the chest and beaconed him to follow as he left the room and headed toward the cockpit. "You've never executed a preemptive strike?" There was silence for a long moment before the Sith Lord laughed, feeling through the Force the boy's conflict. "Justifications, Bridger. Petty things the self-righteous use to make themselves feel blameless. A Sith accepts the burden of their actions. A Sith doesn't run from the truth, no matter how awful it may be."

"...I-I'm not Sith," Bridger said, though he lacked the stubborn conviction he so usually possessed.

"Perhaps not..." Obi-Wan said softly. "Perhaps you will never be. Still, the lesson is a good one. Don't do anything you will feel you must justify after the fact. Own your actions, apprentice."

"...I understand." With a smirk, Obi-Wan settled into the pilot's seat, K2 sitting beside him in the copilot's chair and plugging itself into the command console.

"Tell me, apprentice," Obi-Wan said, synching the comlink to the cockpit controls and swiftly putting in the coordinates for Lothal. "How did this smuggler come to think he owns my Spectres?"

"He doesn't think he _owns_ us, Kenobi, he got us to do a job for him!" Ezra grumbled petulantly for a moment as if weighing whether or not he should continue speaking. "At least, I don't _think_ he thinks he owns us. He sure is friendly enough with the girls, though..."

"Ooh, Kanan must be _furious_!" Obi-Wan said, laughing in his amusement as he angled the _Umbra's_ nose toward Lothal and pulled the accelerator back.

"I-I'm mad too!" Ezra said indignantly. "Hera at least isn't buying any of his shit, but Sabine is eating it up! He's talking to her about her _art_ , and complimenting her and I've been telling her for months that I like her stuff, but now she's saying I'm not _cultured_ enough to understand, and..." The boy huffed. "She offered to show him her _private collection, Kenobi_!"

"Oh, we can't have that," Obi-Wan said seriously. "I can't have some scoundrel touching my Mandalorian."

"Y-yeah!" Ezra said enthusiastically before falling silent for a moment. "Wait, _what_?!"

"We're off topic, Bridger. The Smuggler. How are you indebted to him?"

"R-right..." Ezra said nervously. "But...not really _your_ Mandalorian, right? I mean, Sabine's not _yours_..."

"Focus, apprentice, the smuggler. I'm not here to satisfy your vanity, tell me about the _smuggler_."

"I don't know, Kenobi, Zeb and Kanan came back with him, he says they lost Chopper to him in a game of sabacc and if we want him back, we need to do this job for him, no questions asked."

"...what, that's it?" Obi-Wan asked, and scoffed as he rolled his eyes. "This one is simple. Ditch the droid."

"Right, only...Chopper's sort of part of the crew..." Ezra said slowly. "Hera's _really_ mad, and he's paying us for this job anyway, so..."

"If you need money, _Bridger_ , you come to me, I _told_ you that, I told all of you that!" Obi-Wan groaned as he rubbed his temples. The Spectres seemed to forget that they had another member of the crew that could support them, but Hera didn't like feeling indebted to others. Especially not when it felt like slavery to her. Which was, Obi-Wan confessed, a ligitimate concern, since she came from a slave race. And he _did_ keep a slave...

"Look, Kenobi, I would _love_ to take your money," Ezra said quickly. "But mostly, I'd love it if you found a way to get this Lando asshole off our ship. I _really_ don't like him."

"...wait, _Lando_?" Obi-Wan asked, his jaw slack as he stared at the comlink and then at K2, the droid not understanding what the big deal was. With a huff of frustration, Obi-Wan shouted over the ship intercom for Cody. "Lando Calrissian, is that who we're talking about?!"

"...shit, you know him, don't you..." Ezra asked, completely dismayed.

"No, but our meeting is long past due, I've been trying to get my hands on him for quite some time." Obi-Wan laughed loudly, leaning back in his seat and putting his feet up on the console. "Oh, it's my lucky day. That slippery bastard has been skipping out on every meeting I've tried to arrange with him. Keep him on the _Ghost_ , apprentice, I'll be there shortly."

"Yeah, great..." Ezra said, a sinking feeling in his gut. He had a _very_ bad feeling about this.

* * *

"I don't understand what we're waiting for," Lando slowly drawled, his hand draped over the back of Hera's seat and leaning in toward the woman. "Not that I mind, with company like yours..." Kanan glared at him from his place in the copilot's seat and grew more and more pleased with each passing second that Kenobi was on the way. A tense glare from Hera indicated that she was eager for the Sith Lord to arrive as well, though it was likely that she would throw her lover to Kenobi and demand him to exact his unique and painful brand of judgement upon him. It was, after all, his fault for allowing Chopper to be bet in the sabacc game.

The _intent_ was good, Kanan had tried to explain, and the pot was enormous, and they were in desperate need of credits so they could keep the _Ghost_ fueled and supplied. No credits meant no flying, and if they couldn't fly, they couldn't fight against the Empire. Kenobi offered several times to be something of a benefactor, but Hera would have nothing of it, and so, the jobs continued to support their little rebellion. Lando was willing to pay them for the job, and pay well, but being forced into the matter rubbed Hera the wrong way, mostly because _her droid_ was being used as collateral. Really, it rubbed them _all_ the wrong way, and Kanan was feeling very stupid and _very_ guilty for helping to land them in that situation.

And Ezra, ever the one to use every advantage he had, had contacted their patron Sith Lord.

"I told you," Kanan said tightly, rolling his eyes. "We don't do anything unless every member of our team agrees to it, and we have one other member of our crew."

"Well, I hope he's an agreeable businessman," Lando lazily drawled. "I'd hate to have to leave without this lovely lady getting her droid back."

"Oh, you'll find him _very_ agreeable," Hera said through clenched teeth, shooting a glare to the glowering Kanan. "This friend of ours is _very_ profitable to the smugglers he deals with." Lando scoffed.

"Oh, please, Hera, I'm not a smuggler," he smoothly explained. "I'm more of a...galactic entrepreneur." He paused, looking over at Kanan out of the corner of his eye before he leaned in toward Hera again. "...how profitable, exactly?"

"I'll let you decide that for yourself," Hera said, pointing out the forward viewport, and Lando leaned forward, his eyes widening and his jaw dropping as he gazed upon the ship that swiftly approached them, black as deep space and lined in glowing red, making the sleek vessel look more like an aquatic predator cutting through the depths than a ship.

"Well I'll be damned..." Lando said softly, awe and fear leaving him almost in a daze. "If I didn't know better..." He laughed nervously as Hera piloted the _Ghost_ beside the larger vessel and initiated the docking procedures. "Who exactly is this member of your crew?" Lando asked cautiously. "Because I swear, that ship looks _exactly_ like a very, _very_ famous ship owned by a very dangerous man..."

"What?" Kanan asked lazily. "What would an honest businessman like you know about dangerous men?"

"A fair deal, I'm afraid," Lando said, looking out the side of the viewport nervously as the docking bridge secured into place. "These days, there are dangerous men _everywhere_. I've taken care to avoid them myself, but in doing so, you get to know the worst of them, and if I'm not mistaken..." Lando swallowed hard. "That ship looks like the _Umbra_."

"Oh, you know it?" Kanan asked casually, a sly, wicked grin on his face when he saw smooth, charming Lando fill with wide-eyed anxiety.

"Oh, _hell no_!" the smuggler said, his calm cracking. That ship belongs to Mandalore's Shadow King! You mean to tell me that the _Shadow King_ is a part of your crew?!"

"As we said, Lando," Kanan drawled. " _Very_ profitable."

"For some, maybe," the scoundrel said, leaning over Hera to look at the ship they were docked with. "I'm all for high risk behavior, but some things are too much, even for me. Where the Shadow King goes, the Empire follows, and I'm not looking to mess with them. The Empire is terrible for business."

"Seems as though my reputation precedes me..." came the smooth drawl from behind them, and Lando quickly whipped around, a bright smile on his face, his arms spread wide in open friendliness, all trace of his anxiety gone as he looked upon the black-clad man leaning in the doorway, calm and relaxed, his arms crossed over his chest and the three lightsabers on his belt plainly in view.

"Your Highness!" the smuggler said, bowing deeply at the waist. "Lando Calrissian, at your service." He looked up at the man in a careful study of his features. "You're...much younger than I would have thought..."

"Older than you'd expect..." Obi-Wan drawled. "I hear my crew's been contracted into your service. I'd like to hear how this came to pass."

"All fairly, I can assure you," Lando said, raising his hands before him, a disarming gesture. "Your friend Kanan here wagered his droid in a friendly game of sabacc."

" _My_ droid!" Hera said between clenched teeth, glaring at the scolded Jedi.

"Hey, _I_ wasn't the one playing, it was Zeb!" Kanan quickly said in his defense, and was silenced when Hera shot him a withering glare.

"Maybe not, but _you_ should have known better!" she snapped. "Chopper wasn't yours to bet!"

"Hera, Zeb held Pure Sabacc!" Kanan said, exasperated and from the way Hera rolled her eyes, it was clear the Jedi had explained this multiple times. "That's a winning hand!"

" _Unless_ the other player has an Idiot's Array," Hera said, mock sweetness dripping off her every word. "Which _Calrissian had_!"

"Sadly, he lost," Lando said remorsefully, though it was clear the sentiment wasn't genuine. "But I offered him a chance to get his droid back _and_ get paid handsomely in exchange for helping me move some cargo."

"Generous..." Obi-Wan said softly, his eyes narrowing as he looked the man over. "What's the cargo?"

"I was promised no questions asked," Lando said smoothly. "As you said, the offer is generous."

"And it was made to the wrong person," Obi-Wan said coldly, the relaxed amusement dropping off his face. "This is _my_ crew, and their debts are mine. You deal with me now, _Calrissian_." Lando eyed the Sith Lord carefully, trying to take the measure of the intimidating man, and slowly, his laid-back ease returned with a lazy, lopsided smirk on his face.

"But of course," the smuggler said smoothly, straightening the clasp of his cape. "After all, this meeting has been a long time coming."

"It has..."

"I apologize about it not happening sooner," Lando said, softly chuckling as he shrugged. "I always _meant_ to sit down with you, but you know how business is..." He smiled smoothly at the Sith when arched an eyebrow, clearly not convinced. "May I ask _why_ you've been so keen to talk to me? Surely the illustrious Shadow King has far more important things to deal with than little old me..."

"I've always liked a good smuggler," Obi-Wan said flippantly, his gold eyes flashing with sinister light as he leaned in toward Lando, a sly smirk on his face. "I need allies in my fight against the Empire, and I place high value in those who can successfully evade Imperial ships and blockades, which makes a skilled smuggler an invaluable asset." Obi-Wan's grin widened. "But it isn't you in particular I'm interested in. It's your ship..."

"My ship..." Lando repeated, and the Sith Lord's face lit up with covetous delight.

"The _Millennium Falcon_..." Obi-Wan softly drawled almost reverently. "An unassuming freighter modified to absolute perfection. Doesn't look like much, but I hear it's one of the fastest ships ever built. Word is the hyperdrive on it makes it twice as fast as most Imperial warships. That's too good to be ignored."

"You want the _Falcon_?" Lando asked in disbelief, his brow furrowing. "You _have_ a ship, and word is that not only is the _Umbra_ fast, it's equipt with the most advanced stealth system in the galaxy!" He scoffed, gesturing to the jet black ship just outside the viewport. "Compared to the _Umbra_ , the _Falcon_ is garbage."

"Which is part of its brilliance," Obi-Wan said softly. "Nobody would think that such a derelict ship would be any threat." Kenobi grinned. "They call it a freighter, but the _Millennium Falcon_ is a _warship_. And as it so happens, I have need of a ship like that." Lando cleared his throat.

"Uh...for what reason, if I may ask?"

"A few..." Obi-Wan drawled. "Such a swift ship could be put to good use by those willing to take a stand against the Empire, and I am _always_ on the hunt for resources on the behalf of..." His eyes drifted to the ceiling in thought, a sly, thoughtful smirk on his face, and after a moment, he looked back at Calrissian. " _Interested parties_ , shall we say. And..." He tapped his fingers against the doorframe he leaned against. "As of today, I find myself with an opportunity to deal a critical strike to the Empire I cannot afford to pass up, and when I head that my crew here was dealing with _you_..."

"You thought to secure help with this mission _and_ acquire an ally at the same time," Lando finished, nodding in understanding.

"Precisely so."

"Kenobi, what opportunity?" Hera asked, her interest piqued, but Obi-Wan didn't even look at her.

"Nothing I want you directly involved in. This matter isn't just dangerous, it's personal, and if I'm going to be successful, I need to introduce new, unknown elements, and the _Millennium Falcon_ can do that for me. The Empire knows the _Ghost_ as a rebel ship, and I don't want to risk it when a much faster, unknown vessel is within reach." Kenobi's eyes flicked briefly to the Twi'lek before he looked back at Lando. "Your safety is my priority, Hera, it's why I'm here. The _Ghost_ and your crew fall under my protection."

"Well, well..." Lando said, crossing his arms over his chest. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Shadow King, but the _Millennium Falcon_ is no longer in my possession," he said, the smooth tones of his voice unable to conceal the bitterness that lay just beneath. Obi-Wan stared at him, his jaw slack, his face impassive for a long while, the silence tense, and Kanan could feel the calm waters of the Force beginning to churn, the surface still and calm, but just beneath, the current rushed.

"... _what_..."

"I lost it in a game of sabacc, of all things." A frown crossed Lando's lips as he stood up tall, as if trying to save face in light of his wounded pride. "To a no good lying, cheating scoundrel and his Wookie coconspirator."

"You _lost_ the _Falcon_?!"

"And I wouldn't bother trying to get to it now," Lando said bitterly. "Her new pilot is a dishonorable rogue, you couldn't pay him enough to get mixed up with the Empire."

"Oh, Calrissian..." Obi-Wan sighed heavily, running a hand over his face. "My solution to the matter of getting their droid back was to throw you out an airlock and be done with it. Knowing who you were and the ship you had was the _one thing_ keeping you alive, and now you tell me you _don't have that thing_?!"

"Well..." Lando said, rubbing the back of his neck as he laughed nervously. "My mother always said that gambling would be the end of me."

"How right she was," Kenobi said tiredly, raising his hand, and Lando's eyes widened as his throat suddenly closed his lungs burning as he found he could no longer draw breath.

"Obi-Wan, what are you doing?!" Hera said frantically, rising from her seat as she looked between the choking smuggler and the casual Sith Lord. "This is _murder_ , I won't have you killing anyone on my ship! We are in this situation because Kanan and Zeb are _idiots_ , and I won't have you settling our debts with death!"

"But _mom_!" Obi-Wan whined with a roll of his eyes, his grip on Lando loosening just enough to allow the man to draw thin, wheezing breaths. "He touched my stuff! You know how much I hate that!"

"What part of this are you all failing to understand!" Hera growled in irritation. "Chopper is _my droid_! And I'm going to get him back _my way_!" Kenobi sighed deeply as he released his hold on Calrissian, the man coughing and gasping for air as he fell back into the seat behind Hera.

"You're lucky my friend Hera is kinder than me, Calrissian," Obi-Wan said smoothly, staring at the man as he rubbed at his neck in confusion, uncertain of what had just happened. "Tell you what. We'll honor your agreement with Kanan. This job, _whatever_ it is, will be done. But," he said, his eyes narrowing dangerously and taking a step closer to Lando, "I'm altering the terms. I will know what this mission is, and you will pay us up-front." He extended his hand palm up toward the smuggler. " _Now_." Lando looked cautiously at the man's hand and slowly, discretely scooted toward the edge of the seat in an attempt to put as much space between himself and the man before him.

"How did you do that?" Lando asked, more curious than frightened, his bold confidence never wavering. "What are you, some kind of Jedi?" An amused smirk crossed over Obi-Wan's lips and he chuckled softly, drawing back slightly to a less threatening distance.

"Yeah, something like that." He reached his hand forward. "The credits, Calrissian. Now."

"And, uh..." Lando cleared his throat. "If I reconsider this deal and decided to find help elsewhere? The droid _does_ still belong to me." Obi-Wan smiled tightly, a mockery of good nature that showed cruelty and cleverness instead of kindness.

"You think to use that to manipulate me, Calrissian? I care nothing for the droid."

"But lovely Hera does," Lando said smoothly, looking at the Twi'lek out of the corner of his eye, smirking slightly when he saw Kanan's jaw clench in anger.

"True enough," Kenobi said, nodding in agreement. "And if you wish to find help elsewhere, we would be happy to return you to Lothal, or any other planet of your choosing." Kenobi grinned wickedly. "Only...you don't have a ship anymore, do you? Certainly not one that suits your needs, or you wouldn't have the need to seek outside help for this pick-up of yours." Obi-Wan grinned as Lando's forehead creased with deep lines as his brow furrowed in annoyance, the Sith Lord hitting the mark completely. "As it so happens, our fee for this service can be paid in droids." Obi-Wan's smirk widened when he saw Hera's eyes light up, her entire face brightening when she understood the trap the Sith had captured Lando in, the arrangement suddenly becoming much more to her liking, as control of the situation was suddenly in their hands.

"Getting past an Imperial blockade is no easy thing," Kanan said smugly, a wry smirk on his face as he rose from his seat and stood beside the Sith Lord, patting the man gratefully on the shoulder. "And it seems as if such a skill is suddenly in _very_ high demand. Of course, if you still wish to back out of the deal, you're welcome to do so." He thrust his thumb at the door. "Chopper can show the way out the nearest airlock."

"You drive a hard bargain..." Lando said stiffly. "How could I do anything but accept your terms?"

"A wise choice," Obi-Wan drawled.

"I expect no less from a good _businessman_ ," Kanan added, a satisfied smirk playing at his lips when Lando looked unamused, the face of a man that had gambled and lost. Kenobi held out his hand once again.

"The credits, Calrissian," Obi-Wan said sweetly. "Now. I'd like to continue on with our business arrangement, and I'm afraid we can't do that until we are paid for our service."

"Well, see..." Lando said, shifting uncomfortably in his seat under the intensity of the glowing eyes upon him. "I don't _have_ the credits." Kenobi's face became impassive, cold, _dangerous_. "But I _will_!" Lando said swiftly, his hands raised by his shoulders in a gesture of surrender. "As soon as I pick up my cargo, I'll turn a profit that will _get_ me the money to pay you back!" He smiled broadly when no expression, no emotion at all registered on the Sith Lord's face. "As I said, I'm a businessman! This is an _investment_ opportunity!"

"Businessman!" Obi-Wan cried in astonishment. "You're a swindler and a con man, that's what you are, Calrissian, and Kanan here might be stupid enough to fall for that, but those tricks won't work on me!"

"Well, I've always been a gambling man," Lando said in his smooth, easy drawl. "You win some, you lose some."

"Yes, and you explain to me how you're going to win this, because so far as I'm concerned, my crew is obligated to complete this job for you, and you don't have the ability to pay, which means _now_ ," Obi-Wan growled, pointing his finger into Lando's chest, "you owe _us_ a debt. Tell me, with no credits, no leverage, no ship, and no escape, how do you plan on repaying the debt?"

"...care to settle it over a game of sabacc?" A slow, sly grin spread over Obi-Wan's face.

"I would _love_ to." Lando smiled, his smooth, easy confidence returning in full force, and he stood from the seat and walked toward the Sith, a swagger in his step as he extended a hand.

"Well, it would be an _honor_ to play with you, Shadow King," Lando drawled, extending his hand to Kenobi and the Sith tightly clasped it. "Come. I got a tour of the ship earlier, I'll show you-"

"I _know_ the _Ghost_ , Calrissian," Obi-Wan said softly, walking out of the cockpit with Lando walking casually beside him. "Don't forget, I spend a great deal of time on this ship."

"Uh, wait, are we actually doing this?!" Kanan asked as he quickly followed the pair. "Obi-Wan, he's got _nothing_ to bet! Nothing at all! You have nothing to gain and everything to lose!"

"Is that how it is?" Obi-Wan asked, gesturing for Lando to be first on the ladder down to the cargo hold, and the smuggler obliged, disappearing down the ladder. "Trust me, Kanan," Obi-Wan whispered.

"I do, you know I do," Kanan said softly. "But I've seen this guy play. Kenobi, he beat a Pure Sabacc, that just doesn't happen."

" _Kanan_." Obi-Wan laid his hand on the Jedi's shoulder. "We're getting your droid back, and we're going to know what this job of his is _before_ we do it. _If_ we do it. With any luck, Calrissian will be doing _my_ job."

"...the Imperial thing." Kenobi nodded. "What is it?" Obi-Wan's mouth pressed into a thin line, his eyes focused on the ground.

"Intel from Fulcrum," the Sith whispered. "We found Thrawn."

" _Shit_..." Kanan whispered. "The guy that's hunting you?" Obi-Wan nodded gravely.

"In light of Ezra's vision, I want to err on the side of caution. And a Star Destroyer isn't exactly a small target. This isn't the Clone Wars..." He took a deep breath. "I really needed that ship...but I can't just let the _Chimera_ go. I need to go, and I think I may be able to use Calrissian."

"More than you can use us?" Kanan asked. "Kenobi, whatever it is, we can help." Obi-Wan smiled faintly and stared at the floor.

"I can't lose you, Kanan," the Sith whispered. "Thrawn's already taken Luminara from me. I won't lose you guys too. You are made for better things, for something greater than yourselves. I won't drag you into this fight."

"You said this was a critical strike against the Empire. Obi-Wan, if not for fighting the Empire, what are we for?" Obi-Wan closed his eyes and breathed deeply, feeling the Force and trying to decide what to do.

"...I'll take that under advisement, Kanan," Obi-Wan said quietly. "For now, please, trust me."

"...I do." With a slight, genuine smile, Obi-Wan dropped down the hole the ladder ran through and landed on the lower deck just behind Lando, the smuggler standing with his hands in the air as Zeb pointed his large, menacing bo-rifle at the smuggler's chest, the Lasat growling ferociously. Beside him stood Ezra, his arms crossed as he stared the man down, and off to the side, a highly irritated Sabine tried to talk some sense into her crew mates.

"I told you!" Lando was calmly explaining. "I was invited down here to play a friendly game of sabacc!"

"I ought to shoot you now!" Zeb snarled. "Ezra, pressurize the airlock, we're going to throw him out!"

"Right, on it."

"Don't you _dare_!" Sabine snapped. "He's here because of _your mistake_ , Zeb! You don't get to avoid responsibility for losing Chopper in a bet by throwing him out the airlock!"

"Well, am I glad to have _you_ , Sabine..." Lando smoothly drawled, and Ezra ground his teeth as he _burned_. "Trust an artist to be cultured and civilized..."

"Do you think you're smooth, Calrissian?" Obi-Wan asked as he sauntered into the room and dropped on to the comfortable seat, his fingers running over the round table that sat in the middle of the semi-circular couch. Sabine gasped when he entered, her eyes lighting up, and she quickly rushed to his side, seating herself on the edge of the couch and grinning brightly when Kenobi smiled slightly at her. "Don't forget what I said. This crew is mine, and I will not have you touching what belongs to me."

"Of course," Lando said casually as he sauntered over to the couch and sat opposite of Obi-Wan. "I was just making friendly conversation with the lovely lady..."

"Sweet talk won't work on my Mandalorians..." Obi-Wan drawled, handing Sabine the deck of sabacc cards. "Adol an uraktyc, vi kelir cuyanir. Shuffle the deck, my little warrior."

"Kenobi, I called you here to get rid of this guy, not play cards with him!" Ezra cried in frustration as he watched Sabine shuffle the cards, handing them to Kenobi when she was done, and the Sith Lord expertly shuffled the deck a few more times.

"I said I would deal with him," Obi-Wan calmly explained. "That could mean many things, and right now, it means playing sabacc." He smirked at Lando, looking out of the corner of his eye when he heard Kanan and Hera walk into the room.

"I don't know if that's a good idea, Kenobi..." Zeb said, putting his bo-rifle to the side and coming to stand beside the rest of the crew. "This guy's pretty good..."

"I know he's good," Obi-Wan said, smirking at Lando, his eyes never leaving the smuggler's unwavering gaze, his expression vaguely amused and impossible to read. "I don't need to see him play to know exactly how good he is."

"Such a bold claim," Lando said with a deep chuckle. "You a mind reader or something?"

"I am," Obi-Wan said casually, smirking when Lando raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "But I don't need to read your mind to know what sort of a player you are." Obi-Wan absently shuffled the cards. "You beat a Pure Sabacc with an Idiot's Array, and while there's always an element of chance involved in the game, to pull off something like that requires careful planning and strategy. Your eagerness to gamble means you are a longtime player, and the fact that you lost your ship in a game isn't indicative of a poor player, but a confident one." Obi-Wan grinned. "A man doesn't bet his ship if he doesn't win often. I'm willing to bet that you're not just a professional, but a _very_ good one." Obi-Wan held the deck out to Lando. "Sound about right?" Lando took the cards and quickly shuffled them.

"You read people remarkably well, Shadow King," Lando said smoothly. "Are you familiar with Corellian Gambit rules?" Obi-Wan nodded, and gestured for Lando to deal.

"The wager, Calrissian..." Obi-Wan said softly. "You win, and we will consider your debt paid, and we will do this job for you." The Sith Lord leaned in. "But if _I_ win...you will do _my_ job, free of charge." He smiled, leaning back as Lando dealt the cards. "We can talk about the jobs while we play. Save us some time."

"Sounds like fun..." Lando drawled, picking up the cards he had dealt himself. "Let's make it quick, though, I don't want to keep my supplier waiting." Obi-Wan smirked as he picked up his own cards, and upon seeing the Sith Lord's hand, Zeb visibly winced.

"Kenobi, I really don't think-"

"Hush now, Zeb, Daddy's working..." He drew a card from the deck and quickly discarded one from his hand. "Tell me about the mission."

"I lost an awful lot when I lost the _Falcon_ ," Lando said, his voice even and giving away nothing as he drew and discarded. "I'm trying to get back on my feet, trying to go legitimate."

" _This_ is legitimate?" Kanan asked in amusement. "I think you're going about it wrong."

"It's a _process_ ," Lando drawled, glaring at the Jedi out of the corner of his eye. "I bought a bit of land down on Lothal from a charming fellow named Vizago. With Imperial interest on the planet, seems likely the area can be mined for valuable resources that I can smuggle off-world and sell."

"Vizago," Hera said flatly. "The crime lord."

"Maybe..." Lando smirked as Kenobi folded, and the first hand went to him. The Sith quickly set to shuffling the cards and dealt them. "Trouble is, the Empire doesn't like private landholders mining Lothal, which makes standard mining equipment and scanners a poor option if one wants to remain in business." He shrugged as he drew a card. "So I acquired a creature with a nose for precious minerals. It'll be able to avoid Imperial detection since its organic."

"All this seems simple enough," Obi-Wan said, folding the next hand as well, Lando chuckling as he swiped the cards from the table. "So what's the catch?"

"Eh..." Lando quietly shuffled the cards. "The seller's a crime lord with a taste for..." His eyes drifted to Hera, his lingering gaze keenly noticed by Kanan, and the Jedi's eyes narrowed as he ground his teeth.

"You were going to sell Hera to a crime lord for _mining equipment_?!" Kanan shouted, and Lando raised his hands as if trying to calm him.

"I wasn't going to let him keep her!" Lando said, smooth and easy despite the angry stares from everyone in the room. "Your pilot's a clever woman, I was going to tip her off on how to escape!"

"Got news for you, _Lando_ ," Kanan shouted. "Selling a woman into slavery in exchange for an ore sniffing animal _isn't legitimate business_!"

"I told you, she'd be able to escape!" Lando said defensively. "Probably..."

"Aren't you all glad I'm here now?" Obi-Wan asked as he drew a card. "All this we need to know before the mission, and now we know."

"You'd better stop playing like an amature, Kenobi," Kanan growled. "Because if we lose and we have to go through with _that_ -"

"Relax, Kanan, knowing ahead of time will allow us to prepare for these conditions," Obi-Wan said softly, watching Lando carefully as he drew a new card.

"Your mission?" the smuggler asked. "You've heard the extent of mine."

"I'm going after Imperial Admiral Thrawn," the Sith said smoothly, and Lando's eyes widened. "You've heard of him?"

"I have..." Calrissian said as he drew another card and discarded from his hand. "He's been a huge problem for smugglers around the routes he patrols. Lots of very lucrative operations broken up by him. There isn't anyone more effective than him." He chuckled bitterly. "All the more reason to go legitimate."

"Right, your particular brand of legitimate is likely to make you a target..." Kanan muttered.

"You seem to know a bit about Thrawn..." Obi-Wan gently prodded as he slowly drew a card, looked at his hand, and discarded. Lando quickly did the same.

"I've heard people talk..." Calrissian said, his voice smooth and confident. "I know a guy that's following his career pretty closely, he's got his hands in all kinds of illegal mining and smuggling operations. Thrawn has effectively shut down several of his major operations."

"This guy have a name?" Obi-Wan asked quietly. It sounded like this guy was worth talking to. It didn't sound like it would be very difficult to convince him to join the rebel cause. Ahsoka could use more informants. Lando simply shrugged.

"Don't know his name, no. But he calls himself Nightswan." Obi-Wan nodded and filed the name away for later. "So what role do _I_ play in your little assault against the Empire?"

"I need a distraction," Obi-Wan said thoughtfully as he drew another card. "A fast ship or a smooth talker to hold Imperial attention or draw their fire while I infiltrate the ship. Someone on the outside I can call upon to manipulate Imperial actions in the system." He shrugged casually, watching as Lando drew a card, and a smug smile spread across the smuggler's face. "I've yet to work out the details."

"Well, you may want to make adjustments on that plan that don't include me," Lando said smugly as he laid down his cards. The Evil One, the Star, and the Nine of Sabres. A Pure Sabacc. "Sorry, friend..." Lando said, leaning in and extending a hand to Kenobi to shake on a good game. "Luck just wasn't with you today." Obi-Wan looked at the cards laid out on the table, an unreadable, slight smirk on his lips as his golden eyes searched Lando's smug, triumphant face.

"You know..." Obi-Wan said, his voice soft and smooth and even. "The thing about the Force, Calrissian, is for those with the aptitude to feel its flow, to listen to its whispers, the odds are _always_ in your favor..." the Sith Lord drawled as he laid his cards upon the table, and Lando Calrissian was left to stare in disbelief at the Idiot's Array.


	22. The Playing Field

**AN:** **Alright, I was going to do this chapter different, but trust me, you want a whole chapter dedicated to the execution of what goes on here. Give me a few days for that one, it's gonna be big. I am MUCH excite. Enjoy, lovelies!**

 _Chapter 22: The Playing Field_

Ezra sat upon the floor before his two Masters, his eyes closed in his concentration as the glowing green of his kyber crystal floated before him, surrounded by tiny pieces and parts, little components and screws that he had never seen before, but was supposed to know, was supposed to _feel_ what was to be done with him. So far, he had been unsuccessful, and each attempt to craft the lightsaber had ended in failure. This time was shaping up to be no different, his nervous excitement about the current mission keeping him distracted and unfocused, and each attempt to combine the pieces together resulted in the components falling to the ground, or stubbornly refusing to go where Ezra directed them. It was like the Force itself was against him.

"I don't get it!" the boy cried in frustration as he scooped up the pieces and shoved them back into the bag he had been keeping them in. He would make no progress today. "You _both_ know how to make a lightsaber! Why can't you just make mine so I can actually begin training?!"

"The lightsaber isn't the point, _apprentice_ ," Obi-Wan growled, his eyes fixed not on Ezra, but on the holographic display before him as he and Lando plotted and planned his assault on the _Chimera_. "The lightsaber has never been the point. Crafting your blade is about your connection with the Force. You fail, and will continue to fail because your focus is on the weapon, on the _object_ , the unimportant. This is about the Force, not about what you will get out of it."

"You need to have patience, Ezra," Kanan said, far gentler than Kenobi had been. "When your ready, the Force will guide you."

"Yeah, but when's that going to be?" Ezra grumbled. "We're about to go on a major offensive against the Empire, don't you think it'll be better to have another person with a lightsaber?"

"A reckless, impulsive child in possession of a weapon that marks you for death?" Obi-Wan asked, vaguely amused. "No, I don't think so. The Inquisitor is already after you. There is no sense in making you a target for the rest of the Imperial forces as well, especially not on this mission." Obi-Wan's face hardened as his eyes roved over the holographic display, all his collected information on Thrawn floating above a map of the mining city of Bandor on Bandomeer. "Thrawn is a dangerous adversary. I don't want to give him more to work with than he already has. I'm reluctant to have you here as it is."

"Trust me, you're going to want us here," Kanan said as he helped Ezra to his feet.

"If I didn't trust you, Jarrus, you wouldn't be here at all..." Obi-Wan muttered, his finger touching one of the mining complexes on the map and zooming in on it. "This facility is where they refine ionite and prepare it to be shipped off world to production centers across the Empire. As I'm sure you're aware, Lando, ionite is extremely rare, and recent Imperial demand for it has driven the price way, way up. It's an asset they're keeping very closely guarded, and when you can make away with it, you're going to make a _fortune_ on the black market."

"A prospect I am _very_ much looking forward to..." Lando drawled as he looked at the map. "The city is very well protected. How do you expect to get the ionite off the planet without being shot down by the city defenses?"

"Or by the _Chimera_..." Kanan muttered. "A Star Destroyer is no joke, and I don't know if we can outrun it."

"We won't need to," Obi-Wan said, tapping three spots on the map of the compound, the points lighting up with red light. "We aren't going to engage the _Chimera_. You're right. A Star Destroyer is a scary thing, and I don't want to directly engage it. To make my infiltration of the craft go as smoothly as possible, I need chaos, and to keep us as safe as we can, we're going to make this a ground assault."

"...you want to assault an Imperial mining and refining facility from the ground?" Kanan asked slowly. "Are you sure you know what safe means?"

"Those ion cannons point outward, Jarrus, do _you_ want to be in the air?" When Kanan looked sheepishly at the ground, Obi-Wan zoomed in on one of the marked spots. "We create chaos on the ground, it will spread to the Star Destroyer as they attempt to deal with us. As brutal as the Empire is, they won't destroy their own assets, and an ionite mine and refinery is far more valuable than the lives of their soldiers. They'll send overwhelming strength in numbers to flush us out, but one Star Destroyer isn't going to be able to do that if we're smart about this."

"Even if it's Thrawn?" Kanan asked, and Obi-Wan's eyes narrowed in focus as he stared at the map.

"...even if it's Thrawn. It's his tactics against mine, and I thrive best in chaos. He may keep a cool head, but the military presence in the mining facility won't, and they aren't under his command We can use that to divide them and conquer." He took a deep breath as he examined his data. "We're meeting on my terms. _Finally_."

"So, what, we make a mess of the base?" Ezra asked warily. " _How_. There are a lot of Imperials down there, Kenobi. I know we're supposed to be taking on the Empire and all, but..." He looked nervously at Kanan. "I don't know, I thought we needed to play smart, and it's just dumb for two small ships to take on a heavily guarded Imperial facility and a Star Destroyer."

"I told you, we aren't going to deal with the Star Destroyer," Obi-Wan said firmly. "Do your job in the mining facility and I'll be able to get on board, and once I'm there, that ship is ours." Ezra stared in disbelief at the Sith Lord.

"... _how_."

"Don't ask him how..." Kanan drawled. "Just know he can do it. He's got a record."

"As I said, Ezra," Obi-Wan said smoothly, "my ally is the Force. Not enough to carry the weight of an entire battle, but used properly, it can tip the odds in our favor, and we will need to fully utilize every advantage we possess."

"An advantage I'd like to have is a lightsaber..." Ezra mumbled, and the Sith's sharp, glowing eyes fell on the boy predatorily, Kanan wincing as he caught the expression and quickly moved to stand between the teenager and Kenobi.

"Obi-Wan, come on..." Kanan said lightly, a nervous laugh in his voice. "He's still learning how to use his powers, he doesn't know-"

"But he will know _now_ ," Obi-Wan said softly, his tone low and dangerous. "Shall I show you the error in your thinking, apprentice?" Obi-Wan cooed sweetly, Ezra suddenly _very_ nervous. "Lando, please go to the cockpit and inform K-2SO that we are to enter orbit around Fitee as soon as we leave hyperspace. We are to keep on the dark side of the planet, I don't want our presence detected. Make certain the _Ghost_ receives the coordinates and remained locked to our navicomputer. I want the entire crew aborad the _Umbra_ as soon as we reach the rendezvous point, understand?"

"Perfectly," Calrissian smoothly drawled, slowly backing away from the commanding Force sensitive. In the few hours they had been in hyperspace toward Bandomeer, Lando had a chance to get to know the Shadow King a bit. Enough to learn that despite his apparent youth, he was a remnant of the Clone Wars, a cast-off Jedi, or a survivor of the Jedi Purge. Enough to learn that he was a _very_ dangerous man. Enough to know that he was a _very_ good friend to have. Losing that sabacc game may very well end up being one of Lando's most fortuitous accidents. So when Kenobi said scram, Lando did as he was told and left the three alone.

"Allow me to demonstrate," Obi-Wan said, tossing one of his lightsabers to Ezra and shutting off the holographic displays with a wave of his hand. "A lightsaber is an object. A tool. A weapon through which a Force sensitive being may focus their energy during combat, but that it all it is. A means through which to channel the Force. It is ultimately unnecessary. Jedi Master Yoda never uses a lightsaber because he is simply beyond such a thing."

"But _you_ do," Ezra said, looking at the weapon in his hands.

"Even I only draw my blade for very specific purposes, I'd rather use my particular brand of the Force to avoid fighting, if possible. People are resources, tools to be used. It is a waste to throw them away. Death must have meaning. Death must have _purpose_." Obi-Wan grinned wickedly. "But I am _Sith_ , apprentice, we are more bound to the material than the Jedi. For us, a lightsaber is a tool used for death and cruelty, or..." Kenobi grinned wickedly at Ezra. "Or to teach a lesson. Power the blade on, boy, and come at me."

Grinning broadly at the prospect of finally being able to cross blade with someone and progress with his training, Ezra powered the weapon on, a brilliant blue blade extending from the hilt and thrumming gently in the air. He swung the weapon around, feeling his light and easy it cut through the air, and raised it in front of him, but frowned when Obi-Wan didn't move, didn't take his own blade in hand, not the sinister red nor the unusual black. He simply stood. His gaze focused, his fingers wriggling at his side, and Ezra felt as if something were scratching on the inside of his skull.

"A-aren't you going to draw your weapon?" Ezra asked, and the Sith Lord chuckled deeply.

"My weapon _is_ drawn." Obi-Wan grinned. "Strike at me, Bridger. Prove to me you are not a failure. Prove to your Master that you are worthy of the powers you were born with." Clutching the saber tight in his hands, Ezra rushed at Obi-Wan, bringing the blade swiftly down at the unarmed man, and he felt sudden pressure strike his shoulder, swift and sudden, causing the blade to be knocked off its course and narrowly miss the Sith Lord. Teeth grit in irritation, Ezra swung the saber again and again, each time the Sith Lord deftly stepping out of the way, each time a swift push upon his shoulder setting the strike off its mark. Ezra saw the golden eyes blaze as he raised the blade up, and the lightsaber was swiftly torn from his grasp and flew into the Sith Lord's hand, the boy freezing when the glowing blade was leveled at his neck.

"A lightsaber is little in the hands of one who does not turn themselves over to the Force," Obi-Wan said evenly. "Your use of the Force is passive. Instinctive. A good thing, but not enough."

"H-how did you do that..." Ezra asked, his eyes wide as he watched the blade, the Sith stepping back and putting enough distance between them for Ezra to breathe and allow his heart to stop pounding.

"As I said," Obi-Wan said softly. "My weapon is the Force. I feel it flow within you. I see what you do before you do it. I sense where best to apply pressure to set you off-balance. In time, you will learn these things as well." Obi-Wan looked at the boy pointedly. " _With patience_."

"But you _have_ the Force," Ezra said quickly, and Obi-Wan tilted his head to the side in confusion. "Kanan says there aren't many people left that have the Force, so _most_ of the people we fight aren't going to be able to do what you just did."

"...you think a Jedi with a lightsaber invincible." The Sith Lord growled, adjusted the settings on the saber, and tossed it back to Ezra. Kanan stared wide eyed at the exchange, his jaw slack.

"Wait, Obi-Wan, did you just _lower_ the setting?!"

"I have need to teach my apprentice a _new_ lesson..." the Sith growled.

"... _it was full power before_?!" Kanan's eyes widened further when th Sith nodded. "What were you thinking?! Giving a fully powered lightsaber to a kid with no training! What if you were hit?!"

"If I were struck by your Padawan, Kanan, I _deserve_ to be struck down," Kenobi grumbled. "Never you mind that, the power has been lowered _now_." He tossed the lightsaber back to Ezra, and the boy quickly switched it on. "I won't use the Force this time. Come at me."

Ezra didn't hesitate a moment. Raising the lightsaber above his head, he rushed forward once again and began to bring the blade down upon the Sith, only this time, Obi-Wan did not hold still. This time, the Sith rushed in to meet him, the gap between them closing quickly, and Obi-Wan raised his arms to block Ezra's strike at the lightsaber's hilt before the boy even had the chance to bring the blade down. Using the momentum from the swinging blade, Obi-Wan sidestepped as he guided Ezra's hand downwards, and when the lightsaber crossed in front of the boy's stomach, Obi-Wan grabbed the hilt and pushed Ezra's hand toward the boy, the blazing blue of the blade passing through the teen's body. Ezra's eyes widened in pain as the blade cut right through him, and he could feel the burn upon his skin in a ring around his torso from where the blade had bit him.

The Sith Lord slipped under Ezra's arm, and the awkward angle of the boy's hand on the saber's hilt as the blade pressed through him allowed Kenobi to tear the weapon from his grasp in a back handed grip. Spinning around as he darted past the boy, Obi-Wan lashed out with the lightsaber, the blade cutting through Ezra's legs, and with a gasp of pain, the boy fell to the ground, his eyes wide with pain and disbelief as he looked up into the glowing, golden eyes of the Sith Lord, the blue blade held above the pit of his throat.

"A lightsaber is _just a weapon_ ," Kenobi snarled. "Without the Force, without training and discipline and dedication, without _focus_ , anyone can beat you. You have a natural advantage and you are _squandering it_." Obi-Wan raised his hand and Ezra rose into the air, his legs kicking for the ground, his entire body convulsing in pain, and with a rush of air around him, Ezra's back struck metal as he was thrown against the wall, and his vision flashed white.

He could... _see_ them. Figures in the light, shadowed at first, but quickly becoming clearer. Him and the others saving Lothal's senator, a man that had openly been speaking out against the Empire, a man that had been sending coded messages to the dissatisfied people around the galaxy and meeting with them to help form local rebellions, a man that had been on the run for the better part of a year. He could hear the senator speak to him, tell him about his parents, long since gone, but from the way he spoke of them...

With a startled cry, Ezra's eyes flew open, and he quickly scrambled to a seated position from where he had laid crumpled upon the floor, his eyes wide, his heart pounding, his breathing fast and ragged, and Kanan knelt before him, a calming hand on his shoulder. Slowly, Ezra began to clam, the presence of the Jedi soothing as opposed to the Sith's frightful, his touch like peace and serenity instead of fire and death.

"Are you alright?" Kanan asked softly, and swallowing hard, Ezra quickly nodded. Smiling at his student and patting him on the shoulder, the Jedi quickly reeled on the Sith Lord. "You could have been gentler with him!" Kanan snapped at the cold, indifferent Sith Lord, the holographic displays once again open as he quickly read over the information.

"Ezra was in need of teaching," Obi-Wan said, completely disengaged. "I had a lesson, I taught him the lesson, and he will be better for it. Focus and dispassionate calm isn't the only way to connect with the Force. Pain works just as well."

"The lessons of a Sith!"

"I _am_ a Sith, do you expect me to teach differently?" Obi-Wan asked, his eyes narrowing in irritation. "He is impatient, he doubts that which he cannot see. If we cannot make him feel the power of the Force through patience, we shall do it through pain. He _will_ learn, and when he does, he will understand."

"I-I saw something!" Ezra said, his voice shaking, and both men's focus quickly shifted to the teen on the ground.

"Saw what?" Kanan asked. "Did you have a vision?"

"Y-yeah, I think so..." Ezra shook his head. "No, I _know_ so. I saw something, Kanan. Lothal's senator is in danger, I saw us saving him...h-he said he knows my parents!" The Jedi drew back slightly, quickly searching Ezra's face, and looked back at Obi-Wan. The Sith Lord looked just as concerned as him.

"It's possible..." Obi-Wan said slowly, a hand slowly stroking his chin as he thought. "I _did_ use the Force to throw him around. The direct touch of the Force and the pain he was experiencing may have been sufficient to focus his own connection and open him to the flow of the Force around him. This could very well be a vision. Or..."

"Or something's misleading him," Kanan said quickly. "We all saw his last vision. We saw what was there, I could feel the overwhelming power of it. Something else was there with us, if Ezra is open to something like that-"

"Than it's possible his visions are being manipulated," Obi-Wan finished. "I agree with that assessment. Even if the visions _do_ originate in the Force, Sidious may have his hand in them, or he may be fabricating them completely." Obi-Wan sighed heavily. "Or they _are_ real, and his emotions are getting in the way of his clarity. I need to see this vision," he said, kneeling before Ezra and laying his fingers upon his temple. "You have shown me once. You remember how to do so, yes?"

"Y-yeah, I think so," Ezra said, the boy clearly still shaken, though the touch of the Sith Lord sent waves of calm and relaxation through him, and before he knew what was happening, his eyes were closed, his body relaxed, and the images and sounds of the vision filled his mind. Obi-Wan frowned as he observed the vision, withdrew his hands, and sat back.

"I don't feel Sidious' touch. This is a vision, not a manipulation."

"Then we need to go!" Ezra said quickly, jumping to his feet. "The senator's been fighting against the Empire, and I saw him fighting alongside us! I saw us rescuing him! And he said he knows my parents!"

"Look, Ezra, just because you want something to happen, doesn't mean it's going to," Kanan said. "I know you're looking for answers, but that doesn't mean things are going to happen the way you've seen. The vision could be incomplete, or you could be misinterpreting it. Visions are tricky things, deceptive and difficult to interpret, even to those with a talent for foresight. Don't be too quick to take it literally, or-"

"Kanan, I _know_ this is right," Ezra said forcefully. "You're always telling me to trust my feelings, and I've never felt stronger abut anything in my life!"

"A fair indication that things are not as they appear," Obi-Wan said quietly as he stood. "I advise caution when approaching this. You may feel this is right, but so often, feelings can lead you astray. There is a reason Jedi looked to cleanse themselves of emotion, as misguided as they were..." He shrugged. "In any case, we are in the middle of something more important." Ezra's eyes narrowed, and both the Jedi and the Sith could feel anger welling up inside the boy.

"Kenobi, these are my _parents_ we're talking about! I don't actually know what happened to them, if there's a chance they're alive, and if this senator _knows them_ -"

"Your parents are dead, Bridger," Obi-Wan snapped, so cold and harsh that the boy drew back, stunned and shocked and visibly wounded. "No amount of wishing or hoping will bring them back, no vision will make them real. And even if they _were_ alive, even if this senator _did_ happen to know something, your mother and father are not more important than our current mission. We are going after _Admiral Thrawn_ , do you understand? If you are not focused, if you are distracted by this, you will die."

"...we need to approach this carefully, Ezra," Kanan said softly, his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Your strong emotions may be making you see what you want to see, which will conceal the truth from us. If your parents are alive, we'll find them, but not by rushing in blindly." Eyes cast at the ground in resignation, Ezra slowly nodded.

"Thanks, Kanan..." Obi-Wan scowled and looked away from the pair.

"If this senator has been as active in local rebellions as you say, I'm certain he's garnered some amount of attention," Kenobi grumbled. "I'll ask Fulcrum about him."

"Y-you'd do that for me?" Ezra asked, a small, hopeful smile on his lips as he looked at the frowning, dissatisfied Sith Lord, and the golden eyes shot to him, narrowed slightly and quickly looked away.

"I'm not doing it for you, _apprentice_ , I need you focused for this mission, and if this is how I can get you to shut up about it, so be it." He glanced back at the boy, saw joy and gratitude practically radiating from his face, and he swiftly looked away. "Don't place your faith in hope, Bridger, they are dead. The sooner you accept this, the less pain you will suffer." He felt the ship shudder softly, the engines lowering in pitch as the hyperdrive disengaged as they returned to sublight speeds. "Come. I've got all my assets in one place. We need to plan our attack."

* * *

"Senator Trayvis will in fact be headed to Lothal," the heavily distorted voice of Fulcrum said, the symbol of the agent floating above the holotable that the group stood around. The _Ghost_ and the _Umbra_ moved in orbit, concealed from sight behind the planet Fitee as they planned their attack on nearby Bandomeer, where the _Chimera_ was stationed. The operation was bigger than anything the Spectres had undertaken before, which brought their activities directly in line with something larger, something that Obi-Wan was clearly a part of, but had been unwilling to involve them in. But now, here they were, working with Lumis and Fulcrum, part of something bigger, something far greater than their Lothal insurgency.

Hera loved every moment of it. _This_ was what she had been working towards. This was what she was meant to do, and soon enough, the Spectres would become part of an actual rebellion. She could _feel_ it.

"See, I _told_ you!" Ezra said. "It was a vision, I told you I could feel it!"

"Do not be hasty, Spectre," Fulcrum said. "Trayvis' latest transmission follows his pattern. He has left a message within that will only be understood by locals with instructions on where and when to meet him. But the Empire is more clever than you seem to think, and several Imperials in command on Lothal are locals, Minister Tua and Governor Pryce included. Furthermore, the timing of this visit seems rather convenient, given recent events. My sources indicate that the Imperials are planning something big on Lothal. A greater presence or a strike against their insurgent problem."

"Well _of course_ he's going to Lothal then!" Ezra said. "The best time to instigate a rebellion is when the Empire is cracking down. This just makes sense."

"Perhaps..." Fulcrum said slowly.

"This isn't the only time we've gotten intel from the Trayvis transmissions," Hera said. "We actually heard about Jedi Master Luminara from one of his messages."

"Hmm..." There was silence for a moment as they waited for Fulcrum to take the new information into consideration, and through the Force, Kanan could feel cold, murderous wrath roiling within the Sith Lord. "Lumis." Kenobi looked up, his arms crossed over his chest, his entire being appearing deep in thought. "What are your feelings on the matter?"

"A renegade senator, meeting with local rebels all across the Outer Rim..." Obi-Wan said slowly, his gaze lowering to the ground. "Increased Imperial presence on Lothal, and if he did in fact broadcast about Luminara...there can be no doubt. This is a trap."

"To lure rebels to a meeting spot to be rounded up by the Empire," Fulcrum added. "I concur."

"What?" Ezra asked in disbelief. "No, that can't be, I saw us helping him in my vision! He knew my parents, and they stood against the Empire!"

"They may be unrelated," Obi-Wan said firmly. "Perhaps your vision wasn't a premonition, but a warning."

"N-no..." Ezra whispered, his chest tightening in desperation. "No, my parents-"

"Your emotions are clouding your ability to see this vision for what it is..." Kanan said, laying a hand on the boy's shoulder. "You set this matter to rest long ago. It's time to let go."

"In case there is a chance we are incorrect, I will send some of my agents to monitor the situation," Fulcrum said after a moment of silence. "For now, I need you to focus on the task at hand. No matter the outcome, we will get to the bottom of it."

"Thank you, Fulcrum," Hera said softly. "No matter the outcome, it will be good to have this matter resolved."

"Lumis, are you prepared to undergo this mission?" Fulcrum asked, and the Sith Lord nodded.

"I am."

"What is your strength?" Obi-Wan took a deep breath, entered his commands into the holoprojector, and schematics of the mining refinery and the _Chimera_ appeared on the display.

"The strength of the Spectres, which includes one kriffing excellent pilot, a beast with the strength of ten men, a Mandalorian explosion artist, a deceptively useful droid, and two Jedi." He frowned. "One and a half Jedi."

"H-hey!" Ezra said indignantly, glaring at Kanan when the Jedi snorted with laughter.

"The rest of our strength includes one KX series security droid, an HK series assassin droid, a professional gambler and smuggler, a clone soldier, a Mandalorian warrior, a Lord of the Sith and three highly specialized ships."

"What?" Kanan asked, looking around the room. All those Obi-Wan had listed were present...save for one. "We only have two ships, and unless you're talking about Sabine-"

"The Mandalorian and the third ship haven't arrived yet," Cody said softly. "He just entered the system, he'll be here soon."

"This is the largest operation you have attempted, Lumis," Fulcrum said, and Kenobi drew up taller, a small smile on his lips.

"I haven't had a team like this before," the Sith Lord said. "A functioning, cohesive team makes all the difference, and I have that now."

"You have a plan then?" Fulcrum asked.

"I do." Obi-Wan enhanced the holographic image of the mining complex. "This is Bandor's ionite mining and refinement facility. Local pirate and smuggling operations have resulted in additional security within the facility and the presence of the Star Destroyer _Chimera_ , commanded by Admiral Thrawn of the Imperial Navy. Our mission is the defeat of Admiral Thrawn. In order for that to happen, we need to lead an assault on the mining facility in order to draw the attention of the _Chimera_. With Thrawn's forces deployed to deal with the insurgent activity in the facility, I should be able to sneak aboard the Star Destroyer. If we do our jobs, there will enough chaos on the ground to create chaos on the _Chimera_ , which will give me an easy path to the ship's command. Once I reach the bridge, we win."

"You make it sound so easy," Zeb growled, and Kenobi flashed him a smile.

"Taking th ship will be easy, provided I can get on. Actually getting on that ship is the hard part, these ships are a great deal more secure than the Clone Wars era Venator classes."

"Doesn't help that the bastard knows your work," a modulated voice came from the door, and the occupants in the room turned to face a Mandalorian in green armor as he took off his helmet, revealing a dark haired, handsome man, a face that Kanan had seen _hundreds_ of times. This was a clone, but he was young, far younger than the advanced aging clones should have been. He felt his chest tighten despite himself.

"You're late, Boba," Obi-Wan said flatly as Cody rushed to meet the Mandalorian and tightly embraced him, the younger man returning the gesture and lifting the older man off the ground.

"Got tied up, boss, sorry..." Boba said, putting Cody down and patting the clone affectionately on the back. "Hello, father..."

"Would it kill you to come visit more often?" Cody said with a roll of his eyes. "Unlike the kriffing Shadow King, _I'm_ not getting any younger."

"What, would you have me neglect our Mand'alor? I'm on her honor guard, you know how busy she keeps me." Boba looked at Obi-Wan and smirked as he bowed. "Bo-Katan sends her fondest regards."

"You keeping her safe?" Obi-Wan asked, his heart starting to pound in his chest, and Fett scoffed as he rolled his eyes.

" _Please_ , who do you think I am? Not that it's easy, and not like she needs me for protection, but _yes_ , she is safe. She asks a lot about you. She misses having you around."

"...it's mutual." Boba's eyes widened as he looked at the holographic symbol on display.

" _Kriff_ , is that Fulcrum?!" Without waiting for an answer, the man cleared his throat and ran a hand through his tousled black hair and leaned on the holotable. "Well, hey there, Fulcrum..." he drawled, his voice smooth and low, and the encrypted, distorted sound from the holotable sounded vaguely like annoyance.

"The plan, Lumis," Fulcrum said, and the Sith Lord focused on the display, quickly tapping points on the map of the facility.

"The mining facility is equipt with significant defenses that need to be brought under our control. Three ion cannons defend it, " he said, marking the points on the map the weapon were located. "And the shield generators and on site security measures are controlled from a command center located _here_." He pointed to another place on the map. "We can make our small numbers seem very, very large by dividing their forces and reducing their ability to respond to an emergency, and for that, I've taken the liberty of dividing us up into teams."

"What, you're splitting us up?" Lando asked, looking at the Sith Lord skeptically. "You know, divide and conquer goes both ways."

"Which is why your role is so important, Lando," Obi-Wan said. "Since you still _technically_ own Hera's droid, I'm sending you and Chopper down as the infiltration team. The Imperial officer in charge of the facility isn't just a greedy bastard, but he's also a gambler." Obi-Wan smirked when he watched Lando's face light up.

"We have contacted him on your behalf," Fulcrum said. "As it turns out, he's _very_ interested in the unmined land you own on Lothal, since the planet is such a wealth of rare minerals."

"Your job is to get into the facility and have him take you to the command center," Obi-Wan said, zooming in on the target area. "There, you are to lower the shields and disrupt their security systems. Try to keep the officer alive, he's corrupt enough to be of use to us, and I think you may find him _very_ lucrative if you play your had right."

"I think I may be able to manage that," Calrissian said, patting Chopper on its flat domed head.

"Zeb, Ezra, Sabine, Cody, you four are on the ion cannon teams. You will infiltrate the facility through the maintenance shafts accessible through _here_ ," he said, zooming in on the map. "If you follow the path _have laid out for you_ here," he said, drawing a line along a corridor on the map, "you should let out fairly close to the northernmost ion cannon. Sabine, did you prepare the explosives I requested of you?"

"I _did_ ," the Mandalorian said, smiling slyly. "Some of my better work, if I do say so myself."

"Excellent," Obi-Wan said, pointing at the north point on the map. "Plant your explosives there and make sure they're very well concealed. We need as much time as possible to get to the east and west cannons, so don't detonate those explosives until you receive the signal. Ezra, you're with Cody to take the east cannon, Sabine, you're with Zeb."

"You know..." Ezra said slyly, "Sabine and I work _really_ well together..."

"Cody has a lightsaber," Obi-Wan said flatly, and without missing a beat, Ezra pointed to the clone.

"I'm going with him."

"Once there, you are to hold position and activate the ion cannons. When you receive the signal, you are to make yourselves combat ready. You'll know what to shoot at when you see it."

"Shouldn't be a problem," Cody said softly, and the corner of Obi-Wan's mouth twitched with a faint, familial smile.

"Kanan..." Kenobi drawled, looking slyly at the Jedi. "You have the most dangerous job. You're the distraction. _Your_ job is to create such a commotion that you draw all the attention to yourself. Lando's shutdown of the security system will slow reenforcements, and if he can lock down the facility, it will be a while before they can get more troops inside."

"So, what, just me and a couple _hundred stormtroopers_?" Kanan scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Sure, no problem." Obi-Wan smirked, chucklign softly under his breath.

"Don't forget, there will be an explosion on the north side of the compound, and the cannon teams should be drawing attention to themselves as well." He zoomed in on the souther section of the compound. "This is the refinery, and it should grant you the best place for cover. Given the dangerous nature of the task, I'm sending you with HK-45." The Sith Lord grinned at the droid, its visual receptors looking over its Master. "Think you can handle it, HK? There are _lots_ of targets to shoot at down there."

"Question: lots of unrestricted meatbags, Master?" the droid asked and when the Sith grinned and nodded. "Excitement, Oh, _Master_! This could be my greatest day! Don't you worry, Master. _Lots_ of meatbags are going to die, just like you want!"

"Scan everyone in this room and be certain you have logged them as allies, HK," Obi-Wan said softly as he looked at Hera. "Do you find this acceptable protection for your Jedi, Syndulla?"

"Of course you have a murderous, psychopathic droid..." Hera sighed. "Yes, I suppose so. At least it's on our side..."

"Hera, Boba, you two are my sky strike team." Kenobi zoomed out on the map, the mining complex minimizing to a small representation as Obi-Wan brought the _Chimera_ into view. "After the shields are down and the ion cannons are in our control, you will be given the signal to attack the facility at this point here." He tapped his finger to the southwestern building of the facility. "This is the hangar bay from which the refined ionite is exported. You are to dock here and load up the _Ghost_ and the _Slave I_ with as much of the stuff as you can. The delay caused by the sabotaged security and the commotion of Kanan and HK nearby should give you a fairly clean shot at the depot. If not, Boba, you know what to do."

"You got it, Boss."

"When we give you the signal to leave, you leave immediately. There are going to be _lots_ of TIEs in the air, but our guys will be on the ion cannons and hopefully making a mess of things. Hera, you're the best pilot we have, so all you're going to do is fly. Make your escape, avoid enemy fire, and Boba will destroy any TIE in your way." The Twi'lek looked at Kenobi suspiciously.

"A Star Destroyer can hold seventy TIE fighters. That's a lot of targets for one man."

"Yes, but there isn't anyone better at shooting down enemy starships."

"Don't worry," Boba said, a cocky smile on his lips as he leaned in toward the pilot. "I've got a few tricks in my arsenal. You'll be safe with me, sweetheart."

"Don't you go getting any ideas..." Kanan softly growled, and laughing in amusement with his hands in the air, Boba backed away from the Twi'lek.

"K2..." Obi-Wan looked at the droid, it's head raising when it was spoken to. "You're going to be coordinating the entire attack from the _Umbra_. You will monitor everyone's activities and positions, call in each phase of the attack, and make adjustments as necessary. You're the relay center for this entire thing."

"Master, that is quite a big responsibility," K2 said dryly. "And the odds of success are low."

"K2..."

"They are _very_ low, Master," the droid continued. "Will I be blamed for our failure when you are all captured and killed?"

"Statement: What does it matter?" HK asked. "They will be dead, so blame cannot be assigned."

"I suppose that's true," K2 mused. "Very well, Master, in light of this new information, I suppose I can bear the weight of this responsibility."

"Well, _that's_ a relief..." Obi-Wan said with a roll of his eyes. "That leaves me with the task of infiltrating the _Chimera_ and finding Thrawn. As soon as I have command of the Star Destroyer, I'll order our retreat. We'll need to get out before they call for more ships and manage to blockade the system." He zoomed in on the map and touched the spot indicating the hangar bay. "This will be the extraction point. Hera, that's all you, we need the best to get everyone to safety. If anyone gets pinned down, make sure to report it so we can coordinate a rescue. Nobody is getting left behind." Obi-Wan looked around the table at his crew and couldn't keep the small smile off his face. "Any questions?" There were none. "Any objections, Fulcrum?"

"None," Fulcrum said. "Come back safe, rebels. There is work to be done, and I believe it's time to bring you closer to our cause." Obi-Wan watched carefully as his fellow Spectres beamed with a light greater than the brightest star, quietly grasping hands and shoulders in a sudden swell of newfound purpose and resolve.

"Alright..." Obi-Wan said, clearing the holodisplay of the attack plans. "Stick to the plan. If something happens and you need to improvise, good, do it, but let us know so we can adjust accordingly." The Sith Lord took a deep breath as he looked at the team he had assembled. Teenagers and Jedi and droids and smugglers, the entire lot of them. Not a team he ever thought he wanted, but now that he had them, he couldn't imagine having anything else. "Happy hunting, everyone. May the Force be with us."


	23. The Assault on Bandomeer

**AN:** **HOLY CRAP. Ok, this is like, two chapters in one, but it felt wrong to divide it up. I hope it's worth the wait. Enjoy, lovelies! As always, your thoughts are much appreciated. Let me know!**

 _Chapter 23: The Assault on Bandomeer_

The Imperial administrator of the Bandor mining and refining complex wasn't a gambler. He had a gambling _problem_ , and in Lando's experience, that made all the difference. It was indicative of a greedy risk taker, someone who didn't know when to stop, someone who didn't understand that lady luck never favored one person for long, and as such, they were terribly easy to manipulate. As Obi-Wan had said, the administrator had been waiting for him, and once inside, it had been an easy thing not only to convince him that he was an independent mining contractor in service of the Empire, but he got him to agree to a friendly game of sabacc. After intentionally losing a few hands to the Imperial, that friendly game had become a game of much higher stakes as the administrator's few victories whetted his appetite for wealth, and once greed had sunk its fangs in, there was no letting go.

Which led to now, sitting comfortably in the administrator's office in the command center with a winning hand as he awaited the signal from K-2SO to execute his part of the plan. He watched Chopper out of the corner of his eye as the feisty droid rolled from console to console and discretely familiarized itself with the systems and security measures of the facility. It was a shame that at the end of this mission, Chopper would return to Hera. It was a particularly useful little droid, crafty in ways that most droids weren't, but since divulging the plan to trade its Twi'lek owner to a crime lord for mining equipment, Chopper had been particularly foul tempered toward him. Lando supposed it couldn't be helped. It was a reasonable reaction, after all.

"You sure you don't want to quit while you're ahead?" Lando asked in his smooth, carefree drawl, his tone light and teasing and intended to goad the other man, which was not difficult to do, and Lando knew it had the desired effect as soon as the man looked up, excited and eager and so, so greedy. "It's not too late to back out, you know."

"You'll be eating those words soon enough," the Imperial said, a wolfish grin on his lips. "I feel like your luck's about to run out."

"Is that right?"

"That _is_ right!" the Imperial said, leaning in toward Lando and fanning him cards in front of his face. "What do you say to upping the wager, hmm?"

"Such _confidence_!" Lando said smoothly, reaching down and producing a stack of credits from the pouch on his belt and placing them in a neat stack upon the table. Having a wealthy benefactor was _very_ nice, and it felt even better when the administrator's eyes widened. "You can _still_ fold, my friend. I don't believe you have so much to wager."

"Don't underestimate me!" the Imperial snapped, slamming a datacard on to the table. Lando moved to pick it up, and the administrator quickly laid his hand over it. "Not so fast."

"But what is it?" Lando asked. "It isn't a wager if its worthless. You could be conning me, for all I know." Smiling wickedly, he held up the small card.

" _This_ he said, "are coordinates and a special invitation to a tibanna mining facility out in the Anoat Sector. The region's controlled by mobsters and criminals and it isn't exactly _safe_..." He drew up proudly. "But I'm in good with Baron Administrator Raynor." He leaned forward. "Bespin is a gold mine, and being able to provide interested parties with tibanna gas could be _quite_ profitable."

"Oh yeah?" Lando asked, suddenly very interested as he heard opportunity knocking. "Is this Raynor looking sell?"

"He's been open in the past, yeah," he said, smirking. "You'd like him. He's _quite_ a sabacc player."

"You're right, I _would_ like him..." Lando drawled, pushing his credits forward. "I'll accept that wager." Lando watched as the smirking administrator laid his cards out on the table, a _very_ high hand, just as the earpiece he was wearing sounded with soft static as it picked up on the encrypted frequency between his comlink and the _Umbra_ , in space above Bandomeer at this very moment.

"Scoundrel Calrissian," K-2SO said through the com in his ear, and it took all of Lando's self-control to not roll his eyes. "The infiltration teams are in position and are awaiting your signal. Deactivate the shields and disable the security systems and report when your task is complete."

"Very good..." Lando said, laying his cards on the table and watching the triumphant look on the administrator's face turn to disbelief as he looked at the Pure Sabacc on the table. "Sorry," Lando drawled, a smirk on his face as he watched disbelief turn to red-faced anger. "I'm piggybacking on the luck of another. I couldn't lose." Behind him the furious administrator, Lando could see Chopper plug himself in to the central console with its interface arm. With the swiftness of a man that had spent his entire life dealing with criminals, pirates and con men, Calrissian drew his blaster under the table and shot two stunning rounds into the administrator, the force causing the unconscious man to go tumbling back in his chair as it struck the floor.

"Nice work, Chopper," Lando said, picking up the data card and swiping the credits off the table and securing it all in pouches on his belt. "How's it coming?" Chopper rocked back and forth on his wheeled supports, beeping indignantly and waving its service arms in the air, and Lando chuckled softly as he backed off. Alright, alright, I understand, you're good, I get it. I wasn't trying to insult you," he said, tapping the earpiece. " _Umbra_ , this is Calrissian. Security has been disabled, and shields are down. We're good to go."

"Understood," K2 said. "Monitor the situation from there and report to me with any developments. Prepare the facility for lockdown on my signal."

"You got it..." Lando said, dropping into a chair at the monitoring stations and leaning back, his hands behind his head as he prepared to watch the show.

* * *

Kanan ducked behind a conveyor belt, blaster fire flying over his head, his lightsaber tightly in hand, and with a deep breath to resolve himself, he peeked over his cover to look at the absolute chaos of the mess he was a part of. Above the high whine of the blaster fire, Kanan could hear gleeful, maniacal laughter as a flash of deep red armored plating rushed by, followed by the ear splitting roar and super-heated blast of air from an explosion. HK-45 had managed to get hold of a rocket launcher. _Again_.

The droid was a thing of beauty. Fluid, fast and agile, it moved like no droid Kanan had ever seen, an impressive thing, since Kanan was under the understanding that this particular model was _ancient_ , thousands of years old, its series long since out of production. From the way it moved, though, there was absolutely no indication of any wear, of anything other than engineering perfection due to the upgrades and modifications that Kenobi had made on the droid's frame. The deep, rust red armor at the very least was new, a dark, beautiful sheen only seen on newly forged plating. He wouldn't have known what it was if Sabine hadn't been fawning over the droid in the shuttle down to the facility. _Beskar_. Mandalorian Iron. A rare ore only found on Mandalore and its moon Concordia, and known for being the single most durable metal in the galaxy.

It's programming, though, hadn't been replaced or adjusted, and it showed, time and age degrading the programming until it ended up like _this_. Or, Kanan assumed that had been the case. Surely nobody would have programmed a droid to behave in this manner. It was the only explanation he could find for HK's gleeful dedication to murder. But on that count, the droid was an _artist_. Kanan had heard that assassin droids often developed sentience due to the independent nature of their programming, and that was certainly the case with HK-45. Only his sentience was that of a psychopath.

"Declaration: meatbags incoming, Jedi Jarrus!" HK said, climbing up on the conveyor belt and helping to pull Kanan up beside him. "Quarry: do you require assistance in killing these squishy organics? I have killed significantly more than you." HK drew up in an approximation of pride. "I have executed approximately eight times as many of these fleshy sacks as you have."An electronic grind came from the droid's vocal modulator in what may have been a scoff. "Derisive: do they truly believe that armor will make them any less easy to kill?"

"Well, that _is_ the idea..." Kanan said between grit teeth, breathing deep as he prepared for the reenforcements to arrive. The droid's head turned toward him and carefully examined him.

"Observation: _you_ don't wear armor, Jedi Jarrus."

"I find it restrictive," the Jedi said, his eyes focused on the large, open supply doors, his body tense and ready for the incoming stormtroopers. He could feel them in the Force, nearly twenty of them, all of them headed their way, just as the plan called for. "I value speed and agility when I'm fighting."

"Ah," HK said. "Comprehension: you value the increase in your movement speed because you understand that your slushy insides are futile to defend." The droid nodded. "A wise choice, Jedi Jarrus. Very practical."

"Oh, I bet Kenobi _loves_ you..."

"Exclamation: he _does_!" HK said gleefully, pointing the rocket launcher in its hands toward the door where incoming stormtroopers now ran, and with a pull of the trigger, the entire refinery was washed in heat and the glow of flames from the ensuing explosion. When the smoke cleared, the entire group lay dead or dismembered, a few unfortunates left screaming from the pain of torn limbs and burns from their melting armor. "Correction: I have now killed nine times as many as you."

"I don't know if you were listening, HK, but my directions were to be a _distraction_." He held the lightsaber up. "Just being here and swinging a lightsaber around is bringing them to us. Jedi these days are _very_ rare."

"Revelation: Jedi Jarrus, perhaps you are falling behind in killing these meatbags because you believe your options to be limited." HK dropped the empty rocket launcher and took the sniper rifle off its back. "There are _many_ ways to terminate you weak and fragile organics! You can shoot them, electrocute them, blow them up, crush them. I am a fan of incineration."

"I am _so glad_ I'm on your side..." Kanan muttered, his lightsaber swinging and deflecting the shots fired from the door as new troopers entered, the quick deflections sending the bolts back at the stormtroopers, and the troopers scattered to duck behind cover when the droid drew a heavy blaster and shot suppressing fire at the troopers. Immersed in the Force, Kanan's blade swung effortlessly before him, each of the rapidly fired shots harmlessly deflected away as he protected himself and the droid beside him as HK carefully lined up his shots with his sniper rifle. Reenforcements came in constant stream, their numbers rising and falling as new soldiers took up arms from their fallen comrades, the troopers fighting with more caution than the reckless first wave.

Kanan felt a tug in the Force, a clear and present warning, and he reached out to feel for the cause of the disturbance. He felt it before he saw it, and without wasting a moment, Kanan dove behind the conveyor belt for cover and reached out with the Force to pull HK-45 down beside him just as rapid heavy fire filled the air above their heads. The high whine of blaster fire was drowned out by the sound of metal grinding in rapid rotation and the deep, forceful thrum of powerful discharge, and Kanan felt his chest tighten with the realization of what it was, his mind drifting back to a time when he was a younger man, a _different_ man, with a different name, fighting beside an army of clone soldiers.

 _Z-6 rotary blaster cannons_.

"HK, scan the area, tell me what we're dealing with!" Kanan commanded, and the usually mouthy droid immediately followed the Jedi's orders, its visual sensors glowing deep yellow as its advanced scanners were activated.

"Analysis: Thirty six enemy meatbags, Jedi Jarrus," HK said quickly. "They have brought two turret-mounted rotary cannons with them." HK gripped the sniper rifle closer to its chest. "Declaration: How _exciting_! They must find us terribly threatening to bring heavy weapons! Congratulatory: Well done, Jedi Jarrus!" HK peeked out over the cover when the rapid firing stopped, and quickly ducked below again when the turret continued to fire. "Excitation: you saved me!"

"You're an ally, HK, of course-"

"Correction: not from certain destruction, Jedi Jarrus," the droid said quickly. "Master's upgrades to my plating make me nearly indestructible. However, the force from such rapid firing may have knocked me off the conveyor belt. It would have been _terribly_ embarrassing."

"Right, that's the last time I'm saving you..." Kanan muttered as he peeked over the conveyor belt, got a clear look at the two shielded turrets, and ducked back down when the firing began again in earnest. "You want to test that durability?" he asked, indicating toward the turrets with his thumb, and for a moment, HK simply looked back at him and stared with its glowing sensors.

"Admission: perhaps that may not be the wisest course of action." Its vocal modulator whirred in a low hum. "Clarification: I do not doubt my Master's upgrades, but Mandalorian armor is _expensive_. I must take care of Master's investments."

"A good policy, considering how he feels about people messing with what he considers his..." The earpiece in his ear softly buzzed, and he put his hand to it as he reached out and grabbed a soldier with the Force that was attempting to flank them, and with a wave of his hand, he threw the stormtrooper into the barrage of fire from the rapidly firing cannons.

"Jedi Jarrus," K-2SO said, "the _Ghost_ and the _Slave I_ have landed in the shipment depot unimpeded."

"What about the cannon teams?" Kanan asked, looking over the conveyor belt as HK threw a grenade toward one of the turrets, and using the Force, Kanan pushed the grenade the remainder of the distance to land right behind the turret, and with a piercing bang, the rapid fire stopped for just a moment before the second and last remaining rotating blaster began firing.

"Mandalorian Wren and CC-2224 have yet to report their status," K2 said hesitantly. "Was that an explosion, Jedi Jarrus?"

"Yes, but just a small one," Kanan said, his voice raised over the noise of the revolving cannon. "You should have heard it earlier, HK got hold of a rocket launcher."

"Declaration: it is a day that will be long remembered by the meatbags," HK said, and K2 softly groaned.

"Oh, are you still operational?"

"Quarry: did you believe it could be otherwise?"

"No, but one can hope..." K2 bemoaned. "Jedi Jarrus, Scoundrel Calrissian reports that reenforcements are incoming, and they are bringing heavy equipment."

"Shit..." Kanan said, drawing his blaster from its holster and firing at the stromtroopers as they attempted to surround the droid and the Jedi, HK beside him swiftly firing fatal shots at the soldiers the moment they emerged from cover. "We're getting overrun here, I don't want those reenforcements to arrive. How long before Lando locks the facility down?"

"Not until the cannon teams report," K2 said. "Lock down cannot commence until the _Ghost_ and the _Slave I_ have cleared the facility. Are you in need of assistance, Jedi Jarrus?"

"Denial: no!" HK said quickly, and Kanan shot the droid a withering glare.

"If at all possible, yes." The droid make an electronic groan and threw the second grenade, and followed its trajectory with the sniper rifle, saw it falling just short of the turret, and before the grenade his the ground, HK fired and struck it, the device exploding in the air and instantly killing the turret's operator. The force of the blast knocked the heavy mounted cannon to the ground, torn from the power pack it ran on.

"Understood, Jedi Jarrus," K2 said after a moment of silence. "I will have Mandalorian Wren detonate the charges set on the north ion cannon. A secondary crisis will split the force. Is this acceptable?"

"Only do so if they're well clear and it's safe," Kanan said firmly, and beside him, HK stared at him as it shot over its shoulder at the troops moving behind them, every shot hitting its mark.

"Accusation: you are moving these meatbags out of my way on _purpose_." He paused when the Jedi glared at it. "Quarry: is this because I have far surpassed your confirmed kills?" HK didn't wait for the Jedi to respond. "Soothing: don't feel bad, Jedi Jarrus. You never could have won the competition because you are inferior in every way."

Any response Kanan had was cut off by the sound of a large, distant explosion, the stormtroopers in the refinery immediately scrambling together to deal with this new potential threat, and in the ensuing chaos, Kanan Jarrus and HK-45 rushed forward, weapons in hand, and got to work.

* * *

Zeb and Sabine pushed through the throng of miners and factory workers, the rooms filled with screams of terror and panic as people of several species pushed and jostled each other, running in every direction and unsure of which way was safe. They could hear explosions, blaster fire, the harsh shouts of stormtroopers as they answered the calls of their comrades. It was absolute chaos, and it was perfect. Sticking close to the large, powerful Lesat, the crowd didn't so much as part as they scrambled to get out of the way of the intimidating pair, and soon enough, they were running down the long, empty service corridor toward the ion cannon.

"Chaos and explosions, running around an Imperial facility, busting heads and blowing things up." Zeb sighed wistfully. "Just like old times."

"Yeah, no kidding," Sabine said beside him, her twin blasters primed and raised as she caught sight of two stormtroopers at the end of the corridor, and with deadly accuracy, she fired, the red plasma bolts striking her targets in the chest before they could raise their own weapons. "It's been a long time since it's been just you and me." She sighed as they rounded the corner, and she could hear Zeb laughing deeply beside her when the caught sight of the large, domed structure at the end of the hall, its door guarded by two stormtroopers. Both of them increased their speed to full sprint, ignoring the command to halt and drop their weapons, and blasters raised, they made short work of the soldiers.

"Oh, I've missed this..." Zeb said when Sabine placed her hand on the door controls, and the dome's entry hissed open, revealing two soldiers standing guard in the doorway Without missing a beat, Zeb reached out, grabbed each of their helmeted heads in his massive hands, and slammed the two heads together, the Imperials dropping to the ground when the powerful Lesat released them. Once inside and having checked the circular room for any hidden enemies, Sabine sat herself at the control chair and immediately set to work unlocking the weapon and familiarizing herself with the controls while Zeb sealed the door shut and locked it from the inside. If the Imperials wanted to get in, they were going to have to try _very_ hard to do so."

"So..." Sabine said, her fingers quickly running over the controls as she listened to the general update from K-2SO in her ear piece. "What do you think about all this?"

"What, the mission?" Zeb said, laughter in his voice. "It's great. Fighting against the Empire, smashing up their assets, putting their stupid soldiers on the ground...this is what we've always wanted, isn't it? We've always wanted to make a difference, not just be a nuisance so minor we're just ignored." Zeb grinned. "This is the real thing. We take down this Admiral, and they'll feel it all the way on Coruscant."

"No, that's not what I meant," Sabine said, her tone almost cautious. "I mean...with Fulcrum."

"Ah, right," Zeb said, his hand on the back of her chair as he watched the weapon's expert work. "You had some hang-up about Fulcrum before, right?" Sabine was silent for a moment, her hands slowing over the interface as she collected her thoughts, and slowly, she shook her head.

"I don't like following orders without knowing what it is I'm doing. I'm all for fighting the Empire, but blindly following commands is what the Empire had me do. This is different. We're...finally becoming part of something larger. We can finally make a difference. _Finally._ "

"It's what Hera's wanted all along," Zeb said, his ears flattening against his head as he thought. "We've been getting intel from Fulcrum for a long time without really being trusted, but it looks like all that's about to change. Fulcrum's going to bring us in."

"Do you think we'll get to see him?" Sabine asked, and Zeb sighed, his hand running over the soft purple fur on his head.

"I don't know, Sabine..." the Lasat softly growled. "I'm not bothered by the secrecy like you are. Sometimes its necessary, maybe it is with this Fulcrum." He shrugged. "So long as I'm busting Imperial heads, I'm good."

"...I just don't know that I want things to change," the Mandalorian whispered. "We have a good thing going here, you know? You and me and Hera and Kanan and Ezra, flying across the galaxy, stealing from the Empire, causing them problems where we can..."

"You're the one that wants to make a difference, Sabine," Zeb said, laying a hand on her thin, armored shoulder. Besides, your Shadow King seems to trust Fulcrum. I'm sure he'll ease whatever fears you have once this mission is over." Sabine's helmet concealed the smile that spread across her face.

"Yeah, I guess so. Thanks, Zeb. I feel a lot better about this whole thing." Zeb grinned, laughing as he clapped the girl on the shoulder.

"It'll be different, but it'll be better. No more running around, selling weapons to criminals for credits. I bet this rebellion takes care of its people. And Hera wouldn't get us involved with something she didn't think was worth it." The Lesat grinned, showing his long, sharp canines. "What about your Shadow King, huh? He everything you dreamed of?"

"I...don't know what to think of him," Sabine quietly confessed. "And he's been spending so much time with Kanan and Ezra. It's been hard to pin him down and get to know him. I have so many questions, and if Mandalore's going to be saved, if my _people_ are going to be saved..." She was quiet for a moment, her fingers moving swiftly over the switches and levers on the console as she inputted her commands. "I've made so many mistakes, Zeb..." she said quietly, her hand gripping tightly to one of the levers. "For so long, I clung to the idea that the Shadow King was real, that he could help save my people from the mess that I was complicit in for so long because I knew there was never anything I could do." Sabine exhaled sharply. "To think that he's not only real, but _everything_ the stories say..."

"Make it seem like we have a chance, the way you talk," Zeb said, a pained, angry glint in his eyes. "I couldn't save my people from the Empire, but we can save yours. I won't see another race destroyed by those Imperial scum."

"You know," Sabine said, laying a hand on the Lesat's thick, muscular arm. "Mandalorians have a history of adoption. You could be Mandalorian, if you wanted. You could have a people again." For just a moment, the edge of Zeb's mouth curled up, his long fang protruding over his lip, his eyes darting away from the girl. With a low, husky laugh deep with the strain of emotion, he rapped his claws against her helmet.

"What, and have _another_ Mandalorian on the _Ghost_? We don't have enough with you and Kenobi?" He shook his head, his ears laying flat. "You're all crazy. _Someone_ needs to hold the ship together. In any case, I don't want another people," he growled under his breath. "I've got a family on the _Ghost_ , and that's good enough for me." Sabine said nothing, only laid her hand on the Lesat's and squeezed it affectionately. She admired the Lesat. A survivor of the genocide of his people, left bitter and angry and alone, and still, he carried on, sure of his place and his purpose, confident in the path he walked. There was no doubt in Zeb, no questions on what he should do, on where he belonged, and what was right. He just _knew_ , and Sabine wished she could be freed of her own doubts as he was. Her other hand to her helmet, she activated her comlink.

" _Umbra_ , this is Ion Team Two. The weapon is primed, ready, and under my control." There was silence for a moment, the two Spectres waiting expectantly as the com's output buzzed softly.

"Acknowledged, Mandalorian Wren," K2 said. "Preparations are nearly complete. Please standby."

* * *

Ezra didn't know much about Mandalorians. Before his time on the _Ghost_ , he had only ever seen one once, though he was given to understand that it was a bounty hunter, not one of the fearsome Imperial Mandalorian warriors. No soldier so great, so _respected_ would ever venture out to someplace as remote and unimportant as Lothal. Even when the Empire started taking a greater interest in the planet because of its valuable natural resources, there was never a need to send the fearsome Mandalorians. All Ezra ever knew is that they were dangerous, their distinctive armor worn with pride, making them both instantly recognizable and instantly feared, and that was enough for Ezra to know to run and never, _ever_ look back.

And then he met Sabine. Fiery, passionate, beautiful Sabine. He'd been smitten since the moment he saw her, and _everyone_ knew it, and Sabine neither returned nor rebuked his feelings. She simply let him be, let him feel and express, unwilling to impose in any way on what she felt was his expression, since she valued hers so highly. She was an individual, a free spirit, one that could not be contained by anyone. Sabine brought new meaning to the armor of her ancestors, and she wore it as a symbol of self-expression, a thing she painted and repainted as the whim struck until the armor itself became... _Sabine_. Something beautiful and free, something that cried for rebellion, something that, to Ezra, made him forget all the terrible things he had heard about the Mandalorians.

Cody was _nothing_ like that.

Running beside him, Ezra could feel the fear, the authority, the _power_ that the clone commanded, his armor read and black like blood and smoke, fearsome and intimidating, and he remembered why it was that Mandalorians were considered the greatest warriors alive. It wasn't the only set of armor he had seen. Ezra had seen Obi-Wan's armor once, the armor of the Shadow King, a perfect, harmonious weaving of armor and robes, the flawless fusion of warrior and Sith Lord, a thing that exuded royalty and respect and command and above all else, _fear_. Terror, paralyzing and consuming, made complete by the curved, sweeping horns that crested his helmet and ran front to back. But more often than not, Ezra saw Kenobi in fine black robes that spoke of wealth and elegance, keeping the armor tucked away out of sight, like it was something dear and precious he was reluctant to use.

If the Shadow King was the most fearsome thing that Ezra had ever seen, and it _was_ , than Cody in his black and red was easily the second. He didn't know that two colors could change a person so much, but where Sabine's bright, colorful designs and paint-flecked armor was personal and inviting, Cody's solid red and black felt like death and darkness, like fire and blood, like blazing life and its inevitable end. As Ezra ran beside the clone, he could only imagine how terrifying it would be to be standing opposite that on a battlefield, and the entire image was only made more frightening by the blazing blue lightsaber he held in his hand.

"Hey, can I use that?" Ezra asked, his hand extended and pointing at the saber that Cody thrust through the back of a stormtrooper as they rounded a corner, his blaster in his other hand firing swiftly and with deadly accuracy at the other three soldiers in the squad. The Mandalorian's helmeted head turned slightly, Ezra biting his lip as he stared into the T-shaped visor, and wrenching the blade to tear out the side of the stormtrooper, Cody let the body fall to the ground with a heavy thud. Blood splattering the walls and their legs from the large organs and arteries that couldn't cauterize quickly enough.

"Not a chance," the clone said, his tone cocky and slightly amused as he thumbed off the weapon and held the hilt reverently in his hand, the silver cylinder rounded with a thick ring of gold near the end where the blade extended. It was _beautiful_ , much more so than Kanan's more industrial darker, less elegant blade. "Do you even know how to use it?" Cody asked as he began running once again, the teenager rushing to keep up as he pouted indignantly.

"It's not like I _haven't_ used one before," Ezra bit out as they rushed down the long hall, the dome-shaped structure at the end like a beacon, their target laying just inside. "Kanan's let me train with his, and I'll have my own soon enough." Cody _scoffed_.

"Yeah, _sure_ , Bridger, you keep dreaming."

" _I will_!" Ezra growled, his blaster raised to shoot at the guards standing at the door to the ion cannon, but the clone beside him fired two quick shots, and both guards dropped dead. The teen glared at the armored man. "What good is a lightsaber to you anyway? You don't have the Force, you can't do what a Jedi can!"

"And you're a Jedi?" Cody asked pointedly, and the teenager quickly made to retort, and bit down on his lip when he found himself at a loss for words. "I may not have the Force, Bridger, but I have almost twenty years of hard, intensive training under one of the greatest lightsaber duelists of all time. The Force can only take you so far, most of it is _training_." He slammed his hand on the door controls, the thrum of the lightsaber activating concealed by the hissing of the door as it slid open, and swinging the blade around his head, Cody slashed at the two guards inside, their helmeted heads falling to the ground when the blue blade bit through their necks.

Cody strode into the room without a second look at the bodies, switching the saber off and fixing it back to its place across his belt on his lower back and immediately set to work on the ion cannon, Ezra grimacing as he stepped over the dead troopers and sealed the door shut. He quietly approached the Mandalorian, observing him as he worked, the man standing before the console, his fingers swiftly running over the controls as he imputed commands and bypassed security, an easy thing to do since Lando had disabled the facility's security measures.

"Look, you're just older than me, alright?" Ezra grumbled. "I don't have much training, and this stuff isn't easy." Cody sighted, hanging his head before he removed his helmet, the man's graying black hair ruffled and his expression almost bored.

"I wasn't going to say anything, and Obi-Wan made me promise, but..." He glared at the teenager. "You want to hear what I think?" He smiled, a tight, forced thing that held something beneath it that Ezra wasn't sure he wanted to know about. "Just from me to you, Mandalorian to prospective Jedi."

"U-uh..." Ezra swallowed hard. "Y-yeah, sure." Ezra didn't see the clone move, but a moment later, he was pitching forward, pain rushing through him from where Cody's heavy hand had struck him on the back of the head.

"You are an _idiot_!" Cody harshly snapped, grabbing the boy by the collar and throwing him into the chair by the command console, and he spun it around to face him, the teen sinking low when the furious Mandalorian loomed over him. "You want to be a _Jedi_ ," he said hatefully, his voice dripping and venomous, "but you will _never_ be one. At your disposal, you have _Obi-Wan Kriffing Kenobi_ , a Jedi legend turned nexus of the Dark Side. He's not just a master of lightsaber combat, he walks the Force like it's his _birthright_." Cody scoffed. "You are not just dealing with a Lord of the Sith, _boy_ , you are dealing with a _Master_. Do you even understand what that means?"

"W-well, I-"

"I sincerely doubt it," Cody spat as if the boy hadn't spoken. "If you did, if you understood, if you _truly_ knew what that meant, you'd shut up and listen instead of running your fool mouth. You know _nothing_ , and you are choosing to wallow in ignorance." The clone poked his finger hard against Ezra's chest. " _That_ is why you will never be a Jedi." Cody turned away from the boy in the seat and returned to his work on the ion cannon, and all Ezra could do was watch him, stunned and scolded and at a complete loss for words. His head hurt from the clone's uncompromising, open hand smack to the back of his head, and he felt _stupid_.

"Why do you serve him?" Ezra asked quietly, slowly lifting himself out of the chair, eyeing the clone cautiously, uncertain if getting up was an option. Cody didn't seem to mind, since the man didn't show any interest in engaging him at all.

"He's my king, why else," Code said, calm and expressionless, his voice almost seeming distant. There was more to it, but whatever it was, the clone wasn't sharing.

"Isn't he, you know...evil?" Ezra asked, and the clone's shoulder's slightly tensed. "I mean, he's a Sith Lord, right? Kanan says they're evil, he says they feed on the pain of others. You know...the Dark Side. I've felt it, and it feels cold... _wrong_. I mean, that's what the Inquisitor uses, so-"

"They are _not_ the same," Cody growled. "They aren't even close to the same. That insignificant shouldn't even be mentioned in the same breath as Obi-Wan." The clone sighed and ran a hand through his hair, waiting for the information he imputed to be processed and applied to the cannon. "Why do I serve him..."

"Kanan says you're a clone, right?" Ezra asked quietly, though the man didn't move. "So, you've been with him for a long time, since the Clone Wars, probably. You said he's been training you for nearly twenty years, so..." Cody chuckled softly, his hand running almost affectionately over the helmet that he had placed on the control console.

"Is that what this is?" the clone asked almost gently. "Is your complete idiocy in your training with him because you're not sure if you can trust him?"

"Wouldn't it be the same for you?" Ezra asked. "I don't know him. All I have are stories, you know? About Sith Lords and war and Shadow Kings and burning planets. About the Dark Side and evil and the deaths of thousands of Jedi, and Kenobi's at the center of all of it." Ezra took a deep breath. "Can you blame me for being afraid?" For a long moment, Cody was silent, his fingers making small adjustments and changes in the commands on the cannon as he thought.

"Make no mistake," Cody said slowly, his voice soft and low, almost hesitant. "I've seen him do _terrible_ things. Things that will haunt a person for the rest of their days, things that could drive a man mad just by _witnessing_ it." Ezra drew back slightly, his breath held, and the clone finally looked at him, a wicked smirk on his face. "Afraid yet, boy?"

"N-no," Ezra said in a voice that audibly quivered with fear he couldn't quite repress. "I want to know. I _have_ to know. If he's going to teach me..." He took a deep breath, much calmer this time. "If I'm going to learn from him, I need to know who I'm learning from."

"...I've seen him capture and enslave entire villages of people," Cody said quietly, though his voice held no regret and no remorse. "I've helped him do it, all so he could bring them to his palace and experiment on them, alter them, transform them into something vicious and monestrous using the power of the Dark Side. And they _want it_. He _makes them_ want it, he makes them beg for the chains he hands them." The grin on Cody's face widened when Ezra paled considerably. "I've seen him take women so hard, so savagely, I thought they'd break. I've seen them beg and cry and resist, but in the end, he makes them want it too. Even the most fiercely independent he makes crave his approval, and they will do _anything_ for him."

"...like the woman on his ship," Ezra whispered, and Cody nodded.

"Just like her. And _oh_ , how she fought him." He shrugged. "She wouldn't leave now, even if she could. He doesn't need to keep her caged or chained anymore, she had free access to the ship because she doesn't _want_ to leave. All she wants is to service her Master in every way he commands. She is a pleasure slave because he wants her to be., and what he wants is all that matters to her because she doesn't have a will of her own anymore."

"T-that's awful!" Ezra said, his eyes wide and horrified. "Why would he do such a thing?!"

"Because he can," Cody growled. "Because the Force makes it his right to do so, because it is his talent and his gift to manipulate minds, and he has taken that talent and run with it." The smirk on Cody's face twitched slightly, his eyes suddenly looking distant and pained. "That's not it, of course. It's not like he spends all his time controlling people and making him do his bidding..."

"It doesn't matter, because he's _evil_. Kanan was right, the Dark Side taints _everything_."

"Yeah, maybe..." Cody said, his eyes returning to the console and watching the program run, its security measures falling one by one. "No matter what he does, he never does anything in halves. He's nothing if not dedicated to his passions." Again, that smirk faltered slightly, and Ezra watched closely as it faded completely. "And then there's everything else..." Cody sighed heavily. "I've seen what it's like when he loses himself. I've seen him consumed with pain and grief so deep that it eats away at him, so severe that hunger and exhaustion escape his notice so completely that his body begins to waste away. I've seen what it's like when the Force takes him, when he turns himself over to the Dark Side so he can be rid of himself for a time, for so long at times that I've feared he'd never find his way back."

"...the Dark Side comes from feeling of pain, right?" Cody slowly nodded. "...is that why he's so powerful?"

"I suspect so..." He sighed heavily. "But I've seen what he's like when he hits those depths. I've seen the fires of insanity rush through his blood, burning like a thousand suns and incinerate _everything_ within him. I was there when he burned Ord Mantel. I saw what he was like. There was no rage, no anger, no revenge. There was no good or evil, no dark or light, there was _nothing_. He tore a bloody wound in the fabric of the Force, billions of people died, and he felt _nothing_." Cody smiled sadly, and Ezra could feel a stab of pain in the Force, an emotional wound forged from a deep connection. "They burned because he was burning. Everything had to burn. The people of Ord Mantel weren't special, they were just the first. He would have reduced the entire galaxy to ash if we hadn't managed to pull him out of it."

"You did?" Ezra asked, and the clone shook his head.

"No, it wasn't me. A good deal of it was Quinlan, I think, and..." He trailed off, his mouth drawing into a thin line. "...it wasn't me." Slowly, the slight smile returned to the clone's lips. "But then, I've seen Obi-Wan with his lover. His _real_ one, the only woman he truly loved. I've seen him fawn over her, worship her like she was all that mattered. I've seen him reach the highest peaks of joy when she carried his child. I've seen him prepare to face insurmountable odds and kill his Master in order to keep them safe. I've seen the unbreakable bond between him and his friends, and I've seen in him the determination of a man that would stand against anything to keep them safe. And..." Cody stopped, holding his breath for a moment before he sighed heavily. "And I saw what happened to him when he lost it all."

"They died?" Ezra asked quietly, and Cody nodded. "All of them?"

"All of them." Cody took a deep breath and pulled back a lever on the control console when the security finally lowered, the weapon humming as it was primed. "There's darkness in him, to be sure, but I've seen greatness in him as well. I've seen him liberate ships _full_ of clones, thousands of us, all freed from our slavery to the Republic. I've seen those hands covered in blood, I've seen him rip the very souls out of creatures to feed his own youth, but I've also seen those same hands caress a lover, or soothe a crying child." He smiled softly. "He's a monster, sure, but nobody is free of demons. He just embraces his."

"You really respect him..."

"I do." Cody looked back at Ezra, and the smirk faded from his face, replaced instead by a hard scowl. "So what he's doing wasting his time with an ungrateful shit like you, I'll never guess. I don't know why he doesn't just kill you and be done with it."

"And that's what you'd do?" Ezra snapped, offended, and Cody rolled his eyes.

"Obviously not, because you're _still alive_. Obi-Wan sees something in you, clearly, or he wouldn't suffer your idiocy, but don't think that won't change in an instant. You'd do well to listen to him. A Master of the Force need not suffer fools, and Obi-Wan doesn't have the patience of a Jedi."

"Yeah, I noticed..."

"Why I serve him..." Cody growled under his breath. "I _don't_ serve him, Bridger. I stand beside Obi-Wan because he's my friend." Ezra nodded slowly, closed his eyes and breathed deep, taking in all he had learned. He'd been reluctant and resistant to Kenobi's teaching for a variety of reasons, and a great deal of that was his own fear, the memory of his brush with the Dark Side vibrant and terrifying in the recesses of his memory. It didn't help either that Ezra was naturally stubborn and instinctively bucked against any and all authority, and Obi-Wan was a _king_. There wasn't a higher authority for the boy to rebel against. As usual, as he discovered with Kanan, the problems stemmed from him. He wanted to learn, he did, and Obi-Wan could make him _great_...

A _Master_. Ezra frowned as he contemplated the meaning of it. What was it that made Obi-Wan a Master? What was it that made him greater than Kanan? Was it simply time, or was it all he had been through, experience and life forging him into something cold and dark and fearsome in its power. Like a black hole that consumed everything around it, Ezra had seen Obi-Wan harness power from death, syphoning off the fading life forces of the slain around him to fuel his power. Was it that? Was it having such an understanding, such a connection with the Force that left him open and able to put the Force to creative use? He didn't know, but he was determined to find out. There was a great deal to learn from Obi-Wan, about that, Cody was right. Ezra could grow powerful if he could shut up and listen.

"Can I ask a question?" Ezra asked, and the clone rolled his eyes, his hands quickly finalizing the work on the ion cannon.

"Can't promise I'll answer."

"Anakin Skywalker." The clone _froze_ , and Ezra could feel a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. What ever it was, _whoever_ it was, it wasn't good. "Obi-Wan said I'm like him. I-I don't know what that means. I know he was a great Jedi, I know Obi-Wan killed him, but-"

"A cautionary tale, that one..." Cody sighed and put his helmet back on his head. "And it's not my warning to give you. When the time is right, Kenobi will tell you what you need to know." It wasn't a satisfactory answer, but Ezra nodded, quietly accepting it as something within him shied away from the subject. It was a dark one, a dangerous one, and one he was not ready for. Cody held his hand to his helmet. "K2, this is Cody. The ion cannon is primed and ready for combat."

"Acknowledged, CC-2224," K2 responded swiftly. "Standby for the attack. The _Ghost_ is leaving now."

* * *

Hera yanked the yoke sideways, sending the _Ghost_ spinning out of the way of a cloud of smoke and flames and twisted metal as the TIE fighter that had been swiftly flying toward her exploded, the flames blooming larger when another TIE behind it failed to get out of the way fast enough and collided into the doomed ship. Pulling back on the yoke and the accelerator, she exited the spin and shot upwards, catching sight of a troop transport out of the corner of her eye moments before the green particle beam of concentrated ion energy fired from the facility's defenses, piercing the hull as if it were nothing, the now flaming transport plummeting toward the ground.

From behind her, the _Slave I_ shot past, spinning as it shot at the oncoming TIEs, drawing their attention away from the _Ghost_. Recognizing this maneuver from earlier, Hera wrenched the yoke down and sideways, sending her spinning back down toward the ground far below just as the seismic charge went off, the condensed sound waves ripping through the TIE fighters and tearing the bolted metal apart. It had been the third time Fett pulled this stunt, and each time, as the threat he generated drastically increased, more and more TIEs got caught in the blast. Whoever they were, these pilots weren't learning from the mistakes of the ones who came before them.

"You alright there, _Ghost_?" Boba said over the encrypted com channel opened between the two ships. "That was a close call you had back there."

"Nothing I can't handle, _Slave I_ ," Hera responded, smirking slightly to herself. She was certain that Boba Fett knew _exactly_ how good of a pilot she was, which was why he was shooting like an absolute maniac. The stunts he was pulling were only possible if both pilots had been flying together for a very long time, or if the defending pilot was _particularly_ excellent. Which Hera was. Fett was a fair pilot. Maybe even a good one, even by Hera's exacting standards, but where he truly shone was in his destructive capabilities, a field in which he was a master class unto himself. He was flexible and creative, approaching standard maneuvers with disdain and altering them until they became a deadly art form. It more than made up for any deficiencies in his flying, since the highly aggressive pilot shot his opponents down before they could get within range.

"You're an awfully good pilot, _Ghost_ , where's you learn to fly like that?" Fett asked, and Hera grinned widely.

"Trade secret. Afraid I can't tell." She chuckled slightly when she heard Boba groan. "What about you? I've never seen anyone so destructive."

"I spent a lot of time with Kenobi, so, you know." He whistled. "I've been trained as a Mandalorian warrior from the moment I could stand by my father."

"Cody?" Hera asked, and there was a moment of silence before Fett chuckled deeply.

"In a sense, yeah. Fourth wave incoming, look alive, _Ghost_." Hera nodded, her hands grasping the controls as her scanners lit up with twenty approaching TIE fighters. By their count, there were only twelve of the fighters that had yet to be deployed from the Star Destroyer.

"I see them, _Slave I_ ," Hera said, flipping switches on the console and checking the ship's status, smirking when she found all systems operational. "Fall in behind me, let's give Sabine and Cody something to shoot at."

"Copy that, _Ghost_." The _Slave I_ immediately dropped back into position behind the _Ghost_ , and flying up toward the oncoming ships to give them something to shoot at, Hera pulled back on the Yoke and flipped the ship in a wide loop, angling down and speeding back toward the facility far below. The _Slave I_ continued on its path long enough to fire a few volleys at the TIEs, destroying two in the process before he followed the _Ghost_ , the Imperial starships in hot pursuit.

"Hey, what did you mean by _in a sense_ your father?" Hera asked, her brow furrowed in concentration as the dot that was the mining facility came into view. This time, Boba laughed loudly, a warm and gentle thing.

"Alright, Cody's a clone from the war, yes? He's a clone of a Mandalorian warrior, a man named Jango Fett. They have altered DNA that allowed them to be grown at a faster rate by doubling the speed at which they aged. _Well_ ," Fett drawled, "I'm an unaltered clone of Jango Fett, and he raised me as his son until some Jedi scum killed him."

" _You're_ a clone?" Hera asked, the facility coming rapidly closer, and without decelerating, Hera pulled back on the yoke, the ship cutting upwards right before she slammed into the domed roof of the facility. Seeing what she was doing, Boba pulled up much earlier, flipping around to shoot at the TIEs as they attempted to follow the _Ghost_. Three TIE fighters didn't succeed in altering their trajectory before they slammed into the roof, and several others crashed when they attempted to follow Hera as she wove through the tight rows of smoke stacks.

"I'm a clone, yes," Boba said when the _Ghost_ shot back into the sky, followed by a line of TIE fighters, and the _Slave I_ dropped down behind them, firing at the line and destroying one after the other. His console blared with warning when his sensors picked up the ion cannons priming, and he looked ahead and saw the _Ghost_ tear out of the line, and Boba quickly made to do the same. A bright green line of laser fire shot past them as the ion cannon fired, cutting through the line of TIE fighters that they had once been a part of and disintegrating them on contact, only a few three of the fast, shield less crafts escaping destruction. The _Slave I_ shot past the _Ghost_ as it accelerated to full speed in pursuit of the remaining TIEs.

"K2," Hera said, pressing down the com button to connect her to the _Umbra_ , "please send my compliments to the ion team, that was a _beautiful_ shot."

"I am reluctant to do that, Pilot Syndulla," K2 said over the com, the droid's tone almost bitter. "Further compliments will only serve to stroke their already severely inflated egos. Mandalorian Wren and CC-2224 have been doing enough of that as it is." The droid seemed to groan in irritation. "They have been... _fraternizing_."

"As Mandalorians do," Boba said. "Don't worry about it, K2."

"I disapprove of this behavior," the droid said flatly. "It is _flirtatious_." With a roll of her eyes, Hera disconnected her link with the _Umbra_ , angling the ship upwards and spinning out of the way of explosions as Boba destroyed the remaining TIE fighters.

"You know, Hera," Fett's voice said over the com as he flew the _Slave_ _I_ beside the _Ghost_. "With your piloting talent, and my weapons expertise, if you and I had a baby, that child would be the _greatest_ starfighter pilot of all time." Hera laughed and shook her head.

"Sorry. Afraid I'm spoken for."

"Oh, it's the _Jedi_ , isn't it?" Boba groaned. "Jedi go and ruin _everything_." He chuckled softly, and Hera couldn't help but smile and shake her head. "As it so happens, I'm spoken for as well."

"Oh?" Hera asked, an eyebrow arched as she looked at the com and her scanners, a small smirk on her lips when the scanner lit up with distant, incoming ships. "Your eyes sure do seem to wander for one that is spoken for."

"I am!" Fett protested. "She just doesn't know she wants me yet."

"Ah..." Hera pressed her finger to the button on the com and reconnected to the _Umbra_. "K2, by our count, they are launching what may be the last wave of TIE fighters."

"Master concurs," K2 said somberly. "I am contacting the others to begin heading to the extraction point. We shall see you when this is over, if we all happen to survive. Which, I remind you, is still _highly_ unlikely."

With a roll of her eyes, Hera cut the com, grabbed the yoke and the accelerator, and flew full speed toward the oncoming ships.

* * *

The secondary hangar was empty when Obi-Wan landed the _Umbra_ right next to the wide open entry leading out into the depths of space, the massive opening sealed with an environmental shield. The low hum of the ship's engines was masked by the deep, pulsating thrum of the _Chimera_ 's enormous thrusters, and with the stealth engaged, the _Umbra_ remained entirely visible. The Sith Lord ran through a final check of the cockpit and the droid in the copilot's chair before he stood, checking to make certain that his lightsabers were tightly fixed to his belt, his eyes closed and touching the Force to ensure its calm, even flow.

"Take the _Umbra_ and keep your distance," Obi-Wan commanded. "The teams on the ground are your priority should they need assistance in the extraction."

"But what about you, Master?" K2 asked, its visual sensors looking over the Sith Lord. "The probability of your success is distressingly low. I advise keeping the _Umbra_ close at hand in the highly likely event that something goes wrong."

"That is why I need you to take care of them first," Obi-Wan said firmly. "Children and woman and families are down there, and I never intended for any of them to be involved in this." Kenobi frowned, his eyes narrowed as he felt the cold rage of protection deep within him. "This is _my_ fight, and they will not die for me. _Nobody_ will die for me."

"I find this highly inadvisable," K2 said. "Your intrinsic value is far greater than many of those fighting for you."

"What do you know of value, _droid_?" Kenobi growled, turning furious golden eyes on the mechanical. "You aren't even truly sentient, you have less value than _any_ of them!" Obi-Wan looked straight into K2's visual sensors, unexpressive lights built into a cold, hard shell, and Obi-Wan looked away as he turned to leave the cockpit. "If you need to save them, K2, if things go very wrong, make certain you get away as well."

"Master-"

"That's an order, droid and you will not disobey it." Obi-Wan adjusted the comlink on his wrist and tuned into the _Umbra_ 's frequency. "Contact me only if my team needs to be saved." Obi-Wan didn't wait for the droid to respond, his long stride taking him from the cockpit and down the long corridor to the access hatch, his hand touching the console and opening the door without extending the ramp, Obi-Wan leapt from the ship and landed silently on the hard ground of the _Chimera_ 's hangar. He quickly rushed away from the _Umbra_ , listened to the engines whine as they engaged from idle, and with a smooth, building roar, the ship sped out of the hangar. Breathing deep and surrounding himself in the Force, Obi-Wan dissolved into the shadows of the Star Destroyer.

Obi-Wan walked down the halls of the Star Destroyer, the schematic of the ship in his mind as he followed the quickest path to the bridge. He passed by officers and soldiers, techs and stormtroopers, pilots and gunners as they rushed around in a panic, barking orders and trying to make sense of what was going on down on Bandomeer. It was chaos, just as he suspected, and Obi-Wan could breathe the fear in the air, took it within him and allowed it to deepen his connection with the Dark Side. Not a single person saw him, noticed him, even suspected he was present, the collective panic only aiding the Sith's deception. Here he walked in the dark of the Force, a mere shadow in his surroundings as he walked unseen through the halls of the _Chimera_. To the perceptive observer, something would have seemed off and unnatural, a shadow disconnected that moved through a will of its own, not simply cast upon the wall but flickering in the very air before them.

It wasn't that Lumis _became_ shadow, not exactly. A clever blending of concealing one's presence and subtle, passive, very advanced mind control allowed Obi-Wan to rend himself invisible to life around him. A technique he learned from one of the holocrons that he had stolen from Sidious on Empire Day so many years ago, the original technique required the bending of sound and light to render the user invisible to _everything_ , though the concentration and energy demanded of such a thing was immense, and would leave the practitioner taxed. It was a useful skill, if an inefficient one, but Obi-Wan had lacked the talent for such a thing.

Instead, he was left to rely on his own natural talents, and instead of the bending of light, he bent the minds of those around him, commanding the Force to warp the perception of those who looked upon them, the softest whisper sneaking into their minds like mist and forcing them to believe that nothing was there. His previous development of the ability to melt into shadows only aided the technique, and when combined, Obi-Wan could walk with the Force pulsing through his veins and be completely unseen. It was a work in progress, a thing he was still experimenting with, but in the chaos of the _Chimera_ , it worked beautifully, the Imperial attentions focused elsewhere, making his deception a simple one.

Droids could see him, or course, and he'd be able to be seen on security monitors, and were someone even remotely talented in the Force, they should be able to at the very least notice that _something_ was there. But that was a concern for another time. For now, chaos served him well, and Obi-Wan effortlessly made his way through the ship, and before long, had stepped into the elevator that would bring him to the bridge.

The elevator doors hissed open to a bridge filled with officers frantically trying to bring order to their rapidly failing assault, and Obi-Wan wasted no time in stepping out onto the walkway, eyes shooting to him as they slowly began to notice the unauthorized person on their ship. His hand extended, Obi-Wan wasted no time at all in bringing the weight of the Force down upon the bridge crew, his eyes closed as he grasped at their frantic minds and swiftly rendered them docile, the officers slumping in their seats and their gaze hazy and unfocused as the Dark Side dominated them.

When the bridge fell silent, save for the small beeps and chimes from the whirring consoles, Obi-Wan opened his eyes, the glowing gold drifting over the bridge and admiring his handiwork. Most of the officers lay still, their gazed distant, their heads hanging down to their chest, though a few gasped with effort, their eyes shut tightly and their teeth grinding together as they struggled to retain their minds. Slowly reaching out to each of those that struggled, Kenobi swiftly entered their minds and took their will from them, their bodies becoming instantly limp as they collapsed upon the ground, their eyes blank as their ragged breathing slowed.

Kenobi stopped before the last of the officers, a wiry man with a commandant's rank plaque upon his chest, and he frowned, his eyes narrowing as he observed the man. On a Star Destroyer of this size, it wasn't unusual to have more than one very high ranking officer on the ship, but the fact remained that of all the men and women upon the bridge, not a single one of them was Thrawn.

So where was he?

"Commandant," Obi-Wan said, his hand extended, his fingers gently wriggling, and the man grasped his head in his hands, a soundless scream in his throat as his mind was effortlessly pried open, another voice in a smooth, accented drawl speaking into his thoughts and drowning out everything else. "You are mine, do you understand me?" The man said nothing, his body rigid with his struggle, and with just the slightest tightening of his hand, the Dark Side sunk its claws into the officer, and he too went still, swaying slightly on his knees as he fought to keep his eyes open. Obi-Wan placed his fingers under his chin and tilted his face up, the dazed officer looking up into golden, glowing eyes with complete submission.

"This is my ship, understand? You are _mine_ ," Obi-Wan said softly, and the man mindlessly nodded, groaning softly when the Sith ran his thumb over his cheek. "That's it, pet...tell me, where is _Thrawn_."

"Thrawn..." the man repeated, his eyes shutting tight and shivering before Kenobi's grip on his chin tightened.

" _Thrawn_. The Chiss Admiral. This is the _Chimera_ , this is his ship, so _where is he_?!" The man stared blankly at him, wavering slightly for a moment.

"The 96th Task Force, Master..." Obi-Wan growled in frustration, his hand gripping the man tighter. He had, perhaps, broken this mind too far, and if he was broken, the others certainly were as well. He pushed the man to the ground with a sneer of disgust, his hand extended and breathing deep as he entered his pliable mind, searching through the hazy memories and found exactly what he was looking for. The deck below the bridge, once used as a conference center, had been converted into the captain's quarters, designed to afford the occupant a view of the blanket of space before them. An entire battle could be commanded from there, and if Thrawn was anywhere, it would be there. Obi-Wan quickly swept from the bridge, entering the elevator and taking it to the next floor down.

"K2," Obi-Wan said into his com as he walked out of the elevator and toward the door leading to the spacious captain's quarters. "I'll be ready to go _very_ soon. Prepare the infiltration teams for extraction."

"Right away, Master," K2 said quickly. "Will you be ready for extraction as well?"

"Soon enough. The _Chimera_ is mine, so I'm in no rush. Inform me when everyone is safely off the planet." He cut the com after K2 muttered an affirmative, and he slowly laid his hand upon the door's controls, and frowned when he was refused entry. With a vicious snarl, he quickly contacted the bridge, demanded entry, and a moment later, the console beeped, the lock disengaging, and the door slid open. Stepping into the darkness of the room, Obi-Wan silently melted into the shadows.

He walked on silent feet inside the room, the door hissing closed and locking behind him, leaving him to gaze out through a large viewport wall, Bandomeer hanging green and blue and beautiful in the darkness of space dotted by distant stars. He surveyed the room, reached out with the Force to search for life and found... _nothing_. On the ship, there were thousands, all chaotic and panicked and rushing with new fear as the bridge failed to respond, as they found doors locked and sealed, trapping thousands within sections of the ship with no hope of escape. Above him, he could sense the mind broken, obedient slaves he had created of the officers, all docile and helpless without their Master to direct them. But on that floor, in that room, _nothing_.

Obi-Wan felt a hard, sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, the back of his mind exploding with warning as the Force tore at him. A hard, sharp crackle of energy erupted behind him, and Obi-Wan swiftly ducked just as an electrostaff swung over his head, its ends sparking with deep, purple energy and held in the hands of a sleek, powerfully built Imperial Sentry Droid. The droid thrust the end of the electrostaff down toward Obi-Wan, and the Sith Lord deftly flipped backwards, drawing his lightsaber in the air and igniting it, the blade filling the room with a red glow, and the moment he landed, he pushed off the ground, dashing toward the droid and swiping low, cutting its legs off at the knees, the heavy body slamming to the ground, and with a savage grown, the Sith Lord plunged the blade through the droid's head and down into its body, instantly destroying its central processors.

He wasn't angry, he was _furious_. This trap he had so carefully planned turned out to be developed within the jaws of a trap set by Thrawn himself. Not only was the Chiss not here, but he had _planned_ on Kenobi being here. When the Sentry Droid deactivated, the room was filled with the high whine of electronics being powered on, and all around the room, Obi-Wan could see the red, glowing eyes of a dozen Sentry Droids as they activated, a written protocol to be enacted upon the destruction of one in their group. The crackle of electrostaffs filled the air, and as they advanced, weapons held out before them, the Sith Lord had enough.

Hands tightening into fists as he grabbed the Force, the Sith Lord pushed out with all his force, sending the droids slamming against the walls so hard the durasteel dented. The droids quickly rose to their feet, preparing to rush again at their target, but the didn't get far as they were all lifted into the air by the tense, wrathful Sith, the Dark Side howling with such might that even in the confines of the Star Destroyer, a savage wind blew, whipping at the ends of his robes and sending anything not bolted down flying around the room. The sharp, grating screech of metal bending reverberated off the walls as the droids, hanging suspended in the air, began to dent and bend, twitching unnaturally as they were crushed, their hard frames crumbling like paper in the grip of the Force. Snapping wires and the sound of shorting electronics punctuated the groaning of metal, and when the droids hovering in the air resembled little more than compact, misshapen orbs, they dropped to the ground with a dull, heavy clang.

Obi-Wan began to place a call to the _Umbra_ when he caught a flash of light out of the corner of his eye, and he drew his lightsaber and spun toward it, his chest tightening when he stared at the holographic image of Admiral Thrawn, projected by the command chair that sat in the center of the room. His lightsaber hissing off, he slowly approached the hologram, his eyes darting over it and checking for any abnormalities, anything that felt wrong or off, but he felt...peace. Calm, something oddly soothing about the faint glow of the hologram, the faintly amused expression of the Chiss, the sound of shorting wires from the droids he destroyed. Whatever danger that had been here had passed.

" _Master Kenobi_ ," the hologram said in the Chiss' smooth, even monotone, his native language flowing melodiously off his tongue, " _if you are listening to this, you have no doubt destroyed my droids and possibly stolen my ship, as expected. My duties, unfortunately, keep me from being there today, and therefore, this message has been regretfully prerecorded. The business of the Empire has kept me...rather busy, as you can imagine, and I have heard that some men of your particular talent can exert their control over a being so long as they are in active contact with them, be it in person or over a com connection_." A faint smile tugged at the edge of the Chiss' thin lips. " _Until I know the extent of your powers, I'm afraid that our communications will have to be indirect, until the time in which we actually get to meet. On my terms, of course_."

"Oh, we'll see about that, you Chiss bastard..." Kenobi growled, his face alight with excited anticipation.

" _I wanted to thank you for the gift you sent me,_ " Thrawn continued. " _Do not think the meaning of such a gift is lost on me. I understand the value of the Sith Language to your kind_ , _and I appreciate that these days, only the Lords of your order are permitted to learn it. It makes the value of this information immeasurable, and I thank you deeply for it. The language is difficult, and were I at all proficient, I would have attempted to deliver this message in Sith_." Again, that faint, imperceptible smile. " _But there is always next time, and there will be a next time. I feel that our correspondence is not yet at an end._ "

" _In return for such a gift_ ," the Chiss continued, " _I felt it only proper to give to you something that is of equal value. A difficult thing, since no value can be placed upon what you gave me. However_..." The Chiss folded his hands behind his back, the stiffness in his shoulders relaxing. " _I went through the restricted Senate records of the Republic and compiled for you a data card that you will find inserted into the reader of the command chair beside the recording of this message. On it, you will find several holorecordings of Duchess Satine Kryze during her many addresses to the Galactic Senate, both before and during the Clone Wars. A thing of little value to anyone, but I believe you will find it priceless_."

Obi-Wan couldn't breathe. He couldn't _think_. If Thrawn's idea was to disarm the Sith Lord, it was working. The recording ended with a swift and courteous farewell, and the sincerest hope that they could meet very, very soon, and when the hologram flickered off and the room fell dark, all Obi-Wan could do was stare at where the holographic image had stood only a moment earlier. He slowly shuffled to the command chair, looking around the room in search of something sinister, as if another trap lay just within reach, but there was nothing. Only the two data cards inserted in the chair's slots, just as the Admiral had said. He didn't dare touch them.

"Master," the com on his wrist crackled, and Obi-Wan absently brought the device up before him.

"Report, K2..." the Sith said in a flat monotone.

"The crews have been safely extracted, as you requested," K2 said, his tone pleased, but disbelieving. "We are ready for immediate departure...oh." The droid stopped, and Obi-Wan's eyes fixed on the viewport just as three Star Destroyers blinked out of hyperspace above Bandomeer, the fleet flanked by two Interdictor Cruisers, the massive gravity wells upon the hull of the ship effectively keeping anything in the area from jumping to hyperspace. They were _trapped_. "Never mind, sir," K2 said almost cheerfully. "We're going to die."

"Not yet, not today," Obi-Wan snarled, swiftly removing the data cards from the reader and tucking them safely away into a pouch on his belt. He rushed for the elevator and swiftly stepped inside, his hand slamming on the command to bring him to the bridge. "Tell Hera and Fett to set a course for our rendevous coordinates just outside the Lothal system."

"Master," K2 tiredly drawled. "I don't know if you realize this, but Interdictor cruisers mean we are going _nowhere_. We're all going to die, cold and alone, in the vacuum of space." The droid paused. "Except for me. And HK-45, I suppose. And C1-10P. We can survive in space."

"Hey, idiot," Kenobi snapped as he rushed out on to the bridge, the Commandant quickly approaching him and bowing deeply. "What did I tell you? This ship is _mine_. We're getting out. Come and get me. Dock as close to the bridge as you can, I'll give you access." He didn't wait for the droid to respond before he cut the com and stood before the viewport, the entire bridge awaiting his orders. "Alright, Imperials, there are two Interdictors in orbit." Obi-Wan grinned viciously. "Destroy them."

Immediately, the entire bridge snapped to action, nearly thirty men and women working under a singular will, and the Star Destroyer lurched forwards as the engines were engaged, bringing them within range of the other Imperial ships. Once close enough to shoot with critical accuracy, the Star Destroyer opened fire upon the Interdictor with plasma torpedoes and ion cannons, the smaller ship exploding in a torrent of flames as the shields were quickly penetrated, and the other Star Destroyers jerked, their noses turning away from the ship that suddenly attacked them. The com channel beeped with frantic calls, but the com officer ignored them all as they set their sights on the second Interdictor.

As space erupted with the blaze of light from the counter attacking Star Destroyers, Obi-Wan accessed the central command console, looking up the ship's information, and groaned loudly when he saw a signature modulator fixed to the Star Destroyer's identification, classifying it as the _Chimera_. Removing the modulator revealed the ship to be the _Malevolence_. Of course. It was the oldest trick in the book, one that Hera employed upon the _Ghost_. With Thrawn concealing ships and designating them _Chimera_ , there was no telling how many Star Destroyers were masquerading as the Chiss' ship. It made him impossible to find, each _Chimera_ the located a potential trap. Just when he seemed so close, Thrawn had once again drifted just out of reach.

One day. _One day_...

The Star Destroyer continued to rock and jolt under the heavy fire, but the continuous fire wasn't enough to destroy the formidable Imperial ship, and moments later, the second Interdictor exploded, the arrow-shaped ship splitting in two as explosions erupted along its spine.

"Master," K2 said over the comlink. "The _Ghost_ and the _Slave I_ have made the jump to hyperspace, and I have docked to the safest possible location. I am sending you my docking information now, Master."

"I'll be there shortly, K2," Obi-Wan said absently, and he ran from the bridge, abandoning the _Malevolence_ to its destruction.


	24. Tactical Retreat

**AN:** **Alright! Bit of a longer chapter, sorry for the delay. The next...two? Three? Chapters of this are friggin huge, so excuse any delay it may take as I sit and ponder it. I want to get it just right, because it's a big stupid mess, and I LOVE big stupid messes. Enjoy, lovelies! Blood of Mandalore updates this weekend, got some good things for that, and if you want to read the worlds most messed up oneshot modern AU where Kenobi's a damned serial killer, Genesis is up and ready for you sickos to read. Hell is a real place, and I'm going there in such style. Seriously, though, it's one of the better and darker pieces I've written. Check it out if you're interested, but be warned, not for the faint of heart.**

 _Chapter 24: Tactical Retreat_

Thrawn stood in the room before the Imperial Navy High Command, his hands behind his back as he half listened to the superior officers rail against him, as was their custom every few months, or any time he had some level of success, a victory achieved by methods they _never_ agreed with, seemingly discontented with victory, no matter how large, if it was achieved by the Chiss Admiral. But times like this were their _favorite_ , times that were excessively rare and thus all the sweeter for it. The times when Thrawn's plans failed, and they had never failed more spectacularly then they had in what had been a small skirmish over Bandomeer turned military disaster. And so he was here, called back to Coruscant from his patrol duty in the Arkanis sector to be court marshaled. _Again_.

Thrawn's aid, Commander Eli Vanto, stood at his side, his gaze focused on the floor before him, his jaw clenched tight in irritation. The situation had been _grossly_ unfair, Vanto had said on the way in. Bandomeer was clear across the galaxy from their patrol, and they had received the summons to return to Coruscant before they had even known there was an issue. Even en route, they had only gotten a brief, partial report of what had occurred, and most of the information on the matter they hadn't even received until they were standing _here_ , being charged with accusations of all sorts, most of which they were hearing for the first time. He didn't show it nearly so expressively as the young Commander, but for once, Thrawn was just as irritated with the situation as Eli was.

What Thrawn had gathered of the situation was this: the Star Destroyer _Malevolence_ , flying under the identification of the _Chimera_ , had been attacked during its patrol over Bandomeer in a two pronged assault, one on the mining and refining facility down on the surface of the planet, and one on the Star Destroyer itself. In the course of the attack, rebel or criminal factions had managed to steal nearly four hundred pounds of refined ionite, a staggering amount, considering the rare, light weight qualities of the ore, and had somehow not only managed to take control of the entire facility, but had somehow managed to hijack the Star Destroyer. When reenforcements arrived, the _Malevolence_ opened fire and destroyed two valuable Interdictor cruisers and delt moderate to severe damage on the three Star Destroyers that arrived to lend aid before _Malevolence_ was destroyed.

Valuable resources stolen, thousands of people killed, three ships destroyed, one of which was a nearly indestructible _Star Destroyer_ , and three other Star Destroyers so badly damaged it was almost more cost effective to scrap the ships and build new ones instead of making the necessary repairs. All this in light of the fact that _no_ insurgents were captured made for a very bad situation, one that was only made worse for Thrawn personally in light of the fact that the security recordings from the _Malevolence_ were destroyed with the ship, and the footage from the facility below had been lost when they reported that during the time, their security systems were malfunctioning, which was _extremely_ convenient. Accounts of what had happened had to be given by the facility's traumatized survivors, and there had been no survivors from the _Malevolence_.

It was a situation with largely unknown variables, and as the man that instituted the plan in the frst place, Thrawn was called to answer for it to the delight of the High Command that hated him. He had been court marshaled before, but had always managed to get out unscathed, due in part because of people of influence who had taken an interest in smoothing the road for the politically dense non-human. So this, a bad situation with Thrawn's name remotely attached was all the High Command had been hoping for.

"Do you have anything to say for yourself, Admiral Thrawn?" one of the men asked, disdain in his voice that rankled the Commander at Thrawn's side. "A great many of the Navy's high officers have been complaining about the way you order them around," he sneered. "Perhaps _this_ is why."

"On the contrary," Thrawn said plainly, the impassive quality of his dull, flat monotone visibly irritating the men and women sitting at the table before them. "If they had obeyed my instructions to _not_ engage a force that behaves in this manner, no ships would have been destroyed, no men would be dead, and we would have security recordings essential to the capture of the Shadow King."

"And you would just have them _allow_ insurgents and smugglers to do as they wished?!"

"No," Thrawn said, a slight growl to his voice as his irritation began to build. They did not _understand_. "Not any group. Just _this_ one." He drew up, his back straight as he watched anger and outrage on the faces of the people he was supposed to try and placate, and Eli groaned softly. Thrawn _always_ did this, and for all his genius, simply did not see the senseless insanity of the politics behind their military. "All the captains flying Star Destroyers displaying the _Chimera_ ident were given a case file with very specific instructions on what to look for, in addition to procedure to be observed in the event that such behavior is observed."

"And _you_ think you can just hand out orders to whomever you wish?!" a woman on the left snapped, and Thrawn held his breath, his glowing red eyes carefully watching the heat radiate off the High Command far more than before. They were becoming more angry. "That is the problem here, Thrawn! You have no authority to assume command of so many ships, especially not when some of those ships contain officers that outrank _you_."

"You don't even have proof that this _was_ your Shadow King!" another chimed in, and Thrawn's eyes narrowed.

"I do, in fact."

"Oh, _do you_?!" he snapped, scoffing as he waved his hand in the air. "Do tell us, Thrawn, how did you manage to come to that conclusion when you weren't even there, and when there is _no evidence_?"

"We have evidence," Thrawn said flatly. "In the form of the testimony we heard here today."

"Vague ramblings from traumatized security personnel _isn't_ evidence!"

"It is enough." Thrawn took a deep breath, waiting for the interruption, but it didn't come, the silence pressing him to continue. "Testimony from the private security force located within the mining facility put a droid on the scene, a Clone Wars era astromech that is a known part of the current Lothal insurgency. We have good reason to believe that the Shadow King is closely associated with these rebels."

"First I've heard of it," one of the men scoffed. "And what evidence do you have to support _that_?"

"The fact that he has come to their aid on _several_ occasions," Thrawn said flatly, Eli taking out a datapad and quickly running his finger over it.

"I'm sending all the relevant files to you now, sirs," Vanto said quietly, stepping in mostly to give Thrawn a moment to process all the new information. "Workers from the factory say they saw a Jedi and a few Mandalorians, which fits the bill for both the Lothal rebels and the Shadow King. Given the circumstances, it's a good guess that we're dealing with the Shadow King."

"Then _where's_ his rancor?" one of the women sneered, glaring pointedly at Eli, and the young commander bristled. "There were no reports of a rancor on the ground."

"Just because I do not carry my blaster does not mean I do not have one," Thrawn said flatly. "This _is_ the Shadow King. Thinking otherwise will prove to be a dangerous mistake." He frowned, his high brow knitting together in concentration as he considered all the new information. "There are unknown factors at play. He has knew allies, or has changed his methods. We must learn what these are before-"

" _You_ won't," the man sneered. "You are being reassigned."

"W-what?" Vanto said, his mouth hanging open as he stared at the High Command. "There has to be some mistake. That was the Shadow King!"

"And if it weren't for your Admiral, _Commander_ , this attack wouldn't have happened!" the man snapped. "Identifying ships as the _Chimera_ has just put a target on fifty Star Destroyers! How long before he destroys the next one?!"

"He will not," Thrawn said calmly. "The Shadow King is after me. Knowledge of multiple _Chimeras_ will prevent him from attacking. He will be certain it is _my Chimera_ before he attacks again." Thrawn frowned, looking at the ground and slowly stroking his chin as he thought. "He is dangerous, and it is ill-advised to give him the opportunity to engage us on his terms."

"As what happened on Bandomeer?!"

"No," Thrawn said flatly, drawing up slightly, and Eli could almost see the man bristle. "The situation I had designed forced him on to an Imperial Star Destroyer, the situation I created was one meant to ensure that the terms of engagement belonged to _us_. By engaging him, as the captain so foolishly did, the Shadow King forced us to fight on his terms. _That_ is why we lost." Thrawn took a deep breath, the room silent and strangely attentive around him. "A Star Destroyer is not an easy target, and he will not use the same tactic again now that we have seen it."

"And you can be certain of that _how_?" the man growled. "Your ill-conceived strategy only served to make our ships a target!"

"As was the intent," Thrawn said, smooth and even, though Eli could hear the hint of strain in his voice. He was growing irritated. "Had my directions been followed, had the captain not foolishly attacked when he should have held position, the Star Destroyer could not have been boarded and wouldn't have been commandeered. Calling in reenforcements only served to force the Shadow King to be hostile in his escape." Thrawn's red eyes narrowed. "His failure to heed my directive cost thousands of lives and valuable resources. I am _very_ close to catching the man. His activities upon the _Malevolence_ would have given me information I _need_ for his capture, and it has now been destroyed. Such an opportunity will be difficult to recreate."

"Such an opportunity will _not_ be created," the man snapped. "You will not be hunting the Shadow King anymore, Admiral, and that comes directly from the Emperor himself. He says the matter of the Shadow King has already been taken care of, and you are to focus on pursuit of the rebel entity known as Nightswan." Thrawn's eyes widened slightly for a moment as he quickly observed the High Command, not a single one of them looking pleased.

"Understood," Thrawn said quietly, his easy compliance making cold, vicious glares twist the faces of the High Command. Like always, the outcome was determined before they had gotten there, and as always, Thrawn was sidestepping the consequences they felt he deserved, the result of his powerful benefactors pulling strings behind the scenes.

"Your reassignment," the man growled, "is on Botajef. There's a situation there you are to resolve, by any means necessary. The relevant information has already been sent to the _Chimera_." The man sneered. " _Dismissed_ , Admiral." Thrawn and Vanto left together, silent as they walked down the long hall, the Admiral contemplative and the Commander silently fuming.

"They're just trying to bring you down again," Eli glowered. "I bet this assignment on Botajef is just another attempt to make you look bad."

"You are probably right..." Thrawn said, his voice distant and thoughtful, and Eli was silent, allowing the man the space to think. "Knowing what we do about the Shadow King, how do you suppose the Emperor has managed to get the situation handled?"

"Well..." Eli pursed his lips as he thought, his mind racing through all the data, all the information he knew about the Shadow King and all his identities. Eli had been brought in on this matter very late in the game, the Chiss having the former hopeful supply officer put his talents to better use in the much more subtle case of the Nightswan, the mysterious rebel that had been disrupting Imperial shipments of valuable materials all across the galaxy. Investigations into the Nightswan had led to him discovering something much more mysterious, the disappearance of positively enormous quantities of ore used to make starships, all of it being somehow hidden away, stockpiled, or used in some secret project. The matter was of _great_ interest to the Chiss, and so, Eli had his hands full. The Shadow King, the Negotiator, Darth Lumis, Obi-Wan Kenobi...that had been Thrawn's pet project, a personal venture that he was unwilling to bring Vanto into. Until now.

"Could the Emperor somehow have used all the information you've gathered on the Shadow King to find a way to trap him himself?" Vanto asked, quickly biting his lip and shaking his head. "No, that can't be it. He must have put someone else on the case. Someone he thinks is better suited to the job."

"Perhaps..." Vanto frowned and shook his head, the Chiss as noncommittal as ever.

"The High Command didn't seem pleased about redirecting you to Nightswan, so that isn't exactly a demotion. Could the Emperor think that Nightswan is somehow a bigger threat than the Shadow King?"

"A bigger threat?" Thrawn repeated, straightening up and folding his hands behind his back. "No, not bigger, but perhaps more immediate. Kenobi has been harassing the Empire since its inception. Alone, he is no true threat to the Emperor or his rule."

"But he isn't alone anymore, is he?"

"If he was ever alone to begin with, which I sincerely doubt..." Thrawn took a deep breath and held it, his gaze fixed straight ahead of him. "No, Kenobi has always had allies, and many of them. He has merely been biding his time and waiting."

"For what?" Vanto asked softly, and the Chiss turned his glowing stare on the young Commander.

"For an opportunity..." Thrawn whispered, his monotone edged with amusement. "He is smart, and he is patient, and he was most certainly aboard the _Malevolence_. Nothing else explains the sudden turn of the crew on their reenforcements. Which means it is _very_ possible that the next time we cross paths, he may be more amicable toward me."

"...how, sir?" Eli asked, completely confused, and a faint, secretive smirk turned up the corner of Thrawn's lips. He was used to being confounded by the Chiss, but...this was different. When there was silence for more than ten seconds, Eli knew he wasn't going to answer. "Does this mean we won't be capturing him?" he asked, trying a different angle.

"On the contrary," Thrawn said evenly. "This will make it easier to capture him. If his guard is lowered even slightly, it will be enough. It is still far too dangerous to make the attempt. He possesses a method of mind control I do not yet fully understand. But I will soon." The Chiss frowned. "What is keeping him from mobilizing his forces, do you think?"

"Maybe...hmm..." Vanto's lips drew into a thin line, his arms crossed over his chest and absently rubbing at the Lieutenant Commander rank plaque on his uniform. "His forces have to be spread thin, right? Maybe he can't mobilize yet."

"Which may explain Nightswan's elevated importance to the Emperor," Thrawn mused. "Somehow, Nightswan is aware of the disappearing raw materials from the market. Perhaps he is even aware of this secret project the Empire is building. It is obviously of the utmost importance. Perhaps it is this that Kenobi is waiting for."

"...have you figured out yet exactly what it is, sir?" Vanto asked, and Thrawn shook his head.

"I do not know. The quantity of the resources disappearing indicates that it is enormous." The Chiss' eyes narrowed, a deep frown on his face. "The discovery of such a thing seems imperative. I wonder if Kenobi knows. Nightswan most certainly does, given his pattern of smuggling ore for crafting Imperial ships away from the Empire."

"Could that be why the Emperor wants you after Nightswan?" Eli asked. "To keep Kenobi away from the project?"

"Possibly..." Thrawn took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. "I must know what this project is..." He nodded. "Nightswan is, indeed, the priority. The matter of the Lothal insurgency should be resolved soon enough. The Grand Inquisitor has been called away to aid in ending the rebel cell. I hear they are bringing Tarkin in for the job." Eli shivered.

"Nobody deals with rebel factions like Tarkin."

"Yes...I am interested to see how he chooses to fight Kenobi. We shall have to pay close attention to their activities. What we can learn from observing the activities surrounding Lothal in the coming days may give me a way to finally trap the Shadow King."

"And you think they Emperor will let you?" Eli asked, and a faint, knowing smile crossed Thrawn's lips.

"Oh, I suspect he will, yes..." He straightened up. "One thing at a time, Commander Vanto. Let us first deal with the Nightswan, as the Emperor wishes. I will also need to make time to visit Bandomeer. I wish to examine the facility myself. There is merit in a strategic retreat. We must take this time to study our adversary. His methods are changing, and he has new assets we must take into account."

"And you believe you can do that just by watching?" Thrawn nodded.

"With the force that is being brought to subjugate Lothal, our Shadow King will need to show his hand to escape with all his allies. We will use this time to see exactly what those allies are, and the methods he uses to fight his way out of Tarkin's trap."

"And Tarkin has set a trap?" Thrawn nodded, and Eli laughed and shook his head. "Damn. I suppose you don't get to the tp by being a fool."

"No, you do not," Thrawn said softly. "Tarkin has faced him in the past and has done _quite_ well. I look forward to learning from his example. I have already sent the Grand Moff my suggestions of engagement and a full report on Kenobi's tactics and strategies and how they have changed since the Clone Wars. Before long, Kenobi will have nowhere left to run. I have already ensured that."

"How?" Eli asked, but the Chiss didn't respond, only smirked faintly as he made his way back to the shuttle to return him to the _Chimera_.

* * *

Minister Maketh Tua hurried through the streets of Lothal from the government building, her head lowered and her gaze fixed on the street before her as she attempted to calm her fast and ragged breathing. She had done all she could for Lothal, tried to do her best for the planet, the people and the Empire in Governor Pryce's absence, but all her efforts had been for nothing. A rebel group had sprung up, not a terribly unusual thing, but her group was...excessively mobile, and all her best efforts had been unsuccessful in stamping them out. As time went on, she called in the help of ISB Agent Kallus, but to no effect because _this_ group of rebels was led by a _Jedi_. A real one. Not one of the stories, not a thing out of the imagination of children but a real, honest to goodness Jedi.

Things got out of hand after that, and further resources were called in. A member of the fearsome Inquisitorius, and not just any one of their many brothers and sisters, but the _Grand Inquisitor_. It had been enough to put the Jedi on the run...until it wasn't enough. Until _something_ had happened that left the Inquisitor stranded on an asteroid after chasing the fleeing rebels there, and he hadn't been seen on Lothal since. Not until today, the Inquisitor returning, scowling and bitter and angry, his left hand little more than a palm, his five fingers missing, and Maketh _shivered_. The rebels had bested the Inquisitor. How was she supposed to explain this problem to Governor Pryce upon her return?

The answer came for her that afternoon, when she and Agent Kallus and the Inquisitor met in the Government building's massive hangar to greet the new asset that the Empire was sending them to deal with the rebels. Only it wasn't an asset.

It was kriffing _Grand Moff Tarkin_.

Maketh almost fainted at the sight of him, the sharp featured man none too pleased with the handling of this vital Outer Rim world, an essential piece of maintaining Imperial control in the region. How could _she_ have allowed this to happen? How could Kallus have let the rebels _triumph_? And how had the _Inquisitor_ , a specialist in slaying Jedi, failed to slay this one? All questions that Tarkin had asked, and none of them had an answer. The imposing man had dismissed them all, promised to review the situation that evening himself, and tomorrow afternoon, _changes_ would be made.

Maketh had never been so frightened in her life, had never felt anxiety so strong. Surely Tarkin would understand. _Surely_ he could see how loyal she was to the Empire! He _had_ to. What could she have done? She wasn't military, she held no command like Kallus, she had no powers like the Inquisitor, controlled no troops like Commandant Aresko. She was a _civilian_ , a government official with no _real_ power. She was just there as a placeholder, an administrator to run the menial things while the Governor was away on Coruscant. Tarkin _must_ have understood that.

There was no way she could be held responsible for all of this! She had given the Empire more than she was able, sacrificed her personal life for the good of the citizens of Lothal and for the interests of the Empire. She had no time for her friends, her family, no chance to fill the void that was her romantic life, and it was _all_ for the Empire. Sacrifices, all of them, things that kept her awake and lonely at night when she tried to sleep, the strain of it all almost more than the young woman could bear. And now rebels, _Tarkin_...

Stress and anxiety and fear and tension rushed through her, her mind swimming with all the stories she had heard about Tarkin, her heart pounding and her fast, uneven breathing unable to be brought under her control as she thought about what tomorrow might bring. She was distracted, so distracted, so withdrawn into her own mind that she failed to notice her surroundings, and slammed right into someone walking out of one of the alleyways, and Maketh Tua went tumbling to the ground, dropping the pouch of data cards she had been carrying with her back to her home so she could prepare for her meeting with Tarkin and the pouch opened, spilling data cards all over the dusty ground.

"Oh, dear, I am _so sorry_ ," a light, smooth voice said, a clipped, almost aristocratic lit to his Coruscanti accent, the man reaching out and grabbing her hand, and Maketh looked up into the clean shaven face of a young, _handsome_ man, sharply dressed in the black double breasted tunic and pants of a TIE fighter officer, his rank plaque displaying the four blue tiles of a lieutenant. Her furiously pounding heart seemed to stop at his touch, her near hyperventilating lungs freezing mid-breath, her face heating _terribly,_ but in an instant, all her worries seemed to fade away, a single touch clearing her thoughts and concerns as she looked into eyes that seemed almost... _gold_.

"Are you alright?" he asked, soft and sweet, and Maketh slowly nodded, at a complete loss for words. With a smile, he knelt and began scooping up her spilt data cards. "I wasn't watching where I was going, I apologize. I just transferred here from Skystrike Academy. They need pilots here on Lothal to test the new TIE fighters." He stood, handing her the pouch and smiling. "Um...I mean, the rebels only blew up _one_ of them, right?"

"Y-yeah..." She _had_ heard that they were bringing pilots in to test the new TIEs. Lothal's increased production was turning them out in such numbers that they were nearly ready to be distributed to Star Destroyers all across the Empire. All they needed were the best to test them. She had arranged _that_ , Lothal's increased production was in part her doing. Tarkin would see that. She could feel her anxiety returning, and she gave the pilot a nervous smile, but found she couldn't speak when he returned her smile with a terribly charming one of his own.

"I've never been to Lothal before," the handsome officer continued, running his hand through golden blond hair and laughing softly in embarrassment. "I'm trying to get my bearings and wasn't paying attention so..." His eyes narrowed slightly and he leaned in, and Maketh flushed deeply when she felt those strange eyes examining her. "Are you...local?" he asked gently. "I swear I've seen you somewhere before..."

"Y-you very well may have," she stammered, holding her hand out to him. "I'm Minister Maketh Tua." The golden eyes widened, a pleased smile on his lips that made him look both bewildered and delighted.

" _You're_ Lothal's minister?" he gasped, a light, easy chuckle in his voice as he clasped her hand between his. "It must be my lucky day. The holonet doesn't do you justice, Minister Tua. I'm Lieutenant-" He stops, holding his breath for a second before he smiles and shakes his head, his eyes lids lowered seductively over his unusual eyes, and Maketh couldn't breathe. " _You_ can call me Ben," he drawled, smooth, even and inviting, and she felt herself drawn to him, all her worries and concerns about Tarkin and the rebels fading from her mind.

She had been working _so hard_ , tirelessly since Governor Pryce had left the young woman alone to care for the most important planet in the Outer Rim. She... _deserved_ this, she had well past earned the right for a break, to have some handsome officer sweep her off her feet, if only for a moment. In a time when her stress had reached its highest peak, the timing couldn't have been more perfect to run unsuspectingly into a man that very literally knocked her off her feet. It was...almost _too_ perfect, but she quickly brushed the notion aside. There were hundreds of new Imperial arrivals on Lothal every single day, and Tarkin no doubt brought a large compliment with him. Ben here must have come in with the Grand Moff, and she _was_ distracted. Of course she'd run into someone like some distracted idiot.

"Listen," Ben said, drawing closer, his voice lowering to a smooth, even drawl, "let me buy you a drink to make up for so carelessly running into you." He slowly reached up, his long fingers brushing a strand of her pale blond hair behind her ear and lightly touching her temple, and she _shivered_ , the tension and stress and need within her reaching a breaking point. She had been without for _so long_. "I could-"

"I'd love to!" she quickly interrupted, somehow managing not to trip over her tongue in her haste and excitement, and for the briefest of moments, the lightly stroking fingers stopped, stiff and tense as a look of confusion flashed across the handsome face, wary and questioning, as if he hadn't expected her to so quickly agree. Was that even _possible_? A young, handsome officer of the Empire surely had no trouble landing himself a woman, so _why_? She brushed that thought away as well, He _was_ young, just out of Skystrike, and was probably unaware of the draw. Almost as soon as she had seen it, the questioning flash in the golden eyes was gone, his fingers tracing down her cheek and falling to grasp her hand once more, a delighted, almost bemused smirk on his face, his entire demeanor pleasantly surprised.

"I didn't expect you to say yes," he said, a shy smile on his face, his eyes drifting to look away as his face softly flushed. How _old_ was he? Maketh peered close at the man's fine features, the golden eyes that almost seemed to glow in the twilight, his smooth cheeks, his hair longer than regulation, all of it making him seem almost boyish. He couldn't have been more than twenty, though something in the way he carried himself suggested not the bold step of a young officer, but the calm confidence of someone much more seasoned. He may have just been youthful, or else he was the most impressive young officer she had ever seen. Perhaps the fight against the rebels should be led by _this guy_.

"I didn't expect to be asked," she countered, and his gaze drifted up to her, a sly smirk on his lips and expression that seemed to scream mischief.

"Honestly, I expected this to go _very_ differently..." His face lit up when she looked at him questioningly, and he brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. "Not all people in positions of power within our Empire take things like this kindly. The last time I bumped into a superior, I was beaten so throughly I thought I wouldn't be able to get up again."

"P-poor thing..." Maketh said, sighing when he let her hand go and offered her his arm, and she delicately took it. "And I'm not a superior, I'm just a minister. It's the Governor that has the real power, not me."

"And you govern in her stead," Ben smoothly drawled, affectionately petting the hand on his arm. "That makes you _very_ powerful..." He smiled at the slightest hint of ambition and excitement in her light brown eyes, a soft gasp on her lips as if she hadn't considered how much influence she could actually wield.

"M-maybe so..."

"Well," Ben chirped, "I live in service to powerful women. So tell me, _Mistress_ ," he lazily drawled, lifting her fingers to his lips and slowly kissing them. "What would you have of me?"

* * *

Two hours later saw Minister Tua and Lieutenant Ben in the woman's modest apartment after plying themselves with very fine, _very_ expensive alcohol at the local bar, their breathing heavy and their hands wandering as they quickly undid buttons and buckles and clasps in a desperate, frantic effort to divest the other of their clothes first. Ben was winning, the tight clasps of the officer's tunic a fair bit more difficult to remove than her own civilian clothing, and she was down to her undergarments before her own shaking hands had managed to even halfway undo her partner's uniform. She was...out of practice, and despite his previous shyness and modesty, Ben was _clearly_ experienced, his long fingers deft and steady as they undid clasps and buttons with ease, and she briefly wondered how many women he must have had to have such steadied, practiced hands. She quickly found that she didn't care how many, so long as she got to have him here. Tonight. _Now_. After all, by this time tomorrow, she may be dead.

"I-I haven't done this in a while..." Maketh explained in a voice that trembled in nervous laughter. "I'm not the sort of girl that takes a man home the night I meet him!" She winced as soon as she said it, her explanation falling flat since that was _exactly_ what had happened. "Stars, you must think I'm some...s-some..." Ben laid a finger over her lips to silence her, and she immediately obeyed the gesture, hardly daring to breathe as she looked at the man and found understanding on his face, like he could somehow sense her sudden distress and disgust with her own broken standards.

"It's alright," he said softly, his fingers lazily stroking the bare skin of her waist, and he smiled when she shivered, her hand flying to her mouth to stifle the moan he was drawing from her. "I...have that effect on people." He slid his hands over her hair and undid the tight bun she kept the pale blond strands tied in, the silken hair cascading over her shoulders and falling between her shoulder blades, and the officer hissed appreciatively. "Beautiful..."

"I wouldn't normally be doing this!" she tightly explained, growing more and more nervous the more excited she got. "But Tarkin arrived, and we're having a meeting tomorrow. He's going to make changes and I..." She shivered as the long strands of her hair slid through Ben's fingers, but he drew no closer. She bit her lip as she looked at him, his head tilted curiously to the side, attentive and silent as he waited for her to continue. She didn't. She _couldn't_.

"You're afraid." It wasn't a question. Maketh looked away from him and nodded, tensing as the man placed his hands on her shoulders and backed her up, sitting her down on the bed and she watched him tensely as he sat beside her, a respectful gap between them, and she found herself relaxing immediately.

"Tarkin is taking direct command of Lothal," she stammered. "It's good, of course. We have a rebel problem that we haven't bee able to get a handle on."

"That's why we're here, yes," Ben said softly.

"He's holding me partially responsible for it," she muttered, tightly grasping his arm and scooting closer, her bare leg pressed against the fine black cloth of his pants. "Me and Agent Kallus and the Inquisitor, and of the three of us, I'm the least valuable." Her thin form began trembling. "Someone needs to pay for these failures. _Someone_ needs to be held responsible..."

"And you think that person is you," Ben said softly, the Minister tensing and with a whimper, she pressed herself against his chest, listening to the low, long hum in his chest as he thought. She felt his fingers slowly drag across her bare shoulders and in their wake was... _warmth_ , a deep, smooth pulsating heat that ran down her pack like water, that touched the tension in her back, the knots in her muscles and removed them, brushing them aside as if they were nothing. It was...impossible, and she wouldn't have believed it was happening if she wasn't so keenly aware of the feel.

"Do yu know what he is planning?" Ben asked softly, and relaxing against him, Maketh's hands slowly petted at his tunic, his rank plaque, and decided the coat needed to come off _now_. When she slowly made to continue undoing the clasps, the officer stopped her hands whit his own for a moment before he slowly began helping her with the task.

"I don't know..." she said softly, slipping her hand inside his tunic when they had unclasped it enough for her to freely feel at the muscles of his chest, and she frowned slightly as she touched him when she felt not the smooth, even skin of a young man, but the feel of long, deep crossing scars and welts. "I know he's swift and decisive..." she muttered. "I know he's bringing in someone big and important to help him."

"What, Tarkin?" Ben scoffed, shrugging off the tunic when he undid the last clasp, the woman at his side gasping softly and running delicate fingers across the long, black scar across his chest. "Tarkin's asking for help? From who?"

"I don't know..." Maketh whispered, looking up into his face, her eyes wide and searching. "I just know that it's someone _very_ important, and they're bringing a large force with them. Tarkin is very serious about securing Lothal, and our rebels..." She looked over her shoulder as if checking to make sure they were alone, and she leaned in closer, her hand flat on the scarred chest. "These rebels have a _Jedi_. Tarkin's taking this very seriously, and it seems like he believes that the _Shadow King_ is working with them."

"You don't say."

"That's what the Inquisitor believes..." She laughed nervously, suddenly trembling in Ben's grasp, and he drew her closer to him, his fingers in her hair as he absently stroked and petted. "I'm going to die..." she whimpered. "Tarkin is going to have me executed. I-I'm doing the best I can, I-" She sniffled and bit down on her lip to keep tears from falling, her hands absently stroking to the officer's sides and desperately clinging to him like she had nothing else to hold on to.

"You're scared and alone, Minister..." Ben said softly. "No wonder you have thrown yourself into the arms of a man, everyone needs comfort." Ben kissed her pale cheek, his hands tracing her back and slowly unclasping her bra and tossing it aside when the Minister clasped her hands behind his neck and climbed into his lap, whimpering pitifully when his hands rested on her hips. "Let me take care of you..."

"Stars, _please_..." She wasn't sure who kissed who first, but the second his lips touched hers, she felt a desperate keening in her throat, her arms tensing to hold him closer as he quickly removed her last article of clothing. She couldn't explain it, but somehow, she felt... _safe_ , like he would solve all her problems, like everything was going to be alright. She felt herself relaxing and surrendering herself to him when he laid her back on the bed, leaning over her and gently running a hand over her chest. It was going to be alright.

"Please..." she whispered, running her fingers over the scars that covered his chest, carefully avoiding the deep black one for fear it may hurt him. It looked painful. "Please, tell me everything's going to be alright." He drew back slightly at that, his eyes narrowing slightly, his expression serious, and she felt the breath catch in her chest. She had thought it was a trick of the light, but those strange, golden eyes _did_ glow.

"Would you care to hear what I truly believe?" Ben asked, his light, carefree lit gone in favor of a low, pensive growl, and she couldn't help but slowly nod. "I think..." he began, trailing a hand up her thigh. "From what I know of Tarkin, there _will_ be consequences for the repeated failure in regards to the growing insurgency problem, but I don't believe that _you_ will pay the price for the repeated failures."

"You think I'll be alright?" she timidly squeaked, a small, hopeful smile on her face as she looked into those eyes. She had seen eyes like these before on only one other person, not exactly the same, but similar.

"For now..." Ben drawled, pinning her arms above her head with his forearm and returning the inquisitive look she was giving him. "Most likely, Tarkin will try to cull those in charge by executing someone lower in the chain of command who can also take part in the blame for the rebels' continued existence." Ben quickly kissed her forehead. "I think, at least for tomorrow, you are safe." Maketh reached up and stroked his cheek, her thumb running under his eye.

"I've seen eyes like this before," she whispered. "It's not quite the same, but the Grand Inquisitor has eyes like yours..." A clever smirk came to her face. "You don't happen to be some...undercover agent of the Inquisitorius, are you?"

"Nothing like that, no," Ben said, chuckling softly as he kissed at her neck. "My mother's mother was Pantoran. Yellow eyes run in the family."

"And all your scars?" Maketh ran her hand over his chest. "I know you said the military... _disciplined_ you, but-"

"Abusive weird uncle," he quietly explained. "Family drama, that's all. Nothing I take with me into the bedroom." He nudged her legs apart with his knees as he wiggled out of his pants, the Minister's breathing becoming heavy and excited as she watched him. "You ready?"

"N-nervous..." she said breathlessly. "I-I haven't-"

"I know," Ben interrupted as he stroked her hips, the Minister arching off the bed as a wave of desire washed over her. "You and I are going to be _very_ good friends, Minister, I can tell..." Ben smiled at her, a small, wild thing that made Maketh _shiver_ , and for just a moment, she saw something in him, the slightest hint of something unspeakably dangerous. "I'll be gentle, I _promise_..."

* * *

Obi-Wan sat in the armchair by the window, his leg crossed over his knee as he stared at the data card in his hand. It had been checked more than once for tracking devices, hidden spy programs, encrypted transmitters, anything that was malicious, malignant, underhanded, a way to glean more data from him while his guard was down. HK-45 ran the first scan and found nothing. He had K-2SO run a second, more thorough check when he returned to the _Umbra_. He himself had run several of his own checks even after the incredably able K2 had assured that nothing was amiss. This was a gift, as it was intended t be, and still, Obi-Wan had yet to find the strength to actually _look_ at what was on the card.

Bandomeer had been a categorical failure. Even though his plan had been executed to perfection, it had been done in the jaws of a trap, rendering the entire operation not only immediately futile, but actively damaging to his position in his fight against Thrawn. He had placed the man in checkmate, only to discover he had cornered a pawn, not the king, had held the Idiot's Array in his hand, only to have the cards shift at the last minute and leave him with a complete bust. Instead of capturing and killing Thrawn, Obi-Wan had laid his entire hand face up so the Chiss could see all the new cards he had collected.

The _Chimera_. Obi-Wan scoffed, his hand tightening around the data card as he made to slip it back into his pocket, only to find his grip tightening, his hand unmoving, and slowly uncurled his fingers to look at it once more. There was no telling how many Star Destroyers out there were designated _Chimera_ , their identification transponders concealing the true name of the ship. It was a serious oversight to not have considered this, and in his haste to do away with the Chiss, he had not done his research well enough. It wouldn't happen again. Each and every _Chimera_ they found was a trap, nothing more, and there was no doubt in his mind that the actual _Chimera_ was the biggest trap of all. It may not even be possible to even attack the Chiss' ship at this point anymore. Once again, Thrawn staunchly held the advantage.

Of course, it was very likely that the Admiral got nothing from this fight, a stalemate instead of a victory. Thanks to the timely appearance of more Imperial ships, he had a way to throughly destroy the false _Chimera_ and with it, any recording of his activities on board. Even better, Chopper's tampering with the security systems down on the mining facility would have rendered any recordings collected completely unusable. There were eye-witness accounts to deal with, of course, and once the Chiss got his hands on the people who had lived, he would know more, but the accounts would be unreliable and inconsistent. It was chaos down there, after all, just as the Sith had ordered.

Really, the only one that had come out ahead was _kriffing Lando Calrissian_.

Obi-Wan looked at the data card in his hands, and his eyes drifted to the window, the dawn only just beginning to break. The return trip to Lothal from Bandomeer had been especially tense, and he had spent most of it alone, researching his next step and speaking to Ahsoka to develop a plan for Lothal. For the rebellion, this was an especially important mission, one that Ahsoka was trusting him with because she was too nervous about the dangers to send anyone else. Something _big_ was happening on Lothal, and nobody knew what it was, but they knew why. When it came to keeping Imperial control in the Outer Rim, Lothal was a key strategic position, a strong military base outfitted not just with an Imperial Academy, but with the factories and production output necessary to create an entire invasion force within a week.

Keeping the spirit of opposition alive on Lothal was essential, not just because they could damage Imperial production with dissatisfied workers from the inside, thereby severely weakening their grip on the Outer Rim, but because as long as the Empire held tight control of Lothal, a greater rebellion beginning in the Outer Rim wasn't possible. Even if he were to turn Mandalore against the Imperials, the retribution coming from their other points of power would see the flame of rebellion quickly doused, lit prematurely and failing to catch the fire they needed. They lacked unity, and so long as Lothal stood ready to respond to rebel threats, uniting the rebel cells would be _very_ difficult. They needed Lothal as it was, managed by idiots, where the rebels could continue to erode the Imperial structure. But that seemed to be coming to an end.

It was a window of opportunity that couldn't be missed. With word of the Imperials sending a larger presence to Lothal to deal with the rebel insurgency in their vital world, now was the time to make certain that Lothal remained in in their grasp. An actual confrontation with a massive Imperial force was a _terrible_ idea, so Ahsoka and Kenobi agreed that sending the Sith to investigate the situation before hand was a necessity in devising their plan going forward. With any luck, he could turn someone high up the chain of command into his puppet, get someone in on the inside to feed the rebels information. Once they had been infiltrated, even a larger force would have difficulty dealing with the rebels, so Kenobi set to the task of deciding who he was going to sink his claws in.

His gaze drifted from the window to the naked Minister Tua on the bed, the woman deeply sleeping and throughly used. She had been the obvious choice for _several_ reasons. She was important, but only because the Governor was out, which put her in the center of things without bringing notice to herself. But beyond that, Obi-Wan's _gift_ from Thrawn had dragged Satine to the forefront of his mind, a place she was never far from anyway, and the Minister shared a close enough resemblance to the woman to make her immediately appealing to the Sith Lord. Her hair was too long, yes, but it shared a similar pale blond color, her eyes were light brown instead of the striking blue, but it mattered little when they were closed, and he couldn't see them at all when he took her from behind.

Her voice and accent wasn't the same, but it was close enough, and her skin was pale and smooth enough to feel so much like his lost love that more than once, he caught himself feeling for the scar on her hip that she had acquired on Draboon when he had foolishly dropped her, only to have his heart stab with pain when he remembered it was a different woman under his touch. He had intended to seduce the girl, use the compulsion of the Dark Side to see her dragged into his grasp where he could spend some time altering her mind, shifting her loyalties, looking into her thoughts and memories and drawing out the necessary information. But in the end, she had thrown herself at him all on her own, lonely, desperate and so very, very afraid of the Empire she served. It was more than ideal.

One of his pawns could stand on their own for a time, but not for long, and under scrutiny, they would surely be found by the Empire's paranoid eye. But a _willing_ plant, one that served him with their own will instead of his own... _that_ was an irreplaceable asset that needed to be cultivated, and Maketh Tua was _so_ willing to serve him. Her eagerness for everything he had to offer, coupled with the memory of his long since dead lover on his mind saw Obi-Wan take her _several_ times, until the dark of night strained with the threat of dawn, until the woman was long past sated, far past the point of exhaustion, only able to cling to him and moan tiredly underneath him as he thrust deep inside her.

It wasn't _just_ for his own pleasure, of course. There were many ways to secure a person's loyalty, and when the time came, fear of what the Empire would do coupled with the memory of the man that was there to hold her in her time of need would see her turn from Imperial Loyalist to Rebel Spy. Ahsoka _always_ needed new Fulcrum agents, and Maketh Tua could be ideal, if she was played correctly, and she had practically played herself, giving Kenobi not just her body, but her _confidence_ , and that was more valuable than anything else.

The comlink at his wrist beeps and he ignores it for the first few chimes, his eyes glued to the sleeping Minister, the woman not moving a muscle despite the sound, and she wouldn't be any time soon. He had worked her past the point of exhaustion for a reason. He knows the call is encrypted. All the people with his personal com dial would only use encrypted coms themselves, but force of habit makes him check it anyway, and he rolls his eyes. Encrypted, as expected. He answers is before the device can chime again.

"Lumis."

"Lumis, this is Fulcrum," Ahsoka's voice came clear and quiet over the com. "Do you have a handle on the situation?"

"I do, and it's worse than we feared," he said, his voice low to keep from waking the sleeping woman. "They meant it when they said they would be sending something big. Tarkin's here."

" _Tarkin_?" Ahsoka hissed, Kenobi's momentary silence standing in for his answer. "Shit."

"He's calling in more help that will be here tomorrow. We may have to write Lothal off as a loss, Fulcrum. I have two ships, a rancor, three droids, one hell of a pilot, two Mandalorians, one and a half Jedi and a big purple cat." Kenobi scoffed. "I may be a Lord of the Sith, but I'm not invincible, and I'm not stupid, and while I might be able to make my force look much bigger than it is..." He sighed and shook his head. "Lothal's a stronghold. I can deal a lot of damage. But you can bet that Tarkin will be expecting me, and he will see the world burn if it means I go down with it."

"...it's a _really_ big rancor, Lumis." Obi-Wan chuckled softly.

"Still not invincible, my friend. I don't want to let him loose in a city like this, too many things can go wrong, and if I lose my rancor, you might not be seeing Obi-Wan anymore." He smirked slightly when he heard her sharp intake of breath. She had remembered the last time. Last time, Lumis' rage had burned a planet and destroyed a system, and in the Jedi's haste to end the war quickly so they could focus their efforts on dealing with a Sith Lord gone mad, they had sent Quinlan Vos, Asajj Ventress, and Ahsoka to Raxus to assassinate Count Dooku. The ploy had failed, and Darth Lumis had captured Quinlan and dragged him down into the Dark Side. It had been the last time she saw her Master walk in the light until the moment of his death, when he had died to save her.

"Alright, well, can you go after Tarkin directly?" Ahsoka asked, and despite the fact that she could not see him, Kenobi rolled his eyes. "You did it before a few years ago on Eriadu, and in his estate, no less. Surely you can do it again."

"Yes, _perhaps_ ," he scoffed, looking at the data card in his hand and deliberating on putting it away or keeping it in his grasp. "If I had months to plan like I did then, I could certainly make a go of it, though he and I have played that game before, and Tarkin didn't get to where he is by not learning from his mistakes. Not to mention that breaking into a home is _very_ different from breaking into one of the galaxy's most secure military facilities, even for me."

"I don't want to lose Lothal, Lumis."

"Great, send ships to help us." There was silence, tense and frustrated, and he could almost see Ahsoka biting her lip and tracing the white markings on her face with a long finger, a habit that she had picked up from Quinlan so very long ago. "No, you can't risk the greater rebellion for my Spectres," Kenobi spat, and Ahsoka scoffed in disbelief.

"What, _your_ Spectres?"

" _Yes, mine_ ," he snarled, a soft groan from the bed immediately drawing his attention to the Minister, and he sat in silence, waiting to see if she would awaken, but after a moment, she nestled back into the covers and lay still. "I will not sacrifice my rebel cell to keep a planet we cannot possibly hope to hold," he said, softer this time. "I want them to join the greater rebellion as soon as possible, not die pointlessly against the storm the Empire will bring upon them here on Lothal."

"You can't bring them here," Ahsoka quietly warned. "Not now, not when they are being hunted."

"We are _all_ being hunted."

"Not like you, your cell is led by a _Jedi_." He could hear Ahsoka sigh heavily, could feel her tension even across all the distance between them. "The Grand Inquisitor is after them, and you can bet that Tarkin is there and not dealing with other rebel groups personally is because of the Jedi. The effectiveness of the cell is inconsequential, the Jedi leader of the Spectres is a _symbol_ , and that is far more dangerous to the Empire than a single cell." There was silence for a moment. "Do you understand why I can't have them join our cause?"

"They'll lead Tarkin and the Inquisitors right to everything we have worked to build, I'm not an _idiot_." He took a deep breath. "We are going to lose Lothal," Obi-Wan said slowly. "That is an inevitability. The planet is too important to the Imperial plan, and from what I understand, Tarkin is calling in reenforcements. I guarantee you, he knows he will be dealing with me. He'll be ready." Ahsoka hissed softly.

"Do you know what he's bringing?"

"No, but my contact is meeting with him tomorrow. I'll have all the information by then, and from there, I'll make a plan with the Spectres. I don't want to commit to a plan before I have all the information I need, but..." He sighed and shook his head. "I don't know. There are a lot of very powerful Imperials converging on Lothal right now. It's almost too good to pass up. If I can make a big enough mess, we can draw the big guys out and take them down all at once..."

"You make a big enough mess, and Lothal's going to be subject to an orbital bombardment and you're all going to die," Ahsoka drawled. "As you said, Tarkin will scorch the planet if it meant killing you."

"I know, I know..."

"Who's your contact?" Ahsoka asked. "Someone we can use?" Kenobi grinned wolfishly.

"You'll like this. Minister Maketh Tua. And _before_ you say anything," Kenobi growled when he heard the Togruta gasp, "she's here and she's _sleeping_ , so try not to shout."

"... _you didn't_."

"Six times!" Obi-Wan whispered excitedly. "But one of those might not count because I made her-"

"No, stop, I don't want to know!" Ahsoka quickly interrupted, sighing heavily when she heard the Sith laughing deeply. "Never let it be said that you haven't whored yourself out for this rebellion..."

"I suspect I will continue to do so," Obi-Wan said casually. "Oh, the _sacrifices_ I make for this rebellion..."

"Ha, ha. You're an ass, Lumis."

"It didn't go like I thought it would, she practically threw herself at me. I didn't even need to use the Force to get my way, Fulcrum, she's desperately afraid and just needs someone to treat her like she means something. This one has the potential to be an actual ally."

"Not just another girlfriend?" she asked coyly, and Obi-Wan snorted in disgust.

"Oh, _please_ , Fulcrum, I don't have girlfriends, I keep slaves, you know that..." Obi-Wan said, his voice distant as he looked out over the city, the data card clutched tight in his hand. "I'll keep working on her. I believe she can be easily convinced to aid us in the future."

"Which would be _very_ useful if you lose Lothal like you seem to think."

"Always have your bases covered," Kenobi muttered. "Anything on your end?" He could hear Ahsoka groan, which was never a good thing.

"We looked into Senator Trayvis, as promised," she said, her voice flat. "You were right. He's been pretending to be an enemy of the Empire in order to lure rebels to his location to ambush them. That was a good call. If the Spectres followed that lead instead of going to Bandomeer with you, they'd have been caught in the trap."

"Did your agents get away?"

"Two of them didn't..." Ahsoka growled, and Obi-Wan sighed heavily.

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah, me too..." Ahsoka sighed morosely, and Obi-Wan kept an eye on the Minister. With the sky above Capital City breaking with the dawn, the woman would be waking soon for her duties, despite the long night they had, and when she did, he's have to play his cards right to draw her back to him, lest he lose this vital ally. "Worse than that, Trayvis did another broadcast, but this time, it was to recommit himself to the Empire and denounce your Spectres as dangerous, violent insurgents."

"Well, he's at least right about that..."

"Don't be glib, Lumis, he's offered a reward for their capture. Now that we know Tarkin's involved on Lothal, this move reeks of him. He's trying to flush them out and damage the good work they've done. Public image is important to fighting this war, we can't gain allies if people believe us to be worse than the Empire." Obi-Wan took a deep breath and held it, his moth pressed in a thin line, and he rolled his eyes when he reached up to stroke his beard as he thought, only to touch bare skin.

"Two can play that game," he whispered. "There are some very important people on Lothal right now. Tarkin, the Grand Inquisitor, whoever it is that is being called in to help. If we make a big enough commotion, we'll draw them out to deal with us. At the very least, I need to bring the Inquisitor to heel. He needs to remember who his Master is. I'll start gathering information to stage an attack based on the intel I will receive from the Minister today after her meeting with Tarkin. In a week or so-"

"No, you need to act quickly," Ahsoka said. "The more time you take, the more time Tarkin has to prepare for you, and he _knows_ you're there."

" _No_ , we need to take the time to step back and gather information," Kenobi growled. "The faster we rush in, the faster we will die. Nobody ever got anywhere meeting Tarkin with force."

"Nobody ever got anywhere meeting him with tactics either!"

"Uh, _I_ did, sweetheart. And what would you know about going against Tarkin? _I_ fought him many times during the Clone Wars! Did you?" He could hear Ahsoka softly grumbling, her words unintelligible, though he was certain they were curses. "Honestly, Fulcrum, what did Quinlan teach you? No wonder you failed as a Jedi, that bastard never did have any patience."

"He was a better Master than you could _ever_ be."

"...I know." Obi-Wan felt the familiar stab of pain in his chest, his teeth clenched tightly as he felt the wounds within him tear open and begin to bleed the seething, tainted poison of the Dark Side. He could feel the beast stirring within him, his constant companion howling in anguish, and on the bed, the woman began whimpering. With a swift curse on his lips, Obi-Wan forced the Dark Side to submit, reluctantly calming, but he could feel its protest through the throbbing burn in his chest, the monster yearning to be set free. This was why he hadn't looked at the data card in his hand. He was afraid of what would happen when he was confronted with the image of his beautiful lover, and he had a job to do.

"I rushed to act when you found the _Chimera_ ," Obi-Wan quietly explained. "If I had prepared, if I had stalked the ship until I knew _everything_ , I would have learned it was a fake. I will not make that mistake again."

"...that was my fault," Ahsoka whispered. "I'm so sorry about all that. If it was a more complete trap, if-"

"Stop it, Fulcrum," Obi-Wan said calmly. "Thrawn is my fight, not yours. He played his pieces well, and it's my move again. I'll get back to thinking about it once this matter with Lothal is settled."

"I want to help," Ahsoka said softly. "Listen, Lumis, there's a rebel cell headed by a man named Nightswan. Have you heard of him?"

"We've briefly discussed him, yes."

"I hear he had a brush with Thrawn years ago and has since been studying him. Following his career very, _very_ closely, which has made him something of an expert on the subject of Thrawn." Ahsoka chuckled softly, almost as though she could see the look of fierce determination on the Sith Lord's face. "I've had no luck getting him to meet with us yet. He's leading a rebel cell out around Batonn, but they're a suspicious, paranoid lot. But I'll keep trying. We'll get Thrawn, Lumis. I promise you that."

"I know..." On the bed, the Minister began to stir, groaning softly and turning when the early morning sun filtered in through her window and drew trails of light across her face. "I need to go, Fulcrum, the Minister is waking up," Kenobi whispered. "I'll keep you informed of the situation as it progresses. The Spectres and I will meet to discuss today's meeting with Tarkin so we know what we're up against. I should have the basic idea of a plan by tonight."

"I'll be waiting," Ahsoka said quietly. "May the Force be with you, my friend."

"And also with you." He switched off the com and quickly ruffled the hair he had smoothed when he got up, divested himself of his pants, and quietly slid into the bed next to the Minister, his arms wrapping around her and drawing her against him, the gentle curves of her back fitting against his chest. He gently kissed at her neck, nipped at her ear, allowed his hands to lightly rove the length of her body, and soon enough, each touch drew a keening whimper out of the woman, each stroke making her squirm against him as she slowly awoke, breathless and aroused in the arms of her lover for the night.

"Morning', beautiful..." Obi-Wan whispered, his hands on her hips and drawing her closer to him, the groggily, half-awake Minister moaning softly when she felt the man's quickly growing arousal pressed against her.

"What time is it?" Maketh asked, her tired eyes squinting against the light, and she shifted in the Sith's arms, turning over and laying her head against his chest and smiling faintly when he brushed the pale blond hair behind her ear, the silken strands sliding through his fingers as he brought them to his lips.

"Long before the government buildings open," Kenobi muttered, kissing the corner of her lips, and the Minister sighed softly as he gently nudged her legs apart, her breath coming faster as she rolled onto her back at the man's insistence, the Sith Lord going with her and settling comfortably between her legs, propped up on his elbows as he stroked her face. "I want to see you again, Maketh," he whispered, and the woman turned her face away, trying and failing to conceal the deep red flush on her pale skin.

"T-that would be alright with me." He quickly kissed her.

"I'll leave you the number for my personal com. You'll contact me after your meeting, won't you? I want to make sure you're alright." The nervousness instantly returned, and with a soft whimper, she wrapped her arms around his neck and held him tightly to her.

"I-if it's not alright..." she whimpered, her fingers threading through his thick, golden hair. "If I'm not...i-if..."

"If you fear for your life, Maketh, you call me and I will come running." Kenobi lightly kissed at her neck when she felt her hands tighten in his hair.

"What can you do..."

"Mm, I might know a Mandalorian that can help." The already tense woman froze, her breath held as she looked into eyes that had fire burning within them.

"A-aren't Mandalorians dangerous?" she meekly asked, and the soft smirk on Kenobi's lips slowly widened into a devilish grin.

"Oh, yes they are..." Maketh whimpered softly, reaching under Kenobi's arms to stroke his back and drew him closer as she clung to him, her legs adjusting slightly to allow him inside her.

"I promise, I'll call..." She sighed softly as he slowly pressed into her, the strange warmth at his fingertips brushing away her concerns about _everything_. It was going to be fine. Everything was going to be fine.


	25. Entrapment

**AN:** **Alright, kids, this chapter was going to be WAY different than it ended up being, but this is some important shit to cover before the next two to three chapters. I'm getting started on the next one right away, and it's pretty substantial, so...give me a few days on it. I'll have it up by Friday at the latest, I think. Prepare for the shit, my lovelies! It's happening! Can you feel it? I SURE CAN!**

 _Chapter 25: Entrapment_

"Intel from Fulcrum shows that there are major rebel groups here, here, here, and..." Hera bit her lip, her finger circling around a large section of the map of the Outer Rim surrounding Lothal before she touched her finger to the representation of a small system, the spot lighting up in bright blue. "And _here_." She stood back and examined the map, her hand stroking her chin as she checked her work, and nodded. "Lothal stands as the Empire's stronghold in this portion of the Outer Rim, from here," she said, drawing a line across the area, "to here, encompassing all these other groups."

"We've all seen Trayvis' message," Kanan said, his arms crossed as he sat on the couch and looked at the map, the people around him grumbling their displeasure with the situation. Except for Ezra. Ezra sat close to the Jedi, his eyes at the ground, and said nothing. "He's made us seem like some dangerous insurgents, lying about the things we've done, and with the increased Imperial presence, it's only supporting his lies. He's offering a reward for our capture, and it's a big one."

"Worse is that his message has been broadcast all around the sector," Hera said, her arms crossed over her chest. "Including to the worlds where these other rebel groups are located. Not only is the broadcast a deterrent to rise against the Empire by comparing rebels to dangerous criminals, but it's made it impossible for our groups to unify." She sighed, her lekku twisting in irritation. "No unity, no rebellion. They can end this all before it even begins."

"Are the other rebels getting the same priority treatment that we are?" Zeb growled. "Or are we just lucky because Lothal is so important?"

"That's certainly part of it," Hera muttered. "The fact of the matter is that Lothal is just too important to the Empire as a military base, production center, and communication's hub, and it's unparalleled in the natural resources it produces, all of which are vital to the Empire's ship building programs." Hera took a deep breath and zoomed in on a map of the sector, the Lothal system centered in the space before them. "All activity out here, all communications, all shipments to other worlds is controlled by Lothal. And now with Tarkin here, and with this sector broadcast by Trayvis..." The pilot shook her head. "It isn't good."

"No wonder Fulcrum is giving us the cold shoulder," Sabine said bitterly. "Contact with us is a death sentence for any hope of resistance. Nobody wants to come to Tarkin's attention..."

"Lucky for us, we can use Lothal's importance out here to our advantage," Kanan said, standing and tapping the image of the planet, and the hologram zoomed in, enlarging the image and displaying a map of Capital City. "The transmission towers out here serve as the central communication hubs for the entire oversector. If we can take control of the main transmission tower, we can broadcast a message of our own. Something that can inspire people to stand against the Empire, here on Lothal and across every system the transmission can reach."

"A message like that could rally any other rebel groups out there, and civil unrest can very, very quickly become a widespread resistance," Hera said, a wide smile on her face as she looked at the map. "The Imperial presence here would be forced to spread themselves thin in order to deal with it, which gives us and any other rebel groups out there more freedom to operate." She nodded. "I like this plan. It's a long shot, and it's absolutely insane, but I like it." Smirking, Hera looked over her shoulder to the lone figure sitting in the corner of the room, the small area glowing with red light from a small pyramid floating in the air before him. "What do you think, baby face?"

"Call me baby face _one more time_ , and you just see what I do to your ship, Syndulla," Obi-Wan snarled, his hand snatching the holocron out of the air and gripping it so tightly the edges dug into his palm. He glared at the group, a scowl on his face that effectively conveyed the depth of his displeasure with the situation. "You're all making a grave mistake. Planning this..." Rolling his eyes, he waved his hand in the air. "This _pointless_ gesture is only going to draw attention to you and your crew. You will be captured, and you will be killed. _Very_ publically." Obi-Wan leapt to his feet and cleared the map with a wave of his hand, the holoprojector shutting off and the lights in the room brightening. "Next time, we hold the meeting in _my_ ship so reason can assert itself."

"Kenobi, get back here, this meeting isn't over!" Hera said, rushing to grab the Sith Lord as he turned to leave, the man looking with irritation at her hand upon his arm. "This plan _will_ work," she said, her tone pleading and almost desperate. "I know it sounds completely crazy, but if we can create rebel sympathies here on Lothal, we can continue to operate in the area. We can-"

"You will die," Obi-Wan whispered in a flat, calm monotone, chilling and commanding, and the Spectres collectively shivered. "You are correct. The plan is good. The plan will work." Kenobi rolled his eyes. "You will be an _inspiration_ , no doubt, a symbol of hope and a thousand other foolish, _pointless_ sentiments that will threaten to make me lose my breakfast." Kenobi smiled, a false, wicked thing that didn't reach his eyes. "But you are wrong about the Imperial response. If you think that Tarkin will leave to chase smoke when the fire is burning in Lothal, than you are _very_ badly mistaken..."

"But why?" Kanan asked, coming to stand beside Hera and placing a hand on her lower back. "If there's unrest across the sector, they can't just ignore it so they can catch _one_ group."

"Oh, won't he?" Obi-Wan asked, laughing harshly when the Jedi's eyes narrowed. "You don't believe that catching the ones that struck the match is a worthwhile effort?"

"At the expense of letting everything else burn around him?" Kanan scoffed. "I don't think so.. Tarkin isn't so short-sighted."

"Maybe not, but he _is_ vindictive, and you better believe that any successes we have on his watch will be taken _quite_ personally." He sighed, holding his hand out, and the holocron floated into the air and he casually struck the corner with a finger, setting the pyramid to rapidly spinning in the air before him. "Of course, you assume the match we strike will become a wildfire, when in reality, our efforts will do _nothing_. We may cause unrest and disillusionment, but none of that will matter."

"Of course it will matter!" Hera said firmly. "The Empire is oppressing people all across the galaxy, our message-"

"Words, Syndulla," Kenobi hissed. " _Words_. What are words without action?" He laughed bitterly and spun the holocron again. "Sophistry and empty promises. Your message of _hope_ and defiance is meaningless without action to support it. If we can't make the Empire look weak, if we can't shake people's belief in its overwhelming strength, than your message will spread discontent among people too afraid to do anything about it. An _impotent_ rebellion, doused before it could even be lit."

"Well, you just _love_ to bring a party down, don't you?" Kanan said with a roll of his eyes. "There are other rebel groups out there, Kenobi, that information comes from Fulcrum. This push might just be the one they need to unite."

"Kanan, these other groups _don't matter_ ," Kenobi said, running his hands over his face and scratching at the smooth skin of his cheeks. "What matters now is that Tarkin is here, not just to defend Imperial interests on Lothal, but to come after your group _specifically_." Kenobi grinned. "Would you care to know why?" He didn't wait for Kanan to answer as he jabbed his finger against his chest. " _You're_ a Jedi. The only rebel cell led by one, and that is a very powerful thing, not just because of your skills as a warrior, but because of what you represent." Obi-Wan chuckled softly at Kanan's dumbfounded expression and patted the man's cheek. "You want to talk about spreading symbols and hope and messages, Jarrus, you do that simply by existing, and _that_ is far more dangerous to the Empire than any single rebel cell." Obi-Wan laughed. "A Jedi Knight. Now _that_ is something a rebellion can unite behind."

"W-well, what about you?" Kanan asked, his voice tight and higher in pitch in sudden panic. The weight of his expectations just increased ten-fold, and he _wasn't_ happy. Traveling with Hera, making trouble for the Empire, that was one thing, but a greater rebellion, and with _him_ as a centerpiece...it was too much. He knew Hera always worked toward something bigger, but suddenly it felt very, very close, and Kanan wasn't sure he was ready for another war.

"I am no Jedi..." Obi-Wan said softly. "And more than that, I am not out in the open like you are." Kenobi snatched the holocron out of the air. "I am the Shadow King, something to be feared. To the galaxy, the Force wielder Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Negotiator, is dead. There's just me now. But _you_ , Kanan..." He drew closer to the nervous Jedi, the taller man's jaw clenched tightly as he watched the predatory Sith Lord. "Since you have taken a student, you have been much more open about who and what you are. People are beginning to talk." He leaned in closer. " _Jedi_...there are still so many who remember what that means. And with all your successes, with all your defiance against the Empire, those that don't know are quickly learning."

"So w-what, you want me to lead a rebellion?!" Kanan shook his head as he backed away. "I can't. I'm not even a real Jedi, I-I-" He took a deep breath. "I like what we have here. I like causing trouble for the Empire when I can. I like helping people when it's needed. But _this_..."

"Kanan..." Hera said gently, slinking up to the Jedi and taking his hand in hers. "Kanan, calm down, _focus_. Nobody talking about something bigger, not yet." She squeezed his hand and smiled up at him when she felt his pulse racing beneath her fingers. Seeing him now, it was so easy to forget that Kanan had fought in the Clone Wars, and had lost everything. It was no wonder he was afraid. "The Empire fears you, that's all. They're just worried you will _inspire_ faith in something other than the Empire. Isn't that right, Kenobi?" she said, sending the Sith a pointed glare.

"...exactly so," Obi-Wan whispered, eying the pair carefully. "All this means is that you're in a position to do something about the Empire in the area, as you have been. This message of yours would be ignored if anyone but you sent it. That is all." Kanan said nothing, dropping into the seat instead, his hands clasped on the table. Obi-Wan could feel fear, pain, images of war, the memory of his Master's death, so much terror and trauma dragged from the recesses of Kanan's mind and into the light. Moving forward would not be easy for him. Kenobi would have to speak to the Jedi's lover. She was in a better position to help Kanan than he was. After all, Obi-Wan had difficulties letting go as well.

"We gave you our plan, Obi-Wan," Hera said, her fingers lightly tracing Kanan's jaw as she left her side and stood before the Sith. "You seem to think it'll work." Kenobi scoffed. "And then there's that. Words without action. Do you have a plan?"

"Do I have a plan..." he mockingly repeated. "Of course I have a plan, Hera, and my plan right now is to advise you to be _patient_." Obi-Wan drew up, holding his ground when the pilot frowned. "You haven't fought Tarken, so let me explain _exactly_ what he is going to do to us. We will capture this communications tower, and he will be on us before we have a chance to even send the message. Even if we do get the message out, even if we _do_ manage to escape his grasp, he won't stop hunting us until he has found us and captured us. And he will. The man had a childhood of being forged into a hunter on the Carrion Plateau on Eriadu, and he takes those lessons with him everywhere he goes."

"How can you know all of this..." Hera asked, and Obi-Wan smiled faintly.

"I've been inside his mind. I've seen him for what he is. It's...admirable, really. He's a worthy adversary." He took a deep breath. "He won't stop until we're captured, and when we are, he will make examples of us, and it will be so brutal, it will be enough to keep any other rebel groups from rising. And that will be the end of it." He grinned devilishly. "Unless we put those words to action. Unless we strike a blow against him that is both decisive and devastating. We can't hold Lothal, but if we can make the Empire look weak and vulnerable when they stand against us..."

"Then it's not going to matter that we lose Lothal, the damage will be done," Hera finished, a wide grin on her face as she understood. "Our message can take root if we show them the Empire isn't invincible."

"How?" Zeb asked, and Hera shrugged.

"I don't know, but it sounds like Obi-Wan has something in mind." She looked expectantly at the Sith Lord, and Kenobi just stared blankly back at her. "...well? What's the plan?"

"Oh." With a flick of his wrist, the holocron was spinning in the air once again. "I've got nothing."

"... _what_?!" Kanan was on his feet and standing before the Sith in no time at all. "You sounded like you had a plan! You _said_ you had a plan!"

"How can I have a plan, Kanan, I don't have all the information yet!" Obi-Wan snapped. "Sith Hells, be _patient_."

"The longer we wait, the more control Tarkin will have here! We need to move while we still have a chance!"

"Tch, you sound like Fulcrum..." Obi-Wan muttered. "We can't make a plan until we have an idea of what Tarkin is working with."

"Oh, is that it?" Kanan asked, his eyebrow questioningly arched. "Well, no problem then, we'll just walk on in to see him and ask him about his plans for us. I'm sure he'll tell us everything."

"I'm sure he would," Obi-Wan said, chuckling softly. "Or we could just do it the easy way and wait for my contact to give me the information."

"...you have a contact?" Hera asked, and the Sith rolled his eyes.

"Of course I have a contact, Syndulla. Kriffing hell, what do you think I've been doing the past few days?"

" _Well_..." Kanan cleared his throat. "We've actually had something of a betting pool going on that one. Sabine thought you were out hunting for Thrawn, Ezra thought you were sequestered away in meditation, Hera thought you were celebrating your defeat in a bottle, I thought you were spending some quality time with a few beautiful women, and Zeb thought you were sitting around in a dark corner, rubbing your hands together and laughing. _Evilly_." Obi-Wan groaned and rubbed his temples.

"Well done, Spectres, you are truly an inspiration..." He pointed at Zeb. "The cat wins."

" _Ha_!" Zeb shouted, standing and pointing at Ezra. "I _told_ you!"

"Wait, seriously?" Ezra asked, turning his gaze on the Sith just in time to see the golden eyes narrow.

"No, you idiots! I was investigating the situation on Lothal, as I said I would!" Obi-Wan growled and ran a hand through his hair when the Spectres looked away sheepishly. "That was the deal, was it not?"

"It was," Hera said softly. "We weren't sure if you would keep your word."

"Tch. _Insulting_."

"You can hardly blame us," Hera said with a devious smirk on her lips. "It is _very_ difficult to trust your baby face."

"Hera Syndulla, I am a _Lord of the Sith_ , and you are of a _slave race_ ," Obi-Wan hissed. "There was a time I kept _hundreds_ of your kind in my palace specifically for the purpose of pleasuring me and my men, and I have been _longing_ for those days, so call me baby face _one more time_!"

"Alright, can we all agree that we _aren't_ going to make a slave out of our pilot?!" Kanan said firmly, and Obi-Wan rolled his eyes.

"That depends on her, Jedi," Kenobi said, his eyes fixed intently on the Twi'lek. "Don't worry. If it comes to that, I'll share her..."

" _Alright_..." Kanan said, flushing slightly and grabbing Hera's arm to pull her away from Obi-Wan. "Let's not make the Lord of the Sith angry, Hera...we don't..." Kanan swallowed hard. "We don't want _that_ to happen."

"... _oh_." A wide, amused grin spread across Obi-Wan's face as he looked at the Twi'lek and the Jedi, the man standing defensively before the beautiful pilot, his fingers lightly brushing against the woman's hand, a small, discrete gesture. "Oh, Sabine..." the Sith drawled, the Mandalorian perking up and looking at him from where she leaned against the wall. "Are Mommy and Daddy still pretending that they don't kiss?"

Sabine snorted with laughter and rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah."

"We are _grossly_ off-topic," Hera said flatly. "Your contact. Is it someone we can use? Can they get information to us?"

"Oh yes..." Kenobi said softly, and Hera leaned in, waiting for him to elaborate, and pouted when he didn't.

"Well, who is it? What kind of information do they have access to?"

"Don't worry about it," Obi-Wan said. "Just know that the info is good. Tarkin is in a meeting today to discuss his strategy going forward with Lothal and his plans to root us out. Once I have that information, we can begin to formulate an attack." He took a deep breath. "The longer we wait, the stronger Tarkin's position..." He shook his head. "I don't like any of this. We should abandon Lothal, we need to get out while we still can."

"What's this?" Kanan drawled, his arms crossed in front of his chest and a wry smirk on his face. "Is the mighty Sith Lord afraid?"

"I'm not afraid, _Jarrus_ ," Obi-Wan snarled. "I just don't want to lose any of you." Kanan immediately started to respond before the words sunk in, and when they did, he stopped and gaped at the Sith, at a loss for words and the frank sentiment. Everyone else seemed to react in the same way, the room falling silent save for the hum of the lighting. A swift chime cut through the air, and Obi-Wan fished out his comlink from his belt, looked at the identification, and grinned. "Speak of the Empire and they will appear," he drawled, holding the comlink up. "My contact." With a clever smirk on his face, Kenobi pressed his finger to his lips to indicate the need for silence, and he answered the com, putting it on the table so everyone could hear the audio-only call.

"Ben speaking," Obi-Wan said as he answered the com. "Who is-"

"Ben!" There was a heavy, shaking sigh of relief on the other end. "Ben, it's Maketh, I-"

"Maketh!" Obi-Wan said, his voice lighter, his accent pleasantly clipped and smooth, a lit to his voice that was categorically charming and kind, so unlike the darker, heavier tone he usually affected, more dangerous, seductive and sensual than the innocence he wore now. "Oh, Maketh, I didn't think you'd call!" He laughed, short and nervous. "I was worried you wouldn't, and it's gotten so late..."

"S-sorry..."the woman stammered, and they could hear her clearing her throat. "I didn't mean to worry you..."

"You're safe, that's all that matters..." Obi-Wan said, smirking as he leaned back. "How was the meeting with Tarkin?" The woman groaned softly, something between nerves and terror.

"Not good..." she whimpered. "Ben, he killed two people! _Killed them_!" There was a muffled whimper, followed by quick, hurried sniffling. "Commandant Aresko and Taskmaster Grint, they...t-they ran the Imperial Academy here, they-" Her breath hitched. "They're _dead_ , Ben..." she said in a voice raspy with emotion she was trying and failing to hold back. "Tarkin says they had allowed that...that _Jedi_ to run around for too long and he _killed them_!"

"Calm down, dearest..." Obi-Wan cooed, the Spectres gathered around the table looking at him with growing understanding of who he was speaking to. "You're alright, that's what matters..."

"But for how long?!" she asked frantically. "I'm doing all I can to stop these rebels, Ben, but if the military hasn't done it, how can I?!"

"We'll find a way, Maketh. I was brought in to..." Obi-Wan bit his lip to keep the smirk off his face as Kanan's jaw dropped. "I'm here to _manage_ these rebels. I'll protect you, my dear, sweet Minister..."

 _Maketh Tua_? Kanan mouthed at Obi-Wan. _Minister Maketh Tua_?! With a smirk of tremendous satisfaction, Obi-Wan nodded and leaned back in his seat.

"You can't..." she whimpered. "You don't understand, Ben, Tarkin is holding everyone accountable for failure from now! And these aren't just normal rebels! Not only do they have a Jedi, but Tarkin says this group is led by the Shadow King." She whimpered softly, the Spectres leaning in closer to the com. " _The Shadow King_! Ben, he hasn't been defeated before!"

"So I've heard..."

"W-what if I'm held responsible for the next failure?" the Minister gasped. "Tarkin's bad enough, but he's called in the Mandalorian Moff to deal with this rogue element!" Obi-Wan hissed as he sucked in a breath and held it, the pupils of his blazing, glowing eyes narrowing into pinpoints in his intense focus. Even Satine tensed and shifted uncomfortably. "I saw her today, she is _terrifying_! A-and she brought the _Death Watch_! Not to deal with the rebels, to deal with _internal affairs_! They're here to keep us in line, since Tarkin says we're getting slack in the absence of Governor Pryce."

"Moff Bo-Katan..." Kenobi said breathlessly, his gaze distant for a moment before he focused again on the com. "That is...not what I was expecting..." She said nothing for a moment, the only sounds coming from the com the woman's muffled sobs.

"I need you, Ben..." she whimpered. "Please, I...I-I don't want to face this alone..."

"And you won't," Kenobi said softly. "I'm in the middle of some test flights, but I'll be over as soon as I'm finished. Leave the door unlocked and give me a few hours to get back to the barracks and wash up."

"Y-you could wash here," she said almost desperately. "Please..."

"...an hour, then," he quietly promised. "I'll see you soon." Obi-Wan cut the connection and leaned forward, his fingers steepled and pressed to his lips in thought.

"Kenobi..." Kanan whispered in the tense silence. "You're _sleeping_ with Lothal's Minister?!" The Sith Lord absently nodded, and Kanan began to laugh. "Oh, _yes_! _I won the bet_!"

"Oh, you are _such_ a child..." Hera groaned, earning her the flash of a wide, brilliant smile from her lover.

"Bo-Katan..." Obi-Wan muttered, his eyes closed as his mind wondered, the Spectres falling silent to allow the Sith the chance to speak, but he said nothing, the silence quickly becoming heavy and awkward as they sat with the Minister's words.

"That's...good, isn't it?" Sabine tentatively asked. "You said she's an ally..."

"But you also said she's been out of touch for a very long time," Hera countered. "People change, and Mandalore has been staunch in its support for the Empire since the beginning."

"Regardless, she's close to Tarkin, everyone knows that..." Kanan muttered. "I've heard they're _very_ close, know what I mean?"

"I know..." Obi-Wan said absently. "Damn it, of all the...I was hoping for Thrawn, or more Inquisitors, or Maul and Vader, but _her_..." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he stood. "Damn it, why did it have to be her..."

"I don't understand," Ezra said. "She's your ally, right? As good as it is to have Minister Tua working for you, this Mandalorian's a Moff, right? And if she's close to Tarkin, you couldn't possibly have a better person here to support him. We could turn the tables on this whole operation!"

"And for _what_?" Obi-Wan hissed, the teenager immediately drawing back and falling silent. "So we can kill Tarkin? So we can liberate Lothal from Imperial control?" He laughed, harsh and bitter, and the Spectres shivered. "A pointless endeavor. As discussed, Lothal is too important to the Empire to allow it to fall from their grasp. An Imperial defeat here would only see the Empire bring its full weight to bear, and _then what_? Bo-Katan will be exposed, the Mandalorians revealed as traitors, and they would die. _All of them_."

"W-we can't let that happen!" Sabine shouted. "The Empire is already crushing Mandalore! I thought our leader was complicit in their control of us, but if she's keeping her head down to protect us..." She shook her head. "No, Mandalore has suffered enough."

"I will not waste years and years of careful planning for a temporary victory here," Obi-Wan growled. "I will not have my Mandalorian resistance exposed and destroyed, especially not for the likes of Tarkin. Not now, it's too soon, I'm not ready..." He shook his head and stood. "I need to meditate on our course of action before I see the Minister..."

"Kenobi, wait!" Hera said quickly, grabbing the Sith Lord's arm as he passed her, and furious, dangerous eyes snapped in her direction, a fierce scowl on his face that made the breath catch in her chest, and Kanan quickly rose, his senses alert as he felt the Force grow heavy and dark. "Tarkin is..." Hera squeaked, wincing at how weak she sounded, and she shook her hear and cleared her throat, meeting the Sith's gaze again, but stronger this time. "Tarkin is the Emperor's right hand, isn't he? He's vital to the Empire, he's a crushing hand in the Outer Rim. If we take him out, if we can use Moff Kryze to kill him-"

" _No_." Obi-Wan tore his arm from the Twi'lek's grasp. "I don't know if this is a set-up. He may not be here, but I still need to contend with Thrawn, and Bo-Katan's presence here could very well be his idea, which makes this a _trap_. More than that, Tarkin is the best connection I have to a secret project the Empire is conducting. Something big and important, something big enough to go on without him, and I will not throw away Bo-Katan and all of Mandalore simply because Tarkin is an inconvenience!"

"He's more than an inconvenience, Kenobi!" Hera countered. "In the Outer Rim, he _is_ the Empire!"

"And if he dies out here, what do you suppose the _Emperor_ will do?!" Obi-Wan scoffed, a look of disdain on his face as he looked at the Spectres. "Short-sighted, simple-minded _fools_ , the whole lot of you! Tarkin's death means _war_ , understand? If you think it's bad now, then you have no idea what Palpatine is capable of, and without an army..." He grit his teeth. "We are scattered. We could put up a fight, but we aren't ready, not yet..."

"But we could be," Kanan said quietly, gently pulling Hera away from the Sith. "You wanted to do something big, something to show the Empire is weak. This could be it. There isn't a better way to show that the Empire can be defeated than by taking out Grand Moff Tarkin! We don't even need to kill him, we just need to show that it's a bad idea for even him to mess with us!"

"Only to have our resistance crushed!" Obi-Wan snapped. " _We aren't ready_! Not now, not yet."

"Kenobi-"

" _I already have the blood of one Kryze girl on my hands!_ " The silence that fell upon the room was cold, still and heavy and so unlike anything Kanan had felt from Obi-Wan before. He had known that Obi-Wan had suffered losses and still agonized over them in the moments he had to himself, but before the team, he had always been safely tucked behind his walls. But now there were cracks, and through them, Kanan could see fear of loss deep within Kenobi.

"Hey, Obi-Wan..." Kanan said, his voice low and soothing as he reached out for the Sith, the man quickly flinching away from the prospect of being touched, and Kanan respectfully took a step back.

"I won't lose her too..." Obi-Wan whispered, his voice so small and thin it could barely be heard. "Not her, I _can't_..." He shook his head. "I'll deal with the Empire," he growled, stronger this time. "You focus on your message and an exit strategy."

"We will..." Kenobi left without another word, his long stride carrying him across the room and out toward the cargo bay to the ship's loading ramp, and the Spectres breathed a collective sigh of relief.

"Well..." Zeb said. "Everything's gone to shit."

"It's not all bad," Hera said, sighing heavily as she looked around the room. "Having a high powered contact like Minister Tua almost makes this all worth it. We can be much more effective if we use information she provides us."

"Maybe so, but this attack on the Empire?" Kanan shook his head. "I don't know. There's a lot going on, and we need to act soon. This isn't a big window of opportunity here."

"This whole thing with Moff Kryze bothers me..." Sabine said nervously. "The Shadow King is right. If something happens to her, Mandalore will fall. We can't use her to strike out against the Empire. Our hands are tied."

"But we can't leave the people of Lothal to suffer." Hera said thoughtfully as she pulled up the recording of Trayvis' message, playing it for a moment before anger took hold of her and she shut it off. "We need to do something. Even if it's just sending the message and retreating. Words without action, I know, but the action can come later."

"Whatever we do, we need to decide quickly," Kanan said as he looked about the room. "We'll wait for Kenobi to get the details from the Minister, but after that, we need to move. Sometimes, words are more powerful than weapons. I'm sure the Negotiator understands that." The group nodded silently, all except Ezra, who sat staring at the door through which Obi-Wan left. Kanan frowned. It was unlike the opinionated boy to be so silent. "Ezra?"

"Excuse me..." he mumbled, pushing back from the table and leaving the room, heedless of the calls from the others, and before he knew what he was doing, Ezra was running across the ravine, away from the cave where the _Ghost_ was hidden and toward the slowly retreating figure in black. "Kenobi!" the teenager said through his heavy breathing, his voice raised, but not loud enough to echo off the red rock walls of the canyon. "Kenobi, wait!" He didn't, leaving Ezra to grit his teeth and run faster, slowing to a jog and then a walk as he came beside the Sith Lord.

"You were awfully quiet today, Bridger..." Obi-Wan said, his tone lazy, almost bored and weary. "Why is that? Did you realize that all your opinions are either wrong or idiotic?"

"Y-yeah, something like that..." He had been looking straight ahead, avoiding the teen at his side, but now, gold eyes darted to look at the reticent boy, his gaze fixed on the ground before him, his bottom lip caught between his teeth. "I was...wrong. About my vision, about Trayvis, about my parents, I..." Huffing, Ezra ran his hand through his hair. "About a lot of things, or...or about everything. I'm sorry..."

"That's quite a change of heart..." Obi-Wan drawled smoothly, looking the boy over. "What brought this on?"

"I-I just did some thinking, and this whole situation..." Ezra bit down on his lip harder, a slight flush to his cheeks as he peered up at the Sith Lord and found his expression disbelieving and vaguely annoyed. He quickly looked away. "...Cody talked to me back on Bandomeer."

"Ah..."

"I've been an ass."

"Oh yes, very much so." Ezra glared at the Sith, but couldn't keep the smile from tugging at the edge of his lips when he found Kenobi amused.

"Look, Kenobi, this is all still new to me. I don't know _anything_ , and-"

"All the more reason for you to shut up and listen," the Sith growled, and anger quickly flashed through the boy before it vanished completely.

"...I know." Ezra stopped and leaned against the wall of the ravine, and the Sith Lord slowed, continuing to walk for a moment before he returned to stand before the boy. "I forget, you know?" the teen whispered. "That you're so much older than Kanan, that you have all this experience, that you're an _actual_ Master. I just..." He growled and ran his hand through his dark hair, a scowl on his face. "I've never taken directions well, following orders just isn't something I do. I've been on my own for so long, I've never had to. You couldn't trust any of the crooks and con men I ran with."

"Well, that certainly fits the whole rebel thing you have going." Obi-Wan frowned and pointed a lazy finger at Ezra. "Which is precisely the problem. We don't have a unified rebellion because everyone wants to do things their own way. If we are to ever have a chance of defeating the Emperor, we need unity. We need people to follow commands and orders. We need people to _listen_. If everyone simply marches to the beat of their own drum, we are left with a cacophony, not a melody." Obi-Wan took a deep breath and looked up at the sky. "No music, just chaos, and the Force will _not_ stand in support of such."

"...I understand," Ezra said, his head bowed. "I do. I'm trying to do better, but..." He shifted against the rock, trying to alleviate his mounting irritation, and the glowing eyes on him did nothing to help his unease. "Look, it isn't easy for Kanan to teach me, I know that. He says he's not a real Jedi, and I'm not patient enough, and..." He shook his head. "But I respect him. He took me in when I had nothing, he showed me I could be more than I am."

"Mm, but this isn't a matter of rapport, is it, Bridger?" Obi-Wan asked, and Ezra sucked in a sharp breath and met the fiery gaze for a moment before he looked away, and slid defeated to the ground.

"When I was on the asteroid with the Inquisitor..." Ezra began, his voice shaking as he drew his knees to his chest. "I felt the Dark Side. I _used_ it. I didn't mean to, but...Kenobi, I was _so scared_ , and when I touched the Force, I felt... _power_." He shivered. "All the fear left me and I was filled with such anger, such _hatred_ , I thought I...I-I..." He shook his head. "I thought I could murder someone. I knew I could. I _wanted_ it. And...I didn't feel like myself. That wasn't me, I'm not like that!" Ezra ran his arm over his eyes when he felt tears threatening to fill his vision. "I've never been so afraid in my life..." He finally looked up at the Sith. " _You're_ the Dark Side, Kenobi. Tell me how I'm not supposed to be afraid of training with you."

Obi-Wan looked at the boy for a long while, long past the point that the teenager could no longer meet the fire of those golden eyes, the silence broken by the gentle breeze through the ravine and the cry of hunting lothcats in the plains beyond. The boy was young, young enough to be his own son, but he didn't have the raw talent of his children. He wasn't so innocent and as Luke. He wasn't so cunning as Leia. But Ezra was bold and rambunctious, just as his twins were, and while Luke and Leia had known the Force all their lives, Ezra was only now just coming into it. He checked his comlink for the time, rolled his eyes when he saw how much time had passed, and with a heavy sigh, he took the saber hanging from his right hip and handed it to teenager as the Sith sat down beside him.

"I was also afraid when I first felt the touch of the Dark Side," Obi-Wan said softly, tapping the lightsaber that Ezra now carefully, reverently held. "Back when this was still my weapon. Back when I was a Jedi." Obi-Wan chuckled softly as he looked up into the sky. "Sith Hells, that was so long ago...I was older than you are now, but I was still a Padawan. Still learning. Nothing could have prepared me for it."

"...why did you do it?" Ezra asked quietly, the lightsaber in his hand lighter than he expected, certainly lighter than Kanan's blade.

"Oh, much for the same reason as you did," Obi-Wan whispered. "My Master was in danger, seriously outmatched by a Lord of the Sith, and I reached for the Dark Side to save his life."

"And you were afraid?" Obi-Wan reached up to stroke his beard and frowned when he touched his bare skin, the teen at his side laughing softly at his displeasure.

"I was, yes," Kenobi said. "I felt the Dark Side in the days leading up to the fight. I don't know if I was sensing the Sith Lord we would fight, or the Dark Side within myself, but..." He hissed and shook his head. "It was terrifying, and it came at a time in my life when I was vulnerable and alone." Obi-Wan looked at Ezra, the boy's wide blue eyes fixed intently on him, and he smiled sadly. "Which is how the Dark Side found me. It's how the Dark Side finds all its children. The lost, the wounded, the frightened, the betrayed...all of us, united by fear and loss and pain, and the darkness comes with promises to end it all."

"But the Dark Side _is_ frightening," Ezra said. "I-I've never felt so cold."

"It is frightening, yes," Obi-Wan whispered. "Until it's not. When you feel alone when you should be surrounded by family, when you are betrayed and cast out by the man that was like a father for you, when you're... _replaced_ by something younger and more talented. When the Force itself isn't there to catch you when you feel like you're falling..." Obi-Wan laughed bitterly. "That's when the Dark Side is there." He shrugged. "The cold isn't so bad when it's all you have."

"...that happened to you?" Ezra asked. "You were abandoned?"

"By my Jedi Master," Obi-Wan sighed. "He threw me away so he could train another. A younger student, one with a greater potential in the Force. He and I were...kindred spirits, I suppose. But he was a child, and he overshadowed me in _everything_. It was easy to feel jealous, and when my Master decided to end my training so he could train _him_..." Obi-Wan shook his head. "Jealousy, desperation, depression, fear and betrayal. I was unbalanced, and when I reached into the Force, _nothing_ reached back to me." Obi-Wan took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "You know the Force, Ezra. What does it feel like to you?"

"I-I don't know," the teenager said. "It's just a feeling, you know?"

"No, I _don't_ know," Obi-Wan growled. "You hear the running of water but are ignorant of the river. _I_ rest within the water, I feel it's flow, the currents, the life that lives within it." He pressed his finger to Ezra's forehead. " _Feel_ , apprentice. Know that which guides you." Ezra held his breath and slowly nodded, closing his eyes and exhaling slowly, clearing his mind like Kanan had taught him.

"I...I feel...warm." The teen smiled softly. "Like...like a breeze, or water, or...I don't know. Everything gentle and comforting and warm..."

"Yes, good..." Obi-Wan said, a small smile of satisfaction on his face before it dropped away, leaving his expression cold and harsh. "As a Jedi, the Force was my constant companion, but on that day, when I was reeling off balance, I reached for my friend the Force, it ran _cold_. You know the feeling."

"The Dark Side." Obi-Wan nodded.

"The Dark Side, yes. Cold and uncompromising and powerful and _frightening_ for a boy that had only known warmth and comfort from the Force. But it balanced me. I was...stronger. Faster. More focused than I had ever been, and it was the darkness that gave it to me." He took the lightsaber from his left hip, the twin of the one Ezra held, and flicked it on, the red blade hissing and humming and casting red shadows around them. "When the cold balanced me, I kept reaching for it, and before long, I felt comfort in the chill that ran through the Force and it stated feeling... _good_."

"Y-you weren't afraid anymore?" Ezra asked quietly, his eyes focused on the red blade. Obi-Wan shook his head.

"Not then, no. The Dark Side felt good. It was _liberating_ , powerful and pleasurable, an ally greater than my understanding of the Force as the Jedi taught. I was stronger than I had ever been, and the more I used it, the more I _wanted_ to use it." Kenobi sighed, his free hand clenching, and Ezra could feel his heart jump as his entire body was spiked with bone-chilling cold, a deep reverberation in his chest that seemed to come from the very air around him. "Dark Side seduction...the Jedi used to cite power as the temptation toward the darkness, but the fact of the matter is that the Dark Side just feels good. Power, yes, but passion too." Obi-Wan drew red circles in the air with his saber. "I felt the fear again later. When I was confronted by what I had become, how far I had fallen, the things I had done in the embrace of the Dark Side..." He sighed heavily and powered the lightsaber off, looking at the black and silver hilt as he gently held it. "All that was left to do was face what I had become. There was no turning back. I was Sith long before I knew it."

"...is that what is happening to me?" Ezra asked, his voice shaking, and Kenobi looked the boy over, a faint smile on his lips.

"No. No, that's why Yoda made you my charge." Obi-Wan stood and extended his hand out to the boy, and for a moment Ezra just stared at the offered hand. Breathing deep, he took his hand and let the Sith pull him to his feet. "I was left to navigate the Dark Side on my own, but you, Bridger, have me to guide you."

Ezra breathed a sigh of relief, a weight suddenly lifted off his shoulders. The cold he felt, the fear within him suddenly didn't seem so intimidating. He had seen the Grand Inquisitor, a creature of evil ruled by the Dark Side, and the knowledge of the darkness he had touched haunted him, filled him with doubts, with the terrible notion that his own path lay cast in darkness, his end aligned with the Inquisitor he feared. He was _lost_ , even with Kanan to guide him, because the Jedi was as lost in the darkness as Ezra. But then there was Obi-Wan, a creature that didn't just prowl the darkness like a predator, but _mastered_ it, could clearly see it's twisting, winding paths, knew intimately the natures of the savage beasts that hid in the shadows. With Obi-Wan to guide him through the darker pulls of the Force, Ezra didn't think he'd ever truly be lost.

There was something else about him, though. Kanan had always been a mentor, a teacher, an older brother, a best friend, but Kenobi was none of these things. Ezra wasn't sure what it was. Perhaps it was that, despite his youthful appearance, Obi-Wan was much older. It maybe was in the way he carried himself, proud and confident, each step taken as if in the knowledge that everything he walked upon belonged to him. Perhaps it was that he seemed wise and knowledgeable and terribly, terribly dangerous. But to Ezra, in that moment, he looked at Obi-Wan Kenobi and saw a father.

"Thank you, Obi-Wan..." Ezra said softly, handing the lightsaber back to the Sith Lord. "I won't disappoint you."

"Oh, it's _far_ too late for that, Bridger, words cannot express what a disappointment you are to me." Obi-Wan frowned as he checked the time on his comlink. "And now I'm going to be late to see the Minister." He sighed heavily and pushed Ezra into the path in the ravine back the way they had come. "Come on, I'll get you back to the _Ghost_."

"I can get back myself, you know..."

"Nonsense, it's getting dark. Kanan would attempt to kill me if something were to happen to you, and we don't want to piss off dad."

"Tch..." Ezra rolled his eyes, a wry smile on his face. "Alright, alright..." Breathing deep, he walked beside the Sith Lord, his strides relaxed and slow, as if he didn't just complain about being late. As if being late wasn't even a thing he concerned himself with. He could feel his presence through the Force, dark and powerful and commanding, a thing to be followed, and a thing to be feared. "Hey..." Ezra said after a moment of silence. "Are you really, you know... _sleeping_ with Minister Tua?"

"Mm, I am, yes."

"H-how did you do it?"

"Oh no, I don't think so..." Obi-Wan said with laughter in his voice. "I see through you, apprentice, and nothing I can teach you about the Force or women will work on Sabine Wren." Kenobi's chest inflated with pride, a deep, amused laugh in his chest when the boy beside him flushed a fierce red. "She is _Mandalorian_. The whole lot of them are impossible. She's far too good for you, in any case."

"You know, _Kanan_ would teach me about girls if I asked..." Ezra said slyly, and Kenobi laughed and rolled his eyes.

"He would if Syndulla allowed him. Which she won't." He shrugged. "Face it, apprentice, in this, you are on your own."

"I wasn't asking about that anyway!" Ezra said louder than intended, flushing deeply and looking away from Kenobi. "I was just...you know, a lot is riding on the information you get out of the Minister." He looked up at the contemplative Sith Lord. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm not sure yet..." Obi-Wan muttered. "To be frank, I'm not certain yet that this isn't a trap. Tarkin and I have met on opposite side of battle on many occasions, and all of them have been difficult fights. He's a clever enemy, and one that knows me very well. What's more, I stole his ship a few years back, so I'm certain he wants to get even."

"...wait, what?"

"Oh yes," Obi-Wan said proudly. "Stolen ship, destroyed research stations, an Imperial orgy broadcast over the holonet, Gungan pornography..." He waved a hand in the air dismissively. "Big mess. Don't worry about it."

"Alright, see, when you say that, it _makes_ me worry about it."

"What am I going to do..." Obi-Wan shook his head. "I'm going drive the Minister into the mattress, for one. Get all the information I can out of her, and after that..." Obi-Wan's gaze drifted up to the sky, the man breathing deeply as he felt the Force, tense with anticipation. "We shall see. But for now, apprentice, I think we are going to attempt to build your lightsaber." Ezra's gaze snapped up to Obi-Wan, a wide grin on his face and excitement dancing behind his eyes in an eager excitement that reminded Obi-Wan of Luke.

"Do you think I can do it?!"

"That depends entirely on you, apprentice," the Sith said, amusement in his voice. "But I think you will find yourself successful in your attempts now." He nudged the boy on his back as the cave where the _Ghost_ was situated came into view. "Go. Tell your Master, I'm certain he will want to be there when you build it." With a bright smile toward his new mentor, Ezra took off running down the ravine, and as Obi-Wan watched him go, he couldn't keep the ache out of his heart as he longed for his own children.


	26. Snare

**AN:** **Ta da! So I have the next two chapters really well planned out, but getting them written is going to take a little time. I also need to get a chapter of Blood of Mandalore out, since I have a wonderful reader that has drawn some AMAZING art for it. Like, oh my god. Nothing gets me writing like comments and art. I'm so easy to manipulate.**

 **Anyway, next time! Some real shit! Enjoy, lovelies! Didn't expect this out of this chapter, but I really liked how it turned out.**

 _Chapter 26:_ _Snare_

Moff Bo-Katan Kryze was _bored_. Her Imperial duties kept her busy, her duties as Mand'alor kept her interested, and very often, the two things overlapped. The Mandalore oversector she governed was _massive_ , encompassing her own Mandalore sector and the massive cut of territory formerly known as Hutt Space. Save for Tarkin himself, she ruled the greatest territory of the Empire, though as a Moff of the Outer Rim territories, she was looked down upon by the Core World elite, as it had always been. There was a distinctive hierarchy in the Empire, one that started on Coruscant and spiraled outward, with the Core out to the Mid Rim getting preferential treatment, and everything beyond, most notably the Outer Rim where she made her home, and the reaches of Wild Space just beyond being left to the mercy of the galaxy's criminal elements.

Despite Imperial disdain for the uncultured, wild, uncivilized people of the Outer Rim territories, the Empire still lay claim to all their worlds and resources and took as they liked. They would sweep in to a world that had use to them, strip it of its resources, and when it had been used, they would abandon it, leaving the local populace prey to the criminal element that swept in to take advantage of the Empire's refuse. With their worlds ravaged, the people of the Outer Rim had few options beyond taking up illegal and illicit activities in order to survive.

And that was where Bo-Katan came in.

The Mandalorian warriors were the most fierce in the galaxy, and they served as a galactic police force, the memory of what Mandalore had brought to bear upon the galaxy's criminal element during the Clone Wars keeping most organizations from getting too large in fear of attracting Mandalore's attention. Most days saw Bo-Katan traveling from world to world with the Death Watch, establishing order on worlds the Empire discarded and giving the destitute population other options than turning to crime. What she offered was _adoption_ , the option to abandon their struggles and come to live as warriors of Mandalore, an offer that few upstanding people could pass up.

From the ravages of the Empire, Mandalore grew, its numbers bolstered by people who's loyalty was bought when they were saved from their lives of poverty and crime in the wake of Imperial ambitions. Each world the Empire wrecked in its ambitions saw a native population turned against it, left helpless to do anything about it, each person a new criminal to add to the Outer Rim's plague of lawlessness. But Bo-Katan moved in to reclaim and reform them, making them productive members of the Empire once again, citizens of Mandalore that stood to combat the criminal element the Empire's harsh rule perpetuated. It was a win-win situation, and the arrangement had made Bo-Katan vital in maintaining order in the Outer Rim, and her close connection with Grand Moff Tarkin only strengthened her position.

It was satisfying work for the warrior Mand'alor, the job a particularly dangerous one that saw her traveling from system to system with the elite soldiers of the Death Watch to bring swift and brutal ends to the criminals they despised, most notably the ones that didn't exercise the caution of Jabba's cartel, or the ones that stood to threaten their tentative Hutt ally. Her position and her brutality had so far managed to keep Jabba in check, though years of being allowed to continue to operate had led to an increase in his reach and his vast influence, the fear of Mandalore and its Shadow King fading as time went on. One day, the corpulent slug would have to be dealt with.

One day, Jabba would meet the same violent end that the rest of his kind had at the hands of the vengeful Kenobi. But not yet. Not while the Hutt Cartel was the only thing managing the galaxy's criminal element. It was a vast crime empire that Jabba sat on, and maintaining good relations with him was essential to keeping the entire Outer Rim from rampant, unchecked criminal activity. Even with all her warriors, even with the entire Imperial Navy, there was only so much they could do.

But for now, each day for Bo-Katan was satisfying work. Dangerous work, which appealed to her vicious streak and to the Mandalorian warrior ways she embraced. Between fighting her criminal elements, leading Mandalore to prosperity under the Empire, and secretly aiding in training hundreds of Force sensitive young adults, Bo-Katan had her work cut out for her. The threat of Imperial demands still hung over her head, demands that she quietly submitted to in order to keep her people as free as possible, though the strain of their service to the Emperor hung over her wild, untamed people.

Mandalore was allowed victory and glory only through submission to the Empire, freedom only in the knowledge of their slavery, the knowledge that they would be crushed should they exhibit defiance hanging over their heads at every moment. Many considered Bo-Katan weak, a shell of the mighty Mand'alor Satine, the Mandalorian Empire crushed when her younger sister lacked the strength to stand strong against the government that had once been the Republic, a cast-off of the Shadow King, a woman that had run to the Empire for support in maintaining her power, a leader who sold her own people for her own ambitions.

Those that opposed her left to become bounty hunters, proud warriors that pledged themselves to the Shadow King they knew would one day return, even though the Empire had very publically executed Obi-Wan Kenobi, the stories of their mighty King holding fast over the years leaving them to believe that death could not hold him, that their Lord would rise from the ashes of his own pyre to call upon his children when the time was right. Most simply accepted the strength of the Empire and quietly served Bo-Katan in the hopes that one day, the Empire would show weakness and she would call upon them to rise again, to beat back their invaders and establish their own Empire that they had lost.

It was a difficult situation, one that pained her, but she held strong and sacrificed when she needed to. One day, Obi-Wan would return to her. One day, he would sound that call that would bring warrior Mandalore to unleash their pent-up fury on the Empire that had suppressed their spirit for so long. One day, they would take their souls back. One day...

But today, she was _bored_.

Today, she was sitting in an office on a world that didn't need her, listening to the Grand Moff talk with the hologram of an Admiral. The entire situation here was under control, and she didn't understand why she had to be there. There was some idiocy on Nar Shadda that required her attention, a prospect that she had been greatly looking forward to, since any conflict out there usually ended up being very loud, very violent, and _very_ public. The Death Watch needed a bloody confrontation. They weren't made for stomping around a government building and making bureaucrats nervous, they were made for bloodying their enemies. The field of politics wasn't one she had ever done well. Satine took all the talent in that particular field. It's why she had been such a powerful ruler in the time she did rule. She could get her way with clever words and social manipulations. Bo-Katan had always rather solve her problems with a blaster because politics was _bantha shit_.

"How goes the fight on Botajef, Admiral?" Tarkin asked, and the Chiss drew up, his back straight, his hands clasped behind his back.

"The conflict, as it was, is over," Thrawn said in his smooth monotone, though Bo-Katan could detect the slightest edge of satisfaction in his voice. "The region is peacefully back under Imperial control. No casualties."

"Really?" Tarkin asked, though his tone implied that he suspected as much. "A far cry from the disaster to your career High Command no doubt anticipated."

"Perhaps..." Thrawn said non-committally. "My aid believes similarly."

"And how did you manage such a thing?" Tarkin asked, and Thrawn's impassive face showed the traces of a faint smile.

"It was a case of seeing through the planet's Governor and recognizing him to be a thief and con man. If you would like, I shall send you the report once it is completed."

"Please do." Tarkin shifted his weight from one foot to the other and looked back at Bo-Katan when the woman groaned in irritation. "Now that your mission has been completed, Admiral, will you be coming to help with the suppression of the rebel cell here on Lothal?" A small smirk spread across Thrawn's face.

"Maybe so, Governor. Has the Shadow King made himself known?"

"Not yet, but he is most certainly here," Tarkin said, pacing before the hologram as he examined his datapad. "The information you provided me was most helpful in devising this trap. His methods have altered in very significant ways since the Clone Wars. It was good to have some distance from him to reassess him as a threat." He stopped and looked back at the hologram from his datapad. "Will you be available to render your assistance in springing this trap? It would be a shame if you were unable to personally witness its execution."

"I shall do all in my power to be at your service, Governor Tarkin," Thrawn said. "If not to personally aid you, than as an observer. Regardless of the outcome, we stand to learn more about the Shadow King from this than any of our previous efforts."

"I agree," Tarkin said briskly, his eyes quickly shooting to Bo-Katan when the woman scoffed and rolled her eyes as she jumped to her feet and began restlessly pacing. She was getting impatient and agitated, as she always did when the Shadow King was discussed, a personal insult that she longed to see destroyed. "It was very kind of him to provide us with so much bait to trap him with."

"Which bait will he take, I wonder..." Thrawn quietly mused. "And he must choose. He is only one man. He cannot possibly reach for all the bait at once."

"He may very well try," Tarkin scoffed. "It will be at the expense of spreading himself very thin. This is an advantage we didn't have before."

"It would be a great honor to see your work, Governor. It is my understanding that your past efforts against him had been moderately successful."

"During the war, yes," Tarkin said, moving out of the way as Bo-Katan came storming up, her arms crossed and her gaze _furious_. Thrawn respectfully bowed toward the woman.

"Ni cuy' briikase at haa'taylir gar o'r jate jahaal, Mand'alor Kryze," Thrawn said, his flat monotone affecting his otherwise flawless Mando'a, and she shot him a vicious glare.

"You won't be happy to see me in a moment, Admiral," she snapped, reeling her attention on Tarkin, the Moff's back straight and tight as he looked down his nose at the woman, his commanding, confident presence doing absolutely nothing to intimidate the woman. "What am I even doing here, Wilhuff?!"

"You are one of my greatest assets, my dear," Tarkin said stiffly, and he was met with cold, harsh laughter.

"Oh, _really_?!" she spat. "I'm not being treated like an asset!" Tarkin sighed and started to say something, but the furious Moff jabbed her finger against his chest. "I know _nothing_ of your plan, I know nothing about the trap, and we don't even know if Kenobi is going to show up!" She held her head high when Tarkin bristled. "Oh, I'm sorry, are we still pretending that this _Shadow King_ isn't him?" She drew closer to the man and delicately laid her hands on Tarkin's thin chest. "Wilhuff...this man is responsible for my sister's death. You won't keep me from my revenge, will you..."

"He has threatened you," Tarkin hissed. "You know what he said he would do to you, he wants to make you his _slave_!" Tarkin scoffed. "The man we are dealing with has a long memory, and a very good one. He will remember the promises he made of what he would do to you when he caught you."

" _If_ he caught me," Bo-Katan snarled. "I am a warrior of Mandalore! My people have been fighting and killing his kind for thousands of years!"

"The personal nature of your relationship makes you a nearly irresistible target, Bo-Katan," Tarkin said stiffly, his tone harsh and hard and leaving no room for debate or compromise. "If we send you out against him, he will absolutely head right for you. You are too valuable to the Empire to risk."

"Really," the woman said flatly. "Sounds to me like I'm exactly the sort of bait that you and the Admiral were talking about."

"Absolutely not!" Tarkin said firmly. "I will not allow you to become a sacrifice. For all the trouble he causes the Empire, he _isn't_ worth you." He stood taller, staunch and commanding. "The plan we are developing will see our victory over him without risking you."

"So once again, Wilhuff," Bo-Katan said between clenched teeth, "What I am doing here? I could be on Nar Shadda right now doing _actual_ work and instead I am _here_..." She reached up and ran a hand down Tarkin's gaunt cheek, the man's shoulders tightening further. "Safe under your watch so you can _protect_ me..." She sneered. "Like some helpless, pampered Core World _slut_. If you had any respect for me at all, you would send me to fight him!"

"Governor Tarkin..." Thrawn said evenly. "May I offer a suggestion?" His jaw clenched tight, Tarkin stiffly inclined his head. "I believe Mand'alor Kryze is in a unique position to aid us against the Shadow King in a way our other lures cannot. As she says, she is an asset. To have her do nothing would be a waste of a valuable resource."

Tarkin stiffened further. "Admiral, I _cannot_ -"

"I'm listening," Bo-Katan quickly interrupted, shooting a coy smirk to the Grand Moff before she turned her attention on the Chiss.

"The greatest threat that Kenobi poses to us lies in his ability to command the field," Thrawn softly explained. "He sets the rules of engagement, and in doing so, he becomes victorious. Due to the highly personal nature of their relationship, Mand'alor Kryze has the ability to divest him of that control and force him to play on our terms with _our_ rules. An invaluable weapon against him."

"If we lose her, Thrawn, we stand to lose the entire Mandalore oversector, which includes the massive territory of Hutt Space," Tarkin said sharply. "That is a substantial loss."

"So I ask you again, Willhuff," Bo-Katan said sweetly. "Why am _I_ here?" Tarkin's jaw clenched, but he said nothing, and a small, tight smirk came to her face. "You can't very well let me out of your sight when Kenobi's rearing his sweet, handsome face, now can you? Now why is that, I wonder..."

"You _know_ why," Tarkin bit out, his face cold and harsh, and Bo-Katan brought her hand to his cheek, a faint smirk on her face when the Grand Moff's gaze shot away from her.

"I'm going after Obi-Wan," she said in a tone that offered no room for argument. "Either work me into your plans, or I will go after him myself." She bowed tersely to the two men. "I'll see myself out. For the sake of a unified effort, I hope you boys make the right decision."

"Don't leave the building," Tarkin commanded. "We don't know if Kenobi's-"

"I _know_ , Wilhuff. Kriff, you'd think I'm some fragile, ignorant child with the way you're acting..." She rolled her eyes. "Even he's not stupid enough to try and get in here, certainly not after that mess he stepped in over Bandomeer. I'm going to meet with my guard and get some rest, nothing more, so _relax_." With a final flash of a smile to the men, she turned and left the room and stepped out into the hallway, sighing heavily as she ran a hand through her hair.

With a sharp whistle, her two bodyguards stationed at the end of the hallway swiftly turned and abandoned their position, quickly striding to stand beside their leader. Both Mandalorian warriors wore the black and red of Death Watch's Shadow Legion, the armor plating trimmed with the gold of the elite forces and the symbol of Bo-Katan's Nite Owls emblazoned on their shoulders, sitting opposite to the Imperial insignia on the other. Neither were human, and their armor had been customized to accommodate their non-human features, though what those were remained concealed beneath their helmets and heavy plating. She had a third in her personal guard, of course, but Boba Fett had been called out by his father to aid Kenobi in a particularly dangerous mission. She had been happy to send him, of course. Any chance to help Obi-Wan further his plans was a priority, though their contact had been severely limited in order to maintain her cover. She was more useful to him within the Empire, after all. She disliked the deception, but it was a sacrifice she was willing to make.

Bo-Katan smirked to herself as they fell into step beside her, her eyes drifting to the ammunition holsters strapped to their thighs. Specialized rounds, various grenades and triggering devices for explosives filled the individualized sleeved of the holsters, but these two guards carried something else. In three pieces, the parts and components of a lightsaber, able to be quickly and effortlessly assembled if ever the situation called for it. It hadn't yet, but one day, these war orphans, these Jedi younglings raised Mandalorians would have no need to hide their talents.

"Fett returned about an hour ago, Mand'alor," one of the guards said quietly. "He said he'd wait for you in your quarters to give you the full report."

"I'm glad he's returned," she said absently, a bitter taste in her mouth when she thought about the mission that had so badly failed. She hadn't heard exactly what happened, but she didn't need to. Thrawn was alive. She didn't need to know anything else. "How did the sweep of the Imperial Headquarters here go?"

"We have located several weaknesses in the efficiency of the troop patrols, Mand'alor," the other guard said. "For such a supposedly important world, their academy and their command are _terribly_ backwards. It's a wonder they don't have a bigger rebel problem than they do."

"The ranks are rife with incompetence and negligence, Mand'alor." The guard handed Bo-Katan a datapad. "The troops are complacent. We have detained the officers responsible for allowing this attitude to persist. They await your judgement."

"Mandalorian taskmasters have been assigned to provide additional training for the troops stationed here, Mand'alor, but it will take more than that to correct the matter. The Lothal Imperial Academy needs to redesign their basic training."

"I'll pass the information along to Tarkin in the morning," Bo-Katan muttered. "If Lothal is going to be properly defended, it needs to model its academy after _effective_ Outer Rim academies. I'm certain that Tarkin will make the necessary changes. After the rebels have been managed, there will be no purpose for us to be here." Bo-Katan stopped outside the door leading to her temporary offices and quarters. "Go tell our men that we will be leaving within the next few days. I want to get back to killing _real_ criminals instead of these..." She waved a hand in the air and scoffed. " _Smugglers_. Petty criminals are beneath us."

"Even if there's a Jedi among them?" one of the guards asked, a light lit to his modulated voice, and Bo-Katan couldn't keep the smirk off her face.

" _Supposed_ Jedi. Do you think a _real_ Jedi would be involved with criminal activity?"

"No, Mand'alor," the guard said, his tone amused, and the guard on Bo-Katan's other side chuckled softly.

"And the Shadow King?" he asked. "The Empire's most wanted is certainly not beneath the Death Watch."

"True enough..." Bo-Katan said lightly, amusement on her face. "But there has been no sign of the Shadow King here. Best not linger." The two guards laughed in quiet understanding, their hands ghosting over the ammunition holsters on their legs.

"As you say, Mand'alor." Bowing to the woman, the guards turned to leave when the door slid open and they caught sight of their guard captain inside, and with a sigh, Bo-Katan entered the room, sealing the door behind her.

"It took you long enough to return, Fett," Bo-Katan said as she strode past the man and tossed her datapad onto the desk.

"Far too long, Mand'alor..."

Bo-Katan froze, her eyes wide and her chest burning as she struggled to breathe. The modulated voice through the helmet was affected by a clipped, aristocratic accent that she knew all too well, a smooth, pleasant drawl that sent a shiver down her spine, and Bo-Katan quickly turned to face the man wearing Boba Fett's armor. Neither moved for a long while, as if drawing closer would shatter the other like an illusion, but slowly, Bo-Katan took a step toward him, daring not to breathe as she did. When she stood mere inches from the still, silent warrior, she reached up and placed her hand gently on the side of his helmet, a soft whimper torn from her throat as she looked into the dark visor and saw two points of glowing golden light.

 _Obi-Wan_ , she silently mouthed, unable to find her voice, and she swallowed hard when he slightly inclined his head in acknowledgment, his armored hand resting on her cheek and their foreheads gently met, separated by the cold steel of the helmet, but to Bo-Katan, there was nothing between them. After so many years apart, he was _here_.

"I apologize for being late..." Obi-Wan whispered. "The security around here is much tighter than I was led to believe." He glanced slightly to the side, and Bo-Katan's gaze drifted sidelong to the opposite wall and up to where she knew a security camera was situated. They were being watched. She was _always_ being watched.

"Well, you know how Tarkin likes to run things," she said lightly, though her voice trembled, and when she made to push away from the man, she found herself tightly grasping him to her instead. "I was...worried about you."

"Come now, dear..." Obi-Wan softly chided. "You know I will always return to you."

"No, I _don't_ know that," she snapped, finally managing to push herself away, her features drawn and angry, though she couldn't hide the relief, the affection, or the tenderness within her from the Force sensitive before her. "The Shadow King is a real threat, Fett, you know that. You may be Mandalorian, but you are _my_ Mandalorian." She drew closer again, a coy smile on her lips as she ran a hand over the armor of his chest. " _All_ mine...and everyone knows it..."

"Mm, I hope not everyone..." he drawled, his hand resting on her lower back. "I doubt Tarkin would take kindly to that." Bo-Katan laughed softly and shook her head.

"Alright, maybe not him, but the Shadow King absolutely knows who I belong to..."

"Mm, I'm sure he does."

"It's enough to make you a target," she whispered, standing on her toes to bring herself closer to his eye level. "You could be killed..."

"Mm, noted, my Mand'alor," Obi-Wan drawled as the Mandalorian reluctantly pulled away from him. "What did I miss?" Bo-Katan shrugged.

"We're just finalizing the plans to capture the rebels. We have probe droids in the field working to flush them out. We don't have anything yet, but we will soon. There aren't _that_ many places to hide on Lothal."

"Are we sure the rebels are even here?" Kenobi asked, and Bo-Katan nodded.

"We're positive, yes. The Imperials here are _pathetic_ , the entire region is ripe for rebel activity." She shrugged and picked the datapad off the desk and handed it to him. "Look for yourself, the entire system has been run by lazy, ineffective commanders." Obi-Wan took the datapad and quickly scrolled through the list of defective points of Lothal's Imperial network, along with a list of the officers detained for contributing to the problem.

"I...didn't believe they could be so incompetent," Obi-Wan said quietly. "I honestly didn't think the garrison could be this ill-equipt."

"Lothal's only been relevant for a few years," Bo-Katan explained. "The leadership here isn't _bad_ , just ill-prepared to be dealing with a supposed Jedi, which is _apparently_ the problem here." Obi-Wan scoffed in disgust.

"I _sincerely_ doubt that. The Jedi are all dead."

"Perhaps. Regardless of the nature of these rebels, Tarkin will see to it that the deficiencies are corrected." She smirked and laid a hand on his arm as she looked at the scrolling information on the datapad with him. "They're saying the Shadow King is here."

"Saying he is here is a _very_ different thing from him actually _being_ here," Obi-Wan drawled, his finger pausing on the datapad for a moment as he thought. "...who is they?"

"Tarkin and _Thrawn_." She felt his arm tense under her touch, the muscles quivering in their tension even though the heavy armor.

"Thrawn is here?" Kenobi whispered, a cold and dangerous hiss through the helmet's vocal modulator.

"No, but he's involved in the plan to destroy the rebels," Bo-Katan said, covering her mouth as she yawned. "I'd tell you more, but the boys haven't settled on a plan yet. With any luck, Thrawn will be here within the next day or so to help coordinate the attack."

"That would be...a great help," Kenobi said, his tone managing to remain even. "With him here, perhaps we can go home sooner."

"To something more worth our time than a group of five insurgents, yes." She plucked the datapad out of his hand and laid it upon the desk. "With any luck, the Shadow King _will_ be here. I was promised a go at him in the event he does show up."

"I'm surprised that Tarkin is allowing that, I know how much he values you."

"As _what_ , though?" the Mandalorian scoffed. "For all he claims to care about me, he certainly hasn't been allowing me into his confidence. I'll say this for Wilhuff, he is _very_ good at separating business from pleasure." In the dark of the visor, Bo-Katan could see the points of light narrow, and she smiled to herself when she thought about the look she knew was on Kenobi's handsome face. Perplexed, curious, certainly displeased and irritated, his eyebrow raised as he examined her. It was a look he had given Satine _many_ times, her older sister's personal views so often in sharp contrast to her Sith lover.

"What _kind_ of pleasure, exactly, my Mand'alor?" the Sith asked in a low, reverberating growl that she could feel through the armor upon his chest when she laid her hand upon it.

"The kind you don't discuss with your subordinates, _Fett_."

"You are a _tease_..." Kenobi growled, the man looming menacingly over the smirking Mandalorian.

"You aren't the only man that tells me that..." she said, patting the man's chest. "I have another mission for you."

"Already?" he smoothly drawled, following the woman as she moved to her desk. "Are you trying to get rid of me?"

"Wilhuff gets jealous..." she said with a coy smirk, holding out a datacard to him. "Important work, Fett, surrounding the secret project."

"Oh?" he asked, taking the card from her. "I didn't think Tarkin held you in confidence."

"He doesn't, I don't know a thing," she quickly dismissed. "But there are matters surrounding the project we need taken care of. The supply lines are under constant attack by smugglers, pirates and rebel factions. It's not slowing the production estimate, but Director Krennic is complaining again, and Tarkin will do almost anything to get that little bitch to stop talking."

"Mm, rivalry within the ranks?" Bo-Katan scoffed.

"Hardly, Krennic is an ambitious twit and a necessary pest, since he and Galen Erso have been moving the project forward, but he's not in a position to grab for power." She sighed. "Still, we want this project completed within its three year deadline, and that means sending catering to Krennic."

"Very well..." Kenobi said, slipping the datacard into a pouch on his belt. "What will you have me do?"

"Secure the Bheriz sector. We'll be sending more troops there later this month, but I'd feel _much_ better if you were keeping an eye on things."

"What's there that needs defending?"

"A research center, I suppose," she said with a shrug. "I'm not entirely sure, I just know that the last cock fight Tarkin had with Krennic involved the security of the facility."

"I'll see it done, Mand'alor," Kenobi said softly, his breath hitching as the woman drew closer, her eyes cast at the ground and her hands fidgeting nervously before her.

"I wish you success in your task..." she muttered, beginning to reach out to the warrior, but quickly retracted her hand. "...don't leave me again," she quietly demanded through clenched teeth, and she shivered when an armored hand reached out to lightly stroke her cheek.

"I must, my Mand'alor...you know I must."

" _Why_ ," she hissed, bitter and demanding, her hands clenching tightly around his arms. "I am so sick of hiding what we are to each other..."

"Bo-Katan, I-"

"I haven't forgotten my duty," she said sharply. "You and I have important things we must do for the sake of the Empire, but I have been too long _alone_ in my fight, and I won't stand it a second longer." She laid her hand on the side of the helmet, her breath catching as she looked into the visor. "I know you are beside me, but I am _Mandalorian_ , damn it, and I need to _feel it_ , just as I know you do as well..."

"Yes..." Kenobi leaned his forehead against hers, the woman closing her eyes and letting go a shivering sigh. "Soon...soon, my Mand'alor, I _promise_..."

"No, _now_ ," she insisted, forceful and commanding with the conviction that rivaled what her sister's had been. "Not always, I know, contact with each other while you are doing my work endangers the mission, but..." She smiled softly when the man's arm snaked around her waist and drew her against him, a low, almost needy groan in his chest. "I worry about you, my captain. I know you are capable of taking care of yourself, but I worry. It doesn't need to be much. Something to let me know you are safe until we can be together."

"...I'll see what I can do." Kenobi took her hand in his and reverently held it to his heart, the two still for a moment before the Sith Lord turned and left the room, leaving the Mandalorian alone with her thoughts and newfound purpose.

* * *

Kanan attempted to stifle a ragged moan into the crook of Hera's shoulder as he shuddered his climax, Hera's legs wrapped tightly around him and the points of the Twi'lek's heels digging into his lower back pressing and holding him deep inside her. It had been _months_ since they had managed to carve out any significant time for each other. Months of quietly stolen kisses in the moments they were alone in the cockpit, or tucked into private corners before a mission or after their successful return. Months of sitting together when all was quiet, lovingly bringing each other to arousal and anticipatory excitement of being one, only to have Ezra or Sabine demand their attention, or be called upon to break up yet another fight between Zeb and the cantankerous Chopper, or to be suddenly, _rudely_ interrupted by the untimely arrival of an Imperial patrol.

If it wasn't the kids or the Imperials or their own missions that got in the way, it was Obi-Wan, and the Sith Lord wasn't at all shy about dragging the Spectres out on missions, or disturbing them at odd hours of the night for impromptu training sessions, the result of his own sleeplessness and a complete disregard for the need for mortals to rest. The result was the pair of lovers being in contact just enough to feel the ache of lingering touches and arousals met with no satisfaction, but not long enough to ever chase relief with each other. They had always agreed that their mission came first, but now, several months later, the need for each other was beginning to be overpowering.

That afternoon had been spent in intense training with Kenobi as he walked Ezra through the paces with his new lightsaber, the weapon crafted successfully the night before. As always, Obi-Wan was a hard, vicious Master, and by the time he dismissed them for the evening, Kanan was sore and sweating and covered in angry red welts from a lightsaber made to hurt, not to kill, and he and Ezra had staggered back to the _Ghost_ tired and worn and ready to turn in for the night. As soon as they arrived back at the ship, however, Cody and his son Boba were waiting for them, the two Mandalorians demanding the Spectres come with them to fine-tune their shooting, an offer Kanan politely refused, since he was certain he was going to collapse.

It took Kanan and Hera half an hour of quiet sitting on the couch to realize that they had the ship to themselves, and within moments of noticing how quiet it was, they were frantically tearing at each other's clothing, their rush back to Kanan's room interrupted several times by pressing each other against the walls and passionately exploring with lips and wandering fingers. The Jedi's aches and pains were forgotten, soothed away by the feel of his naked, beautiful lover against him and the feel of her around him as they moved together upon his bed. Kanan hadn't realized how much he needed to feel her touch until he had expended himself deep within her and lay breathless and sated in her arms afterwards.

"I'm going to say it..." Kanan muttered into the crook of Hera's neck as he pressed his lips to the soft, green flesh. "I wasn't ready to have kids..."

"No?" Hera asked, sliding of top of her partner and resting her chin on his chest, her eyes locked with his as she ran a hand through his hair. "You could have fooled me."

"Mm, being a father was never in the cards for me."

"And being a mother was never for me, and look where we ended up." She kissed his chest, the ends of her lekku brushing Kanan's sides and making him chuckle and gasp with delight. "Face it, Kanan. You and I are the parents of a bunch of orphans."

"And what a family it is..." he drawled lazily. "The lothrat, the bounty hunter, the tin can, and the cat." He quickly kissed her. "And us, a failed Jedi and an ace pilot."

"And a Lord of the Sith," she quietly reminded, her hands tracing the red welts that still marred his skin. Kanan frowned.

"Does Kenobi really count?" he asked, and Hera lightly hit his chest, the Jedi hissing and wincing as sharp, burning pain returned to the welt.

"He counts, love," Hera said softly. "He's as lost as the rest of us."

"...yeah, I know." Kanan wiggled on to his side and held Hera close to him a hand running over her smooth head and down the squirming lekku, the Twi-lek gasping softly at the attention to the sensitive organs. "He's as big an outcast as the rest of us. Whether he likes it or not, he belongs here with the Spectres."

"He likes it," she whispered, snuggling against the Jedi, their limbs hopelessly entangled. "He's too proud to admit it, but he likes it. If he didn't, we'd all be his slaves by now."

"Yeah, that's probably the most disconcerting thing about him..." Kanan gently kissed the Twi'lek's cheek, groaning softly when he felt her hands absently stroke at his hips, his tired haze fading before the beginnings of arousal that his lover dragged from him with delicate, skilled fingers. "I love being with you like this..." Kanan said breathlessly.

"...it is nice, isn't it?" Hera whispered. "In another time, we..." She shook her head and buried her face against Kanan's chest, though the Jedi wasn't so reluctant to give voice to the deep regrets settled within them.

"We could have been together," Kanan whispered. "With nothing to stand in our way...no duty, no obligations, _nothing_ but us..."

"That would have been nice..." Hera sighed softly. "Instead we have the Empire, the rebellion, our part to play in a greater cause..."

"You _really_ know how to kill the mood, don't you?' Kanan said with a roll of his eyes, swiftly kissing her as he rolled over on her, the giggling Twi-lek wrapping her legs around him. "We have graciously been given this moment. We aren't going to get many like them, so let's _enjoy_ it."

"Kanan Jarrus, you are _incorrigible_..." Hera said, craning her neck up to kiss the man, their lips nearly touching when the discarded comlink within the pile of clothes on the floor went off, and with a heavy groan, Kanan's head dropped to Hera's shoulder.

"Can we just pretend we didn't hear that?" Kanan mumbled, and the pilot lightly kissed his cheek, her hand running through his thick brown hair.

"Your duty calls, Kanan."

"I hate it when it does that..." the Jedi grumbled as he rolled off his lover and walked to the pile of his clothing on the floor, snatching the comlink from under his shirt and sitting on the side of the bed, the Twi'lek edging beside him, her lithe body wrapped in the sheet. He frowned when he looked at the identification of the call, the display showing encrypted symbols that made no sense at all. Kanan rolled his eyes. The _Ghost_ was filled with people that had horrible timing, but he suspected he knew which one this was.

"Hello?" the Jedi asked after he answered the com.

"Kanan, it's Kenobi," the Sith Lord said swiftly, and Kanan frowned. The man sounded breathless or winded, like he had been exerting himself, and Kenobi _never_ sounded like that. In the time he had known him, Kanan hadn't seen the Sith work up so much as a sweat. "News from my sources. It isn't good." Kanan felt a sinking in the pit of his stomach, could feel the Force, his constant companion, wanted or not, pull at the very core of him. The change must have been visible upon his face, because Hera sat up straight, her gaze intense and focused and her lekku betraying her unease with their involuntary, agitated twisting.

"What is it, what's wrong?" Kanan asked, his voice tight, and there was brief scuffling on the other end of the com, faint growls of effort and the very distinctive sound of a lightsaber igniting.

"Thrawn's involved in this," Kenobi said after a moment, and the two lovers tensed considerably. "He isn't here, not yet, but he's quite possibly on the way."

" _Possibly_?!" Kanan said tightly, his hand clenched so tight around the comlink that the edges dug into his palm. On the other end, the Sith hissed, a long string of unintelligible muttering growled to the air before he turned back to the com.

"Tu kvailas irankir. Jidai slastaj, tu kuplah dziuti," the Sith snarled. " _Yes_ , possibly. Thrawn is too dangerous a foe to make assumptions, even when the words come from him directly." The sound of a lightsaber cutting through the air and striking through a heavy, solid object could be heard, and Kanan craned his ear toward the device to try and discern what the sound could have been. "So _yes_ , Jarrus. _Possibly_."

"So, what do we do?" Kanan asked, unconsciously drawing Hera against him she the woman lay a nervous hand upon his shoulder.

"Did you make your plan for hijacking the transmission tower?" Obi-Wan asked, and Kanan groaned.

"You didn't exactly leave us a lot of time to do it, Kenobi," Kanan complained. "Since, you know, you had the need to beat me _absolutely_ senseless."

"I didn't ask t hear your grievances, _Jedi_ , did you do it or not?!" Kanan drew back slightly and looked at the com in his hand. Usually, Kenobi was more than willing to engage in playful teasing, but all that was gone now, replaced with the cold, harsh commands he expected from a Sith.

"We scouted the tower out today, Obi-Wan." Hera said, her hand on Kanan's thigh to lean over and speak into the com. "We have a plan, and we're ready to launch our attack as soon as you are."

"Very good..." Obi-Wan muttered. "Be ready to attack tomorrow evening."

" _Tomorrow_?!" Kanan gasped. "Kenobi, you said we needed to take our time to-"

" _I know what I said, Jarrus_!" Obi-Wan shouted, cold and harsh and Kanan felt the air sucked out of his lungs when the Force ran taught with sudden tension. "I know what I said..." Obi-Wan growled, softer this time. "But if Thrawn is coming, we need to leave."

"I thought you wanted to catch him," Hera said pointedly. "If he's coming right to you, isn't this the ideal time for it?"

"You're assuming he _is_ coming, my dear..." Kenobi said, his tone slowly becoming more relaxed. "Unfortunately, we cannot know that, and furthermore, engaging him on his terms is not a good idea. This is a strategic retreat."

"We could just leave like Kenobi wanted," Kanan said, and Hera shot him a glare.

"We have _never_ run just because something's dangerous and we aren't going to start now," the Twi'lek said firmly. "There are risks in everything we do. They're looking for us, Kanan. If we try to leave now, we'll be stopped."

"You think it will be easier when Tarkin calls for even more ships?" Kanan said in disbelief. "Hera, you're a _great_ pilot. You can get us past the current blockade, I've no doubt of that. But if we're dealing with even _more_ ships?" He shook his head. "I don't want to be caught in a trap."

"Which is why we spring it before they have a chance to fully set it," Obi-Wan said, Kanan and Hera turning their attention away from each other and focusing again on the comlink. "I'm working on something now. It will give you and the rest of the Spectres the chance to get to the transmission tower and get your message out. You are right. Words are powerful, and we need to weaken Trayvis' influence." There was a muffled shout followed by the sound of the lightsaber cutting through the air, and then silence. Kanan felt his chest tighten. "It won't be what I had in mind, but it might be good enough."

"Uh, Kenobi, what exactly ate you doing?" Kanan asked, and there was a brief moment of silence, followed by deep, sinister laughter.

"Don't you worry about that, Jarrus..." Obi-Wan drawled slowly, his voice low and menacing, and a shiver ran through the Jedi. "Stay on guard, Jedi, and be prepared for anything. I will be drawing a lot of attention to myself, but not all of it. You just stick to your plan, send your message, and get out. I'll send you guys coordinates to our rendevous as soon as I get out."

"Will do, Kenobi. May the Force be with you." The silence that fell was heavy and tense, and Kanan could feel something... _wrong_. Something distant and dangerous that lay unseen just out of reach, and he _knew_ that Kenobi felt it too.

"Be mindful of the Force, Kanan," Obi-Wan whispered, his voice laced with apprehension. "There's something wrong in the very heart of it. We are...being tested."

"Tested?" the Jedi asked. "Tested for what?"

"I don't know, but what happens here will determine our path forward." He growled softly, and Kanan could feel the Sith's tension in the Force deep inside his being, the beginnings of a Force bond slowly churning and forming within him. "The way forward is clouded, even to me. Stay cautious, Spectres. Change is upon us."

"What kind of change?" Hera asked. "What does that even mean?" The com crackled with static then fell silent, the Sith Lord gone, and the lovers left alone, a chill running through the both of them. "...this is much bigger than us, isn't it?" Hera asked softly after a moment of silence, and the Jedi slowly nodded.

"Much bigger." Kanan drew the woman closer to him, and she slid into his lap, her fingers lightly tracing the faint scars upon his body, earned from a time before he was Kanan Jarrus. "No matter what happens, Hera," the Jedi whispered, his forehead pressed against hers, "know that I love you."

"I never forget it," Hera said, pressing soft, small kisses to her groaning lover's throat. Their plan was a good one, and knowing Obi-Wan, he'd make certain he was the focus of the Imperial's attention. Still, she couldn't shake the feeling of foreboding she felt deep within her as she looked upon her lover. It was going to be fine. It _had_ to be.


	27. Call to Action

**AN:** **Guys, I am so sorry this took so long to update! Not much time to write this week, and it took a bit longer than I thought when I actually sat down to do it. BUT! It's done, and I made it longer just for you! Next chapter coming to you Monday, I hope. I know exactly what's going on, so it should go quickly. Enjoy, lovelies!**

 _Chapter 27: Call to Action_

The Shadow King stood on top of Lothal's Old Republic Senate Building beside his rancor as he gazed into the sky at the massive Star Destroyer that hung low in the air, its shadow casting the entire city in an eerie, unnatural shadow, dark even under the grip of night. The building itself had been abandoned with the fall of the Republic, but still stood here on Lothal as an important and valuable city landmark, one the Imperials had discussed destroying several times, only to have their plans halted by the stubborn populace. While a military target may have been a more devastating target to the Empire, it was also a more difficult target, one that he couldn't quietly infiltrate with security and suspicion as high as it was, and so, he had chosen _this_ building, one that had little use for the Empire, but resonated with the people of Lothal.

The result was a rallying of the populace of Capital City, thousands of the repressed civilians turning out in the street to witness the extremely public takeover of their beloved monument, the Imperial banner that hung from the building's sloping sides set to flames while a new banner hung from the building's massive spire. A grim inverse of the Empire's own black crest upon their red banner, a symbol born out of the marriage between the ancient Sith insignia and the crest of the Republic, Kenobi's own banner bore the four pointed star burst used by the Sith Empire so long ago, blood red upon pitch black and encircled by the dragon of the Mandalorian Crusaders, the ancient Sith allies and the Sith Order finally joined on a single banner.

The result was pandemonium, which persisted in the streets below him as the local populace looked upon the rancor and its rider perched regally on the top of the senate building.. They all knew what this was. The feared Shadow King had finally come for Lothal, and the recent influx of Imperial Mandalorian soldiers only added to the confusion and the panic, a terrified and uncertain populace turning against the Imperial garrison as they attempted and failed to maintain order. As far as strategies went, it was a good one. Obi-Wan didn't have the numbers to launch a successful attack against the Empire, and so he had weaponized the populace, leaving the Imperials to combat anarchy in the streets before they could even get near the real threat.

The first aerial attack the Imperials launched saw the troops within the troop carrier slaughtered when the Shadow King's red and black glowing blades deflected the rapid suppression fire back at the transport, striking the engines and sending the ship falling in a ball of flames down into the streets below, killing not only two dozen civilians, but equal numbers of Imperial soldiers and officers. The second attack was met with similar results when the mighty rancor had jumped into the transport, its massive claws turning armored troopers into fleshy, bleeding heaps, the steel hull warping and twisting under the beast's assault. The rancor had jumped from the cashing ship to land on the sloped building, it's claws digging in as it climbed the distance to return to its Master.

The third assault saw the transport inexplicably torn from the sky, metal screeching and groaning as it was torn and twisted, the troops inside screaming as they were crushed to death. In light of their failed attempts, no further air strikes were launched, but by that time, falling wreckage and flaming debris had killed so many in the streets that the entire city was in a panic, the population on the brink of riot as the Imperials attempted to maintain order, the situation growing only worse with the arrival of the Mandalorians and the Star Destroyer that loomed in the sky.

As bad as a riot was, the most difficult thing for the Imperials about the situation was their response. In the light of the Trayvis broadcasts condemning the rebel group as dangerous, violent insurgents, the Empire was left with a situation where exercising force against the natives of Lothal would likely result in a massacre, painting Senator Trayvis as a liar, which would spur more people to the rebel cause. A more careful imposition of order, however, while showing the Imperials in a good light, also stood to allow the Shadow King to exercise the full influence of the fear and anarchy he was inspiring, the terrified rioting of the civilians persisting far longer than acceptable, ceding control from the Empire and making such uprisings a more likely event in the future.

The question now was which commander's tactics they would be following, Tarkin or Thrawn. The Tarkin strategy would see the civilians massacred, a swift, effective show of Imperial might that would simultaneously discourage future misbehavior and see to it that the rebels were purged from Lothal. It was brutal and effective, but served to have both short and long term consequences in the Senate, which was miraculously still active after so many years of Imperial rule, though it was largely ineffective, a puppet organization that praised the Emperor for nearly every action he took. However, a massacre of that scale could not be ignored, and Tarkin had been admonished for such brutal tactics in the past, as they ultimately led to further resentment against the Imperials, which in turn led to an Empire whose populace was sympathetic to the rebels, made to look heroic against the cruelties of the Empire.

The Thrawn tactic, however, would attempt to limit casualties, viewed people as Imperial resources that were not to be wasted, and adopted a tactic to save as many lives as possible, giving ground and accepting defeats if it meant living to win the greater conflict. At least, that was what his previous tactics had demonstrated. Obi-Wan didn't know Thrawn nearly so well as Tarkin, but everything the Chiss did was unconventional, bucked against the Imperial ideology of might makes right, and was more than willing to give ground to an opponent if it meant he could seize an advantage later. In this situation, Thrawn would be patient, do everything in his power to enforce the Trayvis broadcasts against the rebels, and while Kenobi may be able to hold this building, growing Imperial sympathies would see the entire planet of stubborn Lothal turned against the rebels for good.

Better yet, the presence of the Mandalorian warriors was sending the people into a frenzy of panic and confusion, the chaos generated by the elite Imperial enforcements only serving to make it more difficult to regain control of the situation. Even better, the confusion was beginning to effect the stormtroopers, the presence of their new Mandalorian taskmasters causing conflict within the ranks when the irreverent Mandalorians swiftly usurped command from the officers in charge when they were proving to be ineffective.

The Senate Building was a carefully chosen target for several reasons, the first of which being that it was an important symbol to the people of Lothal, a building that they had fought to defend, even though it had long stood obsolete in the city. True, Tarkin would not hesitate to destroy it if it meant having a shot at killing Obi-Wan, but there would be hell to pay for angering the citizens of Capital City, not the least of those reasons being that nearly ninety percent of the population worked in the vital Imperial production factories. Displeasing the stubborn, backwards people would not just see major drops in production, but increases in rebel activity, which was already a problem. Taking the building was also proving to be something of a symbolic gesture, one that the Imperials would have a very, _very_ difficult time combating. Obi-Wan had, in essence, peacefully moved in, not attacking the Imperials, but laying claim to Lothal's _people_ and the spirit of freedom the building represented.

Mostly, though, he had chosen it because there was a quick and easy escape route through sewer tunnels that ran below the foundation.

So far, at least so far as anyone knew, the only people that had died were due to failed assaults on the Shadow King, both soldiers and innocent bystanders. Obi-Wan was making no moves, issuing no demands, killing no people but those necessary to defend himself, and it had been keenly noted, not just by the Imperials, but by the panicking civilians as order was slowly, surely restored by Bo-Katan's commandos, not always in the most gentle ways, but nobody was seriously harmed. When the fear had subsided, the people began turning on the Imperials when the Star Destroyer flew low into orbit, hanging menacingly over the city, fear of provoking the so far peaceful man taking over as they demanded they leave the Shadow King alone.

Obi-Wan looked up at the Star Destroyer again. The _Chimera_. Again. He growled, his helmet's modulator making the sound reverberate dangerously, the rancor following his Master's lead with his own deep, savage growl. With the intel from Minister Tua and Bo-Katan, and coupled with the way the Imperials were managing the situation, it seemed very likely that Thrawn was here and managing the situation. It was very likely this was his ship. This was _the_ _Chimera_ , not just one of the imposter ships. Or it wasn't. This could be another trap, another Star Destroyer with a transponder code set to make it appear to be the _Chimera_. How many Star Destroyers were a part of Thrawn's scheme? How many _Chimeras_ were there in the galaxy? Was it just the one, or were there dozens? Hundreds?

Obi-Wan didn't know, and that was, of course, the point. Each _Chimera_ was a trap, and none more so than Thrawn's actual ship. All plans to attack the Chiss had to be put on hold, even with the _Chimera_ in the sky above him, even with the knowledge that Thrawn was in league with Tarkin and on the way to aid him because the ship _might not_ be his. He couldn't simply board the ship like before and attack it, because Thrawn learned from each encounter, and this ship would be better equipt to deal with the Sith than the previous one. This required planning, research, careful timing, a solid strategy. Carelessness would result in capture and death, of that he was certain.

At least the possibility of the Star Destroyer targeting him with its turbolasers was minimal. The Senate building _was_ a valuable piece of art, after all, and the casualties to the Imperial forces that surrounded it would be _quite_ high. And with Bo-Katan on the ground...well, he was fairly certain Tarkin wouldn't risk her.

"Shadow King!" Obi-Wan looked away from the _Chimera_ and down to the streets from where the echoing voice originated, his visor zooming in to look at the Imperial officer standing before the troops, a twelve tiled rank plaque upon his chest. The Sith Lord sneered. An Admiral, but not an effective one. Dealing with Thrawn had spoiled him. "This is Admiral Konstantine of the Imperial Navy. In the name of the Emperor-"

"You have not the right to speak to me, _peasant_ ," Obi-Wan snarled, his voice biting and cutting through the air and silencing the man below. "Send your betters to me, I will have no dealings with peons."

The air filled with the low buzz of hushed voices speaking, the Imperials conferring amongst themselves, and when the Admiral began speaking again, Obi-Wan rolled his eyes and ignored him, instead activating his helmet's comlink. He had some calls to make. The soft dial and the burst of static indicated that the call had gone through, and far below him within the Senate building, the recipiant had answered.

"Greeting: Master! I was worried!" HK-47 gleefully chirped. "Quarry: is it time? Are we going to execute these meatbags? Oh, please say that we are, Master!"

"All in good time, HK," Obi-Wan said softly, his eyes running over the scene before him and watching the soldiers below hold back and contain the restless residents of Capital City. "But perhaps not today, if things go according to plan." The low, electronic whine over the com conveyed exactly what the assassin droid thought of that. "I sense you will have your opportunity for slaughter before the day is out, droid. Things never go as planned."

"Appreciative: oh, I hope so, Master. It's been so long since I have killed something for you."

"...fifteen hours, HK, it's been fifteen hours."

"Dismayed: oh, it may as well be an eternity!" the droid wailed, and the Sith Lord chuckled softly, his hand on the rancor's neck when the beast laid on his belly beside him, a low, pleased growl in his chest as the Sith reached under its helmet and scratched the tough skin around the powerful jaw. "Quarry: can't I go out and kill some stormtroopers? Just one platoon, Master? There are so many!"

"Stay yourself, HK..." Obi-Wan softly warned. "You will have your chance for violence soon enough. Speaking of which, how are our guests?" The faint whirring coming over the com approximated laughter, and soft, panicked pleas for help and mercy followed.

"Regretful: still alive, Master. They are still _leaking_. Presumably about the security detail we executed." There was a brief pause filled with a contemplative mechanical whir. "Analysis: these meatbags are broken, Master. I recommend immediate execution as a remedy."

"Perhaps it _is_ time," Obi-Wan said softly. "Bring them to me, HK. The Imperials are insulting me by not sending out Tarkin or Thrawn. I deserve better than Admiral _Konstantine_." A swift affirmative and the com cut, and Obi-Wan looked down to the Imperials below, where the Admiral was _still_ talking. A swift flash of anger ran through him, the Dark Side coursing and pulsing with violent life that ran from the Sith Lord directly into the rancor, the beast snarling savagely and rearing up, it's long claws digging into the building's domed roof as it barked a loud, deafening roar, and Konstantine was immediately silenced in the rise of panicked shouts and screams from the on looking public. If everything was going as planned, the Spectres would be closing in on the transmission tower. It was about time to attract more attention.

His eyes on the Star Destroyer, he called the second person he needed to talk to, the com chiming a few times before it was answered. "So a Star Destroyer just left its post and headed into low atmosphere. What exactly are you doing down there, brother?" Cody asked, his voice light and amused, and Obi-Wan couldn't help but grin wickedly.

"What I do best, my friend," he drawled in response. "What's it look like up there?"

"Not good," Cody said, the hard, serious tone back in his voice. Three Star Destroyers accompanied by a dozen heavy cruisers, and two of those Star Destroyers are _Chimera_ and _Executrix_."

"Tarkin and Thrawn..." Obi-Wan mused, his eyes drifting over the soldiers below as they repositioned, the Mandalorians forming the front line as the stormtroopers fell back into defensive cover position, a common formation for slowly taking ground. They were planning on entering the building. "So you have a call sign on that third ship, Cody?"

"We do, sir," K-2SO answered tersely. " _Sovereign_ , currently registered as the flagship of Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin."

"Ooh, he's got _two_ Star Destroyers now?" Obi-Wan cooed, looking behind him s HK-47 exited the access hatch and pulled up his two prisoners, the men tied together and gagged, their eyes wide with fear as panicked breaths through already restricted airways made them sway with lightheadedness. "Someone's moving up in the world. What about the _Chimera_ , do we have confirmation on the authenticity of the vessel?"

"That has yet to be determined, sir," K2 said, a hint of irritation in his voice. "And the information you gave me is making it very difficult to calculate the probability of it actually being Admiral Thrawn's vessel."

"It may be irrelevant," Obi-Wan said softly, unable to suppress the faint, sinister grin on his face as he watched the soldiers below retreat slightly upon seeing the two hostages on the roof, the men led to stand before the Sith Lord, and with a deep, pleased growl, Yoda reached out and grabbed one man in each clawed hand, the two screaming and sobbing in newfound terror. "Here or not, Thrawn's tactics are at play. He doesn't even need to be here to make it look like he is, but we _know_ Tarkin is here. We should be focusing on him, no man should have two Star Destroyers anyway."

"Is that the plan?" Cody asked. "Are we going to take down one of the Star Destroyers?"

"Perhaps, I've yet to decide," Kenobi muttered as he leaned in toward the droid at his side. "HK, they are moving to invade the building. If any stormtroopers come any closer than they are now, kill them, but do _not_ shoot the Mandalorians. If it looks like they are safe, it will aid in the suspicion already cast upon them."

"Quarry: not even _one_ Mandalorian?"

"Not even one." With a soft, mechanical groan, HK trudged off, leaving Obi-Wan to stand before his hostages, the sobbing ceasing as they looked into the could, uncompromising visor of the Shadow King. "What is the status of the Spectres, Cody?" Obi-Wan asked quietly, gesturing for the rancor to lower the men, bringing them eye level with the Sith, his hand reaching out to grab one man's chin, and at his touch, he broke into silent, helpless tears.

"All's well. We've got eyes on them and are ready to support if necessary. Here is on standby with the _Phantom_ for extraction while K2 and I cover their escape."

"Very good," he drawled. "It should go smoothly. Expect some trouble, but be prepared for the worst. The force here is _very_ large and they can afford to spread out, but I think I'm about to make myself the focus of their attention. They should have a clear shot."

"Call when you need to be extracted, brother," Cody said quickly, and with that, the call ended, and Obi-Wan turned his full attention to the man before him, his hand tightening upon his chin and forcing him to look into the visor at the glowing gold points of his eyes.

"Senator Gall Trayvis..." the Sith said slowly, the older man shivering and shaking under his grasp. "False dissident and rebel sympathizer, holonet hacker and communications expert, responsible for the execution of dozens of rebel insurgent groups." He laughed deeply, a cold, hollow thing through the helmet's modulator. "You _have_ been busy, haven't you..."

" _P-please_..." Trayvis whimpered, and the Sith Lord groaned softly and patted the older man's sunken cheek.

"I _love_ it when they beg...it won't help you, though." He turned his head to look at the other captive, a much younger man with disheveled brown hair, his cheeks stained with cuts and bruises. "And you. Alton Kastle. Journalist and hononet broadcaster, Imperial propaganda artist, distorter of the truth and liar..." He laughed softly when the young man began struggling, the fight not yet beaten out of him. "You are quite popular with the people. They call you _soothing_ , which makes you very dangerous..."

"You won't get away with this!" he said as strong as he was able, but the shaking in his voice betrayed his fear.

"I already have," Obi-Wan snarled. "And next time you decide to speak, remember who controls the beast that holds you." Alton hissed in pain when the rancor tightened his grip, the young reporter squirming and gasping for air as his chest was constricted. Obi-Wan turned his sights back on Trayvis just as three rapid shots fired from the building, a loud roar of outraged cries coming from the soldiers down below, followed by the sharp barked orders from the officers and the Mandalorian commanders to draw back.

"Shadow King!" Konstantine shouted again. "This is your last warning! You have hostages, release them and-"

"Speak to me again, you insignificant wretch, and I will execute them," Kenobi snapped. "Try explaining to your superiors how you lost a Senator and the holonet's darling on your watch." Quick orders for the soldiers to stand down were shouted, and very quickly, word spread among the civilians of who exactly it was up on the roof, and new panic arose, the soldiers once again forced to turn their attention on quelling the nearly rioting onlookers. Satisfied with the new tensions, the Force straining with anticipation of what was to come, he quickly turned back to Trayvis. "If you value your life," Kenobi said quietly to the Senator, "you will tell me _exactly_ what I need to know, understand?"

"Y-yes, _yes_ , please!" Trayvis squealed, his voice cracking in his desperation as the Sith leaned closer.

"Tell me about the Bridgers," Obi-Wan said, calm and smooth and sweet, and the Senator shivered, whimpering at the sudden pressure on his head, like a vice tightening around his skull, the feeling made even more unsettling by the cool feel of water slowly trickling, not over his forehead, but _within_ his brain. Nothing else mattered. He _had_ to tell the Shadow King exactly what he wanted.

"R-rebels..." he choked out. "H-how did you-"

"Never you mind _how_ I get my information, just know that I have it," Kenobi growled. "You tell me what you know. I need it for..." He chuckled softly. "Who its for is unimportant. _Tell me_."

"T-the Bridger transmissions!" the Senator squeaked. "The last rebels to speak out against the Empire on Lothal. I-I aided in their arrest!"

"Did you..." Obi-Wan said quietly. "Arrest, but not execution. Where are they now?"

"I don't know, transferred to some Imperial prison somewhere, they-" Trayvis gasped, gagging on his words as his chest seized with pain, the rancor's grip tightening around him as the Shadow King took a step back. The Senator was suddenly dropped when the heavy rush of blaster fire pulsed through the air, Yoda dropping to his belly and snarling viciously when bolts of plasma splashing harmlessly against the thick transparisteel visor of the helmet he wore. With a sharp, thrumming hiss, Kenobi ignited the lightsaber he drew from the back of his belt, the black blade crackling with an eerie glow even in the dark of night, the sharp whistle of it cutting through the air and striking plasma ringing with earsplitting intensity.

A quick flash of anger summoned the Dark Side, and this time, Obi-Wan took hold of the reins given to him by his dark companion, and pulling the line taut, the Force howled in fury for the gall of these wretches, the tendrils of darkness branching out and sinking into the rancor, the beast purring in satisfaction for the familiar feeling of his Sith Master settling inside his mind. The beast's black eyes widened, swirling gold and red branching out from its slitted pupils as Sith and rancor became one, and with a deafening roar, Yoda reached down and snatched Alton off the ground, the plasma bolts bouncing off thick, tough skin. Grasping the screaming man between both its powerful claws, the rancor savagely pulled the man apart, blood and viscera showering down to the streets below and with a low, satisfied growl, Yoda threw the torn pieces of the holonet reporter into the throng of soldiers and civilians in the streets.

" _What did I say, Admiral_?!" he shouted, his voice deep and savage, frightening and commanding and carrying with it the fury of the Dark Side, and the panicking civilians and frantic soldiers fell deathly silent, too terrified to move for fear of provoking the man and the beast.

" _Shadow King_!" Man and beast moved as one as they quickly snapped their gaze down to the streets below, the rancor reaching out to snatch the Senator into his grasp when the panicked man began to flee. Twin pairs of golden eyes focused on the Mandalorian standing alone in the street, boldly past the invisible line that had been drawn, her helmet fearlessly removed as she looked up at the Sith in challenge.

"Bo-Katan..." the Sith drawled, the black blade swinging carelessly in his hand, and with a gesture, the Senator floated out of the rancor's grasp to float in the air above Kenobi. "How good to see you. Have you finally come to bow before your king?"

"Funny," the woman scoffed, pointing an accusing finger at the man. "That weapon belongs to _me_!"

"Does it?" Kenobi asked in mock surprise. "Last I checked, the blade was in my possession, and you have _never_ touched it." He sighed heavily and shook his head. "And here I even brought you a gift. Senator Trayvis, I believe, is on your list for further investigation, is he not?" The woman drew up, a look of surprise, confusion, then rage upon her face, and the Sith laughed softly. "Oh, he is. So many on that list have ended up executed as an example to others. I am merely aiding you in your task. You should be _thanking_ me."

"How did you know about my investigation?!" Bo-Katan snapped, and Kenobi merely shrugged.

"Just as anyone manages to secure information, I have spies among the Imperial ranks. Among _my_ people." A low, deep growl rose from his chest, a sound echoed in the rancor by his side. "By what right do you lay claim to _my_ things?!" he snapped, becoming increasingly angry. " _My_ lightsaber. _My_ people! _My Mandalore_!" He held the blade out before him. "You want it? Come get it, slut. Don't worry, I won't kill you. I promised Tarkin that before I was done with you, the only thing left in your mind would be a burning desire to pleasure me in _any_ way I desire..."

"Oh, I have had _enough_ of you!" Bo-Katan snarled, slamming her helmet on her head and drawing her twin blasters. "That man," she growled, turning to address her troops, "has been making a mockery of Mandalorians for long enough! The Senator he holds may as well be dead, do not allow this _insurgent_ to hold power over us a second longer!" A pit dropped in Admiral Konstantine's stomach when he realized what was about to happen, and he rushed forward toward her, but dared not cross the line in the sand, the divide between safety and a swift, fatal shot from within the building.

"Moff Kryze, you cannot do this!" he frantically pleaded. "Admiral Thrawn's orders-"

"If the Admiral doesn't like it, he can come take control of the situation himself! I will not be strong-armed by this _traitor_!" She whistled, a sharp, cutting sound, and the Mandalorians quickly fell in behind her. "Retake the building, cut off his every means of escape! No matter what, do not allow him to elude us, but do not engage him. This fight is between me and him!"

"Single combat, Bo-Katan? As you wish..." Obi-Wan said flatly, his clenched hand relaxing, his grip on the Force loosening, and as Trayvis fell from the air, a swift, vicious cut from the whistling hum of the darksaber sliced through the Senator, the bisected body landing with a wet, heavy thud upon the sloped roof, the pieces tumbling unevenly down and streaking the sides of the white building with a red, gory trail. Before the body even hit the ground, Bo-Katan was in the air, her jetpack blazing as she rocketed toward the Sith Lord, her Mandalorian forces led by Boba Fett rushing into the building as their Mand'alor commanded, several companies of stormtroopers following their lead and running behind them, their heads ducked to avoid the swift and sudden shooting coming from a high window in the building, each shot burning a fatal strike into pristine white armor.

Bo-Katan flew low along the curved slope of the roof to minimize the likelihood of being hit by stray blaster fire, her blasters clutched tightly in her grasp, and as soon as she rounded the top, the Shadow King in clear view, she pressed off the roof and flipped back in the air, her blasters trained on the man and opening fire, the pistols alternatively shooting with rapid precision. The black blade swung with perfect timing, the small, precise movements knocking bolt after bolt away from him before he reached out and grabbed hold of the woman with the Force, and pulling hard against her, Bo-Katan was pulled out of the air and sent crashing to the roof, her blasters knocked out of her hand and skidding off the slanted roof.

She dodged out of the way just in time to avoid the heavy, armored fist that slammed on the ground just where she had been a moment earlier, her hands planted on the solid ground and her leg sweeping out behind her catching Kenobi's legs and taking them out from under him, only to have the Sith Lord recover mid-air with a graceful flip and land in a ready crouch before her, the darksaber shutting off as he returned it to his place on his belt. The moved at the same time, each pressing off the ground and racing toward the other, Bo-Katan's speed aided by her jetpack and Kenobi's augmented with the power of the Force.

They met with the sound of dense, heavy metal colliding, balled fists striking armored shoulders as they attempted to twist out of the way, a swift flurry of powerful punches and kicks, quick evasive dodging, and rapid, last second blocking turning the conflict into a furious storm of martial combat. The small, lithe woman was proving to be far more agile, skidding on the ground and flipping to avoid the stronger strikes of the larger man, her advantages matching his in a perfect harmony, the two warriors balanced in speed and strength, preventing the other from taking the advantage at any given time. Occasionally, glancing blows would land, diverting their course only to have them move effortlessly into the new movements, not a second wasted in the swift, tactical match between the Mandalorians.

It only took a minute for them to fall into an effortless rhythm, years and years of training together allowing their bodies to move in perfect counter to the other, each strike, each block, each step instinctual, like they had done this a thousand _thousand_ times, because they had. It was vicious, yes, a brutal confrontation where each strike was meant to cause serious harm, but it had always been this way with each other, each sparring match a fight for survival, each training session a struggle to bring harm to the other, and in doing such, Obi-Wan and Bo-Katan had sharpened the other, pushed themselves to the outer edges of their abilities and crafted something as deadly as it was beautiful. As they fought, Obi-Wan could sense excitement and elation within the Mand'alor, the exact same feeling that pounded in his chest.

"It has been so long since we have fought each other," Obi-Wan said lightly, his hand extended to push back on the woman's shoulder with the Force, the slight shift in her balance causing her punch to miss, and balance lost, she went with it and rolled forward, jumping up and spinning in the air, a swift, whipping kick cutting through the air to catch Kenobi in the head, and the Sith Lord grunted in pain and irritation as he pushed the woman far away from him.

"Much too long if you would fall for that one," she said lightly, her arm extended as she fired two swift, stunning pulses at the Sith from the guard on her wrist, a wave of his hand calling the Force to his command to dissipate the energy rushing toward him. "We shall have to correct that. Meet me on Carlac after our work here is done?"

"Mm, perhaps. We shall have to see how this goes." They both rushed forward, their right arms raised behind their shoulders as they wound up to strike each other, each catching the other's attacking wrist in their left, the two struggling for control when they found themselves locked together, too dangerous to let the other go. "So," Obi-Wan chirped, "what's the plan?"

"I don't know, _sweetie_ ," Bo-Katan said in a voice tight with tension. "There _was_ a plan, but all that went out the window when you took over." She quickly pulled both arms down, jerking the Sith Lord forward and right into the knee she drove into his stomach, Kenobi grunting from the impact and catching her jetpack in his hand as she spun away only just too slow. With a vicious snarl, he pulled back, sending the women toppling backwards with a startled cry, the Sith swinging his leg around and slamming his heel down on her stomach, a sharp, pained gasp torn from the woman as she was pinned, leaving her gasping to catch the breath that was knocked out of her.

"Is Thrawn here?" Kenobi asked smoothly, leaning over her and putting more weight down upon the leg on the woman's stomach as her hands clawed at his armored boots in an attempt to free herself.

"Well his ship's here, isn't it?" Bo-Katan snarled between clenched teeth, coughing when Kenobi angled his heel just right to make her heart start fluttering in panic of being crushed.

"I didn't ask about his ship, _love_ , I asked about _him_."

"I haven't seen him," Bo-Katan growled as she slammed her fist into the unarmored joint behind Kenobi's knee, causing the man's leg to buckle, and with the sudden release of pressure, the Mandalorian kicked both her feet upwards, catching the Sith Lord just beneath his helmet and sending him dazed to the ground, the woman springing off her hands to land with her knee upon his chest, her small fists repeatedly slamming into the exposed, vulnerable joints in the armor, the Sith snarling and growling in pain and anger with each strike. "Is this what you wanted?" the Mandalorian hisses, punctuating each word with another strike to his body and indicating with her head to the absolute chaos below, the rancor on the roof with them bounding back and forth as he snarled and hissed in distress.

"Exactly what I wanted," Kenobi snarled, his arm hooking under Bo-Katan's leg and throwing her over, the Sith rolling with her and landing with his legs pinning hers, his weight pressed down on her hips as he mounted her, an arm laying across her wrists to hold her arms still. "Chaos...look above you, Bo-Katan."

"You aren't giving me a choice!" the Mandalorian spat as she tried to buck the man off, but to no avail.

"That Star Destroyer has its turbolasers primed. I've no doubt that they'd finally be shooting at me if you weren't here."

"Yeah, that's what happens when you brutally murder two _very_ public figures!" Bo-Katan snarled in fury when Kenobi tore her helmet from her head and tossed it to the side, a coy smile on her lips when Obi-Wan ran his fingers down her cheek. "You're lucky that killing you isn't worth losing me. I am _very_ highly valued by Wilhuff..."

"Mm, _Wilhuff_..." Obi-Wan mocked. "Sounds like love..."

"Don't be _ridiculous_!" the Mandalorian snapped, her struggling renewed as she thrashed under the Sith's grasp, a deep chuckle sounding through the mask's modulator.

"Perhaps I will make good on some of my promises to Tarkin," he drawled, his hand threading through her bright red hair. "Think of how mad he'll be when I ravage his precious Mandalorian..."

A loud roar of an oncoming ship reverberated through the air, and a distant ship flew from the Star Destroyer down to the building they fought upon, the troop transport turning sideways on its approach and opening fire, the Sith swiftly rising to his knees and drawing the black blade, the weapon slicing through the air and knocking the bolts back at the ship. With a savage, barking snarl, the rancor galloped on all fours toward the ship and with a powerful push of its rear legs, Yoda launched himself at the ship, sharp claws piercing metal as the beast clung to the transport. Immediately, the ship was knocked out of equilibrium, the uneven weight sending the transport spinning as it fell, the rancor savaging the hull and reaching for the troops inside as it crashed.

The momentary distraction was enough to allow Bo-Katan to kick her leg free, causing the Sith to pitch sideways and she quickly rolled atop of him, her hands quickly reaching out to grasp the wrist that held the saber, the Sith's awkward angle and her dominant position allowing the smaller woman to temporarily out-power the man. "If you're going to ravage me, _Shadow King_ , it damn well be for a better reason than making Tarkin angry." She gasped in shock as cold suddenly gripped her, and before she knew what was happening, she was flat on her back, Obi-Wan straddling her hips and the black blade angled down toward her chest, her outstretched arms holding his wrists the only thing keeping the weapon from piercing through her.

"I'm willing to take that as an open invitation..." Stilled for a moment, he took a few long, deep breaths, Bo-Katan not moving a muscle as she looked up at him. Without warning, the lightsaber retracted and he clipped it back on to his belt, his other hand wrapping around the woman's throat, his grasp firm, but not enough to keep her from breathing. "Cody, Yoda is in the city," he said quietly into the com in his helmet. "I'm sending him out to rendevous point six. Extract him and return to monitor the Spectres."

"Copy that, brother," the clone said after a moment of silence. "Whatever it is you're doing, keep it up. The Spectres are dealing with minimal resistance, they're all too busy dealing with you."

"The other Star Destroyers?" Obi-Wan asked as he stood, dragging Bo-Katan up with him and holding her captive against him, one hand wrapped around her wrists and holding them against her lower back, and the other laying across her chest.

"Still standing by, sir."

"Keep an eye on those, Cody, the second they move, we can expect trouble."

"It's always trouble with you, Kenobi..." Cody grumbled. "One day, I'm going to retire on Zeltros and have a harem of beautiful women to serve me, and there will be _no trouble_." The com cut and Obi-Wan chuckled deeply, holding the struggling Mandalorian closer.

"Make a show for your boyfriend, my Mand'alor," Kenobi whispered. "He's certainly watching me triumph over you."

"You always do in the end," Bo-Katan said softly, her entire being filled with deep respect and admiration. "It's good to see you're still worthy of leading us, the years have done nothing to dull your edges." She scoffed bitterly. "Or perhaps not having you around has failed to keep me sharp." She struggled violently for a moment, gasping in pain when her arm wrenched painfully in his grasp. "...I need you," she whispered, her head hung in defeat, her entire being relaxing against the Sith Lord.

"Bal ni gar, ner Mand'alor...and I you." Obi-Wan growled deeply, his grasp on her tightening when the main hangar doors on the Star Destroyer opened up. "Who do you suppose is going to take the fall for this failure?"

"Not me," she said, wincing even as she chuckled softly. "Admiral Konstantine will certainly be blamed for his inability to act against you. There will be others, though who can say who will be on the end of Tarkin's wrath. He won't be happy about what's happened to me."

"I imagine not..." He drawled, his eyes focused on the squadron of TIE fighters that screeched through the air toward them, the Sith raising his hand to hold Bo-Katan in the air as he drew his red and black sabers, preparing to destroy the starfighters when they shot at him. Bracing himself, Obi-Wan watched as the TIE fighters flew swiftly toward him, then watched in stunned surprised as each starship in the squadron flew overhead and then past, nearly twenty of the speedy ships rocketing toward the distant transmission tower in the distance. He could feel his heart stop in his chest as the cold gripped him, the Force flowing and pulsing around him as he began to realize that he may not have been the focus of the Imperials.

No sign of Tarkin or Thrawn, no ISB Agent Kallus, no Grand Inquisitor. And now, Obi-Wan was pinned down in the city, far, _far_ away from his Spectres. This had felt like a test before, and the feeling returned now in force, a cold panic gripping him when the chances of losing the new family he had _just_ adopted suddenly seemed like an inevitable reality.

A test...but for who?

"Obi-Wan!" Cody's voice said over his helmet's com, tight and tense in concentration. "I've got the rancor, but the Star Destroyers? _They're moving_. Not toward you, toward the communication tower, they're closing in on the Spectre's location!"

"The other Destroyer just released a squadron of TIEs that headed that way as well," Obi-Wan growled, his grip on his lightsabers tightening as more of the starships were dispatched from _Chimera_. "Get in there and extract them, Cody! You only have a few minutes before they arrive, hurry!"

"Already on the way, brother," Cody said quickly. "I shouldn't be...wait..." There was a burst of static and the sharp whine of interference, Kenobi gritting his teeth as the ringing in his ears subsided, giving way to the sounds of explosions and blaring alarms. "W-what?!" Cody shouted in the background, swift and violent cursing following as he scrambled in the cockpit. "Obi-Wan, we've been hit!" the clone snapped, addressing the Sith Lord once again. "It's not bad, but..." Another explosion and more violent curse. "Damn it, they _see us_! Kenobi, they're tracking us, the kriffing Star Destroyers are on us!"

" _Engage the stealth drive, you imbecile_!" the Sith shouted, releasing the Mandalorian from the Force's grasp and furiously striding back and forth across the roof, his lightsabers effortlessly batting back the green bolts of energy fired from the low flying TIEs and sending several of them spinning out of control to crash into the surrounding buildings when reflected energy pierced the thin wings.

" _It is engaged_!" Cody shouted back. "Obi-Wan, they're tracking us somehow!"

"... _oh, that little shit_!" Obi-Wan shouted, his hand extending and blue lightning arching from his fingertips, the wide, savage spread electrocuting several TIEs as they passed, shorting out the systems and sending them crashing to the ground. "Anas yunoks asilas, nu valia zudyti jis! Tarkin knows the technology, he used it on his personal ship before I stole the _Carrion Spike_ and crashed it into a research center! He knows the stealth system, and he knows how to beat it. This was never Thrawn's trap, this was Tarkin's from the beginning! Sith Hells, I am an _idiot_!" Kenobi paced as he listened to Cody bark orders as K-2SO, commanding the droid to refine the clone's piloting and correct any mistakes he made. "Cody, get out of there while you can, make the jump and _get out_."

"Obi-Wan, the Spectres are still down there, and-"

"Hera will get them out, she's a better pilot than you!" Obi-Wan snapped. "Contact her and tell her what's happening and then get yourself out of there!"

"And what about you?" Cody growled defiantly. "I'm not leaving you behind."

" _I'll be fine_ ," the Sith hissed, his eyes focusing on the new group of TIEs released from the Star Destroyer. "You will obey me, Commander Cody. I may lose a family today, but I will _not_ lose you as well!" For a long moment, there was silence as the Sith paced, his hand clenching and unclenching as he eyed his targets.

"Understood, sir," Cody said between clenched teeth. "Don't die on me, Kenobi, I-" The clone growled deeply. "Never mind. Ib'tuur jatne tuur ash'ad kyr'amur. Today is a good day for someone else to die. May the Force be with you, brother."

The com cut, and reaching his hand out, Obi-Wan gripped the recovering Bo-Katan with the Force, dragging her toward him and holding him in the air before him. "Does your jetpack still work?" he asked, and the Mandalorian nodded. "Very well. Happy travels, beautiful," he drawled and with a flick of his wrist, Obi-Wan threw the Mandalorian off the sloped edge of the roof, the woman crying in surprise as she plummeted toward the ground. Kenobi felt her life through the Force as the TIE fighters screeched toward him, the woman surprised, panicked, relieved, and then an odd, comforting mix of grateful and positively furious, injured and worn, but alive and well.

"HK," Obi-Wan barked into the com. "Whatever it is you are doing now, get yourself out of it and come to me. I don't care who you have to kill, just come here quickly."

"Affirmation: understood, Master," the droid said swiftly, the com falling silent, and Obi-Wan turned his attentions to the sky.

His attention on the TIEs, Obi-Wan dove out of the way as the fighters flew fast and low, their weapons discharging indiscriminately to hit him now that the Moff was out of danger. As they flew away on their first pass to circle around for the second, Obi-Wan put the darksaber away, his hand crackling with lightning as he centered himself in the Force, his eyes focused on a single fighter. Breathing deeply as the ships rushed toward him, he bent his knees, enveloped himself in the primal, savage rage that rushed through him, the panic of losing yet another family filling him with the focus to stop it. He wouldn't lose anyone today. Not _anyone_.

His red saber batting back the green plasma fired at him as the starfighters flew lower to better their aim, several ships spinning out of control when a line of lightning tore several out of the air, and the Sith allowed the second pass to fly overhead, the TIE fighters regrouping right before they came in for the third pass, even more falling to deflected bolts and lightning strikes as the Sith held his ground. When the droid rushed up to join him, its rifle in its grasp, its outer plating worn and covered in blood, it was time. Waiting for HK to stand beside him and eyeing the fighters as they circled around, more ships joining their ranks on this pass, Obi-Wan readied himself, silently commanding the droid to bring down every ship it could save for the one he had set his sights on.

The droid opened fire on the TIEs as they swept in for another low pass, the Sith covering HK as he fired, and just before they passed, Obi-Wan jumped up high, flipping in the air to angle himself just right, and reaching out, he grabbed the rust-colored droid and pulled, the mechanical flying through the air to the falling Sith, and together, they landed on the top of Kenobi's selected starfighter. A quick gesture of his hand and the cockpit hatch opened, the droid leaning in and shooting the pilot in the head, and with another pull of the Force, Obi-Wan tossed the body out of the ship, dropping in himself to land in the pilot's seat and assume the controls. When HK dropped down behind him and closed the hatch, Kenobi flipped the ship around, and shot the remaining two TIEs out of the air, and pushing the small fighter to full speed, the cockpit filled with the high-pitched whine of the fast and powerful engines as Obi-Wan shot toward the transmission tower.

* * *

"You said I'd have time, Kanan!" Sabine shouted over the Jedi's hand-held com, her usual calm beginning to shatter under the untimely arrival of transport ships, stormtroopers, TIE fighters. The Mandalorian was with Chopper high up in the large oval control room atop the massive, vertical spike that was the transmission tower, hard at work installing the data spike that would give them control of the tower, and with Zeb and Ezra manning the tower's defensive turrets and Kanan dealing with anyone that got past them, he could buy the girl a little time before Hera got down for extraction...but it wouldn't be much.

"Well, we don't have time anymore, Sabine," Kanan said, his eyes on the transports coming quickly down the long expressway from the Capital City proper. "How much time do you need?"

"I don't know, three minutes?" the Mandalorian said, cursing under her breath in her native tongue. "I might be able to go faster, but we have ships enclosing and I don't want to give away our location!"

"Right, agreed," Kanan said quickly. "Keep your head low, Sabine, I'm calling in Hera for pickup. Do what you can before we go." He cut the com and quickly called up Ezra, the device picked up almost immediately by the boy.

"Little busy, Kanan," Ezra said quickly, the sound of the turret cannon pulsing in the background paired with the green flash of the weapon that Kanan could see from his position.

"Busy or not, it's time to go," Kanan commanded forcefully. "Before we're completely trapped, we need to make our escape _now_. Get Zeb and meet me back here."

"Kanan, our extraction point-"

"Has changed. Do as I say and get back here." He cut the com, keeping his eyes on the turret that Ezra was operating, the lines of fire still being shot at the oncoming transports, and when the flash of an explosion lit up the dark, Kanan could see his young student jump off his post and onto his speeder, racing across the distance across to the other turret where Zeb was shooting TIE fighters out of the air. With the kids on their way, the Jedi punched in the frequency to Hera.

"What's wrong, Spectre One?" Hera asked tersely. "There's a lot of activity up here. I don't like it. There's no way Spectre Zero is causing all this."

"You're right, he isn't," Kanan said, relief washing over him as Zeb and Ezra came shooting across the compound, the two jumping off their speeder and running to Kanan's side, their blasters drawn and ready to make a stand with the Jedi. "We need you for extraction at the top of the transmission tower immediately."

"That wasn't part of the plan, Spectre One, we-"

"Plans change, just get down here!" He didn't give her a chance to respond as he clipped the com back on his belt and took his lightsaber in hand, the blade igniting as troops surrounded the area and slowly began advancing, the sky above them filled with circling TIE fighters, not firing, but trapping them in. There was nowhere to go but inside the transmission tower. Beside him, the snapping hiss of Ezra's lightsaber powered on, casting the wall behind them in its green glow.

"Why aren't they shooting at us, Kanan..." Ezra whispered, his hands clutched tightly around the weapon, his eyes on two incoming shuttles.

"Looks like they're trying to take us alive..." Kanan muttered, his hand slamming on the control panel behind them to call down the elevator from above, one of the shuttles hovering above them, the loading hatch opening and a lone figure dropped from the ship, falling the distance and landing effortlessly on the ground. He stood, his pale skin a sharp contrast to the black he wore, and Kanan gripped his lightsaber tighter. " _Shit_..."

"The Inquisitor?!" Ezra said, his voice high and tight with fear and panic. "What's the Inquisitor doing here, I thought our friend-"

"Or friend is a much bigger, much scarier predator than this guy, of course he's going after smaller fish!" Kanan snarled as he stepped in front of Zeb and Ezra, his eyes narrowed as he stared down the Inquisitor as the red blade ignited.

"I see your student now has a lightsaber," the Inquisitor drawled as he slowly approached, stopping when Kanan took steps forward to meet him. "So there are officially two of you now?" He chuckled softly, low and sinister. "I have always appreciated a challenge, though I fear it will not be much."

"Eyes off the boy, ugly, I'm all the challenge you need," Kanan growled, breathing deeply as he raised his saber, the elevator behind them hissing open. "Zeb, Ezra, go," he called over his shoulder, and his young student stepped forward, stopped only when the Lasat grabbed his wrist.

"What about you?" Ezra asked, and Kanan flashed him a quick, devious grin.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be right behind you." Ezra slowly nodded, allowing Zeb to pull him inside the elevator, his eyes on his Master as the door closed, and Kanan turned his attention back to the Inquisitor, his expression hard and serious as he locked eyes with his opponent. Kanan flipped his lightsaber around, caught it backhanded, and thrust the blade into the elevator controls, shorting them and blocking off all access to the transmission tower from the ground. The Inquisitor's eyes widened for a moment and narrowed when he realized that something was amiss.

"You mean to sacrifice yourself?" the Inquisitor asked incredulously, his blade held out before him. "It won't matter, you know. This is the end for you, just as it is the end for your friends. There is no escape."

"You don't think so?" Kanan asked, a clever smirk on his face as he quickly blocked the Inquisitor's sudden strike, the red blade fast in its uncompromising offense, but Kanan kept up easily, his own blade moving effortlessly as he caught each strike, his time training with the Sith Lord paying off as his calm resolve held fast. "Because the way I see it," Kanan drawled, "you're only here because there's something very, _very_ scary in the city. Something much stronger than you." A wicked grin spread across Kanan's face as the unmistakable look of fear stained the Inquisitor's face, the fingerless hand at his side flexing as his muscles filled with tension. "And you know what?" Kanan chirped. "He gets _really_ angry when you touch his stuff, and me and my crew? We're _his stuff_."

Fear turned to rage, and with a savage howl, the Inquisitor increased his speed and power, his saber beating against Kanan's with all his strength, the Jedi managing to perry each blow, but he was forced to retreat, the Inquisitor controlling the flow of battle. "You've been _practicing_ , Jedi," he snarled. "It won't make a difference..."

"Maybe not," Kanan growled, his saber moving up, down, spinning as he struck back against the Inquisitor, a smirk on his face as he heard the familiar sound of engines in the air as the _Phantom_ screeched through the sky, masterfully evading fire from the TIE fighters as it swooped down low toward the transmission tower to pick up the Spectres. "Must be frustrating to know that no matter your advantage, _you lose_." Realizing what was happening, the Inquisitor grabbed the Force and pushed Kanan hard, the Jedi resisting for a moment before the Inquisitor slammed his red saber against blue and kicked Kanan in the chest, the Jedi flying backwards to hit the wall. Before he fell, the Force grabbed hip and slammed him hard against the wall, immobilizing him as the Inquisitor quickly barked commands to the Imperials to focus their fire of the new arrival.

"Spectre One!" the com at the Jedi's belt sounded, and he grabbed the device, struggling against the pressure to bring it to his lips. "What are you doing, get up here!"

"There isn't any time, Spectre Two, get out of here!" Kanan hissed, the Inquisitor's eyes turning on him, the TIE fighters in the sky circling around and preparing for an attack run on the vessel as their weapon systems locked on, the anti-aircraft cannons around the tower back in Imperial control and aiming at the _Phantom_.

"We aren't leaving without you!" Hera said without a beat, and Kanan's hand tightened on the com.

" _Now, Hera_! Before it's too late!" The _Phantom_ wavered in the air, the pilot's hesitation obvious, the TIE fighters beginning their attack run just as the shuttle lurched into movement a moment too late, evasive action taken as it began to fly away, but was quickly overwhelmed. The screeching howl of another TIE cut through the air, this one approaching at full speed, the starfighter spinning as it fired, its green plasma bolts shooting toward the swarm and striking the TIE fighters, several ships hit and destroyed as they fell in flames toward the ground. It was immediate chaos, the TIE fighters breaking away to fall back into formation to deal with this rogue starfighter, but the ship would not let up, relentlessly pursuing the other fighters in an effort to break them up and free up the skies.

Now with a new target, one of the anti-air cannons locked on to the speedy TIE, the powerful lasers firing at both the rogue ship and the _Phantom_ , but with their attention now divided and the renegade ship shooting starfighters down, Hera's expert piloting allowed her to steer the _Phantom_ through the sky, covered by the rebel TIE fighter as they made their escape. Kanan grinned like an idiot when the two ships disappeared from view. He knew they were not in the clear yet, but Hera was a good enough pilot to evade whatever the Empire could throw at her, so long as she had the ruthless Kenobi supporting her. The smirk dropped from his face when the Inquisitor's lightsaber pointed at his neck, a triumphant grin showing his sharp, pointed teeth.

"Well..." the Inquisitor drawled, his hand extended and the Jedi's saber flying to his hand. "It seems as if your friend is _not_ coming for you."

"So much the better..." Kanan whispered, his eyes on the sky as it filled with ships, the circle of soldiers tightening around him, his hands grabbed and roughly cuffed behind him, and he was pushed toward a waiting shuttle. "Though, I have to tell you, I usually have my dates buy me dinner before I let them cuff me."

"We shall see if that carefree attitude of yours lasts, _Jedi_ ," the Inquisitor snarled as he stepped on to the shuttle, the hilt of his lightsaber striking the back of Kanan's head and sending the man grunting to his knees in pain. "You don't seem to understand the gravity of your situation." The pale hand grabbed Kanan's chin and forced him to look into the ruthless yellow eyes. "But you will, _Jedi_. Grand Moff Tarkin will see to that when he makes an example of you as a warning to all those who would oppose the Empire."

The shuttle lifted off the ground, and Kanan watched in silence as gunner ships took position around the transmission tower and swiftly destroyed it, knocking out communications around the planet, the Imperials willing to destroy a potentially sabotaged tower rather than preserve their asset and correct the problem. Kanan silently hoped that the swift destruction had meant that their message had gotten out, otherwise the entire mission would have all been for nothing, though even if it was a failure, Kanan didn't regret his sacrifice. He'd bought Hera and the rest of his family the time they needed to escape, and that was enough.

Breathing deep, he watched the tower burn as it fell, and strengthened his mental defenses in preparation for his meeting with Tarkin.


	28. Rebel Resolve

**AN:** **Or: The Grand Inqusitor's Really Shitty Day.**

 **So remember how I said no update until Monday? Uh...FOOLED YOU! I managed to belt this one out like a kriffing pimp, so here you go! I'm actually getting started on the next chapter, like, now, but I doubt I'll finish it tomorrow. Expect it Tuesday, and after that, I gotta get the next chapter of Blood of Mandalore up. Those lovelies have been just about as patient with me as you guys. Gotta give them the love, since the next chapter is, you know, the payoff from eleven chapters of build-up. Like how the next chapter of this baby is going to be friggin' epic. I hope...**

 **Anyway, enough rambling. Enjoy, my lovelies!**

 _Chapter 28: Rebel Resolve_

 _Come on, Hera, keep it together. You can do this_.

By some miraculous show of will, Hera had managed to keep herself calm, her emotions in check, a necessary thing in light of the situation. When the situation got tough, her crew could always turn to her and Kanan to keep them focused, to keep everyone logical when emotions ran high, to keep them from making foolish, impulsive decisions. They had always worked together in this, drew strength from the other if they felt weak, if they were too involved and couldn't see objectively, if the mission hit a nerve by striking too close to home, Kanan and Hera had always compensated for each other. And now, in the time of her greatest need, Hera had to do it alone because Kanan was _gone_.

It had been the hardest thing she had ever done. The focus necessary to fly them to reconnect with the _Ghost_ and then to the safety of the jump point had helped, but nothing could block from her mind Ezra's anguished cries for his Master as he clawed at the locked hatch. Nothing could explain to Sabine why they hadn't fought harder, why they were so helpless to save him. Nothing could ease the grim expression from Zeb's face as the genocide survivor lived through the pain of grief all over again. Even the foul-tempered Chopper, who claimed to like _nobody_ , was sullen and morose. It had taken everything in her power not to show the kids how badly she hurt, how deeply personal this loss was for her, to not curl up in the seat and sob for the man their mission had forced her to let go. The mission first, _always_ the mission first...

Once they had jumped, the trip through hyperspace stretched to eternity, though the jump was a short one. The pain in Hera's chest became unbearable, the dull, throbbing ache threatening to tear her open, the silence feeling as though it would swallow her whole. Nobody moved, nobody spoke, they all just sat and stared out the viewport at the lines of blue and while, once so calming to the pilot, but now they only felt like the cold indifference of the stars. No matter who was lost, no matter the pain they felt, the galaxy would continue on, and Hera knew she must as well. Kanan had sacrificed himself to save them, and he had done it without a second thought, just like he had always promised he would. What they were to each other didn't matter in that moment. Or perhaps it did. Perhaps he had done it _because_ he loved her, because the Spectres were family, because they were worth dying for, not because of any great and noble cause, but because the idea of their loss was too terrifying for Kanan, who had lost so much, to face again.

They had always known this might happen. They had always known that they may one day be called upon to let someone go for the sake of freedom, for the rebellion, to see the end of the evil that plagued the galaxy. And deep down, Hera always knew that the guilt, the pain, the loss would be hers to bear. And it was worse than she could have ever imagined. She knew part of her crew blamed her for what had happened, for not doing more to save him, but there was _nothing_ that could have been done without getting the rest of them killed. And still, Hera _did_ blame herself. The plan was too risky, too foolish too quickly executed. Kenobi's instinct to turn away and abandon Lothal had been the right call, but Hera stupidly insisted.

She didn't regret it, just as she never regretted actions done to help those suffering. The message had gotten out before the tower was destroyed, an inspirational plea from Ezra for the people to be strong, because the fight for something better was never without loss or sacrifice, but in the end, it was worth it for freedom. She clung to that now, and only hoped that she wasn't the only one touched by the young Jedi's heartfelt plea. And even if it amounted to nothing, they were still alive, and they could fight, and maybe, just maybe, Kanan was still alive. Maybe they could save him. _Maybe_...

The pilot nearly broke completely when they came out of hyperspace and saw the badly damaged _Umbra_ hanging in space before them, and with the quick scan of the surrounding area confirming their successful escape, Hera left the cockpit, her eyes stinging as she bit back tears, and locked herself in her room and put in a call to Fulcrum. She needed him back. She _needed_ Kanan, they couldn't give up on him, not now, and not ever. She couldn't deal with Ezra's accusing stare when she had flown away, she couldn't deal with Zeb's grim acceptance or Sabine's indignation. She couldn't deal with _herself_. Hera had never been so disgusted with anything she had ever done. She didn't regret the mission, but she regretted leaving the man she loved.

She _loved_ him. She had always known it, always felt it deep within her, ever since she had put aside her reservations, ever since she decided to forego the idea that her mission for the rebellion was the only thing she had room for, ever since she gave in and dragged the lovesick Jedi into her bed. The mission came first, yes, but Kanan mattered to her more than just another piece in the rebellion. Her entire crew did. And as she paced her room, avoiding looking at the bed she neglected to make from the night before where she and Kanan lay passionate entwined with each other, all her regrets hit her like a storm. She regretted not spending more time with him. She regretted not loving him with everything she was able, for not being more open and honest with her feelings for the fear that something like _this_ would happen. And now that it did, all she could think about was how foolish she had been.

When Fulcrum answered, the distorted hologram showing a figure in a hood, their faces concealed in shadows, Hera slammed her hands on the desk, her entire being trembling when she demanded, "Fulcrum, I need your help." She quickly explained the mission, what they had done, what had happened, how it had all gone wrong, the hologram listening quietly, occasionally asking for clarification or details, the Twi'lek's voice shaking as she did all in her power to keep the desperation and panic from her face, though she knew she was failing. Being emotional would not serve her now, and she _would not_ cry. Not now. Not when she had a crew she had to be strong for.

"So what do you need from me?" Fulcrum asked, the distorted voice seeming distant and harsh, and Hera swallowed hard.

"I need reenforcements, o-or information, or anything to get a lead on Kanan!" She took a deep breath to still her trembling voice. "He's a vital part of this crew, I... _we_ need him." There was a moment of silence, an eternity in just a few seconds before the hooded head lowered.

"I'm afraid I can't do that," Fulcrum said, and Hera stared slack-jawed at the image, her head shaking slowly in disbelief.

"W-what?"

"Kanan knew the risks," the hologram said. "You _all_ knew the risks, and your Jedi accepted them, which is why you are alive now. I'm sorry, but you must focus on your next objective."

"But Fulcrum, Kanan _is_ our objective!" Hera said softly, her eyes wide and wet, and she had to look away. "We can still find him, we can still-"

"At what cost, Hera?" Fulcrum asked in a steady voice. "Are you worth it? Is your unit worth it? How much are you willing to sacrifice for one man? How much will you give to find him? Is your over all mission within this rebellion worth giving up so you can search for one man?"

"One man in the hands of Grand Moff Tarkin!" the Twi'lek snapped. "He's going to make an example of him to discourage others from rebelling, and it will work! You know how effective his brand of terror is, it will make the message we sent out completely meaningless!"

"About that..." Fulcrum said, the distorted voice lowering in pitch. "That transmission you were able to beam out has...attracted attention. Not just from civilians, but from the highest levels of the Empire. They destroyed the transmission tower to stop the message from spreading, but..." Fulcrum paused for a moment, considering the next words. "The Imperial ability to use the holonet to their advantage has been...greatly diminished, and they're struggling to counter your message. You were small before, but now, there isn't a single Imperial that won't know about the Lothal insurgency."

"Well, the plan _was_ to get attention, so mission accomplished."

"That was _not_ the mission," Fulcrum snapped. "Your mission, Spectre Two, was to stay small, hidden and unseen, do good where you were able, but to _wait_ -"

"We wanted to inspire people! Hera shouted as she grew desperate. "We wanted to give people hope! Fulcrum, I am _sick_ of flailing against the Empire, I want our strikes against them to make a difference! Don't get me wrong, I love helping people, but the problem is the _Empire_ , and the only way to save the people from _that_ is to destroy it!"

"...well, you were successful in your attempt to inspire," Fulcrum said slowly after a moment of silence. "But of you are caught...if your rebel cell is caught, than that hope will die. To protect your unit, to protect the hope that you have inspired, you _must_ give up your search for Kanan and go into hiding."

"I-"

"Hera," Fulcrum said firmly. "The force around Lothal is too strong. It is the only way."

"No, it isn't, if he dies-" Hera choked on her words, looked away to clear her throat, and pressed her emotions down. "Tarkin will make an example of him."

"And it will not be enough," Fulcrum said swiftly. "The Trayvis broadcasts showed all of you, and one rebel out of six is not enough. So long as the rest are alive, the people have something to cling to. Other rebel groups will have something to rally behind. But not of you are killed." The hologram breathed deeply for a moment, quietly observing Hera. "We fight for a greater cause, Hera," Fulcrum said gently. "We will all be called upon to make sacrifices, and his will not be forgotten. It's time to let go. Your mission must come first."

"...I know," Hera whimpered, sitting down in the chair against the wall, hardly daring to breathe because the room _smelled_ like her lost love still, and she could hardly take it. There was a sudden commotion just outside her door, the soft sound of mechanical whirring heard from within the wall, and a moment later, the locked door slid open, allowing Ezra, Sabine and Zeb to topple inside, followed by the irritated grumbling of Chopper as he rolled away.

"Hera, we can't just _leave_ Kanan!" Ezra said desperately. The Twi'lek rising and staring in outrage at the trio.

"Wait a minute, were you all listening in on my conversation?!"

"We can't just _leave Kanan_ ," Ezra repeated, looking pointedly at the hologram. "You're underestimating how important he is to this rebel cell, to _us_. If there's even the slightest chance of rescuing him, and there _is_ , then we have to take it!"

"No, not this time," Hera said quietly, taking a deep breath as she drew herself up tall. "The Empire will just be waiting for us with a trap. It's too dangerous."

"Since when has that _ever_ stopped us before?" Sabine snapped. "I am Mandalorian, and we don't run from anything! None of us have ever run from anything!"

"Maybe not, but we never rushed _stupidly_ into a situation!" Hera countered. "We can't risk it."

"We _can't_ risk it?" Ezra asked bitterly. "Or we _won't_ risk it?"

"There's a bigger mission at risk, Ezra," Hera said between clenched teeth. "Believe me, _nobody_ wants to get Kanan back more than I do, but billions upon billions of lives are at stake here, and if the rebellion fails, they are _all_ at risk. Kanan wouldn't want us to save him if it meant sacrificing everything we worked for. He wouldn't want us to put his life above others."

"I know it's painful," Fulcrum said softly. "Because you are close to him, I _know_. But this pain will be shared by everyone if the Empire is not stopped, and we cannot in good conscience weigh billions against the life of one soldier."

"... _soldier_?!" Ezra said in disbelief, his gaze shooting to Hera and his heart pounding in his chest when he saw her lower her eyes in acceptance. "Kanan isn't a soldier, he's our _friend_! I can't forget about him and I can't believe that you would either, Hera!" He hissed and looked away, his fist clenching at his side. "No, I _don't_ believe it! You wouldn't do this, you want to save him as much as we do! I can _feel_ it. Kanan would do everything in his power to protect us, and-"

" _He already did, Ezra_!" Hera shouted, her the strength of her calm finally broken, her eyes swimming with tears that she still refused to let fall, but the violent showing of emotion stunned her crew, so used to seeing their firm but loving pilot stay calm and collected even in the worst of times, and they collectively lowered their eyes, ashamed that they didn't realize she was suffering as well, that all her strength had been for them. "Kanan would want us to honor the choice he made in sacrificing himself, and I am choosing to respect that, even though it hurts me like you cannot _possibly_ hope to understand!"

"Hera, we-"

" _No_ ," the Twi'lek snapped, reeling on the trio. "Just because I don't express myself in the same way you do doesn't mean I am not grieving his loss, so...s-so..." She bit her lip, looked away from her crew, and sat back down in the chair, silent and still, save for the twitch of her lekku as she struggled to press down her emotions and regain the calm strength the Spectres needed.

"I'm sorry..." Ezra whispered as he took a step closer to the pilot. "Hera, I'm...so sorry, I know you-" Whatever the boy was going to say was cut off by a large, heavy crash from the hold of the ship, followed by a furious, outraged scream, and a moment later, Chopper raced passed the open door, beeping and whirring in distress and panic as he tore down the hallway as fast as its wheels would allow. The crew barely had the time to get up and begin to leave the room to investigate when Obi-Wan Kenobi appeared in the doorway, a dark and menacing presence unlike anything they had ever seen, and Ezra gasped for breath under the tremendous weight of the Dark Side that howled in the air, a savage beast that thirsted for blood and death and demanded to be sated. One look at Kenobi, and Ezra knew that need would _never_ be satisfied.

"You _left him_?" Obi-Wan asked, his voice sickeningly sweet and dripping with malice, his face almost seeming to be cast in dark, sinister shadows, his eyes eerie and strange as they hadn't been before, the bright gold a mere small sunburst around his pupil that seemed to drown within a blood-red iris.

"Shadow King," Sabine said, stepping forward to stand between the pilot and the furious man. "She didn't _leave_ him, she-"

"Cetar, adiik be Manda'yaim, bal cuyir shev'la!" Kenobi snarled, and Sabine dropped to her knees, her eyes lowered as she was made to bow before the Sith Lord. Ezra began to move to rush to the girl, but Zeb's large hand closed around the teenager's arm and pulled him back, the Lasat's sharp teeth bared and his short, purple hair raised as he watched the predator in the room. "Vaabir nayc jorhaa'ir be meg gar kar'taylir naas be..."

"Lumis," Fulcrum said firmly, immediately drawing the attention of the Sith. "I told Hera-"

"You will be silent as well, _Fulcrum_!" Kenobi hissed, and the hooded hologram drew up in offense.

"I will do _no_ such thing, Lumis. You do not command me," Fulcrum snapped. "Why did you do nothing to save the Jedi? Surely you must have sensed that he was not with the others. Surely you must have felt the Spectres' distress."

"You are blaming this on _me_?!" the Sith Lord snarled, the black robes integrated with his armor whipping at his ankles in the sudden surge of wind, a result of the very visceral hold the man held on the Dark Side. "I didn't sense him because I was too busy focusing on saving their lives!" Obi-Wan turned his wrathful eyes back on Hera. "I had _thought_ you were all on board. I thought you would _never_ leave without him." His eyes narrowed as his jaw clenched in his rage. "You are supposed to love him! How could you leave him behind?!"

"I-I had no choice!" Hera gasped, her voice shaking as her shoulders hunched, the proud pilot never looking as small as she did in that moment. "I didn't want to leave him behind, but I had to choose between the Empire getting him, or getting all of us! He stayed behind to give us a chance to escape, he sacrificed himself for us!" Hera whimpered softly her hands tightly clutching at her knees. "I don't take that lightly...Kanan. _My_ Kanan..." With a deep, angry growl, Obi-Wan slid his hands into his hair, the golden strands sliding between his fingers and leaving it out of its usually pristine styling.

"Alright..." Obi-Wan growled, pacing back and forth before the door, his grasp on Sabine released, and with a gasp, the girl quickly rose and walked back to stand beside Ezra and Zeb, never once turning her back on the Sith. "Alright. This is Tarkin we are talking about, so he's going to execute him as an example to other rebels. But, Kanan is a Jedi, which means his value goes beyond a mere example. He's far more useful to them alive than dead, so they'll take him for interrogation."

"What does Kanan know, Hera?" Fulcrum asked, and the Twi-lek shook her head, but said nothing. "An Imperial interrogation, Hera. They all break eventually, I need to know."

"Kanan _will not break_!" Obi-Wan growled, when the stalwart Hera whimpered softly. "I have been training him, he has had to deal with _me_ , a mental manipulator, for some time now, and he's been keeping me out!" Kenobi pulled at his hair. "That resistance of his won't break, there are few as strong as him! He's stronger than his Master was, I can tell you that much!"

"Lumis, Kanan Jarrus is not stronger than Vader."

"And from now on, you will be _silent_ , Fulcrum," Obi-Wan hissed, resuming his pacing. "Interrogation is good, interrogation means he is alive, so he can be saved. All we need to know is where he is so we can go get him." The Spectres looked at each other, the fear in the room vanishing as they realized what Kenobi was saying.

"No," Fulcrum said firmly, and the Sith snarled ferociously as he looked at the hologram. "I have explained to Hera already the reasons, and I will not allow-"

" _You do not command me, Ahsoka_!" Obi-Wan shouted, the Dark Side opening up like a chasm, and for a moment, all Ezra could see was darkness, eternal and enduring, like a star drawn into a black hole, the light extinguished and destroyed until only darkness remained.

"Obi-Wan, the _mission_!"

" _To hell with your mission_!" the Sith said in a low, smooth voice, the danger within him so heavy in the air it could be tasted. "I am a Master of the Dark Side of the Force, a Lord of the Sith, and I pity the poor fool that stands between me and what is _mine_!" Obi-Wan's eyes narrowed as he looked at the hologram. "So tell me, _Fulcrum_. Are you going to attempt to stand between me and Kanan Jarrus? I like you, we work well together, but if you think I will hesitate to destroy you if you get in my way, then you have forgotten exactly who it is you are dealing with..."

"I haven't forgotten, Obi-Wan..."

"Then you know there is _nothing_ that will keep me from making those bastards pay for what they have taken from me..." the Sith said, his voice low and menacing. "If you will not help me, Fulcrum, you will stay out of my way." When Fulcrum didn't respond, he smoothed back his hair, breathing deeply as he quietly reached out to calm the Dark Side, the beast coiling around him when he summoned it. "The _Umbra_ has taken serious damage. I can't use her against Tarkin, he knows the stealth system. I'm sending her and K-2SO back to you for repairs and upgrades, and when I return with the Spectres, I will begin working on upgrading the stealth system."

"You're bringing them back here..." Fulcrum sighed. "You _did_ tell them my name so I suppose it doesn't make much of a difference now..." It was said like an accusation, but the Sith merely shrugged.

"Welcome to the rebellion, Spectres," Obi-Wan drawled, looking over his shoulder at the group behind him. "Our mission is the retrieval of Kanan Jarrus from Imperial custody. Failure is _not_ an option."

"We won't fail," Ezra said firmly as he stepped forward. "I can promise you that, Master."

"Lumis, the _Inquisitor_ ," Fulcrum said swiftly when the Mandalorian and the Lasat stepped beside Ezra, excited, eager grins on their faces. "He's they reason we couldn't allow them near us to begin with. If he's involved-"

"I haven't forgotten about the kriffing Inquisitor, Fulcrum, relax," Obi-Wan muttered. "If he's involved in this-"

"He _is_ involved," Zeb growled. "Kanan was fighting him when he sent us away."

"Well, then he is most _certainly_ going to find himself in my care," Obi-Wan said, a faint smile crossing his lips. "I need to reward Yoda for his work tonight, it has been so long since he has had a new toy, and I know how much he misses Maul..." Fulcrum sighed and shook her head.

"Very well...take care, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Spectres. May the Force be with you all." The com cut, and clapping his hands together, Kenobi quickly turned to face the crew.

"Alright! We have a job to do. Ready yourselves for a mess, we leave within the hour. The longer we wait, the more likely that Kanan will be lost to us."

"How are we going to find him?" Sabine asked. "If Fulcrum's right and that transmission tower was knocked down, then communications between Imperial forces will have slowed to a crawl. We aren't going to be able to find him by hacking into the system because we won't know if the information has been updated."

"And if he's inside the Imperial facility, he's as good as gone," Zeb growled, and Obi-Wan just rolled his eyes as he tapped on his comlink.

"Oh, you rebels lack _imagination_..." he drawled, and Ezra's eyes widened as he understood.

"Minister Tua!"

"Minister Tua..." Obi-Wan drawled in agreement, his hand up for silence as the com chimed once, twice, and was answered.

"H-hello?" came the rushed, tense, breathless voice, a rustling on the other end when she fumbled the device. "Oh, um...t-this is Minister Tua..."

"Maketh!" Obi-Wan sighed in relief, his hand upon his chest and his voice much lighter than his usual sinister tones. "Oh, thank the stars. Maketh, it's Ben." Again came the shuffling sound of the device being fumbled, and he could hear the woman's soft, stressed curses.

" _Ben_!" she whispered. "Ben, I was so worried about you..."

"I was worried about _you_ ," the Sith drawled, concern in his voice that contrasted sharply with the smirk on his face. "I heard the Shadow King was there, I heard he was killing government officials!"

"H-he was..." she whimpered. "Our Senator and a holonet reporter." She swallowed hard. "But I'm fine. But you...were you fighting? I heard a lot of TIE pilots were shot down, I couldn't stop thinking about you..."

"I was flying, yes..." Obi-Wan said softly. "The fighting _was_ quite bad, I wasn't sure I'd make it."

"But you _are_ safe? You're unharmed?"

"Mm, save for a few bruises, I'm fine. Hey, listen..." Obi-Wan said, lowering his voice. "They aren't telling us anything, and there are a lot of rumors going around...is it true Moff Bo-Katan is dead?"

"Oh! No, she's alive..." the Minister whispered, a slight ruffling on the other end as the woman shifted. "Listen, Ben, I shouldn't be telling you any of this, so you _have_ to keep it to yourself."

"You have my word..." Obi-Wan drawled, a faint, smug smile on his lips as he held the device out, the Spectres leaning in closer.

"Moff Kryze is alive, yes, but she was injured. Nothing severe, but it was enough to get her sent to a bacta tank on Governor Tarkin's orders."

"It pleases me to know she is alive..." he said with a sigh of relief. "What about her Mandalorians? Is it true they have turned against the Empire to follow the Shadow King?"

"Goodness no!" the Minister gasped, sounding horrified at the very notion. "No, the Mandalorians fought admirably against him. Their dedication to Moff Kryze is...an inspiration."

"Ah. Is it true they captured the Shadow King?"

"No," the woman said in a hushed voice that was tinged with excitement, and the group leaned in closer. "But we _did_ catch the Jedi." She squeaked in excitement. "I can hardly believe it. Everything's going to be alright now."

"Aren't you worried about the rebels coming for him?" Obi-Wan asked, and the Minister laughed softly.

"That's the best part, he isn't on Lothal!" Maketh said gleefully. "He's on the _Sovereign_ in preparation for his transfer to Mustafar for interrogation."

"Well, that explains the change in my orders..." Obi-Wan muttered a cold chill gripping him as he looked at Hera, the woman's eyes wide with fear and hopelessness and unshed tears the strong woman bravely held back. "I was reassigned to the _Sovereign_ as an escort flyer. I suppose a Jedi does require additional security."

"You're leaving?" the Minister asked softly. "When?"

"Very soon. But when I return..." he drawled seductively, his tone low and smooth. "I'd like to see you again."

"I'd like that too..." the Minister said shyly, and Sabine rolled her eyes as Obi-Wan softly chuckled.

"Wait for me, my Minister..." the Sith said sweetly. "I'll see you when I return from Mustafar." He cut the com, the amusement on his face dropping away as if it was not even there, replaced with burning fury. " _Mustafar_." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, centering himself in the Force as his fury grew, and when he opened his eyes, the encroaching red had returned. "I said earlier that no man should have two Star Destroyers. Tarkin's in for a rude awakening. This situation calls for what I do best, I'm going to take that kriffing ship out of the sky..." Obi-Wan growled as he ran his hand through his hair. "If they manage to get Kanan there, he will be truly lost to us. There is no escape from Mustafar."

"I've never heard of it," Ezra said quietly. "Have you been there, Obi-Wan?"

"Been there?" The Sith Lord scoffed and dismissively flicked his hand in the air. "Mustafar is... _was_ home. I built the palace there."

"So you know it!" Zeb growled excitedly. "That's great! If we already know the layout-"

"You misunderstand..." Obi-Wan said, holding up a hand to silence him. "I built my palace during the Clone Wars specifically to hold Jedi." He shook his head. "I kept a lot of prisoners there, and not one _ever_ escaped. I can only imagine what they did to the place after they took it from me. I doubt it's good."

"Kanan spoke of that place before..." Hera whispered, the group looking at her attentively, the woman having been terribly silent since Kenobi had entered. "He said it's where Jedi go to die."

"...there's a reason they say that," Obi-Wan whispered, his eyes darting between the Spectres. "You, he growled, pointing to Zeb, then Sabine, then Ezra, his hand sweeping before him. "Leave us."

"Leave you?" Ezra said skeptically, his eyes on Hera as the woman bit her lip and shivered, her hands balling into the fabric of her flight pants. He didn't like the feral, savage look in the Sith Lord's eyes. The glowing gold was one thing, but the red made it look as if he craved blood, like the Dark Side itself were controlling him. "We aren't going to leave Hera alone, Kenobi, we-"

" _Do as I say, apprentice_!" the Sith snarled viciously, and Ezra didn't dare disobey him. Flashing a small, uncertain smile at Hera, Ezra followed Sabine and Zeb as the filed out of the room to prepare for the mission. When they had left, Obi-Wan ran his fingers over the controls, the door sliding closed and sealing as it tightly locked. Hera said nothing, her eyes fixed on the ground as she blinked back tears, her bottom lip caught between her teeth to keep it from quivering.

"Hera," Obi-Wan said, his tone soft and soothing, and she looked up her eyes locking with pure, glowing gold, softer than she had ever seen the Sith's gaze. "Let go. There's nobody here you need to be strong for."

The Twi-lek looked at the man for a long while in silence, the young face made even younger without his beard, the unnatural eyes that no human should ever possess, the armor he wore dirty with carbon scoring, blood and filth and in need of a good scrubbing. Despite his physical youth, despite the cruelty she knew he was capable of, despite the savagery of a predator he possessed as he hunted his enemies, despite the fact his unhinged rage could be turned as easily on his allies as it could upon his enemies as she saw today, Obi-Wan was wise. _Strong_. A leader that could take them far, if only they allowed him to. Maybe he was not loyal in the way she was used to loyalty, but Obi-Wan was fiercely protective of the little family she had made, and his considerable wrath was merely a byproduct of concern for Kanan. In his own way, he didn't want to lose him either.

With a desperate gasp, Hera finally cracked, the pressure of it all too much, and she threw her arms around the Sith Lord, shivering when he wrapped her in a tight embrace, and she finally allowed herself to cry.

* * *

A peel of manic laughter filled the room, the hollow sound through the com only serving to make it sound more sinister, and the Grand Inquisitor couldn't help but shiver, his sharp teeth clenched as he watched the hologram pace before him, back and forth like a lithe, feral beast. Though he was not actually in the room with him, the Inquisitor dare not move, dare not speak out of turn for fear of what could be done to him. Fear was at the heart of everything he was, the hook on which the Dark Side hung him, his avenue to power lined with the phantoms of terror and dread.

It had not always been this way. Once, there was peace and serenity. Once, before his eyes were opened, when he still lived in the ignorance of the Jedi. Once, before Obi-Wan Kenobi returned from Naboo to herald the return of the Sith, before the prodigious Jedi Knight turned traitor and welcomed the Dark Side within him. It had been unthinkable to him once, that a Jedi would abandon the warmth of the Jedi family for a life of pain and darkness. Then the war came, and everything changed. The Inquisitor was young at the start of the war, only newly knighted and assigned to be a Guardian of the Temple. He took part in no battles, saw no combat. His job was to keep the peace of the Temple, to ensure the safety of the younglings, to make certain that war did not change their lives.

But he could still feel it. The loneliness of a sparsely populated Temple once filled with Jedi, the fear of hearing about friends, Masters Knights he knew meeting their end on a battlefield, the dread he felt looking at the younglings and knowing they would inherit this endless conflict. And then came Order 66 and Operation Nightfall and with them, the Jedi died. _All of them_. He remembered watching Anakin Skywalker stride purposefully through the halls of the Temple, a lightsaber in hand as he slaughtered the Temple Guards, the younglings, the old Masters, anyone that stood before him. At the time, the Inquisitor stood in defense of the Temple, in a defensive wall with his brothers and sisters. He watched them fall, he watched them die, and he _ran_.

He was found, of course. Not killed but captured, along with several others who were blessed by the cruel mercy of the Sith. He was locked away and he was forced to know pain and darkness, and in time, fear was all he knew. Fear of his Masters kept him safe, kept him strong, kept the Dark Side returning to him to feed on him and turn his fear to hatred and rage. The Jedi were _fools_ , ignorant of the power that came from the Dark Side, blind to the truth the Sith provided, and for their short-sightedness, they had died.

He wasn't sure if fear ran rampant within the Sith as it did within him and his brothers and sisters of the Inquisitorious. He wasn't certain if fear enslaved him even as it empowered him, if fear put a limit on the powers the Dark Side promised him, if a lack of fear is what made the Sith so powerful. But even if that was it, even if fear was a chain that bound him, the Inquisitor could not free himself, _would_ not free himself. This was the truth he knew, and without his fear, the Inquisitor didn't know how to bring the Dark Side to him. All his anger and hate was based in fear, and without that fear...he had _nothing_.

He looked again at the hologram that paced before him and wondered if he was fearless. If he was _once_ fearless before Darth Lumis got his hands upon him. He wasn't sure, and really, he wasn't certain he wanted to know.

"Do you feel it?" Maul finally asked, still restlessly pacing, those feral eyes never leaving the form of the kneeling Inquisitor.

"...feel what, Master?" the Inquisitor asked cautiously, and he was rewarded with a savage snarl torn from the Zabrak's throat, the lithe creature ceasing his pacing and glaring down upon the man.

"Blind, _useless_ fool!" Maul hissed, looking down at the man with disgust, and the Inquisitor winced. Despite his fear and against all sense of reason and self-preservation, the Pau'an had hoped that he would now be answering to Lord Vader instead of Lord Maul. "Feel the Dark Side, _feel it_!"

"I feel, Master," the Inquisitor said in his hushed tone, "the pain and suffering of a Jedi that _I_ captured, as is my purpose. As was my mission. You should be pleased."

"You dare presume to tell me how I should view you?!" Maul snapped, stepping closer and looming over the man, no less intimidating than if he had actually been there. "You have _failed_. The death of a single Jedi will not save you from the storm that has yet to come! _No_! Worse than that, the fact that you have even _touched_ this Jedi is what _caused_ the storm! Was losing your fingers not enough for you?!"

"Master, he was on the other side of the city when I captured the Jedi, how could he possibly-"

" _He knows_ , Inquisitor..." Maul snapped, closing his eyes and breathing deeply. "He always knows. Can't you feel it?" Maul sighed heavily, his chest rising and falling with slow, even breaths, the expression on his face almost rapturous, and the Inquisitor felt the cold touch of fear grip him in its hands, that familiar chill that seemed so strange, so foreign to him now.

"Master," the Pau'an quietly explained. "I have taken special care to avoid Lord Lumis. I know what he can do, I've _felt_ what he can do!"

"And yet you don't feel it now..." Maul said calmly. "You do not see because you sit on the surface of the Force, and the waters are always calm in the eye of a storm. But _beneath_..." Maul laughed, deep and sinister and manic, his eyes opening and looking wild and unhinged. "Just below the surface, it is _chaos_. Riptides and vortexes strong enough to tear a man apart, predators waiting to feast on the blood of those foolish enough to fall in, the pressure strong enough to crush lungs and force you to drown, and in the center of all of this is _Darth Lumis_ ," Maul snarled, drawing so close that the Inquisitor fell back just to get away from him. " _Kenobi_..."

He reached out, his holographic finger passing into the Inquisitor's high forehead, and he couldn't help but shiver from the sudden feel of the Force, dark and bitter and raging, just as Maul had said. The Zebrak smiled, a frightful, sinister thing. "And he is looking for _you_ , Inquisitor, he knows what you have done, and there is _nothing_ that will stop him, _nothing_ that can be put between you and him that he will not destroy in order to get his hands on you..."

"W-what do I do?" the Inquisitor asked, the fear that gripped him failing to transform into hate and anger as it so usually did. Instead, the Dark Side didn't touch it allowed it to sit heavy and raw within him, and despite his best efforts to grab the Dark Side and bend it to his will, command it to fill him with the furious rage of the Sith, the Dark Side simply _sat_ , watching his struggle, ignoring his call, his mind echoing with the distant chant of _Master_ as he looked at his fingerless hand. "M-master..." the Inquisitor whispered, swallowing hard as he looked up at the Zabrak. " _Master_...what do I do?" A small, cruel smirk touched Maul's lips as he leaned in close to the Inquisitor.

" _Kill yourself_..." Maul whispered, the Pau'an's yellow eyes widening, his pupils shrinking to pinpoints as the entirety of his attention focused on the Sith apprentice. "There are things in this galaxy worse than death, terrors in the depths of the Force beyond your imagining..." He chuckled, a high pitched, strained thing that sounded close to the brink of madness, like he had gazed into the fathomless abyss and what he had seen there had driven him insane. "One of them is hunting you now. Steel yourself, Inquisitor. Be like the Sith! Banish your fear and _end it all_."

Before the trembling Inquisitor had a chance to respond, the doors of the conference room slid open and Bo-Katan strode into the room, her body wrapped in a white robe and her wet hair dark red and adhering to the curve of her neck and shoulders, each long, furious stride leaving a splattering of water and wet footprints from her bare feet. Following behind her was Grand Moff Tarkin, the man speaking to her in a harsh, commanding tone that almost hid the fact that he was pleading with the woman. Both Maul and the Inquisitor drew up tall as they entered, glaring as a look of distaste crossed the Grand Moff's face when he saw them, a silent, bitter admission to the awkwardness of the chain of command that existed between them.

"Six hours, Moff Kryze," Tarkin emphasized, the woman glaring at him when she slammed the bundle of her armor she carried under her arm upon the table at the far end of the room. "The medics said _six_ hours for treatment. You _barely_ did one!"

"I told you I didn't need _any_ ," she snapped, hissing in irritation as she picked up her helmet and looked at the scrapes and dents upon it. " _Tch_ , look at this, Wilhuff! Look what this brute did to my armor."

"It's nearly as bad as the state you left the medbay in," Tarkin said with a roll of his eyes. "I understand your frustration, my dear, but that's no reason to take it out on the bacta tank. We're going to have to replace the entire room."

"The price for trying to contain me," the Mandalorian casually stated as she began scrubbing the helmet. "You'll cover the cost, won't you, Wilhuff?"

"Am I to bear the cost of your destructive habits?" Tarkin scoffed, his arms crossed over his chest. "This is your mess, I will not bear the responsibility for your actions, Moff Kryze, if you think-" The Mandalorian undid the tie of the robe and dropped it to the ground, the nearly naked Mandalorian clad in only in her undergarments and the three men in the room all leaned over to look at her as she stepped into her tight, black flight suit. "O-on reflection," Tarkin said as he cleared his throat, "I believe the damages may be covered under the Empire's natural disaster policy...we may be able to write you off as a force of nature..."

"And don't you forget it, dear..." she said, drawing her fingers along the man's clenched jaw, a smirk on her lips as she fastened the flight suit and sat in the chair to tend to her armor. When the Grand Moff moved to stand beside her, his hands on the table as the woman cleaned the scruffs off the breast plate, the Inquisitor bid farewell to Maul with a respectful bow and cut the com on the Sith apprentice just as the man began to maniacally laugh, and he turned to leave the room to seek meditation elsewhere. He was out of place among the Moffs, not part of the Imperial command, but resting just outside it, which led to confusion and distrust among the ranks, and he had a lot to think about in any case. It was best to leave them be.

"Not so fast," Tarkin called, his sharp accent terse and commanding, the man not even looking at the Inquisitor when he spoke to him. "We have business to discuss, Inquisitor. Please, have a seat." The Inquisitor drew up, his features impassive as he slowly walked around to the other side of the table, ran his hands over the backs of the chairs, and refused to sit. He would listen to the Moff, of course, but obeying him was another matter entirely. If Tarkin took offense at the obvious show of defiance, he didn't show it.

"We have begun questioning the Jedi, but so far, our methods have proven ineffective," Tarkin reported. "He truly does have the resistance of a Jedi of old, so we are transferring him to Mustafar for... _special_ attention." Tarkin stood up straighter, his hands clasped behind his back. "In the meantime, I shall leave him to your expertise. Perhaps you can break him before we even arrive."

"I shall do what I can, Governor," the Inquisitor said softly. "A Jedi still feels pain, and given enough, even he will tell us anything we need to know just to make it stop."

"Very good. You will see yourself to the _Sovereign_ immediately," Tarkin ordered. "We leave with all due haste. I don't want to give Kenobi the opportunity to regroup and attempt a rescue."

"What, you think Obi-Wan is going to _rescue_ this Jedi filth?" Bo-Katan scoffed, standing as she strapped armor on her leg. "Don't be absurd, he wouldn't put himself in the line of fire for a Jedi of all things."

"You don't think so?" Tarkin asked, the hard tone in his voice indicating that he didn't believe such at all. "Kenobi has a long history of rushing to the aid of his allies, even in the face of impossible odds. Now is no different."

"Sure," Bo-Katan said with a roll of her eyes. "Maybe Obi-Wan would do that, but that _thing_ is not Obi–Wan. Not anymore."

"He is linked to these rebels, Moff Kryze," the Inquisitor hissed. "He said as much to me the last time he came for them."

"Are you talking about your _failure_ on that asteroid?" the Mandalorian snapped, a cruel smile coming to her face when the Inquisitor's jaw clenched, his fingerless hand flexing with irritation. "Coming to rescue his toys and beating up the bully that took them from him on some barren rock is _very_ different from infiltrating a Star Destroyer on high alert for some castoff of the Jedi Order." She held her hands up when the Inquisitor made to argue. "Now, I confess that is something _Obi-Wan_ would have done. Obi-Wan had friends and allies, people he loved that he would do anything to protect." She slammed her hand on the table, her green eyes bright and angry as she met the Inquisitor's gaze. "Obi-Wan _died_ with my sister and their child. That... _thing_ that walks in his skin is a soulless creature of death and destruction, and _nothing_ more."

"By his own admission, he is _linked_ to these rebels!" the Inquisitor growled, his voice raised in his frustration, and he was answered with a short, derisive bark of laughter.

"Oh, I've no doubt he is," Bo-Katan drawled. "Obi-Wan always did like his toys. But that's the thing, isn't it? They are _objects_ , things to be used and discarded. He won't risk his life for a toy when he can just as easily get another one."

"You are _underestimating_ him, Moff," the Inquisitor firmly stated, and the Mandalorian shot him a glare vicious enough to send a weaker man running.

" _Am I_ ," she said evenly, cold and impassive, the calm of a predator ready to attack. "Last night, while you were too afraid to face him again, _I_ fought him on top of the Senate building! I was there when he burned Ord Mantell, I knew who he was and I _saw_ what he had become! He has no friends, no family, no allies, no _people_ , and when my usefulness was over, when he no longer had the need of the Mandalorians, he threw me away like I was _nothing_! _Me_! The sister of the woman he loved!" She glared at the stunned Pau'an, her chest rising and falling with each rapid breath, and she had to look away from the man in an attempt to calm her racing heart. "He died with Satine," she whispered. "His soul is with her. Sixteen years since the end of the war, he has been alone. Why should that change now..."

"Your stance has been noted, Bo-Katan," Tarkin said quietly. "As always, Inquisitor, we shall prepare for the worst case scenario. The _Sovereign_ will have four Star Destroyer escorts to take her to Mustafar. Bo-Katan, you will accompany me-"

"I will not," the woman interrupted, and the Grand Moff drew back, a perturbed look on his face. She met his irritated gaze with her own annoyance. "Wilhuff, we are _lucky_ Kenobi retreated when he did, or we would have had a real problem on our hands. My people follow the rule of the strong, and he defeated me. Looking weak next to him would have seen _millions_ of Mandalorians flocking to serve under that fancy new banner of his, which, _by the way_ , isn't helping things." She furiously picked up the chest piece of her armor and began strapping it to her. "The symbol of the Mandalorian Crusaders is integrated in its design, and for those of you ignorant of my culture, my people _worship_ the Crusaders." She scoffed. "So much that my palace is _covered_ in art depicting them."

"A powerful message, then," Tarkin said, his hand to his chin as he thought. "No doubt a carefully calculated choice. Tell me, why don't we have a problem on Mandalore?"

"Because he ran," the woman sneered in disgust. "Like some _coward_." She spit on the ground as if to rid her mouth of a vile taste, and Tarkin sighed and shook his head in resignation. Yet another distasteful mess to clean up, courtesy of Bo-Katan Kryze. "Mando'ade vaabir nayc viinir. Mando'ade cuyir nayc hut'uun. A man who runs from battle is not worth following. A man like that cannot be Mand'alor."

"Do all see it that way?" the Inquisitor asked. "Or will a faction of your people focus instead on your defeat at his hands?"

" _That_ is the question, Inquisitor, thank you," she said, an I-told-you-so look on her face as she gazed at the Grand Moff. "That is why I am returning to Mandalore. To be certain that they understand what happened."

"Admiral Thrawn suggested that I keep you close, Bo-Katan," Tarkin said, his tone sharper than usual, the woman rolling her eyes like this was a conversation they had many times before, one that _she_ always won. "He believes Kenobi will come for you."

"All the more reason for me to be away," she said in a bored voice. "If he's following me, he won't be attacking your ships. Besides," she said with a shrug, "I heard you managed to severely damage his ship. He won't be going anywhere for a while."

"There _are_ other ships in the galaxy, and Kenobi has a nasty habit of _stealing ships_."

"Fine," she said with a roll of her eyes. "If you're so worried, after I make certain Mandalore is secured, I'll go after _him_." She was undeterred by the look Tarkin gave her. "Wilhuff, we were evenly matched until the end! My people have been fighting against people with the Force for thousands of years. If I'm not alone, I _will_ win the next time we meet."

"It's too big of a risk," Tarkin said as he shook his head and he froze when she laid a hand on the man's gaunt cheek.

"I'll bring my second with me. Boba Fett's father was one of the finest Jedi killers Mandalore ever produced, and he taught his son a great deal. We know how to combat the Force, and we will. You just have to trust me." Tarkin sighed and shook his head.

"Clearly I cannot stop you," he said bitterly. "A force of nature indeed." Tarkin sighed heavily, his hands upon the table. "Very well. Do not hesitate to call for help if you are in need of it."

"I won't, thank you." She flashed the men a cunning smile as she sauntered away. "Good luck with the Jedi, boys! I'll see you after I kill the Shadow King." She scoffed softly as she turned away from them. "Ne'tra'alor, meg a nuhun..."

With a heavy sigh, Tarkin dropped into one of the chairs, his hand to his forehead as he wearily closed his eyes. "Begin on the Jedi as soon as you arrive on the _Sovereign_ ," Tarkin quietly commanded. "I expect your best work. I'm in need of news that doesn't _vex_ me."

* * *

Everything was a hazy blur. Everything. He couldn't remember, didn't try to remember, didn't _want_ to remember what had happened, what he was subject to, what he endured. The harder he tried to think about it, the more thick his thoughts became, the slower they moved through his mind, the more his consciousness threatened to slip away from him again. The Force, once a strong pulse within him, an unobstructed river that flowed clear and pure through his being, was a mere trickle, a thing his drug-addled brain wouldn't have noticed had its absence not been so profound. There was a way, a technique the Jedi used to purge their systems of poisons and toxins, a thing his Master had taught him long ago. He had never perfected it, but if he could...if he could just...

His chin fell to his chest, the man groaning deeply, his eyelids fluttering as he struggled to keep his eyes open, his slack jaw hanging partially open as his chest slicked with drool. He couldn't remember how it was done, couldn't remember _anything_ , and the more he tried to grasp at the Force for aid, the deeper the void felt, the more profound the emptiness, and before long, the pain of it all made him turn his gaze away from the Force, made him reluctant and hesitant to touch it, just as he had been so many years ago before he met Hera. Just as he had been after Order 66.

He could hear a muffled, distant sound, though he couldn't tell what it was, could hear voices, barely audible, could see the movement of shadows through bleary eyes he could barely keep open. He was...disconnected, and instead of attempting to make sense of the mess around him, Kanan dove into himself, wrapped himself in the drug-induced haze of his mind, felt the aching stiffness of his joints and muscles, was made keenly aware of how dry his mouth was, how thick his tongue felt. He shifted slightly in an attempt to ease the strained ache of his shoulders, only to feel cold, sharp metal biting into his wrists, his arms held fast at his sides by thick, powerful restraints. Which he quietly found amusing. There was no need to restrain him.

Even if they released him, he doubted he could go anywhere, not with how abused his body felt and how hazy his mind was. He didn't think he was capable of more than just laying on the ground and riding out the effects of the drugs like some degenerate spice addict. In all his years of drinking to forget, of waking up staring at the ceiling of some filthy tavern, of being so drunk he couldn't stand, couldn't speak, couldn't remember, he had _never_ felt so helpless as he did now.

Kanan was jolted into awareness when a rough hand grabbed his chin, the feel of the bare fingers on his skin burning and painful, and while his senses may have been dulled far past the point of absurdity, it seemed his sensitivity to pain had been increased tenfold, his body compensating for the loss of his senses by greatly enhancing the one still remaining to him. His dilated, hazy eyes flew open, and he struggled to focus on the pale, sinister figure of the Grand Inquisitor, the man's brow furrowed in concentration, his lips pressed in a thin line, his unnatural yellow eyes slowly raking over him. The gravity of the situation didn't seem to register to Kanan as his gaze fell away from his next torturer, and slowly, _slowly_ his memories of the past few hours came back to him.

Questions, so many questions, none of which he answered, which was followed by _pain_. Interrogation droids and needles and electricity, Imperial soldiers and hard punches and cruel tools, Tarkin and that cold, merciless stare as he watched the Jedi scream in anguish. Still, he answered no questions, held fast and strong when it came to the family he loved, the student he protected, the warrior he fought beside, the artist he admired, the grumpy rust bucket he trusted, the Sith he respected, the pilot he adored. There were other questions as well, questions he couldn't answer even if he wanted to, questions about a greater rebellion, about the agent known as Fulcrum, about so many other things he had never heard of. He kept his silence, first out of love, and then because the drugs had rendered him incapable of speech at all.

There was pain, more than he ever thought possible, and when he thought it couldn't get worse, the needle was slipped inside his vein and the syringe filled his blood with a drug that set his nerves on fire, that made even the slightest touch feel as though his skin was slowly being peeled off his body, the harder touches even worse than that. There were no questions then. Only screaming. Only torture. Only pain. Only involuntary sobs and the nagging thought that the pain was killing him, the feeling that he was dying, the _hope_ that he would soon be dead, and still it never ended. This pain served no purpose. This was pain inflicted _just_ to make him hurt.

There were more drugs after that. Drugs that were said to make him tell the truth, drugs to muddle his mind enough to repress his ability to feel the Force, drugs to confuse his senses, drugs to make him yearning and desperate, so many drugs, all rushing through his blood to different effects, all made to alter his mind, and with so much at work, the drugs' intent was lost, the sinister cocktail overloading his nervous system and shutting the Jedi down completely, the monitors built into his restraints beeping incessantly as his vital signs plummeted, interrogation droids exchanged for medical droids as the Imperial torturers scrambled to save this important prisoner.

And _still_ Kanan did not speak.

"It seems as though the drugs were too strong..." the Inquisitor muttered, forcing the Jedi's head up and taking in the distant, hazy eyes black from dilated pupils, his slack, vacant expression, the line of saliva that ran from the corner of his mouth down his chin. "Or they were simply improperly administered..." He slammed the Jedi's head back against the vertical table he was restrained to, the man groaning softly in pain from the impact. "No wonder they were unsuccessful in getting anything out of you, you're so lost you can barely speak..." The Pau'an held his hand out toward the Jedi, a sinister smile on his face that went unnoticed by the unsuspecting, unaware Kanan. "But _I_ will be successful...I don't need you to speak to learn _everything_ I need, and a mind that has been reduced to _slush_ such as yours has no ability to resist, no matter how strong your will may be..."

Kanan's eyes flew open when he felt the Force, dark and cold and twisted, press into his mind, a savage grip that sunk claws deep within his being. He _knew_ this feeling, had felt it many, _many_ times before, though not with a hand so large, so clumsy as this, but with long, gentle, _coaxing_ fingers. With snaking tendrils of darkness that wormed and slithered deep into the heart of him, the frigid touch soothing and seductive, a lover's caress that left him burning and wanting in its wake, left him craving more, left him begging for domination and chains in his unconditional surrender. And after touching everything, after lathering every corner of his mind with ice, it would leave, his mind touched but not disturbed, observed but not altered, and when the chill had left, when the desire had faded, that sinister, familiar hand would do it again. Over and over, easing him into the feel of intrusion, soothing away the raw panic of violation, teaching him _focus_ in the most intimate of tortures.

He remembered it now. His mind remembered, knew instinctively what to do, and when the Force opened his mind, it had unstopped the blockage of his own connection, the effects of the drugs on his mind washing away in the torrent of the Force that flowed within him and Kanan found himself again. The hand within him was brutish and rough, a hard, savage pounding next to the gentle caresses he was used to, a rape, not a seduction, and as he felt the claws raking at the edge of his mind, Kanan couldn't help the sly, knowing grin that spread across his face. He was used to the touch of a _Master_. This pale imitation had no business within him.

Pain rushed through the Inquisitor, sudden and intense as his grasp on the Jedi's mind suddenly ran hot, searing the icy touch from within him and sending burning waves back into him, thawing the ice of the Dark Side and leaving him _scorched_. With a shuddering gasp of shock, the Inquisitor quickly withdrew, only to find himself _stuck_ , linked together with the Jedi for a fleeting moment when Kanan's mental defenses slammed around him, trapping the Inquisitor's grasp within him.

For a moment, they saw the same thing. Early childhood in the Temple on Coruscant, lightsaber training with Master Yoda, running through the crystal caves of Ilum in search of the stone that called to them. The panic of Order 66. The darkness that fell when the Jedi died. And after that, all the Inquisitor could see was the cold, hard, unyielding face of the imprisoned Jedi, their linked experience giving him understanding where there had been none, while the Inquisitor gained _nothing_ he didn't already know. He pulled back as hard as he was able, and stumbled backwards when the connection was severed, his eyes wild and furious as his fear immediately converted to fury.

"Did you really think you could break me?" Kanan asked quietly, his eyes fixed on the Inquisitor.

"Your resistance is _impressive_ , Jedi, but pain can break _anyone_ ," the Pau'an snarled, his hand extended once again as he commanded the Force to bring pain racing through the imprisoned man. The Jedi tensed, his teeth clenched tightly together and his eyes narrowed in focus as he felt the clawing against him, sharp, thick, unrefined talons trying to dig their way inside, filling him with pain, but the walls of his defenses remained unscratched under the assault. Clawing became hard, relentless pounding, his head filling with pain as the uncompromising force slammed against him, but Kanan would not yield. Whatever calm the Inquisitor was feeling vanished in an instant, and with a push of the Force, he slammed Kanan hard against the restraining table.

"I sense you getting more and more frustrated," the Jedi drawled, a smirk on his face despite the pain. "Give up. You won't get anything out of me."

" _Anyone_ can break!" the Inquisitor hissed, the hubris of the Jedi only serving to fuel his anger. "Given time, you _will_ succumb, I will break you!"

"No, you won't," Kanan said strongly, his eyes narrowing as he looked upon his enemy. "I may not be much, but I was trained to resist mind probing by Obi-Wan Kenobi himself." Kanan scoffed as he watched those yellow eyes widen with the unmistakable look of fear. "Who the hell are you next to him?"

"You would be wise to give me what I want, _Jedi_ ," the Inquisitor quietly warned. "Where we're taking you, your interrogators will be _far_ less kind than I am." He drew closer to the Jedi, gazing straight into those bold teal eyes. " _Sith Lords_..." he hissed, a small smirk of satisfaction on his lips when he saw Kanan's eyes widen slightly. "My cruel Masters, strong in the Force, unchallenged in their power, ones who care _nothing_ for you like Lord Lumis does..."

"Like how Lumis cares nothing for you?" Kanan asked, his gaze drifting to the Inquisitor's fingerless hand, the Pau'an hissing in fury. "My friends won't come for me," Kanan said softly, a smile on his face despite the direness of the situation. "At least, I hope they won't. They're smart enough not to. But _Kenobi_..." The Jedi whistled as he shook his head in mock dismay. "Kenobi will. Kenobi doesn't have an ounce of sense in that head of his. He's all raw emotion and instinct, and he _will_ come for me."

"For a Jedi, you put a great deal of faith in a Lord of the Sith!"

"For a servant of the Dark Side, you have a shocking lack of awareness about what it means to stand in opposition to a Sith _Master_." Kanan took a deep breath and allowed his body to relax, lowering his rapidly beating heart as he tried to distance himself from the fears he felt, knowing full well the creature before him could sense them and use them against him if his guard slipped for even a moment. "You may torture me, Inquisitor. You may hurt me, you my break my body, but you will _never_ break my mind." He chuckled softly, his eyes closing as a faint smile played on his lips. "You may even kill me. I was ready to die...I _have_ been ready to die for a long time now. But _you_...regardless of what happens to me, your fate is sealed. Kenobi is coming, and he's coming for _you_ , and there isn't anything in that galaxy that can protect you from him."

"We shall see what my Masters have to say about that!" the Inquisitor snarled as he grasped the obstinate Jedi's bearded chin. "A fate worse than death awaits you, _Jedi_. My Masters will take everything you are and tear it from you. They will shape you in the image that they wish, and when Lumis _does_ come..." The Inquisitor laughed, deep and cold and hollow, enough to send a shiver up Kanan's spine. "Perhaps they will send _you_ against him. Just another broken Jedi. Just another slave to the Dark Side."

"That's never going to happen," Kanan whispered, his resolve strengthening as he met those yellow eyes. "I'm not weak like _you were_ , fallen Jedi."

"No?" the Inquisitor asked, the cold chill returned to his steady, even voice as his hand waved before him, activating the arms at the sides of the restraining table, their long, sharp needle points pointed at Kanan's bare chest. "Let's test your strength then, shall we?"

The device activated, and purple lightning shot from the conductors, striking the Jedi in the chest and running rampant through his body, the Inquisitor casually leaning against the wall and observing Kanan as he screamed, the tortured cries echoing far throughout the ship. He raised his fingerless hand, the palm flexing as he moved the muscles that would once have wiggled his fingers, and the Inquisitor was left in the room to contemplate his loss to the litany of the Jedi's agony and couldn't help but wonder the cost of tearing such anguish out of Darth Lumis' Jedi student.


	29. Sovereign

**AN:** **So...remember how I said this chapter was going to be the end of this section? Right, yeah?**

 **JUST KIDDING!**

 **Got a little carried away here, some important stuff got snuck in, had some frigging awesome ideas that...well, to put them in this chapter, you'd end up with a 30,000 word beast. So I'm splitting it. I know exactly what's happening in the next chapter, which really speeds the writing long, but I'm also about to get really busy. Next chapter...Saturday or Sunday, but if I'm really lucky, or just generally filled with my undying love for you guys, I might have it by Friday.**

 **That's it! Enjoy some brutality, my lovelies! Next chapter's going to be TITS.**

 _Chapter 29: Sovereign_

"Alright, listen up," Hera said firmly, the Twi'lek pacing before her crew, slightly bigger today with the additions of Cody and a very jittery, excitable assassin droid that Kenobi had brought from the _Umbra_ before K-2SO brought it in for repairs. "This mission is, quite frankly, absolutely insane, as some of you pointed out to me... _Zeb_..."

"You're supposed to be the sane one, Hera!" the Lasat sighed, shaking his head. "Kanan is the crazy idea man, you're the _sane_ one, _mom_."

"Someone needs to stand in for our fearless leader," Hera said with a slight smile on her lips. "You want it to be the Sith Lord?" Zeb looked over at Obi-Wan, the Sith Lord sprawled out on the couch, his feet on the table and his hands behind his head, an eyebrow raised as he awaited the Lasat's answer. His ears pulling flat against his head, he turned back to Hera.

"On second thought, I suppose there are much worse crazy idea makers that could be in charge..."

"I'll remind you, _cat_ , that a great deal of this idea was mine," Obi-Wan said with a shrug, the Lasat growling deeply as his eyes shot back toward the Sith. "I just don't like being the center of attention."

"It's because nobody can stand to look at your ugly mug!" Zeb growled as he reeled on the Sith, Kenobi looking on with amusement from his spot. "When are you going to grow that bead back, it helped to hide your face! _And don't call me cat_!" he snapped, ignoring the stifled chokes of laughter from Ezra and Sabine. "I have claws, Kenobi, and I _will_ maul you!"

"I would like to take this time to remind you, _Garazeb Orrelios_ , that my pet of choice is a rancor, and he _will_ eat you." Zeb frowned as he stared at the Sith Lord, and slowly leaned over to Ezra.

"You didn't tell him my full name, did you kid?" Ezra closed his eyes and shook his head.

"I don't need to tell him anything, Zeb. He's a mind reader."

"...yeah, I wish I could forget about that," Zeb said as he shivered, his ears lowered as he averted his eyes from the Sith.

"I know this plan is risky," Hera continued. "And dangerous, and it doesn't make much sense for the rebellion, but Kanan is _family_." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she steeled herself. "And we have all lost enough family to the Empire, so the plan makes sense to me. I...lost my mother when the Empire took Ryloth, and I lost my father when his fight to free our people alienated him from his family."

"...I lost my family when the Empire invaded Lasan and drove my entire race to extinction," Zeb growled softly, his head bowed as he clutched his bo-rifle in his hands.

"I lost my clan, my entire family when I left the Imperial Academy," Sabine said quietly. "They...denounced me for abandoning the Empire. They call me traitor... _dar'manda_ ," she whispered. "The worst thing a Mandalorian can be. There is no going back for me, not ever..."

"My parents..." Ezra began, but quickly shut his mouth and shook his head. "No, you all know what happened." The Spectres all turned and looked at the Sith Lord expectantly, and Obi-Wan met their gaze with a sullen frown.

"What is this, some pre-battle heart to heart?" He scoffed and waved his hand dismissively. "Oh _please_ , spare me this sentimental garbage. We aren't going to take part in this-"

"I lost my lover to Darth Vader," Cody quickly cut in, the Sith looking up at him with disgust and betrayal on his face.

"Oh no, Cody, not you too..."

"Our losses aren't the same as yours," the clone calmly explained. "Ours happened long ago, most of it before the Empire rose, but they were executed by those who rule the Empire now. Vader, Maul, Sidious..." The clone shook his head. "There isn't a day we don't mourn the loss of those we love." All eyes turned to Kenobi, and the Sith Lord bit his lip and sat up, his hands steepled before him, his gaze lingering on a spot on the floor.

"Luminara..." he finally said after a long moment of silence. "Killed by the Grand Inquisitor. My...friends, Grievous and Barriss and Asajj and-" He stopped, his voice catching in his throat, and he swallowed hard, his teeth grinding together as his anger grew, his blood running cold as the Dark Side rose to meet him. "And Quinlan Vos, my closest friend since I was a child, killed, _slaughtered_ by Vader! A-and my Satine, beautiful Satine, and my _son_...executed by Maul." Cody's hand laid on Kenobi's shoulder, and Obi-Wan quickly grasped the clone's hand, his rage focusing into the sharp, honed blade he needed it to be for the mission. "It's too much. No more losses, not like this, and _not Kanan_." The Spectres all muttered their agreement, drawing slightly closer to the Sith Lord despite the rage that was palpable in the air around him, and the droid looked between the Spectres and the Sith.

"...Declaration," HK said in the moment of silence between them. "The Empire never did anything to me. I just want to murder meatbags for my Master."

"Oh, for the love of...HK, we were having a _moment_!" Cody snapped, smacking the droid on the back of its head. "This is why nobody likes droids, you clankers ruin _everything_!"

"Correction: I have yet to ruin anything Master won't let me ruin!" HK chirped gleefully, and Cody leaned in, a vicious, angry look on his face.

"Kenobi likes K2 better than _you_ ," the clone hissed. "That's why he gave him the _Umbra_ to command. That's why Kenobi lets him be _intimate_ with his ship..." HK gasped and turned his visual sensor on the Sith.

"Quarry: Master! Is this true?!"

"Alright, children, that's enough," Hera said, trying to look stern, but she couldn't keep a soft smile off her face as she watched the clone cross his arms and grumble to himself while the droid frantically clung to the Sith's robes, desperate for approval. "For better or for worse, this is it. We rescue Kanan, or we die trying. Obi-Wan." The Sith Lord looked up from attempting to pry his droid off of him. "This is part of your crazy plan. Want to give your team the mission briefing?"

"My team?" the Sith asked, an eyebrow arched as he looked the woman over. " _Your_ team."

" _Our_ team," the pilot said, stepping to the side and gesturing for the Sith to take the floor, and after a moment, Kenobi slowly nodded and stood, his long stride carrying him to stand beside the Twi'lek at the head of the group.

"Alright, listen up, team," Obi-Wan said firmly, his hand pointing toward the docking port. "Our ticket in to the Star Destroyer is right out there, and I have all the Imperial call signs and codes to get us docked. Which is the easy part. Now," he lazily drawled, clapping his hands and rubbing them together, "there are a lot of us, and there isn't a lot of room inside that TIE, so its going to be a tight fit. Get _really_ familiar with your neighbor, kids, because we're going to be rubbing up against each other. Except for me," he said, his chest puffing proudly. "I'm going to be flying the damn thing."

"Excuse me, _you_?" Hera asked, a questioning look on her face. " _I'm_ flying, Kenobi. That isn't an option." Obi-Wan rolled his eyes.

" _Fine_ , I'll sit in the pilot's seat, and Hera can sit on my lap so she can drive."

"...I'm sorry, what?" The Sith flashed the horrified Twi'lek a wicked grin.

"Space is tight, sweetheart. You can drive all you like, but we need all the room we can get. You're going to be sitting on _someone's_ lap..." He shrugged and winked at her. "May as well be me. I'm the one with the codes, after all."

"Kenobi, can the Twi'lek ride on me next?" Cody asked.

"Yes," the Sith Lord immediately responded.

" _No_!" Hera cried, completely aghast, her face flushed and her lekku twisting in her discomfort as she quickly shook her head. "We need to get Kanan back so we can reestablish order, that Sith is out of control without a Jedi around."

"Damn right I am..." Kenobi muttered, looking Hera over appreciatively before turning his attention back to the others. "Getting on the _Sovereign_ isn't going to be a problem. Things are going to get difficult the moment we're inside. First thing we need to do is take the hangar bay."

"Right, _how_?" Sabine asked. "The hangar bay is one of the most heavily defended positions on the entire ship."

"I've got a plan for that one..." Obi-Wan said, a chilling smirk on his lips. "You just leave that to me. There's something I've been studying that I've been wanting to try out, and I think I'm angry enough to do it."

"The modifications to the TIE you requested are complete, sir," Cody said, a small, pleased smirk on his face. "You'll have to thank your Chiss later, she was instrumental in getting it done right."

"...wait, really?" Kenobi asked, and the clone closed his eyes and nodded sagely. "Well I'll be damned..." The Sith quickly cleared his throat, refocusing his attention back on the task at hand. He could think of how to reward his slave later. "After we have taken the hanger, we find Kanan. We're taking a page out of Tarkin's book for this one, and we're going to keep together. Splitting up compromises our group integrity and gives us half the number and twice the potential for something to go wrong. We stay together, at least until we've found Kanan. After that..." Obi-Wan's eyes flashed dangerously, the sinister glow intensifying, and Ezra could feel the Force chill, the energy resonating with the Sith and turning black and poisonous at his coaxing. "I have business with some people on that ship, and as I said before, I'm going to rip the _Sovereign_ out of the sky..."

"I almost feel bad for Tarkin," Ezra said, a broad grin on his face. "He must have known what a bad idea it was to mess with you."

"He knows..."Obi-Wan said absently. "But it's been many years. He needs a reminder..." He shook his head, his focus returning as he looked at the crew. "If that ship makes it to hyperspace, it's over. I don't know what's waiting on Mustafar, but whatever it is, it isn't good. We lose if it comes to that. We can't waste any more time. Let's go."

* * *

"Why does this ship look so much bigger than other Star Destroyers?" Ezra asked quietly, his face pressed up against the TIE fighter's round viewport and the hard, uncomfortable metal of HK-47's blood red plating flush against his back in the very cramped space of the starship's cockpit. It _could_ have been worse. At least there was no awkwardness with being in intimate proximity with a droid like there would have been with literally anyone else, though Ezra was quietly impressed that despite being seated rather comfortable on a Sith Lord's lap, Hera didn't seem bothered at all. At least the invader of his personal space wasn't _Cody_ , who was going out of his way to make things as uncomfortable as possible for Zeb. Then again,,,it could have been better, He could have been pressed up against Sabine like Zeb was, his reward for having to put up with the clone. And the Lasat didn't even _appreciate_ how lucky he was. Life was, in short, unfair.

"It's no bigger than the others, fear has a strange way of altering your perception..." Obi-Wan muttered, leaning around Hera to let his fingers drift over the command console, a faint smirk on his lips when the monitors beeped with the arrival of their docking authorization codes.

"I-I'm not afraid," Ezra stammered in protest, the Sith scoffing and rolling his eyes and making the teen feel like an _idiot_. "I'm just-"

"You are afraid, boy, don't tried to hide your feelings from me. You can't. And for the record, you are _all_ afraid." He paused, his eyes drifting up to the droid at his side. "Except for HK because droids can't actually feel emotion." Obi-Wan pointed with his thumb over his shoulder. "And Cody. He just literally doesn't give a shit."

"Oh, is that how we describe unquestionable faith these days?" the clone asked as he punched the Sith's armored shoulder, the occupants of the cockpit collectively gasping in fear and wriggling as far away from the clone as possible, bracing themselves for the inevitable retribution. It came in the form of amused, friendly laughter, the fear fading quickly into confusion. "I liked you better when you had a beard. The beard made you _sensible_."

"Fear is good, apprentice, hold on to it," Obi-Was said, watching as the shadow of the _Sovereign_ fell over the TIE. "Fear will keep you alive. Fear will make you _strong_ , and you will need all the strength you can get."

"But you aren't afraid," Ezra said, pulling his cheek away from the viewport to look at the man. "You're _never_ afraid."

"Of course not, I'm _Sith_. A true Sith doesn't feel fear." He looked up at the boy out of the corner of his eye, felt the teen's rapidly beating heart, the fear that set his nerves on edge, the tense pull of the Force within him that bled black with the threat of darkness. "I'm not asking you to be Sith, Ezra, I will never ask that of you. But for you, right now, the quickest path to power is through fear, and we're going to use it."

"...u-use the Dark Side?" the boy squeaked, and Obi-Wan nodded, his attention drifting back toward the Star Destroyer above them as they approached the landing bay.

"It's a tool like any other, apprentice. Don't worry. You won't lose yourself with me to guide you." He reached under his seat and pulled out his horned helmet and placed it on his head, breathing deeply and opening himself to the Dark Side, his blood, his lungs, every fiber of his being filling with the cold fury of the Force. Nudging Hera off his lap, he stood and pressed back with the others, the clone grabbing his hip and muttering something in Mando'a that could only be described as flirtatious, and Sabine snorted as she attempted to choke back laughter.

"Karabast, this is a mess..." Zeb said as he scratched his head. "We don't have an exit strategy, and there are _four_ more Star Destroyers out there. Even if we somehow _don't_ die in there, how are we supposed to get out?"

"The same way we always do," Sabine said, her hand pressed against the viewport as she leaned to look up at the Destroyer above them. "Steal a ship and run."

"Run from _four_ Star Destroyers?" Zeb said in a flat tone.

"I admit, it's going to be tricky..." Hera said quietly. "But we have Chopper standing by to back us up in the _Ghost_. It might be enough."

" _Might_?!" Zeb asked, his eyes widening as he shook his head in disbelief. "How do we even know Kanan's on this ship!"

"He is," Obi-Wan and Ezra said in perfect unison, the people in the cockpit turning their heads to stare at the Force sensitive pair. "We can sense him, he's on there," Obi-Wan said, breathing deep as he touched the Force to confirm it and felt Kanan's faint, pained pull. "However, _Tarkin isn't_ ," he snarled. "Sound strategy. He knows I'm coming, don't put everything important on one ship, lest he lose it all. I'm known for messing with ships, so of course he'd keep himself away from the bait..." Obi-Wan growled, the sound reverberating in the vocal modulator of his helmet. "This will make our escape considerably more difficult. I confess, I do enjoy an intelligent adversary, but his timing is simply _awful_."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Is everyone ready?" Hera asked as she slid back in the pilot's seat, the starfighter slowing as docking control overrode the pilot's inputs to bring the ship safely into the hangar.

"Wait for my signal to exit the TIE," Obi-Wan commanded. "And hope that Cody's modifications worked, otherwise, you're all _probably_ going to die."

"...wait, _what_?!" Hera gasped, quickly turning to look in disbelief at the Sith Lord.

"Alright, alright!" Obi-Wan said, his hands raised to placate her. "HK will probably survive. _Probably_." He didn't wait to hear the response as he thrust his hand up, using the Force to push open the hatch, and Obi-Wan jumped out of the ship, landing on the rounded top and jumping off again to land in the center of the hangar, a loud, metallic ring piercing the air when his armored boots struck the durasteel ground. As soon as the Sith was out, Cody quickly leaned over and slammed his hand on the hatch controls, the round hole above them quickly sealing shut.

"Cody..." Hera said tightly. "Are we all going to die here?"

"Probably not, the Chiss and I were _very_ thorough when we insulated the cockpit..." the clone said as he leaned forward, his arms resting on the back of the chair as he watched stormtroopers fill the hangar, their weapons drawn and aimed at the Sith Lord on the ground.

"Insulated?" Sabine asked. "Insulated against _what_?"

"Shh..." Cody said, holding up his hand for silence and then pointing out the viewport. "Watch, this should be kriffing ridiculous."

Obi-Wan could hear the shouts of the stormtroopers, the whine of blasters as they were primed, the heavy grinding of turret weapons and At-ST walkers as they were activated, but it was all so... _distant_. So small, like the helpless squeak of a single rat caught in the coils of a snake, useless and insignificant and so, _so_ close to the end of its life. He could see them all rushing into formation, the chaos of fear and panic as they realized what had landed on their deck, their white armor shining and pristine and utterly, utterly useless. They were _corpses_ , ghosts, dead men walking, each and every one of them, the journey of their lives approaching a swift and sudden end.

He could see them, he could hear them, but most of all, he could _feel_ them, shining points of life within the Force, flames flickering in the presence of the sudden gusts from the storm. They burned bright with _fear_ , with terror, resolve and bravery, some with ambition and hopes for glory, many with anger and hate, but through them all was the pervasive current of horror, and Obi-Wan drank deep of it. The Dark Side summoned to him, pulsing within him, tearing at the very air around him, the fear of his enemies turned Obi-Wan's hatred into cruelty, his anger into savage delight as the draconic beast dormant in the depths of the Force awoke. It rose to the surface, it's massive, serpentine body breaking through the thick ice of the Dark Side's waters, rending the frozen calm and leaving it shattered, stormy and disturbed as it drew itself to the Sith Lord's side, heeding the call of the Master, and silently demanding blood for being disturbed, life in exchange for power.

Lumis reached out, laid his hand on the leviathan's black scaled head, the red and gold eye watching him, _seeing_ him, not his slave or his servant, but his partner. He could feel the will of the creature mesh with his own, the full power of the Dark Side becoming one with him, and with a silent command, the leviathan roared, a piercing shriek that reverberated through the air and sent the stormtroopers crashing to their knees, their weapons discarded and forgotten as they gripped their heads, screaming under the pressure in their ears.

All that was left in the Force was fear and pain, strong enough to fuel the savage, raging beast as it tore through the Dark Side, and Obi-Wan closed his eyes, felt the agony around him sharpen his senses and delved deep inside himself to grasp his own pain, already at the forefront of his mind, dragged up by the shared pain of the Spectres they bonded over earlier. Satine and his son, Barris and Grievous, dear Luminara, poor, lost Asajj and reckless, lively Quinlan. His hands tightened at his sides, his muscles tensing and his heart racing as he felt the hole within him tear open, the scar tissue surrounding the wound ripped apart under the fury of grief that would _never_ end. Dooku, killed by his own insanity, and sweet Padmé, who he had sacrificed to save Luke and Leia from the watchful eyes of Sidious.

He could feel the burning touch of Force lightning crackling and dancing around his fist, up his arm, arching down the length of his body, surrounding in a glowing blue shield of jagged, sparking electricity. Through it all, past the pain of the soldiers, past even his own pain, Obi-Wan could feel _Kanan_ , the last Padawan, his Jedi student, his ally and friend, in severe pain, suffering as he had never had, right now, at this very moment, and it was too much. His heart pulsing in unison with the Dark Side, ancient draconic beast he summoned, the hissing whispers of the Sith before him echoing in his mind, Obi-Wan raised his hand up, drew the Force to him, and violently pushed outwards, a vortex of wind and energy and blue Force lightning swirling around the Sith Lord and branching out to encompass the entire hangar.

The screams of the stormtroopers lasted only a moment as blue lightning arched over their bodies and through them, the powerful current quickly ending their lives. The lightning touched _everything_ , the metal of the ships, the walls, the ceiling, the ground superconducting the energy storm and short-circuiting control panels and electronics, the powerful surge of the current running through the power lined of the ship, and within moments, the lights cut out as the entire Star Destroyer lost power, the ship falling dark and silent in space. And still, the Force storm raged, the vortex of lightning sending arcs of electricity running across every surface, through every ship, over ever one of the hundreds dead upon the floor, the dark hangar cast in eerie, flickering blue light. From the safety of their insulated ship, the Spectres watched on in awe as their Sith companion summoned a natural disaster out of thin air.

Obi-Wan could hear them in the tides of the Force. The Sith Masters that had come before him, their knowledge recorded on ancient holocrons, so many of them lost to time, so many destroyed by the Jedi, but still he had managed to learn from them. His own power wasn't even comparable to theirs, not yet, but one day, they would be. He could hear the whispers of the Sith Emperor Valkorion, the same voice that had taught him how to harness Force lightning into a storm as he had now, could feel the power surging through him as he sank deeper into the depths of the Dark Side. He saw visions, fast and relentless, ones he had seen many times before and others he had never seen. The field of the dead, Tarkin with the dust of a planet in his hands, the burning, furious face of Anakin Skywalker. He saw himself, flanked by three people on each side of him, two being Luke and Leia, but the other four were lost to him when the vision swiftly shifted. He could see the Grand Inquisitor, could feel his anger, his frustration, and when the Pau'an's eyes met his, the anger faded into terror, the yellow eyes widening as he backed away, the man disappearing when a cruel, hungry look shone in the Sith's eyes.

And then Obi-Wan saw _him_. Flanked by the flickering shadows of Maul and Vader, Darth Sidious stood, calm and comfortable in the sinister red glow of the dark room, the defeated, empty Lumis at his feet, the very vision that Ezra once had, the same one that Obi-Wan had studied many times after that, but had always failed to perfectly recreate. But now, within the powerful surge of the Force, a summoning of the Dark Side by another Master, Obi-Wan had drawn attention to himself, had set the tides of the Force surging with his presence, and Sidious' cold, yellow stare _saw him_. He could feel his former Master's burning gaze, filled with disgust and accusation, not the terrible triumph that he had seen before. Sidious was... _offended_ , enraged that Lumis had dared to tread upon the domain he claimed as his, his own expertise and mastery in the art of Force lightning to be shared by _nobody_.

Except for Lumis, the knowledge learned from a holocron the rogue Sith had _stolen_ from him years ago.

Sidious didn't move, didn't say a word, only stared at the other Sith, hatred and malice burning behind his yellow eyes as Obi-Wan met his gaze, the unusual way the Force swirled around Sidious _exactly_ the way Kenobi remembered it. Slowly, a wide, sinister grin spread across Sidious' face, a thin, sinister cackle carrying through the air, and Obi-Wan felt the Force run cold. He had been there too long, had been _actually_ seen, the powerful pull he exerted upon the Dark Side drawing his old Master's _actual_ attention. On the edges of his consciousness, he could feel others, could hear the hard clang of cybernetic legs, the deep, monotonous sound of breathing through a respirator, and slowly, golden eyes glowed in the shadowy figures of Maul and Vader.

 _They could all see him_.

With a shuddering breath, Obi-Wan let go of the Force, and the images shattered, and all there was after was the rush of the wind as he fell into the black of the endless abyss.

When the wind ceased and the arching lightning finally fizzled to nothing, the Sith Lord dropped to his knees, and before the dazed, drained man could fall, the Spectres had jumped out of the TIE and raced across the hangar, cast in the dim, red glow of emergency lighting, and Cody skidded beside Obi-Wan to catch him.

"I-is he alright?" Ezra said frantically when he caught up. "Is he dead? Oh, he's dead, isn't he?!"

"He's not dead, you idiot!" Cody snapped, draping Obi-Wan's arm around his shoulder and supporting his body weight as he stood with a firm grip on his hip. "You really think he'd do something that would kill him?"

"W-well..."

"I'm fine..." Obi-Wan whispered, grimacing when he felt how dry his throat felt, his hand grasping Cody tighter as he stood on his own, his eyes drifting around the hangar bay and finally landing on HK-47 as it sidled up to him.

"Admiration: Master, your talent for murder _never_ ceases to amaze me!" the droid cooed, and Kenobi's response was lost in a sudden fit of gasping coughs.

"You alright, brother?" Cody asked, the concern coming clear through his helmet's modulator, the clone slowly backing away from the Sith so he could stand on his own. Obi-Was slowly nodded, his breathing deep and even as he centered himself, the waters of the Force calming as the wrath of the Dark Side vanished into the depths. Kenobi found himself lurching and stumbling forward when Cody's heavy hand slammed on his back. "That was _awesome_! Kenobi, you have _no idea_ how incredible that was! I've never seen anything like it! If you could use that against the Empire-"

"I can't, not yet..." Obi-Wan muttered. "There were some...unforseen complications with delving the deep into the Dark Side. And the whole _weakness_ after it's over..." He scoffed and flicked his hand dismissively in the air. "The Sith Lords of old could use such a thing in the heat of combat and continue fighting. I cannot, I need more training, or new knowledge, or..." He shook his head. "After Kanan's safe, we need to discuss finding new holocrons to expand my expertise."

"Hey, I hate to break up this little post-lightning storm analysis, but we have a Jedi to save," Hera said forcefully, the two men nodding and quickly drawing and readying their weapons. "Sabine, what can you tell us about the ship's power?"

"I can't say for sure..." the Mandalorian said, the girl pulling down her helmet's scanner and looking through the small device. "The circuitry is completely fried because of the power surge. It doesn't seem like any of the systems are _damaged_. The engines and the hyperdrive are all still running, but the ship's ability to communicate with those systems has been completely disrupted." She flipped the scanner back up. "The problem is actually a lot more complicated than it looks. I don't think they're going to have an easy time fixing it. The power cells that run the emergency systems aren't going to last forever so..." She shrugged. "You're probably looking at a few hours tops before they need to evacuate."

"Which means no jump to lightspeed and no Mustafar," Obi-Wan said with a sigh of relief.

"How are we supposed to find him?" Zeb asked. "We have no power, which means no access to terminals, so we can't check for his location, and the doors are _sealed_. This ship is huge, we can't just wander aimlessly."

"That won't be a problem," Obi-Wan said, clearing his throat and extending his hand, his fingers wiggling. "Ezra and I will be able to sense his location," he drawled, his hand flexing and his lightsaber flying to his hand, the red blade igniting the moment it touched his palm. "And there's no such thing as a closed path if you have a lightsaber." He deactivated his saber and returned it to his belt and drew the other two, tossing one each to Hera and Sabine. "In the event that we get separated, I don't want to say we lost someone because they were backed into a corner. Take five minutes to familiarize yourselves with the weapon, girls, Cody will walk you through it."

"Hey, why don't I get one?!" Zeb growled, and the Sith Lord simply shrugged.

"An elegant weapon for an elegant hand, _cat_ , and, well, you're a brute." The Sith took a step back when the Lasat snarled and cracked the knuckles of his clawed fingers. "Also, I don't _have_ another spare, and I figured that in a pinch, you'd be able to muscle the doors open, and I'd rather take care of the ladies first." Zeb growled deeply and looked away.

"... _fine_. So long as the girls are safe..." Obi-Wan patted the Lasat on his muscular arm as he observed Hera, her face serious, her focus intense, the area around her lit bu the glowing blue lightsaber, and Sabine, staring awestruck at the darksaber she so reverently held, almost as if she were too afraid to even move it, the weight of the significance of the blade to her people not lost on her.

"Come, Ezra," the Sith said, the teen jumping slightly when he was spoken to, his already frayed nerves made worse by the chill in the are caused by the death that surrounded them. "I need to meditate, and it would do you well to focus yourself as well. We will be unable to find Kanan if you are not one with the Force."

"H-how can I be one with the Force when it's so...disturbed?" the boy asked, his teeth chattering against the cold as he rubbed his arms, but he followed anyway when the Sith looked back in his direction.

"Oh, you'll see soon enough..." Obi-Wan led them a short ways from the group, the flashing sabers illuminating their position and making them a good deal more visible, save for HK-47, the droid's coloring allowing it to blend in nearly perfectly with the red emergency lighting. "A _Force storm_..." Obi-Wan whispered to himself, taking his helmet off as he knelt, the teenager following suit just across from him.

"Is that what it was called?" Ezra asked, the question immediately wiping away Obi-Wan's sinister, satisfied smirk. "That electric thing?"

"Yes..." Kenobi drawled, sighing as he looked down at the helmet in his hands. So many Lords of the Sith were remembered by the masks they wore, and he wondered if this would be his. "You cannot understand the significance of such a thing. The power required to wield it, the skill to not succumb under the onslaught...Ancient Sith Lords practiced the technique long ago, but the knowledge was lost long ago when the Jedi shattered our order and drove us to near extinction." He took a deep, calming breath, felt the Dark Side soothe and caress him, fill him with pleasure and pride for his accomplishment, a parent pleased with a favored child. "And now I possess the skill."

"I guess even a Master can still learn something, huh?" Ezra asked, and the Sith Lord nodded.

"There is always something to learn, my apprentice. The moment you believe you have learned everything, you become complacent, lazy, _stagnant_. That is the path to weakness." The teen nodded, attentively listening to the Sith.

"Can you teach me how to do that?"

"...no." Ezra frowned, clearly displeased with the decision. "The power required to command such a thing is beyond you, Ezra. Reach beyond your limits, and the Force will make you pay for that power, and you do not get to choose in what way that payment is collected."

"I-I don't understand..." A small, sad smile flickered across Obi-Wan's face, so quick that Ezra almost missed it, and he would have thought he were imagining it if he didn't _feel_ it. The deep, dull ache of sadness and loss and regret, a heavy thing that sat black within the Sith Lord, but despite the powerful darkness the wound inspired, Ezra felt the soft touch of warmth deep within it.

"Perhaps someday, I will explain it to you," Obi-Wan whispered. "When we have time. For now, we need to focus on saving Kanan, which means grasping for power you _can_ reach. Close your eyes." Ezra nodded swiftly and did as he was told. "Reach for your Master, Ezra, connect with him, and tell me what you feel."

"Right." Breathing deeply, Ezra reached out to the Force, felt for the familiar comfort that Kanan's presence always provided, and gasped, his eyes flying wide open with panic, his heart jumping in his throat. He tried to leap to his feet, desperate to run and help the man, but his body didn't respond, his frantic gaze moving to meet the cold, golden eyes of the Sith Lord. "Kenobi, let me go! Kanan needs help! We have to go _now_!"

"What do you feel?" Obi-Wan asked calmly, and Ezra didn't understand how he could be so calm when he _knew_ the Sith felt Kanan was suffering.

"He's in pain! They're torturing him, Kenobi!"

"You fear for him."

" _Of course I fear for him_!" Ezra shouted, straining against the hold of the Force to no avail. "He's going to die if we don't help him, of course I'm afraid!"

" _Good_ ," Obi-Wan hissed. "Your fear is a weakness, Ezra, a debilitating weapon your enemy uses against you." The Sith Lord leaned in, the glow of those golden eyes intensifying. "All your fears are caused by the _Empire_." Obi-Wan smirked softly when the pupils in Ezra's eyes shrunk to pinpoints, his scattered thoughts suddenly redirected and focused not on the pain of his Master, but on his hatred of the Empire. "They did this..." Obi-Wan continued, his voice low and smooth and easily penetrating the boy's thoughts. "All the pain Kanan feels, all the torture he was subjected to, all because of Imperial cruelty, all because they _want_ to see Jedi suffer and die."

" _I won't allow it_!" Ezra snarled, his eyes narrowing in his anger, the teen's body beginning to shiver with the cold, and Kenobi sighed in satisfaction when he felt Ezra pull on the Force for strength, his rage staining the clear, warm waters black.

"There it is, apprentice, hold that anger, hold that hatred and let it fuel you. The Jedi say that emotions cloud your judgement, but when your goal is _very_ clear, when what is right cannot possibly be more simple, your emotions give you strength and _focus_." Obi-Wan released his hold on the Force, and Ezra lurched forward, his hands on the ground to steady himself, his breathing quick and ragged as power rushed through him, drawn from the fear for Kanan's safety, a tributary off the mighty river of the Dark Side, small enough to not drown the boy in the flood.

"That's it..." Obi-Wan soothed. "Stay connected to your Master, make his pain yours, let it feed your anger. The Force is turbulent and disturbed, there is no balance, no focus to be had there, but the waters of the Dark Side are still and calm because it is _frozen_. Reach out to the cold in the Force, let it ground you, apprentice. There is balance to be had in the Dark Side, focus in the task set before you." Ezra's shoulders shook, a small whimper torn from his throat as he shivered, the chill in the Force cutting bone deep, his muscles slowly beginning to relax as his body grew numb. "...do you know what you must do, apprentice?"

With a deep, calming breath, Ezra looked up at the Sith Lord, his eyes a bright, pale blue that glowed faintly in the dim lighting of the hangar, the cold fury of the Dark Side burning behind them. "Save Kanan..." the teen whispered. "No matter what, _save him_."

"That's my boy," Obi-Wan drawled, standing quickly as he put the helmet back on his head and helped Ezra to his feet. "Come now. We've got a Jedi to save." They walked together toward the rest of the group, Ezra moving quick to keep up with Kenobi's long stride, the boy tall and calm and seething with cold anger kept in check by the powerful bond between the teen and the Sith Master. Obi-Wan had been left alone to fall, had struggled to come to terms with the new powers he was discovering, but Ezra would have no such difficulty. The pool he waded in now was shallow by design, and were the child to wander off, swim toward the deep, Obi-Wan would simply pull him back.

"Are you familiar with the weapons, ladies?" Obi-Wan asked when he and Ezra rejoined the group.

"It's heavier than I thought..." Sabine said, gently swinging the darksaber in the air. "You guys always make the movements seem so...effortless, I thought they'd be lighter."

"They become lighter as you become one with the weapon," Kenobi explained. "All that can wait. All you need them for is to cut yourself through walls, if need be." He nudged Ezra. "Where are we going?"

"Three decks up and twelve blocks back toward the rear of the ship," Ezra said, his voice calm and even and strained with anger, the other Spectres looking at him with confusion and concern. "We need to hurry."

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Obi-Wan quietly agreed, taking his lightsaber in his hand and igniting it. "Is everyone ready?" After the swift chorus of affirmations, the group was off, Ezra and Kenobi at the front of the group, working in tandem to cut a hole in the massive blast door. Using the Force to push away the cut out hunk of metal, the group entered the long hallway and began running, the droid and the clone flanking them and shooting down any stormtroopers they saw in the branching hallways. After irritation with slowing down to deal with cutting through the third blast door hit a boiling point with the two Dark Side fueled Force sensitives, they added Sabine and Hera to the cutting crew, halving the time it took them to get through to just over ten seconds.

The hallway ended at a long will lined with elevators, a company of ten stormtroopers guarding a maintenance crew working at one of the panels, and without pause, Obi-Wan and Ezra rushed forward, lightsabers swinging effortlessly before them as they deflected the rapid fire. New to lightsaber combat, Ezra's imperfect technique allowed bolts to get past his guard, most flying past him, but one bolt struck him on the shoulder, hard enough to knock him off balance, but the boy quickly spun into the turn, his forward path righted nearly immediately after, the pain from his injury only fueling his anger.

Behind them, Cody quickly barked commands to the group that were immediately acknowledged by HK-47 and quickly translated by Sabine into terms that the non-military Spectres understood, and within seconds, they stood in close, angled pairs, the Mandalorians in front to absorb any shots that got past the lightsabers, while the other took cover behind them to carefully aim at their targets.

The moment Obi-Wan and Ezra were in range, their lightsabers were brought down upon the soldiers, the plasma blades effortlessly cutting through armor and muscle and bone, the troopers screaming as merciless sabers cut them down in broad, sweeping arcs. When Obi-Wan felt the Dark Side pulse, a sudden surge like a sudden gust of wind, he turned on the teenager beside him, sweeping up with his red blade to meet the swiftly descending green in a hissing cascade of sparks, the teenager's eyes widening with momentary shock before filling with bitter, uncontrolled rage. A swift flick of his wrist sent the red saber tightly circling around the green, wrenching the blade from Ezra's hand and sending it into the air and quickly called to the Sith's outstretched fingers.

Ezra gasped as the air was ripped out of his lungs and he was forced to his knees, unable to stand, unable to breathe while Kenobi called in the droid to swiftly execute the unarmed engineers, the injured and the slowly dying. Obi-Wan crouched before the kneeling, gasping boy, quietly observing his struggle, feeling the Dark Side roar and thrash within him, an untamed beast writhing against the chains the Master calmly put around it, and very quickly, in the presence of the apex predator, the creature submitted, rolled over and calmed itself, in tune to the breath of the Sith Lord.

"Cody, cut open one of the elevator shafts, we're going up from here," Obi-Wan commanded, his gaze never leaving the struggling boy before him, and the clone and Sabine quickly set to the task together, Zeb and Hera standing as close as they dared to the Sith and their teammate. " _Breathe_ , apprentice..."

"I-I can't," Ezra said through wheezing gasps. "I-"

"You can, and you will," Obi-Wan said calmly. "What you feel is the Dark Side's attempt to take you over, control you, consume you." The boy's eyes widened in fear, his chest erratically rising and falling with the spasming of his lungs, and Kenobi quickly reached out and laid a finger upon the boy's forehead. " _Hush_. If you fear the Dark Side, it will consume you, but it is up to you to allow it. The very nature of the Dark Side makes it reach for beyond what you would allow it to take, and it succeeds by plying you with power or pleasure. This is how people are lost."

"H-how do I stop it?" Ezra whimpered.

"By _breathing_ , Ezra," Obi-Wan drawled. " _Breathe_." Nodding, the boy did as he was told, struggling at first, but slowly, he felt his lungs open up, the tense ball of rage within him settling back into the cold, wrathful focus he had before. " _Your_ job, as a practitioner of the Dark Side," Obi-Wan said as he stood, "is to tempt the Dark Side into giving you power, not allow it to tempt you. Take what it offers you, but only when _you_ want it. You are to be the seducer, not the seduced. It's a delicate balance, but if you can achieve it..." He splayed his hands out before him. " _Infinite power_."

"How?" Ezra asked, rising to his feet. "How do I do that?"

"Another lesson for another time, I'm afraid," the Sith grumbled as he stuck hos head into the hole made in the elevator door. "Are you kidding me?" he asked, turning his attention to Cody. " _This_ is the shit I have to deal with today?"

"The power's out, what do you suspect?" the clone drawled. "It had to stop somewhere."

"Would it have been too much to ask for _one_ of them to be stopped beneath us?!"

"...yes," Cody said after a slight pause. "Yes, that is far too much to ask. Otherwise, _something_ would have gone right."

"And we can't have that..." Obi-Wan grumbled as he turned to the Spectres, his hand extended palm up. "My saber, if you will, Hera." The Twi'lek quickly handed the blade over and quickly gave the man space when he bowed his head in concentration, his fingers splayed before him as a loud, groaning creak echoed through the elevator shaft.

"You know, despite the inconvenience, we're lucky the power's out," Sabine said as she stepped beside the Twi'lek. "Communications are down, which is keeping them from coordinating a good effort to find us, and I bet a lot of their troops are trapped or pinned down."

"Let's just hope it's benefitting Kanan in the same way," Hera muttered.

"Ah, they've probably forgotten all about him," Zeb said confidently. "These bucketheads can't tell their head from their ass in a crisis. Who's going to think about a prisoner when they have us running around?"

"Don't get cocky," Cody said as he holstered his blaster. "We've still got a ways to go. Lots can go wrong. Kanan is a valuable prisoner, but he's no good to them if he escapes. They'll kill him if they think that's a possibility."

"Well you're just a ray of sunshine, aren't you..." Zeb growled, glaring at the clone as he passed.

"Someone needs to be," Cody quipped as he drew the rifle from his back. "All of you are so _serious_." A sharp, ringing twang, like the sound of blades clashing, echoed through the air, followed by the screeching grate of metal sliding fast along metal, the elevator rapidly dropping when the cable snapped under the pressure of the Force that the Sith was exerting upon it. The hollow, echoing crash of the elevator striking the bottom of the shaft reverberated through the air long after the dust had settled, and the Sith leaned his head into the hole in the door to look up at what he had to work with.

"Oh, diable zhol visa, sis valia buti'zo xela..." Kenobi muttered, taking both lightsaber in his hand and activating them, turning them around in his palm to hold them backhanded."Would it have been too much to ask that I at least have the _cable_ to work with...HK, Cody, defend the others. I'll be back for you shortly. Ezra, take Cody's lightsaber and come with me." The teen quickly obeyed, taking the offered lightsaber and moving to stand beside Kenobi, and Ezra leaned over to look down into the elevator shaft.

"That's a _really_ long way down..." the teen said, his voice echoing indistinguishably in the depths, his eyes shut tightly when he felt the Force pull within him, the pulse of darkness within him straining against the ties that bound it, but they held firm. He was in control. "We're getting closer, Kenobi, I can feel Kanan, but it's..." He shook his head. "Something's wrong..."

"Which means we need to hurry. Watch what I do and follow my lead." Lightsabers in hand, Obi-Wan jumped through the opening and into the elevator shaft, his sabers stabbing into the opposite wall and burning molten trails in the metal as he slowly slid down. Planting his feet against the wall, he repelled off the side, jumping up and backwards and flipping at the apex of his jump, his sabers digging high above in the opposite wall. Ezra looked on with amazement as the Sith Lord repeated the process, swiftly ascending the elevator shaft by jumping off the sides, his lightsabers aiding his climb. He finally landed on a ledge high above them, his lightsabers cutting a circle into the wall, and with an echoing crash, red emergency lighting filtered into the shaft from the corridor on the next floor up.

"Alright, Ezra, up you go," Obi-Wan called from above, and the teenager looked up at the Sith Lord, then back down toward the seemingly bottomless pit, the objection dying in his throat when the Dark Side pulsed with power, his doubts and fears cleared away by a surge of confidence and anger. This was the only way, the _fastest_ way to Kanan. Powering on the two lightsabers in his hand, Ezra jumped into the elevator shaft, higher than he had ever jumped in his life, and using the burning, molten trails as a guide, Ezra agilely climbed up the walls to where Obi-Wan stood waiting. He felt...stronger. Faster, more lithe and agile than he ever had, the pulse of the Dark Side pushing his body to the very edge of his limitations, far past the point that any normal person could ever hope to achieve., and in no time at all, he was standing beside the Sith Lord in the corridor beyond.

"I...can't believe I did that..." Ezra said, looking down the shaft at the glowing lines in the walls. "And it was _easy_."

"Like I said, apprentice..." the Sith drawled. " _Infinite power_. Nothing is impossible with the power of the Force. Nothing is out of reach if you put aside your fear and _take it_. _Cody!_ " The clone's black and red helmet could be seen below them as the man leaned out to answer the Sith. "Bring the others here, we're going to bring them up!" Cody disappeared, and a moment later, Sabine and Zeb appeared, the two looking expectantly up at them. "Alright, apprentice, reach out with the Force, grab hold, and bring them to us."

"Right..." Ezra muttered, closing his eyes and reaching, feeling for the presence of the Mandalorian girl he knew so well, and grabbed hold of her. With Kanan, he had trained to move things with the Force, but he had been struggling with it, had never lifted anything so large as a person before, and certainly not in such a dangerous situation. Were he to fail, Sabine would fall, and she would die, and it would be his fault. A sudden swell of fear rushed through him, fear of failure, fear of losing another person, and he grabbed hold of the feeling, focused on it, felt his power swell with his anger, and he effortlessly lifted the Mandalorian.

With a gasp, Sabine was carried through the darkness of the elevator shaft next to a Zeb who was flailing in the air beside her for _something_ he could grab on to, the unsettling feeling rankling the Lasat, and shortly after, they were set down in the corridor, Zeb gasping for breath as his feet clawed at the ground. Ezra brought Hera up next, the Sith beside him simultaneously lifting both Cody and HK, and with their entire team gathered in the corridor, the Sith Lord looked them over, his hands rubbing together.

"We doing alright?" Kenobi asked, and after the chorus of affirmations, the Sith took his lightsabers in hand once again. "Excellent! Only two more floors to go."

The next time went faster, the time after that even faster than that as Ezra and Obi-Wan feel into sync with each other, swift and efficient as the teenager quickly grew accustomed to the chill of the Dark Side and gradually reached for more power, more speed, more focus as they repeated the process of climbing up the walls. When they reached the target floor, the Sith allowed the group a moment to regroup while HK ran ahead to investigate the area, the sounds of blaster fire, screams, and mechanical chortling echoing through the dimly lit corridors as the droid cleared away any opposition they would have faced.

"We're close..." Ezra said as he paced restlessly. "We're _so close_. He's in so much pain, Kenobi!" Obi-Wan looked over at Hera, the Twi'lek gripping her arms as she shivered her lip caught between her teeth in her obvious distress, her presence in the Force bright and strong with fear and love and concern.

"Patience, Ezra," Obi-Wan said quietly. "I feel it too, but it is not nearly so bad as you believe. Your own emotions are amplifying it to fuel your strength. _Focus_ , feel what's before you." Nodding, Ezra breathed deep and closed his eyes, his hands tightening around his blades when he felt the disturbance, a strong pulse of the Dark Side, all fear and hate and rage and desperation.

"The Inquisitor..." the teenager growled. "He's here. He's _close_."

"And he's a dead man walking..." Obi-Wan snarled, his gaze drifting to HK-47 as the droid returned. "Shall we proceed? I'm eager to meet the _Grand_ Inquisitor again, we have _so_ much to talk about..."

With their goal in sight, the group made their way quickly down the halls, the Sith and his apprentice leading the charge as they cut through blast doors within seconds and mercilessly cut down any soldiers they came across, the burning wound in Ezra's arm aching and sending pain coursing through him, which only added fuel to his fury, an injury that would have made another slower, weaker, more awkward, but the Dark Side transformed pain into power and turned weakness into strength.

Green and blue and red sabers tore through the next sealed door, the Sith and the apprentice pressing through with a blade in each hand, their eyes blazing with cold fury as glowing molten metal fell in thick drops to a puddle at their feet. When the large hole had been cut, they took a step back and together pushed out with the Force, the disc flying from the wall into the room beyond, the heavy crash accompanied by screams, and they found themselves staring through the hole they had cut into a large control room that was _filled_ with stormtroopers and Imperial officers.

"Oh, _karabast_ ," Zeb growled as he primed his bo-rifle, the arms extending and bursting with a crackling spark as purple electrisity charged at the ends of the staff. "This day couldn't get _any_ worse, could it?"

"Don't say that, Zeb, that's always when things get worse!" Hera said as she dove behind cover, rolling as she hit the ground and drawing her own blaster. She looked over to the other side of the door where Sabine and Zeb sat in cover, the Mandalorian quickly preparing and charging an explosive as she crouched down low. Between them standing in the opening they had created, was Obi-Wan and Ezra, the dual wielding Force sensitives weaving a shield of light in the air before them that no blaster fire could penetrate. Entrenched in the chill of the Dark Side, the two effortlessly beat back bolt after bolt, unpracticed Ezra merely redirecting the shots away to strike the ceiling and the walls, but Obi-Wan angled his deflections with deadly accuracy and precision, each plasma bolt finding its way to pierce through the troopers' white armor.

Kneeling at each side of the pair was Cody and HK-47, the droid and the clone barking quick commands to the Sith and his apprentice, the pair obeying the orders when they lifted their sabers momentarily, their deflections angling higher as Cody and HK were given an opening to fire into the room. When the rapid fire volley was over, the lightsabers would lower again, covering the opening until they called for the next one. When Sabine's explosive was ready, she called for the pair to duck, and Obi-Wan and Ezra swiftly obeyed, their sabers continuing to move through the air as they knelt, and the Mandalorian lobbed the device over their heads, the four in the opening waiting until the last moment before the sabers deactivated and the four dove behind the cover of the door.

There was a blinding flash of light, followed by the sharp pulse of a concentrated explosion, the blast deafening save for the high pitch ringing in their ears that cleared a moment later, their vision returning just in time to see the disbursing energy, in the typical fashion of the artist that built them, flash with blue and green and purple light, an explosion of concussive force and brilliant colors. As soon as the thrumming of energy stopped reverberating in their chests, the lightsabers powered on with a snapping hiss, the Sith and the apprentice rushing in and closely followed by the rest, weapons raised and shooting at the soldiers that had been flushed out of their cover.

There were far more soldiers in the room then they had initially believed, the explosive blast destroying most of the afforded cover and hiding places and forcing those left to scramble for what little safety they could find. The explosion had killed some, injured many more, and still recovering from the force of the blast, the remaining soldiers stood little chance. The quickest were able to take cover behind an overturned table as Obi-Wan and Ezra rushed in, followed closely by Zeb, the fully-extended bo-rifle in hand as he growled, swinging the electrified staff with crushing force that caused blood to rush from underneath the troopers' helmets when their heads were hit, the strikes strong enough to split skulls even through the protection of their helmets.

When Sabine threw a second, smaller grenade, the table the troops had been using for cover had flipped over, exposing the scattered soldiers behind it, and HK-47 and Cody moved in, the two counting their kills as they executed the dazed and the injured upon the ground and the few who managed to scurry away from the grenade before it exploded in a shower of reds and yellows. While the front line soldiers swept the room, Hera kept close to the walls, ducking into small, tucked away spaces and shooting cleverly hidden officers who were waiting for openings to peek out of cover and fire on them. One had managed to fire a quick burst of five shots at Sabine, three of them striking the girl before Hera managed to kill him. The expertly crafted Mandalorian armor protected her well, reducing fatal shots to mere impact damage, but one bolt skimmed her exposed forearm, leaving a deep, burning trail on the top and rendering that hand temporarily useless for shooting.

When the soldiers lay dead, Cody and HK led a sweep of the area to check for any hidden Imperials while the two Force sensitives carved out a new hole in the next sealed door and stepped into the dark room beyond, deactivating their sabers as they let the stillness weigh heavy upon them. The room was dark, the red emergency lights within either broken or malfunctioning, but the moment Ezra and Kenobi stepped inside, they breathed deeply, the Force seeming to fill their lungs and flow through their blood, and despite the dark, they could see, _perfectly_. It was a smaller room than the surveillance and security room they had just come from, a long, thin hallway flanked by counters on either side and thick transparisteel guarding the office areas beyond. And behind the desks on both sides, guarded by the thick glass, were nearly twenty Imperial officers.

They stood still, unmoving, hardly breathing, blasters in hand and aimed at the transparent wall with shaking, unsteady hands. Obi-Wan and Ezra stayed just as still, their eyes slowly roving over the occupants of the room, taking in every detail of their surroundings, the Sith's sharp eyes picking up the slats in the transparisteel and the line of spherical droids upon a back shelf, the all too familiar, sinister form of the IT-O Interrogation Units. This was a processing room for prisoners as they were filtered through, which meant the cells were just beyond. Kanan was _very_ close.

"Apprentice," Obi-Wan said in a smooth, gentle voice, his mask's modulator and the silence in the room making the sound seem louder than it was, and Ezra could see the Imperials tense, some shrinking away, some ducking down to hide behind desks and chairs, the braver of the bunch, inching closer to bring the ends of their blasters closer to the open slats of the transparisteel so they could shoot at the intruders. "Can you feel them?"

"Yes..." the teenager whispered. "They're afraid. They know we killed the garrison."

"More than that, student, they know they are dead themselves. These aren't just officers, there are ISB agents among them. _Interrogators_. And they brought their IT-O Units with them. _Torture droids_." Obi-Wan could feel Ezra tense beside him, the beast within him howling in rage and thirsting for blood. On the other side of the glass, he could see the officers creeping closer, low to the ground in cover and slowly putting their blasters to the small openings. "Did you hear me, _scum_?" Obi-Wan growled, the people behind the glass quickly ducking down for cover. "You are _already dead_. Corpses, the lot of you, and you know it. I can _taste_ your fear."

"...they can see us, Kenobi," Ezra said, slowly beginning to back up when the Imperials grew bolder and made for the glass, but stopped when he saw the Sith remained unmoving.

"Of course they can see us, our eyes glow in the dark, they have a target." Obi-Wan laughed, a deep, sinister thing that made one of the men behind the glass accidentally fire his blaster, the sudden noise causing several others to jump and begin firing as well, the blind panic seeing that no shots got through the thin slats, and commanding officers on both sides began shouting to cease fire, attempting to bring order to the chaos and reclaim the control they had lost. The commotion had caught the attention of the others, and Cody quickly ran to the door, stopping when Obi-Wan held up his hand, and the clone held back, keeping the others from entering.

"These people tortured Kanan..." Ezra growled, and Obi-Wan nodded.

"They did. They stand between us and him, so they need to die, but given their... _special_ relationship with Kanan, I think we owe them something of a more personal treatment."

"You have a plan?" Obi-Wan laughed deeply, his heard pounding with anticipation when the commanders regained control, when he heard the blasters prime, when he heard the clack of the barrels as they slid into the slats.

"It's dark, they are protected, and in a second, their random firing will turn this corridor into a death trap." The Sith looked down at Ezra, his eyes golden lights in the visor of his helmet. "Let's give them a bigger target, shall we?" Four sharp, hissing thrums began in succession as the lightsabers were activated just as the Imperials began firing, the hallway filled with the red glow of blaster fire as it was shot in a deadly crossfire, the blades tearing through the air at such speeds they left blazing trails of light behind them, not a single shot getting past Kenobi's perfect defense as he stood guard over the teen beside him.

There was a brief moment, a quick stop to the suppressing volley fired against them as new charges were primed, as new men moved forward to take the place of others, a moment when the riptide of plasma became a small stream, and that moment was enough. Reaching out his hands to both transparisteel walls, Obi-Wan brought the pressure of the Force down upon them, the officers' safety compromised as cracks began to spread through the thick glass, the integrity of the wall at risk with each fracture. The Sith's hands, loose around the hilts of his lightsabers turned palm upwards as he grabbed the nearest soldiers on each side, the officers rising into the air, their weapons dropped as they clutched at their throats, their legs kicking and flailing as the sound of their choked cries echoed through the corridor, the terror spiking as some ran, and some renewed their firing in their fear.

The Sith's hands suddenly tightened hard around his sabers and he pulled swiftly toward him, the floating officers slamming into the cracking transparent wall with such force their bodies splattered against the glass, blood and fragmented bone and wads of organs and muscles showering the walls, the floor and their nearby comrades as the impact shattered the protective wall.

Ezra moved without delay, his sabers swinging as he jumped over the counter and quickly began cutting down the horrified Imperials, the men and women agents, soldiers and officers stationed there specifically for the torture of prisoners, people that may have been rebels like him, rebels like _Kanan_ , though he knew that Kanan's status as a Jedi would make his treatment worse than others. Fueled by rage and the knowledge that these people stood between him and Kanan, Ezra moved quickly, cold hatred fueling his every strike as his blades moved quickly around him. The others moved in quickly, supporting Obi-Wan and Ezra with fatally accurate shots, the terrified screams and the opposing fire becoming silence as the entire force lay dead, the only sound the soft thrum of the lightsabers and the heavy breathing of Ezra Bridger as he felt the Dark Side sigh in satisfaction, the beast within him laying down after gorging on blood and life and the heavy smell of death.

"The prison cells are just beyond this door," Obi-Wan said, thrusting his lightsabers into the thick steel, the glowing molten metal dripping from the contact points with the plasma blade as he drew a trail through it. "We're nearly there, Spectres."

"Don't worry, Kanan..." Ezra whispered, thrusting his own blades into the door to speed up their progress, the feeling of his Master tense and tight and painful within him, his chest aching with the Dark Side, heavy and oppressive around him. "We're coming for you."


	30. Fire Across the Galaxy

**AN:** **Alright, first things first: this chapter was going to start VERY differently, but I got an idea from EditorFin, and it sat in my brain and wouldn't let go. And it's a great idea, so you can thank her for that one. Honestly, it's a better start than what I had planned. Thanks, dude!**

 **Alright, next! Uh...I lied again. There's going to be another chapter after this one to tie up this whole mess. I was going to include it in this chapter at first, but it started running really long, and the stuff I have planned for it is way too important not to give it proper room to breathe. So, the conclusion to that in a few days. Probably...Monday. Maybe tomorrow if I'm lucky. The chapter will be a bit shorter then they have been running as of late (I think) and I know exactly what's going to happen, so it should write itself. We'll see. After that, work on Blood of Mandalore. Apologies to those of you reading that one, I know, I know, I'm bad and awful, but it will be up next week! Promise!**

 **Alright lovelies! I like this one and I hope you do too! Enjoy!**

 _Chapter 30: Fire Across the Galaxy_

"I haven't broken the Jedi yet," the Inquisitor said softly, his voice straining with tension, though he was certain the nuance wasn't captured by the communication channel. The subtle was always lost over hologram, which was just as well. He didn't want Tarkin to know how strained he truly was, how badly the Jedi had rankled him, how the nagging fear in the back of his mind persisted, no matter how hard he tried and it _would not go away_. "But I will. It is only a matter of time before the pain destroys him, and I have _lots_ of time. The trip to Mustafar is nearly twenty hours, and I plan on resuming work when we are in hyperspace."

"I told you he was resilient," Tarkin drawled. "Is that why you are taking a break? To collect yourself?" A wry, thin smile spread across the Moff's lips. "Has the Jedi _frustrated_ you, Inquisitor?"

"Not at all..." the Pau'an growled, his gaze drifting away from the hologram to stare out the viewport at the _Executrix_ where Grand Moff Tarkin spoke to him from. While the Moff didn't have the Force, the man had hit too close to the truth for his comfort. "Out here, we are vulnerable to attack, and I will keep my vigil until we are safe in hyperspace."

"Very good, Inquisitor," Tarkin said. "We should be on our way shortly. We are waiting for the last of the TIE fighters to return from the sweep of the system. So far, they haven't found anything."

"That doesn't mean that something isn't there," the Inquisitor snapped. "Let us remember that Kenobi has an _invisible ship_."

"One that has been badly damaged," Tarkin said lazily. "No, if the _Umbra_ were in range of the Star Destroyers, I would know."

" _How_ ," the Inquisitor demanded, his voice nearly cracking with panic, and Tarkin shot him an icy, disdainful glare.

" _I would know_ ," the Moff said harshly. "You need not concern yourself with _how_ , just know that I know what to look for, and if the ship is near, I _will_ know." He turned his nose up in the air. "Regardless, the ship was too damaged to have it fully operational by now. If I know Kenobi, and I _do_ , he will be making upgrades to the vessel. It will be a few weeks at least before the _Umbra_ flies again."

"We shall see..."

"We should be more concerned with finding the _Ghost_ ," Tarkin said with a roll of his eyes. "Perhaps Bo-Katan is correct about Kenobi. Perhaps she is wrong, but the Jedi's rebel friends will not abandon him so easily." The Inquisitor's jaw clenched, his sharp teeth grinding together. "What is it?" Tarkin asked, seeing the change in the man. "Do you believe Kenobi will be with them?"

"Maybe..." he mumbled, breathing deeply to calm his racing heart, but his breath shuddered, his heart racing with panic when he felt the Dark Side pulse with...grief. Loss. Unspeakable rage and a hatred so consuming it threatened to burn all in its path to ash. "I feel...something. A disturbance, something's coming..."

"As soon as the final TIEs report in, we will be on our way," Tarkin said briskly, clearly irritated with the Inquisitor's shaken confidence. "There is no reason why we cannot expect five Star Destroyers to defend a single prisoner from our maximum security cells. Do you believe the Empire to be so weak?"

"No, but I believe the Force to be that strong," the Pau'an snarled. "You are making a mistake in underestimating him."

"Oh, believe me, I do not underestimate Obi-Wan Kenobi," Tarkin said quietly. "There is a reason we have our best people working to destroy him, and there is a reason I called so many Star Destroyers to act as escort for a single man." The Moff's eyes narrowed slightly, a flash of muted anger spreading across his gaunt features. "Just because you do not see the trap does not mean one hasn't been set. Or are you so unconfident in your abilities that you believe some filthy insurgents can walk aboard _my_ ship and steal a prisoner from under your nose?" His lips drew in a thin line, his displeasure clear. "Perhaps I was wrong to put my faith in you. Perhaps I should contact Lord Vader and tell him I do not feel you are up to the task."

" _No_!" the Inquisitor gasped, the panic that gripped him clear on his face. "No, that...is unnecessary. I will not fail again."

"See that you don't," Tarkin said, his voice low and menacing. "Failure will not be tolerated, and your Master is more strict on the subject than most." The Inquisitor looked away from the hologram, hie head bowed, and he quickly nodded his understanding, and Tarkin's stiff posture relaxed somewhat. "As I have said, the trap has been set. Admiral Thrawn helped devise it a way to deal with Kenobi's... _unique_ talents. The Jedi has actually been very helpful on that matter." The Inquisitor's attention turned back to the hologram, his fears eased somewhat.

"I was hoping something would come from the data collected in his interrogation," he said sharply. "There must have been some reason to the state I found him in. No wonder your men could get nothing out of him, he could barely _speak_ , let alone think."

"Yes, it is such a relief we have you to make up for our failures," Tarkin said with a roll of his eyes. "Hopefully you will have more success when we are en route to Mustafar. And if you cannot break him, Lord Vader certainly will."

"He certainly will..." the Inquisitor whispered, a shiver running up his spine. "What did Admiral Thrawn learn from the interrogation"

"Not enough..." the Moff dryly said. "He says there is only so much he can do without actually having a Force sensitive to study. Perhaps Lord Vader can be convinced to give him what's left of the Jedi when he's done with him." He shrugged. "Or perhaps Vader will simply give _you_ to Thrawn for study, should you fail him."

"I will _not_ fail," the Inquisitor growled dangerously, and a small smirk touched Tarkin's thin lips.

"I expect no less." The hologram flickered off, leaving the room in dim silence, and with a snarl of fury, the Inquisitor grabbed hold of the Force and slammed his fist against the nearby wall, the heavy durasteel buckling and bending under the pressure, a large, deep dent left in the wall, the metal so badly impacted it looked as if it may crack. By what right did _Wilhuff Tarkin_ have expectations of him? _Him_?! Strong on the Force, a former Jedi awakened to the Dark Side and trained by the ferocious might of Lord Vader and the savage fury of Lord Maul, to be pushed around by this _nothing_ man with no connection to the Force...it was unacceptable. It was _insulting_.

His fury quickly faded when he felt the nagging at the back of his mind begin anew, deeper and worse than before, like an itch that he could not scratch. It was... _maddening_ , a frustration he could not ease, and though such a thing would normally make him wrathful, filled with hatred for the cause of the disturbance, now he felt only fear, panic in the dreadful anticipation of waiting, terror in the knowledge of what was coming. It was _unfair_ , the weight of the expectations placed on him so heavy he could not move, the pressure so great he could almost feel his bones fracturing as they were crushed. All he needed to do was deliver the Jedi to Mustafar. All he needed to do was wait the short time until they left for the safety of hyperspace. All he needed to do was torture a man until the pain broke him, until the surviving student of Depa Billaba cried and screamed and begged for mercy, offering all his secrets if only to make the pain stop.

All he needed to do was keep an unstoppable Sith Lord from taking back what he considered his property. All he had to do was fight off a man that _nobody_ had ever defeated.

The Inquisitor lived his life in fear. Fear of his Masters. Fear of Lord Vader and his uncompromising, brutal expectations, the painful torture of his training, the chilling sound of his pendulous, regulated breathing and the unease of not knowing if his presence would bring new assignments to be completed, or pain because of some failure, some perceived slight, or for no discernable reason at all. Fear of Lord Maul and his unpredictable bouts of madness, his savage, vicious cruelty, his driving need to cause suffering in those he trained, the awful, _awful_ pity he occasionally looked at his students with.

But even above them, what the Inquisitor feared most in this galaxy, was Darth Sidious, the Emperor himself. His Masters' Master, the sovereign Lord of the Dark Side. Failure with his Masters meant pain, lots and lots of it, but to fail _the_ Master, for a failure to come to his attention, for a failure to supercede his own Dark Masters was a fate worse than death. The Inquisitor had never been subject to the Emperor's hand before, not like that, but he had seen the results on others. He had seen his own brothers and sisters of the Inquisitorius shattered at his touch, their bodies broken and their minds even worse, the spidering welts of Force lightning causing anguish long after the torture had ceased, the memory of his touch upon their minds sending them shivering and sobbing into corners. They were shells of their former selves, pale imitations of what they once were because they had failed the Emperor one too many times.

But then there was Obi-Wan Kenobi. The Negotiator. The Shadow King. All titles, all the pseudonyms of Darth Lumis, Lord of the Sith. The Inquisitor knew he was powerful, knew he was feared, though he had never truly feared him. What he feared was being in his presence to begin with and the inevitable defeat he would suffer at Lumis' hands when the Sith Lord came to interfere with his mission.. What he feared was his Masters' reaction to his _failure_. He was an insignificant to Lumis, a creature of so little power next to his own that it was barely worth the effort to harm him. Until he had drawn his attention, and he _did_ draw his attention.

It hadn't been intentional. The death of Luminara Unduli was a necessity, one that Sidious and Vader ordered him to carry out, unbeknownst to him that it would put him in the sights of a Sith Lord. He had known about Lumis, of course. It was hard not to with the living embodiment of what it meant to cross him in the form of Darth Maul, a man who drifted between cruelty and insanity in the span of seconds, a man who was torn apart by his yearning to return to his torturer, a man who had been put back together by Sidious, but craved to be broken apart once again.

But despite this, Lumis had always been seen as something more of a pest than a threat, a renegade Sith Lord, a rebellious child who was best ignored, one who screamed for attention by stealing ships and causing mischief before he disappeared again, more irritating than damaging. He was dangerous, to be sure, but wasn't openly murderous, the deaths attributed to him more often than not collateral damage in his increasingly flashy attempts to make Darth Sidious _hate_ Empire Day. Lumis' fight was with the Emperor, but despite his attempts to damage and destabilize the Empire, Lumis' attacks seemed almost...playful. The rogue Sith hated Sidious, no doubt, but something about his actions spoke of familiarity, a troublesome child who seemed content to watch their parent tear out their hair in frustration. Everyone else, Lumis seemed content to leave alone, unless they fit into his next attempt to humiliate his former Master.

Or unless he was personally crossed.

The Inquisitor didn't truly know what he was facing that day on the asteroid when he lost his fingers. He had unknowingly drawn the attention of Lumis, not just because of Luminara's death, but because he had touched the Sith Lord's _new_ toys. The Lothal rebel cell. The Jedi and his Padawan, property of the Sith Lord, and the Inquisitor didn't know until it was too late. Until his guaranteed victory had been turned into a brutal massacre. Until he had tried to run, only to be easily caught and disabled before he even had a chance to fight.

Lumis' grasp was pain and pleasure, agony in the throes of orgasmic bliss, the Sith's voice soft and smooth, soothing and seductive, the gentle tones of a lover while he was tearing at his mind, setting his nerves on fire with agony as his thoughts were torn asunder. Each of Lumis' touches was a caress, light and alluring, forcing the Inquisitor's body to lean in to the Sith, yearn for more all while his mind was held in cold, shadowy hands and shattered, over and over again, painfully tearing through him not for information, but to inflict as much suffering as possible.

When Lumis had held his wrist tight in his grasp, forcing him to open his hand and expose his fingers, the cruel Lord sat deep in his mind and flooded his brain with pleasure so intense it coursed through his very being, in his blood and deep down into his bones, even as his nerves were on fire with pain, even as he watching in horror as his fingers were slowly, _slowly_ disintegrated. Pain wracked his body, but his mind shuddered in pleasure, a confusing conflict of feelings that made the Inquisitor simultaneously want to run for his life and stay to be kept. And just when the physical pain became too much, the Sith changed the game, exchanging physical pain for physical pleasure and mental bliss for mental agony, never pain or pleasure, always both at once.

And that was the trouble with Darth Lumis. Darth Sidious ruled with terror, the fear of him alone enough to keep his subjects bowing before him and scrambling to do exactly as he wished. It was no secret what happened if he were to fail, and trying to escape was impossible. There was no place in the galaxy he could hide where Sidious wouldn't find him, no amount of begging that could make the Sith Master show even the slightest bit of mercy. They stayed by his side out of the fear of what would happen to them if their actions, their very _thoughts_ were anything other than perfectly loyal.

But Darth Lumis was different. Lumis made his playthings _want_ to stay, made them long for their torturer, made them crave the agony he inflicted. It was the strange pairing of pain and pleasure that did _something_ in the Inquisitor's mind, made pain its own reward, and while he hadn't been in Lumis' care for long, he could feel the Sith Lord deep in his mind sitting, waiting, that amused, superior look on his youthful face, the fire in those golden eyes that glowed with seductive cruelty. He could brush it away, tune it out, but it was _always_ there, and one look at Maul on his worst days, on the days when he wandered through the palace like he was _lost_ , on the days he caught the Zabrak huddled in a corner with desperation in his eyes and muttering for his Master to save him from his fear, on the days he rubbed incessantly at the scarred bite upon his hand that Lumis treasured so dearly...

Those days served as a grim reminder of what he _could_ become, and it filled him with fear so intense, so poisonous that even the Dark Side would not touch it. This was not the fear that transformed to hate and then to power. This was fear that sat hard and heavy deep within him, and no matter how hard he tried, it could not be banished. It rested within him _always_ , a gentle nagging at the back of his mind, in the soft, accented whisper in his ears he sometimes heard in the silence of his meditations. Sidious ruled with fear, trapped his subjects in a cage of pure terror, but Lumis made _slaves_ , made them ask, _beg_ for the chains they wore, and that was far more frightening.

Still, on the asteroid after days of being alone, of suffering as he survived, the Inquisitor thought only of his Masters' displeasure, of what would happen to him when he returned, his mission an unqualified failure, the Jedi escaped, the rebels lost, and beaten and maimed by a renegade Lord of the Sith...he was an embarrassment, a disgrace to the teachings of his Masters, a shame to the Emperor he served, and the fear of them was the only thing in his mind as he fought for survival.

But _now_...

The Inquisitor shivered, grasping his arms against the cold chill that suddenly ran up his spine, gasping for breath as he began to hyperventilate in his panic. _Kill yourself_ , Maul had said. _End it all_. He was afraid to die. More than anything, he was afraid to die. A great many things were worse than death, though the Inquisitor was willing to endure a great many horrors before it became too much, before death was less frightening than the fate before him. And still he heard it, Lord Maul's voice, over and over again, _kill yourself, end it all_. End it all before it was too late. End it before he became like _Maul_. The option was no longer available to Maul like it was still available to him. Maul's life was not his own, and it was not his to take. It belonged to his _Master_ , and there was no escaping that, no matter how much the broken creature struggled for freedom. It was a warning, and a suggestion that the Inquisitor saw as almost kind. Kill yourself, before your life is no longer yours.

He could _feel_ Lumis, not in the Force, but within himself, a shadowy presence deep inside his mind that simply _was_. It offered no words, no pleasure, no pain, didn't move within him, didn't alter his thoughts or manipulate him. It just _sat_ , silently watching, observing, its golden eyes unblinking as they followed his every movement. If he focused, at times, he could feel the presence smirk in amusement, his mind filling with flashes of pain and pleasure in the memories of his blissful torture on the asteroid, his missing fingers a constant reminder of the Sith Lord's touch. And sometimes, _sometimes_ , he could hear the smooth, hypnotic voice _laughing_ , soft and sinister as a voice echoed in his mind, a breathless whisper calling for his submission to the Sith Master that had tainted him. Not in the crisp accented drawl of Lumis, but in his _own voice_.

It was enough to break him.

Perhaps the most frightening thing in the entire galaxy was Darth Sidious. Perhaps there was nothing else that could ever induce terror like him. But Sidious was in Coruscant, so very far away, and right now, at this very moment, _Darth Lumis_ , a creature, a _demon_ from the very abyss of the Sith Hells themselves, was standing just outside his door because the Inquisitor had been fooling enough to take his Jedi away from him. It was enough to chase even his most primal fears from him and fill him with a raging, persistent terror that far surpassed anything he had ever felt. Enough for him to even overcome his greatest fears in a desperate, final grasp at survival.

Swallowing hard, the Inquisitor ran shaking fingers over the holotransmitter's codes and knelt on the ground, his eyes shut tight and a pitiful whimper escaping his throat when the hologram flickered on, projecting the seated, hooded image of Darth Sidious before him.

It was almost as terrifying as being in the same room with him, a thing he actively took steps to avoid at all costs in normal circumstances.

"Grand Inquisitor..." the Sith Master said in a soft, rasping voice, his irritation obvious not just in his voice, but through the Force as well. "For what reason have you disturbed me?"

"Master..." he croaked, his throat suddenly dry, unable to bring himself to look at the Emperor. "Master, I need your help," he finally managed to gasp after he had swallowed to loosen his tight throat.

"Do you now..." the Emperor drawled, his tone thoughtful as he searched the kneeling man before him. "I understand that you have recently achieved a great success. Is there a...complication, Grand Inquisitor?"

"N-no, Master..." he began, wincing as soon as he said it. "I-I mean...yes. Yes, Master."

"Some trouble with your captured Jedi?" the Emperor asked, his voice equal parts amusement and malice. "I hear this one is young. Hardly old enough to have fought in the Clone Wars. Are you saying you lack the skill to manage a barely trained, unpracticed _Padawan_?" He scoffed slightly and leaned back in his throne. "Have you fallen so far as that?"

"No, Master!" the Inquisitor said in a voice tight with tension, finally looking up toward the hologram with wide, frantic eyes. "The Jedi has been dealt with, Lord Vader will have him by this time tomorrow."

"Then tell me..." Sidious said in a dangerously soft voice. " _Why_ are we even having this conversation?" The Inquisitor took a deep breath and held it until he thought his lungs would burst, then let out a long, shuddering exhale as he looked up at the Sith Master.

"Master, it's..." His voice caught in his chest when his heart began racing, his fear increasing as he felt the Force begin moving like a swift and sudden current, something inside him feeling as though saying his name would summon him. "Master, this Jedi...we are given to believe that this Jedi belongs to Darth Lumis." For a long while, there was silence, the rushing feel of the Force he had felt a moment earlier suddenly stopped when the Inquisitor felt fingers snaking around his neck, the light grip slowly squeezing until his breathing was reduced to a thin wheeze.

"I see..." the Emperor finally said, the grip relaxing for a moment, but the touch remained, the feel of pure, physical fear prickling at his pale skin. "You believe Lumis is coming to claim what is his." Sidious pointed at the Pau'an, a ling, gnarled finger extending from the dark sleeves of his robe. "You believe he is coming for _you_ for taking it."

"Yes..." the Inquisitor choked out in a thin, wispy voice, and Sidious leaned back and steepled his fingers.

"And what will you have me do about this?" The Inquisitor stared at the Sith Master, but he could say nothing. What _did_ he want him to do about this?

"Master..." he started weakly. "You trained him, he's your student. Surely you are more powerful than him. I can think of nobody else that even has a chance at defeating him."

"So..." Sidious drawled. "You wish me to kill Darth Lumis for you?" He cackled softly and shook his head. "I'm afraid that is impossible, Grand Inquisitor." The Pau'an looked up at the Emperor, his eyes wide with fear. "Even if I wished to aid you, and I do _not_ , you and I are separated by a great distance. By the time I arrived to save you, you would already be dead."

"M-master, if-"

"There is nobody who can save you, Grand Inquisitor," Sidious said slowly, his voice cold and hard, and the Pau'an felt fear swiftly grow into panic as he began hyperventilating. "Remember this. It doesn't matter what challenges you may face in the task you are given. Failure is _not_ acceptable." A long, slow peal of cackling laughter echoed through the room, a malicious, cruel, _amused_ thing, and with a gasp of sudden pain, the Force tearing at him like blades, like arcs of lightning blazing across his skin and leaving raw burns in their wake. He slammed his hand on the ground, his eyes wide with fear as he gasped for breath, and the room suddenly fell silent, the room left in pure darkness as the hologram was cut. As _all_ the lights were cut. Gritting his teeth, the Inquisitor looked up and surveyed the room. Every light, every console, every flashing indicator was dead, the sudden flicker of the eerie emergency lighting flickering on. The _Sovereign'_ s power had been cut.

The Force was a turbulent storm, a wicked, sinister power that drew the Dark Side in a vortex toward a certain point, the power converted into raw energy in the eye of the storm before it was extended outwards. And for just a moment, the Inquisitor could see it. Standing in the center of the storm, the unaffected cause of the violent disturbance, was a pair of glowing gold eyes on a young, handsome face, an excited, triumphant grin on his face as he stared _right at him_.

Darth Lumis had come for him.

* * *

" _Kanan_!"

Hera rushed through the cut hole as soon as she saw the Jedi restrained against the vertical table, a small whimper torn from her throat when she saw his bare chest covered in large red welts and electrical burns. She stood before him, too afraid to touch the dazed, drugged man, her trembling hands caught by Obi-Wan as he stood beside her and gently moved her out of the way, taking off his helmet and tossing it to Sabine. Shaking his hands out, Obi-Wan lightly touched his fingers to Kanan's temple, the Jedi groaning softly as the Force was gently pushed through him.

"Ezra..." Kenobi whispered. "Stop pacing, you animal. It's distracting."

"They'll pay for what they've done to him!" the teen snarled. "If he doesn't wake up-"

"He is _fine_ , apprentice," Obi-Wan said, glaring over his shoulder at the restless boy. "Now cease this foolishness before I send you out to keep watch with Cody and the droid." Ezra muttered curses under his breath, but this time did as he was told. Hera gently laid her hand on Obi-Wan's arm, scooting closer to him as she looked at the Jedi, the warm burst of concern and affection and love making the Sith Lord shiver.

"What did they do to him?" the Twi'lek whispered, laying her hand over Sith's that rested on Kanan's face.

"Do you really want to know?" Kenobi muttered, and jaw clenched tightly, Hera nodded. "Torture, like you'd suspect," he whispered, voice low so the kids could not hear. "Drugs. _Lots_ of them...give me a moment and we'll have them flushed from his system." Hera was silent as she watched her lover's face, pain and struggle flashing across his features, the man gasping as his consciousness slowly returned, and when he opened his eyes, his expression blank and distant, she ran her fingers down his neck and chest, careful to avoid the burns across his skin.

"Hera?" Kanan choked, his voice raw and raspy from hours of screaming, his hazy eyes struggling to focus on the woman as he slowly shook his head. "No...no, it can't... _you_ can't..."

"I am, love, I'm here..." Hera said breathlessly, her voice quivering with emotion she did nothing to repress as she stroked the Jedi's face, the man leaning into her touch, a soft, grateful smile on his lips.

"I don't know if you're real or not," Kanan whispered. "But what I do know is I don't tell you enough that I love you..."

"That can change," Hera said, swallowing hard and smiling at the captive man. "We don't have to hide what we have, Kanan. I came too close to losing you, I don't want to have any regrets about this. About _us_."

"Force, I hope you're real..." Kanan muttered, closing his eyes and sighing when the pilot stood up on her toes and pressed her lips to his.

"We need to get moving," Obi-Wan said, his hand passing through the air and the restraints snapped free, the Jedi falling into Hera's arms, the two stumbling as Hera struggled under his weight before Zeb rushed in to help, the powerful Lasat keeping the shaky, unsteady Jedi on his feet as he got used to standing his strength slowly returning.

"So this isn't some...hallucination?" Kanan asked as the others gathered around him, his eyes following Ezra as he fidgeted restlessly, a frantic wild look in his eyes, pale blue and glowing softly in the dim light of the room. Something was...off. _Wrong_. "You shouldn't have come here, none of you should have come," Kanan said, unable to keep the faint smile off his lips despite the danger and his growing unease. "But...I am so glad to see you..."

"Are you badly hurt?" Ezra asked quickly, the boy rushing forward when the Jedi shifted his weight and winced, quickly taking weight off the leg. "Can you move? Are you alright to escape? I swear, I'll make them all pay for what they have done to you."

 _That_ was it. The strong pulse in the Force, the disturbance he felt, the frigid chill of winter. Not the gaping abyss he felt within Kenobi, but something smaller, not nearly so powerful, but dark all the same, a flickering shadow cast by the light. The Dark Side flowed through Ezra, strong and tightly embraced, though not uncontrolled. Yoda had said Ezra was to receive training in both the light and the dark, exposure to both in the hopes that the familiarity would teach him how to control his natural leanings, would make the allure of the dark less tempting, but active use of the Dark Side was different, and he couldn't help but wonder what they had done, what they had sacrificed to get this far.

"I'm fine, Ezra..." Kanan whispered, the boy's eyes narrowing as he looked the Jedi over, and with a strong pulse of relief flooding the Force, Ezra sighed, a shuddering, weak whimper in his throat as his legs buckled, the anger washing away as his fear for his Master vanished, the strength of the Dark Side leaving him and replaced with exhaustion, his energy depleted far past his reserves. Heedless of his own weakened state, Kanan wriggled out of Zeb's grasp and knelt beside his Padawan, a hand on his back as the teen gasped for air.

"I feel sick..." Ezra whimpered. "And cold, why's it so cold..."

"Because the Dark Side is _poison_ ," Kanan growled, glaring at the Sith Lord by the doorway. "What have you done?!"

"I taught the boy the best way I know how to turn weakness into strength and fear into power," Obi-Wan said cooly. "He is no Jedi, Kanan, the fear for your safety rules him, and the task of extracting a highly valuable prisoner from the bowels of _Grand Moff Tarkin's_ Star Destroyer is a daunting one, even for me."

"And you needed a Dark Side ally to accomplish that?" the Jedi asked, standing and striding on still shaking legs to the Sith Lord's side. "Kenobi, he's only a boy..." he whispered, and Obi-Wan felt the strong pull of the Jedi's own fear for his student, concern for the boy walking down a path he didn't understand.

"He already reaches for darkness, Kanan," Obi-Wan whispered back. "There is a reason the Jedi trained us from infancy, the training often fails as they get older. The attachments are too strong, the fear is too great..." He shrugged. "Idiot reasons, but to make Jedi the way you and I were raised to be, it must be so."

"And even then it may fail," Kanan said, looking pointedly at the Sith Lord. "I don't want him to be like you," the Jedi hissed. "I don't want him to be cold and cruel, I don't want him to suffer the pain you do, I want-"

"You want him to be happy," Kenobi finished. "I understand. But Yoda tasked us with raising him together for a reason. Acclimate him to fear, allow him to feel, get him used to the pull of the Dark Side through his emotions so he can use it or turn away as needed. He _can't_ be a Jedi because the Jedi are _gone_ , Kanan," he said, looking around the man to Ezra as Sabine helped him stagger to his feet. "We are making something new. Something stronger than what the Jedi had become."

"I don't know, Obi-Wan..." Kanan said, rubbing his arms as he shivered, his eyes on the teenager as Hera quickly examined the wound in his shoulder. "Look how sick he is. Ezra's a good person, he isn't mean for the dark..."

"Which is why he needs guidance, so he _doesn't_ fall like I did," Obi-Wan whispered, drawing closer to Kanan so the man could hear him. "In all of us is darkness and light, evil and good. Great evil may be done in the name of the light, just as good may be done in the dark. The Dark Side and the Light...it is all the Force."

"...kind of like you?" Golden eyes shot to the Jedi, wide and suspicious as they searched him, and Obi-Wan tore himself away from Kanan. It didn't ease his fears, and the matter wasn't settled, but Kanan could feel Kenobi's care for not just Ezra, but for all of them. This Sit Lord wouldn't hurt them. Not now, and not ever. Besides, Kanan had his own attachments, things that he feared to lose, and since Order 66, he hadn't exactly been living like a Jedi either.

"Don't be ridiculous, there's no good in me, Kanan..." Obi-Wan said gently, and the Jedi smiled to himself when the Sith turned away from him. "We need to leave. Just be content in knowing that so long as I am here, your student will not be lost in the darkness."

"That so?" Kanan asked, a wry smile on his lips as he shrugged. "In that case, guess we'll just have to keep you around."

"Let's get ourselves out of here before we get sentimental..." Obi-Wan growled, but Kanan could see the slightest hint of a shy smile at the corner of the Sith's mouth. "Hera!" The Twi'lek quickly brought herself away from what she was doing and moved to the Sith Lord, her hand running lightly down Kanan's bare chest as she passed him, a small, suggestive smile on her lips that the Jedi quickly returned. "I'm taking HK and going to make Tarkin sorry he _ever_ crossed me. He may not be on the ship, but he doesn't have to be for me to wound him." He shrugged. "And there _is_ someone on the ship who has been _aching_ for my attention. I would be a poor guest indeed if I didn't pay my respects to our host..."

"You're going after the Inquisitor?" Ezra asked in a thin voice, and the Sith nodded. "Please...take me with you. What he did to Kanan, I...h-he can't be forgiven."

"And he won't be," Obi-Wan assured him. "You've done your part admirably, apprentice. We couldn't have saved Kanan without you. Now trust your Masters handle the rest." Ezra looked between Obi-Wan and Kanan, tried to summon the anger he needed to be strong, be _useful_ to them, but the fear was gone, and with it, the anger. Kanan was safe. That was all that mattered. Slowly, Ezra nodded, and allowed Sabine to help support him.

"Cody!" Obi-Wan called, his hand extended and all the lightsabers flying off belts and out of hands to float before the Sith. The clone peeked in from his guard post at the door. "I'm taking the droid to finish up the business I have here. I did make Fulcrum a promise about freeing the Spectres up for their work in the rebellion. Guide them to safety, my friend," Obi-Wan said, tapping Shaak Ti's lightsaber, and the weapon drifted to the clone's hand.

"I won't fail you, brother. They'll be safe in my hands."

"I know they will be. Ezra." With a flick of his hand, the teen's weapon floated to his hand. "Reaching for the Dark Side now is ill-advised. Too much too quickly and it will tear you apart. I know you want to help, but you do not need the Force for that. In the _very_ likely scenario that the path we took here is no longer accessible, cut a new path. Understand?"

"Yeah, perfectly," Ezra said, his hand closing around his saber. "I can do that."

"Sabine, you're the forward scout." He pressed the darksaber to her, and she hesitantly took it out of the air. "If things look too difficult up ahead, blow up the corridor, buy some time for Ezra to cut a new way."

"Oh, I think I can manage that," the Mandalorian said as she ran her fingers along the explosives on her belt.

"Zeb..." The Sith paused, regarded the Lasat as his back straightened with the tensing of his powerful muscles. "If it comes down to it, knock some heads in."

"Oh, I like this guy," Zeb said, cracking his knuckles. "I think the Sith finally speaks my language."

"Hera..." Obi-Wan smiled softly at the woman. "All you need to do is fly us out of here. As soon as you get to the hangar, steal a ship and get out."

"What about you?" the pilot asked, and Obi-Wan shook his head, reaching out and grabbing one of the two sabers left floating before him and clipping it to his belt.

"Don't wait for me. I can't blow up the ship until you are safely off it." He was met with wide eyes and slack jaws, and Obi-Wan could do nothing but roll his eyes. "Oh, _what_?! I said I was going to get at Tarkin, didn't I? What better way to do it than by destroying _another_ of his personal ships? And his flagship to boot. It's too great of an opportunity, I can't pass it up!"

"You want us to leave you behind?" Ezra gasped, shaking his head. "No, I can't do that. _We_ can't do that. It's like losing Kanan all over again."

"Foolish boy..." Obi-Wan scoffed. "I've no intention of dying. Trust me, I'll be off the ship before it goes down." He pointed to Hera. "You keep me updated on your status. If anything goes wrong, if there are any changes, I want to know about it."

"Alright," Hera said quietly. "I trust you, Obi-Wan."

"Just get clear as quickly as you can. One of those Destroyers is a _Chimera_ , and we can't figure out if it's _the_ _Chimera_. I don't want to escape only to be captured again." The pilot nodded, and Kenobi turned to Kanan and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright?" The Jedi slowly nodded.

"The bastard took my lightsaber. And my _shirt_." He frowned and tucked his hands under his arms, his skin raising in small bumps between the welts and burns. "I wouldn't mind too much, but I like the armor I had on the arm, and...damn it, it was my favorite shirt."

"Understood," Obi-Wan said quietly as he pressed the remaining lightsaber, the blue bladed weapon he had used as a Jedi, into Kanan's hand. "I'll get them back before I leave." He took a deep breath and examined the Jedi before him, felt the Force, calm and serene and strong, not the presence of a Jedi Padawan lost and forgotten in the shadows of the Empire, but that of a Jedi Knight. A _real_ one, not the pitiful facades that existed in the twilight of the Republic, and it was a thing of beauty.

"Got directions for me, boss?" Kanan asked as he clipped the saber to his belt, and the Sith chuckled softly and closed his eyes.

"I don't. Do what you do best, Kanan Jarrus. Trust in the will of the Force, and there isn't anything that can stand in your way." Obi-Wan held out his hand, and Sabine quickly rushed forward to hand him his helmet, his eyes roving over the assembled group. "Alright. I'll see you all when this is over. May the Force be with you, my friends." Obi-Wan slid his helmet on his head, pulled up the hood of the robes integrated into the armor, and walked out the door, the assassin droid falling in step beside its Master as they ran down the corridor opposite where they entered from.

"We should get moving as well," Cody said, looking out into the hallway and peering down the long, dim corridor. "Everyone keep close. We aren't going to move quick, we're going to move _safe_. Syndulla, is your comlink tuned to Kenobi's?"

"Already done, Cody."

"Excellent. Wren, you take point. Don't wander far."

"Right," the Mandalorian said, taking her blasters in hand and darting out into the hallway and vanishing into the dark of the room beyond.

"Alright. Orrelios, take up the rear guard, I've got the front. Follow me." Slowly, the group stepped out into the hallway, weapons in hand as they crept down the hallway. They didn't get far before a loud, ringing explosion echoed down the hallway, the groaning of metal warping following the swift ringing of footsteps as Sabine came sprinting full speed toward them.

"Don't talk, just run!" Sabine shouted as she blazed past them, and Zeb scooped Kanan and Ezra up under each of his arms and ran after the speedy Mandalorian, Hera and Cody following closely behind. When they came to another sealed door, four lightsabers ignited at once and drove through the thick door, Zeb and Hera standing guard while the others made short work of the obstruction. As soon as the hole had been cut, they all rushed through a security room, a hundred surveillance monitors dead from the Sith's electric surge. They vaulted over desks and counters to swiftly reach their target, and as soon as they had passed underneath the open doorway to the halls beyond, Sabine threw three of her explosives into the room, the magnetized charges flying to stuck to the walls, the increasing frequency and pitch of their beeping detonation sequence following them down the hall until it was consumed by the loud roar of the devices detonating.

Ezra guided them down the winding corridors, running beside Cody as he directed them to duck into branching hallways and subsidiary rooms, their lightsabers cutting quick paths through the walls into other parts of the ship, frantic patrols of stormtroopers swiftly torn through by the raging Lasat as they ran across them. When their way was clear, they ducked into a smaller hallway, and Ezra took his saber in hand and began cutting through the floor. He kicked the piece out and dropped into the small space filled with wired and tubes and piping, the inner workings of the ship, the green lightsaber spinning around him and quickly cutting it all to pieces before he drove the blade once again into the ground, cutting out another piece just below the opening above him, a clear path to drop down into the lower hallways.

Ezra stood below to catch his companions with the Force as they fell, easing their landings as they dropped down from above. As soon as they were all together again, they sprinted down the hallway, following the straight path through the ship and turning into corridors that would take them to the hangar. They cut the sharp turn into the next hallway when they saw another group of stormtroopers further on their current path, and skidded to a quick and sudden halt when a sinister hiss reverberated in the air, followed by the thrum of a red lightsaber as they looked into the furious eyes of the Grand Inquisitor.

Kanan's blue blade ignited in his hand, the Jedi confidently stepping forward to place himself between the Dark Side acolyte and the people he was sworn to protect, a bulwark against the storm of hate and rage and fear that was the Inquisitor. He felt...calm. Ready. The Force pulsing strong and even within him, the swelling surge of strength he felt drawn from his need to defend these people, his family, his friends and loved ones, his weariness and fatigue banished in a wash of warmth and comfort. He wasn't afraid, not of losing the people behind him, not of losing his own life, and certainly not of the creature before him. All he knew was what he must do, his goal clear, his senses focused, and the Jedi slipped in beside the Force, breathed it as he breathed the air around him, and listened to its call, following its will to this moment, right here, as it was always meant to be.

He locked eyes with the Inquisitor, and in those blazing yellow depths, all Kanan saw was abject terror.

"Go, all of you," Kanan said to the people behind him. "Get to the ship and get out of here."

"Not without you," Ezra said, rushing forward and lighting his own weapon. "The reason why we're here was because you sacrificed yourself before! I won't allow it to happen again!"

"We are _not_ leaving you, Kanan," Hera said firmly. "I lost you once and I am not losing you again, and certainly not like this."

"Yeah, sacrificing yourself to save us during your own rescue is about the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Sabine said, her weapons raised.

"I am _not_ sacrificing myself," Kanan said, his voice strong, even and confident. "I've no intention on losing. Not this time."

"It'll be easier if we just take him together," Zeb growled, his bo-rifle raised, the high whine of it charging sounding through the air, and before Cody could stop him, the Lasat fired, the purple bolt of energy screeching through the air toward the Inquisitor, and the swift thrum and sharp hiss followed as the plasma energy was knocked back directly at Zeb, saved last second when Kanan's blue blade cut across the shot's trajectory and knocked it back toward the stunned Pau'an. The Inquisitor recovered just in time, his blade arching to catch the redirected shot, sending it back toward the Jedi, only to have the blue saber deflect it back once again.

Ezra quickly backed away, watching in awe as the Jedi and the Inquisitor sent the purple bolt bouncing back and forth between them, the sabers weaving trails of light through the air with their blinding speed. The lightsaber was suddenly snatched out of Ezra's hand and a hard grip on his wrist pulled him off balance, breaking his focus on the combatants between them, and though he tried to pull away, eager to be ready to rush to Kanan's aid when he needed him, Cody wouldn't let Ezra go.

"So help me, have you not fought enough kriffing stormtroopers to know that shooting at a Force sensitive is _idiotic_?!" Cody snarled, throwing Ezra toward Zeb, the Lasat dropping his weapon to catch the teen. "The next person that shoots at a Force sensitive trained to wield a lightsaber, I will kill myself to spare you the humiliation!"

"We have to do _something_!" Ezra cried, breaking free from Zeb and rushing toward them, but he was quickly stopped by the clone.

"Yes, we're going to do what Kanan said and we're going to _go_ ," Cody growled. "You'll just get in the way, and he's doing fine on his own."

"But..." Ezra began, biting his lip as he struggled to grasp at any one of hundreds of objections he had. "But the _ship_ -"

"Don't worry about me," Kanan said, his focus held firmly on the Inquisitor as he beat back the plasma bolt. "I'll catch a ride with Kenobi." The Inquisitor's eyes widened, the surge of fear so strong within him that Kanan could feel it in the Force, could see his chest spasm as he struggled to breathe, could almost hear the sudden racing of his heart. The Pau'an's focus was torn from the moment just long enough to make his saber waver in a trembling hand, the purple bolt striking the blade at an awkward angle and sending it striking hard into the ground beside his feet, hissing a curse as he swiftly moved his foot out of the way. It wasn't much, but it was enough, and the moment Kanan saw the shot racing toward the unstable blade, he pressed off the ground and bolted toward the Inquisitor, his weapon sweeping in a wide arc and striking at the unbalanced foe.

The Pau'an recovered just in time to block it and was quickly forced on the defensive by the relentless Jedi, the strikes coming not hard, but dangerously fast, in swift cuts and precise stabs and perfectly timed counters that kept Kanan on the offensive. It was a vastly different style from the one the Inquisitor had seen in the Jedi before, once only practicing the defensive, close quarter Soresu of his Master Billaba, but what he was doing now looked almost, _almost_ like something one would have expected from a student of the late Darth Tyranus. Or someone who was very close to him, trained with him long enough to pick up the basics of his style.

"Let's go, Bridger!" Cody snarled as he grabbed Ezra's arm and ran with the protesting boy in tow. "Jarris is going to be fine. This isn't a sacrifice, its tying up a loose end. _Trust him_." Ezra started to protest, but even now could feel Kanan's resolve, his focus, his determination. This _was_ different than before. Before, Kanan had been afraid, sad, filled with selfless love for the family he was saving. This time, Kanan was going to win.

Ezra nodded as he ran faster, cutting around the corner and allowing the two combatants to disappear from sight as they sprinted toward the stormtroopers that had tried to avoid before, the green lightsaber flying to his hand and igniting as he batted bolts out of the air and charged at the line beside Zeb and Sabine, Cody and Hera hanging back to pick them off at a distance. Kanan had his mission, and Ezra had his. All he could do was complete his own task and have faith that Kanan would do the same.

"Contact Kenobi," Cody said to Hera after Zeb had finished almost single-handedly savaging the Imperials to death, the group falling into line as they rushed through the halls. "Make sure he knows about his new passenger."

"Right..." Hera muttered, grabbing her comlink and calling the Sith Lord, and Kenobi answered right away.

"Have you already made it to the ship?" Obi-Wan asked when the call was connected. "This is taking longer than expected, do you have _any_ idea how many shirts there are down here in storage?"

"...are you _actually_ looking for Kanan's shirt?!" the Twi'lek snapped, and Kenobi hissed softly, a gentle admonishment of her disapproval.

"He said it was his favorite, Hera, what would you have of me?"

"He can get a new shirt when we are _safe_!"

"His _favorite_ , Hera." The Twi'lek groaned, her lekku squirming in aggravation. The Sith had a strange way of organizing his priorities.

"There's been a change of plans," she said quieter than she intended, her voice trembling slightly. "Kanan's going to fly out with you."

"Ooh, I'm _really_ not going to like this, am I?" Obi-Wan asked, his tone almost flippant if not for the undercurrent of tension that she managed to detect.

"Probably not..." Hera said quietly. "We ran into the Inquisitor, Kenobi, Kanan's..." She swallowed hard, the fear that she had repressed suddenly bubbling up. "Kanan's fighting him, Obi-Wan."

"Alone?" the Sith asked calmly, his tone helping to ease Hera's mounting anxiety.

"Y-yes..." she said, her eyes focused on Ezra as the boy drove his saber into another blast door. "None of us wanted to leave him, not after what happened on Lothal, but he wanted us to get away. He seemed...I-I don't know, Obi-Wan, the things I saw Kanan do today...I've never seen anything like it." There was silence, heavy and uncomfortable, and Hera clenched her jaw tightly, imagining how furious the Sith Lord must have been. "S-so..." she said in an effort to break the silence. "So he's flying out with you. Y-you're just going to have to pick him up after you help him." Again, there was silence, not even the sound of breathing or background noise heard over the device, and the Twi'lek had to check to make certain they were still connected.

"Understood," Obi-Wan said calmly, not the slightest detection of the expected anger in his voice. "Fly well, Hera. Do not be troubled. Kanan is safe with me." Before she had a chance to say anything, the com cut, and with a sigh, she pocketed the device. She brushed aside her worries and focused on the other lives that were resting on her ability to maintain a cool head. Above all else, as she had always done, she believed in Kanan.

* * *

He was right. This _was_ a test.

Obi-Wan stood high above the Star Destroyer's reactor core, leaning against one of the many control towers, a web of bridges and platforms beneath him linking all the towers together to form the control matrix that managed the ship's powerful hyperdrive. The reactor core hummed with energy, blazing white at its center and pulsing out into light blues, though the bridges far below his position were lit with blue and red as lightsabers clashed and sparked, a savage, deadly, _beautiful_ thing, one that Obi-Wan had participated in many times himself, but rarely had the chance to watch.

Before this mess started, before the attack on the _Sovereign_ , before Kanan had been captured, before the assault on Lothal, Obi-Wan had felt something in the Force, something bold and insistent, not quite a warning, but a declaration of things to come. This was a _test_ , though Obi-Wan had wrongly assumed the test was for him. No, this test was for _Kanan_.

The Force was holding him back, a gentle hand upon his shoulder that would not allow him to interfere, a test meant for the Jedi, not for him. Kanan had never advanced past the point of Padawan, a student lost in the world with no Master to turn to, one who had found himself in possession of a student of his own, and suddenly, Kanan Jarrus had something to prove, not just to the galaxy, but to himself. This was...his Trial. The sacred test the Jedi once used to pass their young into adulthood within the Order, one that recognized their strength, their commitment, their oneness with the Force, and now, the Force itself was administering the test to the Last Padawan.

Obi-Wan would have thought he'd be more uneasy about standing back and watching his Jedi battle with a man he had _never_ defeated, but the caress of the Force was soothing, not the dreadful, blaring warning he felt when Sundari was attacked, nor the snarling fury of the Dark Side when Anakin Skywalker - _Darth Vader_ \- had arrived on Mustafar. Now, the Force was more like a mother easing the fears of her anxious child, a treasured friend that stood silent and comforting at his side. Despite the battle raging, despite the fear and the panic of the Imperials on the ship, the Force was calm and still, in the hands and as one with the Jedi that fought below.

No, the only thing exhibiting any anxiety at all was HK-47, the assassin pacing back and forth, its sensors trained firmly on the combatants below, its sniper rifle primed and ready to shoot on command. The droid was wearing Kanan's yellowish green long sleeved shirt, a stark, glaring contrast to HK's blood red body, and the Jedi's arm and shoulder armor was strapped tightly on the mechanical over its own armored outer plating. It was, in short, the most ridiculous thing Obi-Wan had ever seen. _Ever_. And he had seen Quinlan Vos attempt to seduce his rancor on a bet with Barriss.

"Quarry: when do we get to shoot him, Master?" HK asked tightly.

"Who is the him in this context, HK?" The droid stopped pacing, looking at the Sith for a moment as it processed the question.

"Contemplative: I do not know, Master. Whoever you wish it to be, I suppose."

"A good answer, under normal circumstances," Obi-Wan said softly. "Truly, I appreciate your thirst for murder, but this is _not_ a normal circumstance, and you may not shoot anyone until you can tell me which one you're supposed to be shooting."

"Response: the meatbag, sir," the droid chirped. "We shoot the meatbag."

"Very good, HK," Obi-Wan drawled in a flat voice. "You don't get to shoot anyone."

"Despair: you are cruel, Master. Normally I would drown my grief in executions, but you have denied me even that."

"You are a servant of the Sith, HK. Suffering is a part of the deal."

"Quarry: when do we get to blow up the ship?"

"Not until that meatbag down there is safe in my care." The droid looked over the edge of the platform down at the fighting pair.

"...which meatbag?"

"Take your pick, HK." The droid's gaze slowly drifted between the calm, serene Sith Lord and the combatants below.

"Defeated: we are never getting out of here, are we?"

"Not if you blow up the ship in your boredom, no." With an impatient groan, HK-47 began pacing again, and Obi-Wan watched the blaze of lightsabers far below as the men struck against each other, the Inquisitor striking the other end of his lightsaber and activating the grip, the blades spinning rapidly on the circular hilt the moment he managed to put some distance between him and the Jedi. The sudden change forced Kanan to back off, the advantage of the offense he had maintained until now lost, the Inquisitor pressing forward furiously when he saw the Jedi slip back into his natural Soresu. He knew this style, studied the Master that had taught him, knew all the tricks of the style. It was over. The Jedi could not win on the defensive.

The spinning blade beat relentlessly against the blue, the hard strikes keeping the Jedi from reclaiming his balance, and he was forced to retreat, the blade held stationary and angled downwards to allow the red saber to strike and slide off, only to strike again less than a second later, assisted by the mechanical rotation. As Kanan backed down the walkway, the Inquisitor swung the double sided saber around, the rotating blades slicing through the air with a loud, humming buzz, the Jedi only narrowly avoiding the blades as they circled high and low, the Inquisitor's athleticism returning with his confidence, his step certain and steady as he slipped into the more comfortable position of aggressor, the hunter, the predator, the Jedi little more than pray as he retreated.

It required all of Kanan's focus to maintain his footing as his advantage was lost, the Inquisitor's previous fear fading as anger and frustration asserted itself, the Pau'an lost in the throes of combat, the thrill of the hunt, and the smell of blood, the other predator on the ship forgotten as the Inquisitor fell into the moment. His moves became fluid, graceful, athletic and dangerously precise, the effortless rotation of his spinning blade a technological advantage the exchanged precision for brutality, the number of strikes the man capable of inflicting simply overwhelming. The rotating blades appeared no more than a disc of light they moved so quickly, and even with his sharp reflexes, the sudden ferociousness of the assault left Kanan feeling off-balance, and each powerful flurry of strikes made it more and more difficult to center himself.

The Inquisitor lashed out high and low, crouching and jumping and spinning as the red clashed against blue, showers of sparks flying off the blades in a continuous stream, the reckless blades cutting gouges in the metal of the thin walkways, and with a deep breath, Kanan filled himself with the Force and pressed back. His attacker slid back, sharp teeth grit in a vicious snarl, his boots skidding against the ground as he pushed back and threw himself again at the Jedi. But it had been enough. The momentary break, the split second Kanan had been given the space to breathe allowed him to regain his balance and his focus, the Force rushing into him as a dam deep within him seemed to break, filling him not with strength, but with clarity.

It was not what Kanan would have asked for from the Force. He would have asked for a second wind, a new burst of speed, a surge of strength, something akin to the raw, fearsome power Kenobi commanded with graceful ease, but instead, he _saw_ , looked at his furious opponent and understood, heard the whispered breath of the Force speak to him, calm and soothing as it told him what to do. It was as if the Force wasn't just within him, surrounding him and binding him to everything as the Jedi always taught, but as if it stood directly beside him, the brush of its hands upon his sending shivers up his arms as it guided him, an ally and a friend, a constant companion, a living, breathing thing unlike Kanan had ever felt before.

When the overwhelming fury of the Inquisitor struck against him again, Kanan slipped into his defensive Soresu once again, this time not to defend, but to assess and analyze, his footwork slightly altered, the angled movements of his blade changed, _shifted_ , optimized by his new teacher for precision counterattacks, critical strikes made to end fights when the moment was right. It was more effortless for Kenobi, of course, but with the Force guiding his movements, Kanan saw not the deadly arching slashes of the furious Inquisitor, but his useless left hand. He didn't see his athletic ferocity, just the way he stepped and moved to compensate for the shifts in his body weight to keep his balance, the result of being forced to rely solely on his right side of attack. He no longer saw the blaze of the red, rotating blades, instead his focus was drawn to the much slower, more manageable hilt on which the blades spun.

The change in the Jedi was subtle, but the Inquisitor saw it immediately. It was still Soresu, but it was somehow simpler, and in becoming so, was more refined, more elegant, more _perfect_. The movement of his feet, the position of his elbows, the angle of his blade, all of it shifted, all of it adjusted to accommodate this new style. The Inquisitor didn't realize the true danger of this change in the Jedi until he slashed downward with the spinning blade and quickly changed directions, spinning into the shift upwards as he struck against the retreating man again, only to have the tip of the blue blade quickly follow the rotation and effortlessly slide between the spinning red sabers. The rotation caught the Jedi's weapon with his own, the blade shooting up and around, and the Inquisitor realized the severity of his error just in time to swiftly draw his head back, the quick reflex saving his life, but he was not fast enough to prevent the tip of the Jedi's lightsaber from slashing up across his face.

The Inquisitor staggered back with a cry of pain and outrage, his fingerless hand flying to cover the burning gash that cut from his jaw diagonally up his face to the top of his high brow, just barely missing his eyes. Pain and rage rushing through him, the Inquisitor lunged at the Jedi with a feral howl of fury, the spinning blades cutting swiftly down, striking the metal walkway when Kanan flipped over the Pau'an, landing behind him and swiftly moving on the offensive, the Inquisitor backing up quickly and blocking the swift assault, the narrow walkway opening up to the wide platform surrounding the control tower.

A new surge of pain and hate flooded the Inquisitor, and he struck his blade against the Jedi's with all his strength, hoping to throw the man off balance so he could regain the offensive, only to have Kanan spin with the hard strike, moving with his deflected blade and effortlessly stepping back into the defensive stance he assumed before. The same dangerous defense that had nearly cost the Inquisitor his life. Pain motivated him to move faster than before, intent on ending the Jedi before he had a chance to inflict more damage upon him, his wild, ferocious strikes deflected off the blue blade and striking the consoles and instruments built around the tower, electronic sparks and hisses filling the air as they continued to clash.

It only took a moment for the Inquisitor to see the Jedi's elbow raise, his blade pulled back out of the way of the red strikes as he slashed downwards, leaving the man's bare chest open, and with a wicked grin slashed upwards, his eyes widening as he saw too late the Jedi's weapon thrusting forward, not at the blades, not to block or perry, not to stab into his exposed side, but to slide within the circular ring around the hilt of his lightsaber. He could not stop his powerful swing, was too slow to react, and the Inquisitor watched in horror as his own momentum forced the Jedi's lightsaber to slice through the hilt of his weapon, the red blades flickering off with a hiss as the bisected lightsaber clattered to the ground. A swift push of the Force and he was sent flying backwards, striking the railing surrounding the platform, and when he looked up, Kanan Jarrus stood with his blade pointed at the Inquisitor's neck.

It was over.

"Do it," the Inquisitor said quietly. "Finish me, put an end to this."

"I don't need to," Kanan said, his blade retracting and he clipped the hilt to his belt. "I've won. You are no threat to me."

"You _can't_ do this!" the Inquisitor said, his voice shaking and high pitched with panic, the weight of his failure hitting him hard and filling him with fear that knotted deep in his gut. When Vader didn't get the Jedi, when he found out it was _his fault_ , when he learned that he had failed to beat the Jedi, not even a _proper_ Jedi Knight, but a _Padawan_...

"There are things worse than death, Jedi, and you are condemning me to it!"

"You have done that to yourself!" Kanan snapped. "It isn't my place to judge you."

"Perhaps not..." said a smooth, accented drawl from behind Kanan, and the Inquisitor's eyes widened in fear as Darth Lumis approached, his golden eyes blazing with hunger and excitement, a predator high on the smell of blood in the air from its wounded prey. "But it _is_ my place..." He laid his hand on Kanan's shoulder, the Jedi sighing heavily in relief. "Kanan Jarrus. You are _magnificent._ "

"Please tell me you didn't stand around watching me fight," Kanan said tiredly, groaning and rolling his eyes when Kenobi grinned. "Oh, that's _fantastic_. I could have died!"

"I couldn't bring myself to interfere with such beauty, Kanan, I was transfixed!" Obi-Wan drawled, a coy smirk on his face as he ran his fingers along the Jedi's jaw. "I had forgotten what falling in love feels like, I'm _so_ glad it was you."

"Mm, you're going to have to fight with Hera over that one..."

"Oh, darling, you know I only fight battles I know I can win..." Obi-Wan drawled, patting the Jedi on the chest as he walked by him. "I've no chance against Hera, not when it comes to you." He looked over his shoulder and smiled at Kanan, a soft, almost gentle thing. "It'll have to be unrequited, I'm afraid."

"I can live with that," Kanan said with a shrug. "By the way, I need a ride off this ship. Can I catch one with you?"

"Of course," Obi-Wan said, a light, easy tone in his voice despite the feral hunger in his eyes. "I accept payment in sex."

"Meet you in your room when we're safe," Kanan drawled, a lazy smirk on his face as he winked at the Sith. With a wicked grin, Obi-Wan turned his attention to the Inquisitor, the man on his knees and trembling as he hyperventilated, all strength leaving him as fear keeping him paralyzed to the spot, the Force itself abandoning him as the Sith Master approached.

"Hello, sweetie..."

"D-darth Lumis..." the Inquisitor squeaked, and Kenobi shot him an admonishing look.

"Now, now, is that any way to speak to me? Come now, do it right."

" _Master_..." It was completely involuntary, torn from his throat without his consent before he could stop it, and in the Inquisitor's mind, he could hear Maul's words echoing over and over again, drowning out all else. There were things worse than death. All the things he faced were worse than death, because in ever direction, no matter which way he turned, he faced the judgement of the Lords of the Sith. Vader, Maul, Sidious, Lumis, all four surrounded him, on all sides but beneath him. His fear finally turned into the need to get away, and he scrambled back as Lumis drew near, frantic and desperate as he looked over his shoulder at the hyperdrive reactor far below them.

 _Kill yourself. End it all_.

Swallowing hard, the Inquisitor tore his attention away from Lumis while he still could, and clinging tight to his fear of what lay before him for his failure, he launched himself over the railing, eyes shut tight as he plummeted toward the reactor core. It was liberating, a rush of relief as the tension in his body released, the pit dropping out of his stomach when weightlessness took over him as he was surrounded by the Force, and with a sigh, he opened his eyes to watch his end finally come...

Only to find himself staring into amused, savage golden eyes, his body held suspended in the air before the Sith Master.

"Did you truly think you would have it that easy?" Darth Lumis whispered with gleeful malice. "Did you really think I wold allow you to escape my judgement? Did you really believe you could get away with what you have done to _my rebels_?" The Inquisitor hung his head in defeat, dry sobs wracking his body as hopelessness and despair filled him.

"...no, Master..."

"You are going to live for a _very_ long time, sweet thing..." Lumis drawled, caressing the Pau'an's cheek, his thumb digging against the raw burn, and the Inquisitor howled in pain, writhing futilely against the unbreakable grasp of the Force. A cruel grin on his face, Obi-Wan whistled sharply, and from the top of the tower, HK-47 dropped down, landing with a loud clang upon the platform, the droid righting itself and looking at Kanan, and with the long-sleeved shirt, the unnecessary shoulder armor, and now with the addition of Kenobi's horned helmet sitting crookedly on the top of its head, Kanan could barely keep a straight face.

"Information: Jedi Jarrus," the droid declared. "I am _very_ disappointed in you." It pointed toward the Pau'an. "That is _not_ how you kill a meatbag."

"And that is _not_ how you wear a shirt," the Jedi said. "Honestly, Kenobi, I'm surprised he doesn't offend your sense of style."

"Believe me, the offense has been noted," Obi-Wan growled, his hand tightening into a fist, and with a groan, the Inquisitor's eyes rolled back in his head as he was forced into unconsciousness and slung over the Sith's shoulder. "HK. Destroy the reactor core. We're done here."

"Excitement: this is why I love you, Master!" the droid chirped as it pulled a large, intimidating weapon off its back, a low thrum becoming a high whine as the weapon charged, and Kanan slowly backed away from the droid to stand beside Kenobi.

"Are you ready to run, Kanan?" Obi-Wan asked, and the Jedi nodded swiftly.

"Ready as I'll ever be. How long do you think we'll have?"

"Star Destroyers are tough ships," Kenobi said with a shrug. "Even when the reactor blows, we'll have a few minutes. More than enough time to get out."

"Aren't you going to kill him?" Kanan asked, pointing at the unconscious man on the Sith's shoulders.

"Death is a mercy, Jarrus, and it's one I don't grant often. And I feel he may yet be of use to me..." His eyes on the droid, Obi-Wan backed toward the walkway. "Ready to run, Jarrus?"

"Faster than you, Kenobi."

"Oh, I _sincerely_ doubt that..." Obi-Wan scoffed, returning the Jedi's devious grin. The weapon ready, HK pulled the trigger, the force of the firing beam pushing the droid back, its feed skidding across the metal platform and sending a shower of sparks into the air. The concentrated particle beam struck the core, the pulsing bluish white turning red with heat as it overloaded, and a powerful pulsing surge shot up the tower as the core detonated, and the droid, the Jedi and the Sith carrying the unconscious Inquisitor sprinted across the walkways toward the exit as the world around them filled with smoke and flames as it collapsed.


	31. Home

_Chapter 32_ : _Home_

Hera was, without question, one of the best pilots in the galaxy, but when she left the _Sovereign_ 's hangar and looked at what lay before her, she knew that even she was hopelessly outclassed. The other four Star Destroyers surrounded the _Sovereign_ , their compliment of TIE fighters deployed and filling the space between them light a buzzing swarm of angry insects. Light cruisers and heavy warships and smaller, speedy gunboats hung back behind them, a defensive line to catch anything that managed to escape the net. Not that it would matter anyway. Most TIE fighters were not equipt with hyperdrives, and the one they had managed to steal was not. The one they had arrived in was, being one of the prototypes they were building in Lothal's factories, but by the time they had gotten to the hangar, that ship was gone, and they had to settle on grabbing one of the few that were left.

To make matters even worse, Chopper was not responding, and the droid in the _Ghost_ had been their escape plan. For just a moment, Hera had wished that they decided to take two TIEs instead of one to have a little extra firepower, but she quickly banished the thought from her mind. They had chosen one because they knew they would need the best to fly out, and while both Sabine and Cody were skilled pilots, they were children next to the masterful Twi'lek. Regardless, they had taken one ship, and that was that. It was senseless thinking about what could have been when she had to focus on not being shot out of the air. TIE fighters weren't exactly the easiest things to disable because they weren't the sturdiest ships. Getting shot, especially up here, would likely send the ship careening into the hull of one of the Star Destroyers where they would be destroyed on impact.

Even better, the moment they left the hangar, the Imperial starships converged upon them, opening fire the moment they were clear from the _Sovereign_ , like they had been waiting for them, and Hera couldn't help but wonder if they knew it was them, or if they were simply shooting down every ship that left the hangar. Her hopes of blending in with the group were quickly dashed when the control console rang with alarm to indicate they had been tagged and locked on to. There was no capture to be made, not here. That time was over. All the Imperials could do with the rebels here was destroy them, and so help her, Hera was going to make them work for it.

"Why isn't Chopper responding?!" Sabine asked frantically, quickly giving voice to what everyone was thinking as panic settled over them.

"He left us!" Zeb growled, his hand tightening around the back of the pilot's seat. "I can't believe he'd leave us like that!"

"You can't believe it because he _didn't_ ," Ezra snapped back. "Chopper wouldn't do that. Something must have happened."

"Or your droid just has a bad attitude," Cody put in.

"Maybe so, but he's _plenty_ reliable," Sabine said in the droid's defense, and the clone just rolled his eyes.

"All I'm saying is that K-2SO would _never_ do this. Kenobi's droid would let him know if something was wrong, or if the ship were under attack. He'd probably send a message to him to apologize if he thought the ship was going down." A smug smirk touched the clone's lips as he looked at the indignant Mandalorian. "Have we heard from Chopper at all, Lady Wren?"

"This isn't helping!" Hera snapped at the group behind her, wrenching the yoke sideways and sending the TIE rolling through space to evade the enemy fire, their reckless path causing other fighters to pull quickly out of their way to avoid collision, only to go slamming into each other, the TIEs exploding on impact, and Hera used the brief moment of space to right the fighter and return some of the fire that was so liberally being shot at her. It was like trying to stop the waves on an ocean, and no matter how much she fired, or how many ships she hit, there were always more, so many there may as well have been infinitely many. When the fighters swung around for another attacking run, Hera shot off, making a break for the space between the Star Destroyers.

It was a slim chance she would make it, and the cruisers stationed behind them formed an intimidating wall, one that could certainly stop a single TIE, and with no ability to jump to lightspeed, there was no chance for escape. They could have turned and landed on Lothal, but doing so only prolonged the inevitable. Worse, it opened up the opportunity for capture, and Hera had no intention of giving Tarkin that satisfaction.

Her eyes widening, the Twi'lek pushed the yoke forward, sending the ship careening in a spiral downwards when the Star Destroyers opened fire, green plasma streaking toward her once she got in range in a wall of unavoidable destructive energy. She flipped around and pressed the ship back toward the _Sovereign_ , the swarm of TIE fighters suddenly seeming far more manageable than a barrage of unstoppable turbolazers and ion cannons. In the _Ghost_ , maybe it was possible, but in the fragile TIE fighter, she couldn't bring herself to risk it when the kids were onboard.

She had just flown through the smoke of an exploding TIE when out her viewport, she saw a pillar of flames erupt from the center of the _Sovereign_ , shooting out into space and spreading across the length of the ship as it slowly begun to split, the reactor core destroyed and causing unavoidable ruination as it burned from the inside. All systems failing, the _Sovereign_ began drifting toward Lothal, its powerful engines no longer able to keep it suspended as they failed, and it was slowly pulled into its gravitational field. Hera felt her heart seize as fear gripped her, biting her lip as she silently prayed that Kanan and Kenobi managed to get out in time.

"Damn..." Zeb said as he watched flames erupt along the length of the ship, explosions catching. "Looks like Kenobi made good on the promise to take that ship down."

"Let's just hope he and Kanan didn't go down with it..." Hera muttered as she spun out of the way of a group of oncoming TIE fighters, her finger on the trigger and shooting rapid, spiraling bolts of plasma into space, at least a few guaranteed to hit their mark with how many ship swarmed nearby. The only advantage she had was that she didn't have to be cautious to not hit her teammates like the Imperials, and she was using it to her advantage.

"Bridger," Cody said firmly. "Can you sense Kenobi or Jarrus?"

"Oh! Yeah, hold on..." Ezra closed his eyes, breathing deep as he braced himself against the spinning of the ship, and he reached out for Kanan with the Force, disturbed like a large stone had been thrown in a still pond, clouding his ability to see and feel, but through the destruction and death, he could feel _him_. "I feel him, he's alive!" Hera breathed a heavy sigh of relief, her shoulders relaxing immediately. "He's...escaped, I think, his presence is becoming stronger _very_ quickly."

"He's in a ship?" Hera asked, pulling up on the yoke and easing off the trigger, the teen muttering a quiet but certain affirmative, and Hera's eyes scanned the swarm of ships, uncertain how she was going to know which was his. Her eyes snapped to a ship swiftly swerving toward them, navigating the green bolts of energy like they were nothing, one of the curved winged advanced TIEs, this one in particular she knew belonged to the Grand Inquisitor, and her pulse jumped. The presence of the ship meant that Kanan had bested his foe...or the Inquisitor had slain her lover and was now coming for them. Green bolts of plasma fired from the Inquisitor's ship, flying past Hera's starfighter and striking two TIEs that were in pursuit, and the Twi'lek grinned when the advanced TIE flipped around to fly behind them, shooting rapidly above and below her path, striking fighters before her, but never hitting her. She had her answer, and before the ship to ship com crackled, she was already grinning.

"We've got your back, Spectre Two," Kanan's voice said over the com, and the occupants of the cabin began chattering in excitement among their sighs of relief.

"Just in time, Spectre One, we could use the help," Hera said as she corkscrewed out of the way of an approaching TIE squadron and flew a wide arc around the burning _Sovereign_. "Spectre Three isn't responding, and this is way more than we can handle alone."

"It's far more than we can handle together..." Kanan said somberly. "They've got us trapped, and once the Star Destroyer goes down, there isn't going to be anything to keep those Star Destroyers from closing in and opening fire. Hell, they may be getting ready to do that right now."

"We can't give up!" Hera said firmly, and she was met by a soft chuckle from the Jedi.

"I wasn't suggesting it. "Spectre Zero's got a plan. He's...picked up an asset he's going to try to use. He needs you to fly like you're afraid of us."

"Got it," Hera said, pulling the yoke up and sending the ship spiraling away from the advanced TIE, though Kenobi kept the ship close, and the Twi'lek executed evasive maneuvering as soon as they started firing. "In case..." Hera started, but stopped quickly and shook her head. "No matter what happens, know I love you."

"...I know," Kanan said, a lump in his throat as he looked out the viewport at Hera's brilliant flying, knowing full well it wouldn't last forever. "I know, I...I-I love you too."

" _Ugh_ ," Kenobi groaned as he slammed his fist on the console to cut the com. "Spare me your sentimental garbage, lest I vomit on the controls and short circuit the ship. We'd _really_ be dead then."

"I suppose we're already dead enough..." Kanan muttered, watching as Obi-Wan's hand adjusted the com settings, tuning it to the Imperial frequency to be heard by every ship on the network. "If Chopper's not answering, something happened to him. We'll never get out of here."

"...shall I be honest?" Obi-Wan asked, his hand on the Inquisitor's head, the half conscious man moaning as the Sith raked the Dark Side through his mind. He didn't wait for Kanan to answer. "You are right, Hera can't escape. The net is too wide, and without the ability to jump, they can run even her down eventually. But _we_ could escape."

"...you aren't actually-"

"We are far more valuable to the rebellion than they are, Kanan," Obi-Wan said flatly. "And I've no intention of dying here today. There are still things I must do, the Force is not yet done with me. If we abandon them, we can easily escape. They don't have a hyperdrive, but we do."

"Alright..." Kanan whispered. "So what's _your_ plan?" A faint, pleased smile crossed over Kenobi's face, and Kanan punched him hard in the shoulder, the sudden jolt making Kenobi jerk the yoke, sending the TIE wavering off course for a second before it was righted again. " _You asshole_! Of course you wouldn't leave them, Cody is on that ship! Do you think I'm stupid?! This is hardly the time for your mind games!"

"I disagree..." Obi-Wan drawled. "It's _always_ time for mind games." He shot another volley at Hera's ship, the shots close, and two of them skimming the cockpit. "As the most important people in your rebel cell, we are also the biggest target," he said. "If my plan doesn't work, we're going to give Hera an opening to make a run for it."

"And the plan is?" Kanan asked, and Obi-Wan flashed him a wicked grin as he touched a button on the console and activated the com. Kneeling by his side, the Sith's hand upon his head, the Inquisitor groaned softly as Kenobi raked through his mind and slowly, his hazy, distant eyes looked up at the Sith. Kobi–Wan whispered something to the Pau'an, so soft he could barely hear and in a language he didn't understand, and with a violent shiver, the Inquisitor leaned over the com.

"Imperial fleet, this is the Grand Inquisitor, and I order you to stand down!" the Pau'an strongly commanded. After a moment while the authorization codes were sent, the TIE fighters pulled up, following the Inquisitor's orders and retreating to defensive formation to await the next command, the advanced TIE in close pursuit of the rebel vessel. It only took a moment for the com to crackle with feedback as they were contacted on a closed channel.

"Grand Inquisitor," came the tight, angry, accented voice on the other end. "This is Grand Moff Tarkin. What is the meaning of this?"

"I believe Obi-Wan Kenobi to be on that ship, Governor," the Pau'an hissed. "How many more of your men do you want to see die today?"

"A great many more if it means Kenobi will be brought down with them!" Tarkin snarled. "Where is the Jedi?"

"Dead," the Inquisitor said quietly. "I killed him when I knew Kenobi had come for him. We need to take him alive, Governor Tarkin. Lord Vader expects us to deliver _someone_ to him on Mustafar, and the Emperor himself has demanded that he be captured alive."

"I see..." Tarkin said. "And tell me, how do you plan on doing that?"

"His ship has no hyperdrive, he cannot escape. He cannot run forever," the Inquisitor growled. "He has every advantage on the ground, but up here, he is just another pilot."

"Yes, I believe I understand," Tarkin said cooly. "You would capture Kenobi to save yourself. Lord Vader will not be pleased about the loss of his Jedi, and _I_ am not pleased by the loss of _my ship_." The Governor scoffed. "I believe the Emperor will forgive me for killing that pest. It is certainly preferable to allowing you to get away again, _Kenobi_." The com screeched with feedback as the closed channel was shut and the fleet channel activated. "All units, this is Grand Moff Tarkin," the man said harshly. "Disregard the last directive and engage the Inquisitor's ship. Aboard it is very likely the rebel Jedi, and at the helm is the Shadow King. This is your top priority! Destroy that ship!"

"Uh oh..." Obi-Wan said, his hands on the controls and backing off of Hera's ship as the TIEs screeched to life and raced toward them, green energy flying toward them.

"This what you wanted, Kenobi?" Kanan asked.

"Uh...not exactly, no," Obi-Wan said through clenched teeth, his eyes darting across space at the swarm before him and slammed his hand on the console to make the incessant warning of the weapons locked upon them stop beeping. "Alright, time for Plan B..." the Sith growled, pressing the accelerator forward and speeding toward the Star Destroyers, bringing the swarm of TIEs with him. "Let's give Hera that opening she needs to slip away..."

"Leaving us with the mess," Kanan scoffed, smiling softly as he looked behind him, the feel of the others growing distant as they made their escape. "Typical, I'm always cleaning up after that woman..." Kenobi wrenched the yoke sideways, sending the ship spinning out of the way of oncoming fire, the ship jolting and the cabin lights flickering for a moment before new warnings began flashing.

"There goes our hyperdrive..." Obi-Wan growled, his hand gripping the yoke tighter and flying straight toward the Star Destroyer _Chimera_. "Damn it, I need a way to destroy these damn ships!"

"So, what, you're going to try to get the Star Destroyers to do it for you?" Kanan asked, shaking his head. "You might very well be the best pilot in the galaxy, Obi-Wan, but one TIE against four Star Destroyers and hundreds of starships and who knows how many cruisers..."

"I know, Kanan, _I know_!" Obi-Wan snapped, pressing the ship at full speed toward the Star Destroyer, deftly evading the turbo lasers and ion cannons that began firing, a wall of unavoidable fire that the Sith Lord dove far beneath, his erratic piloting giving the weapon locks a difficult target, and given enough distance, he managed to pilot between the beams of energy, shooting up toward the _Chimera_ , his proximity to the ship causing the others to cease fire for fear of hitting it. When the bombardment ceased, the TIEs rushed in, howling through space toward the Inquisitor's starfighter as it hugged the belly of the _Chimera_.

"We may very well die today, Kanan, Obi-Wan whispered, "but I'm going to make Tarkin work for it. I am _not_ going down without a fight. I can't die yet, not here, not like this..."

"Yeah, I have a kid to train," Kanan drawled. "And I'm _pretty_ sure when we get back, Hera's going to chain me to her bed, and I don't want to miss that." Kanan looked the Sith Lord over, a slight from on his face when he felt... _something_ from within Kenobi that he couldn't quite place. "Hey, Kenobi...what is it that you're fighting for?" Obi-Wan looked back at the Jedi, a small, secretive smile on his face as he pointed upwards.

"Right now, it's the Star Destroyer's environmental shield..." the Sith whispered. "HK, I don't want to fight those cruisers out there, and our lead on the TIEs isn't going to last. Get up on top of the ship and magnetize yourself to the hull. Shoot to destroy and make every shot count."

"Gleeful: Master, leave it to me to see that the maximum number of deaths is achieved." the droid said as it pushed open the hatch and climbed out, quickly closing it behind him. Obi-Wan's hands clenched around the controls, and he sent the ship into a downward spiral, the swarm of TIEs catching his movement and giving chase as soon as they saw him, Kenobi's lead on them growing smaller with each passing second. When he was far enough away for the Star Destroyers to start firing again, he pulled back on the yoke and sent the ship spiraling upwards toward the _Chimera_ , the pursuing ships breaking off when HK-45 destroyed several of them the moment they fell in behind the starfighter, the ships disappearing one by one from the scanner as the droid picked them off.

"Master..." the Inquisitor whispered from his place beside the pilot's seat, his voice thick and distant, and the Sith's golden eyes darted down to look at him. "I've spent some time working with Admiral Thrawn, certainly long enough to know his ship." He pointed out the viewport at the underside of the rapidly approaching Star Destroyer. "That is _not_ the _Chimera_." A slow, wide grin passed over the Sith Lord's face.

"You're certain?"

"I am," the Inquisitor said flatly. "Thrawn's Star Destroyer has a Chimera engraved on the belly of the ship." With a low, malicious chuckle, the Sith Lord laid his hand on the Inquisitor's head, and the Pau'an whimpered as he trembled.

"Continue to please me like this, pet, and you're going to find me to be a much kinder Master than your old ones..." With a soft, desperate whine, the Inquisitor leaned in to his touch, even as fear kept his hands shaking. "Provided we're not dead in a few minutes..." Pulling the accelerator back, Obi-Wan's TIE shot forward, running along the belly of the imposter _Chimera_ so closely that the tips of the curved wings scraped against the hull, ships continuing to explode behind them as HK shot them down. They burst out into space behind the Star Destroyer's mighty engines, the swarm following closely behind them as the cruisers in the distance mobilized, quickly moving to meet the rogue TIE. Against ships with proper shielding, there was nothing they could have done, the some of the smaller gunboats were meant for tremendous speeds. They could run for a little while, but not for long, and the ships were closing in.

This was a Tarkin trap, not a Thrawn one, and Tarkin didn't care how many lives must be thrown away to see his ends met. Obi-Wan had no doubt the cruisers would open fire, even with the swarm of TIE fighters behind him. They would die in the crossfire, and Obi-Wan could avoid them for a little while, but probably not for long. He was a great pilot, not an invincible one. Breathing deeply, Obi-Wan looked out at the surrounding ships as they began to fire, and he surrounded himself with the Force and got to work.

He flew between countless bolts, swerving and spinning as he tried to press past the cruisers, but it was no good. The shooting was coming from every direction, only getting harder to avoid the closer he got to the ships, and he was quickly forced to retreat back toward the Star Destroyers, fighting his way through TIE fighters to get there and taking advantage of the chaos that the explosions caused. Even if he could somehow miraculously get away, without the hyperdrive, it was a pointless endeavor. With a growl of frustration, he turned the starfighter around and raced toward the cruiser that looked the weakest in the line, hoping to be able to break through there. Even if it was pointless, he had to try.

Kanan groaned when he saw more ships blink out of hyperspace behind the line of cruisers, eight ships that he could see racing toward them, and slowly, he began laughing quietly. "Do you think Hera got away alright?" the Jedi asked, shaking his head as soon as he said it. He knew the answer already. He could feel them, though they were not far away, hanging around a safe distance from the Star Destroyers and waiting for them.

"None of us have gotten away yet," Obi-Wan said, a slight smirk growing on his face. "But we will." He pulled back on the accelerator, racing toward the line of ships, skillfully evading the new barrage of fire directed at him, the quick ship spinning out of the way and narrowly escaping the shots fired. Kanan's eyes widened as he saw the new arrivals draw closer, each one on an attack vector, and leading them all was the _Ghost_ , the warm, familiar ship he had called home for so many years diving toward the line of cruisers and firing, the other ships following suit. As Obi-Wan rapidly approached the line, the cruisers burst into flames, explosions breaking out along the spines and engines, and through the confusion of the sudden attack, Obi-Wan shot the TIE past the line, spinning through smoke and flame as he slammed his fist on the com.

"Who the hell are those guys?!" Kanan shouted, his face pressed up against the viewport to try and look behind them, a broad grin on his face when he saw the _Ghost_ circle around them.

"Not Imperials..." Kenobi muttered, the com bursting with static as it connected. "Hera, come in. Help has arrived, we need to dock with the freighters and get out of here _now_. The moment the Imperials mobilize, we are done for."

"Is that my ship?" Hera asked. "It is, that's my ship! That isn't the flying of a droid, that isn't how Chopper flies my ship! Kenobi, who's flying my ship?!"

"Oh, baby, I _missed you_!" Kanan shouted at the _Ghost_ through the viewport.

"Get to the kriffing ship, Syndulla!" the Sith snapped, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw Hera's TIE racing toward them, and Kenobi circled around to see the friendly freighters causing hell to the Imperial line, the Star Destroyers turning to point their broadside cannons at the ships and moving into position so they did not get in the way of other ships' fire. Whipping around, Kenobi raced after Hera, covering her dash for the _Ghost_ and Obi-Wan circled around the ship to destroy stray TIE fighters that made it past the freighters when Hera docked. The _Ghost_ discarded the TIE a moment later, the empty ship sent spiraling through space, and Obi-Wan quickly docked at the ship's free port. When the hatch hissed open, HK reached in and helped pull them out, the three men quickly scrambling to the safety of the _Ghost_ before the other TIE was ejected.

The droid was a mess, its blood red plating covered in black carbon scoring and scratches and burns in the hard shell, and Obi-Wan laid a hand on its shoulder, a silent promise to repair it, before he joined the others, the deck of the ship shuddering as it made the jump to hyperspace. They had escaped. It was done. Though the ordeal was far from over. They had gotten out a message, taken down Grand Moff Tarkin's Star Destroyer, neutralized the Inquisitor hunting them. In the past few months, Obi-Wan hadn't just found new allies for the rebellion, he had found an extension to his family. For better or for worse, everything was going to be different going forward.

As soon as Kanan had stumbled onto the familiar deck of the _Ghost_ , he found Hera's arms thrown around him, the trembling woman's head against his bare chest as she grasped at his back, soft sighs of relief escaping her throat, and without hesitation, the Jedi pulled her closer, a soothing hand running the length of her squirming lekku. As she relaxed into his embrace, the pilot pressed light kissed to the pit of his throat and across his chest, Sabine and Ezra talking excitedly between themselves before Chopper wheeled in, furiously gruffing and service arms extended to strike at their knees. With an accusing snarl, Zeb smacked the droid on its flat head, demanding to know what took it so long to save them, and was rewarded by the indignant thing beating its steel retractable arm against his shin.

"Thank you for coming for me," Kanan whispered, a smile on his face as he watched the rest of his crew chase the droid around. It was like it always was. His family. _Together_. "I do appreciate it...even if it was rash and reckless and foolish." Hera looked up at him and smiled, reaching up to run her hand along his cheek.

"You're welcome, dear..." she whispered, hooking her fingers behind his jaw and pulling his face down to meet hers, her lips quickly capturing his and melting into him when she felt his pulse jump.

"Eww, get a room, _dad_!" Ezra teased, the two adults breaking apart quickly with deep flushes on their faces, the teenager grinning wildly befor Sabine smacked him. " _Oww_! What was that for!"

"It's not gross, _Ezra_ , it's _romantic_! Can't you see they're having a moment?! Ugh, you are _such_ a child!"

"H-hey!" Ezra sputtered, chasing after the Mandalorian as she walked away. "I am _not_ a child!"

"Things never change, do they?" Kanan asked softly, sighing in contentment when Hera leaned against him. "...though seriously, you might want to keep your distance. I need a shower, I smell like...shit, I don't know, sweat and electric burns and chemicals. _I_ think it's awful, and I have to live with it."

"I don't mind..." Hera drawled, her hand running down his chest. "I may even join you," the Twi'lek whispered in a breathless voice, Kanan's soft moan of pleasure becoming a gasp of pain when her fingers hooked behind his collarbone. " _If_ you can tell me what _that is doing in my ship, Kanan_!" she almost shouted, pointing at the corner of the room where Cody stood, lightsaber in hand blazing with blue light and pointed at the throat of the dazed, oblivious Grand Inquisitor.

"...oh, um..." Kanan rubbed the back of his neck, a sheepish smile on his face as he looked at his understandably angry lover. "Well, he's-"

"My responsibility," Obi-Wan said as he walked up to the couple, Kanan's neatly folded shirt and shoulder armor in his hands. "I can assure you, he will not be any trouble. As soon as we arrive at our destination, he will be transferred to the _Umbra_ to remain in my care."

"Will the Empire be able to track him?" Her asked, and the Sith shook his head.

"I've dominated his presence. For all practical purposes, his will no longer exists. He cannot be detected."

"How?" Kanan asked, drawing hesitantly closer to the man that had been his enemy for so long, the pale creature not reacting at all. "What did you do to him?"

"Eh..." Obi-Wan shrugged. "Nothing he won't recover from. It's...complicated." As an answer, it was wholly insufficent, but Kanan wasn't sure he wanted to know. Obi-Wan held out the stack in his hands to the Jedi. "Your things. Honestly, you need to put a shirt on, you're starting to arouse the cat," Kenobi drawled, glancing over at Zeb, his large, gripping foot on Chopper's head as he tried and failed to hold the droid in place. Kanan arched his eyebrow as he took the offered bundle.

"Just Zeb, Kenobi?" he asked coyly, and the Sith scoffed, a slight smile on his lips.

"Oh, my arousal goes without saying, you know how you turn me on, sweetheart," the Sith Lord drawled as he took a lightsaber off his hip and handed it to the Jedi. "Your blade." Kanan quickly handed the bundle of his clothing to Hera and reverently took the weapon from Kenobi's hand, sighing in relief as he closed his eyes and felt the familiar weight, the grooves on the hilt, the guard near the top, the weapon so natural in his hand it was like a part of him.

"I can't tell you what this means to me..." Kanan whispered, taking the blade clipped to his belt and handing it to Kenobi. "Thank you. For everything."

"You've nothing to thank me for..." Obi-Wan muttered, taking his blade back from Kanan and returning it to its place at his hip. "I was just there to make Tarkin miserable. You were just a detour, you know." He shrugged. "I like the way you look around the ship. You're an _ornament_ , Jarrus. Nothing more."

"Ah." Kanan twisted his saber, separating the hilt in two as he always did in order to conceal it, stopped as he reached to clip them in their designated places, and with a quick nod of resolve, put the saber back together, clipping the full weapon at his side. "I suppose being arm candy to a Lord of the Sith isn't so bad."

"Pleasure me well and I may marry you someday, darling." Kanan laughed softly, shaking his head as Hera smoothed a bacta patch on one of the many blistering welts and burns that covered his body. The wash of relief and fatigue had made him forget his pain, but he was remembering it now when even the softest touch made him wince.

"I would if you asked, you know that," Kanan said with a roll of his eyes. "But Hera might have something to say about that."

"I might have a lot of things to say," the Twi'lek said, carefully tending to the Jedi. "Not the least of which is that you, Kanan Jarrus, are and have always been an incorrigible flirt," she said, applying another strip of bacta and slapping it on his chest, and Kanan hissed in pain, looking at the smirking woman accusingly. "But mostly, I want to know who it was that came to our rescue."

"Members of other rebel cells," a soft, female voice said from behind them, and they all quickly turned to look at the newcomer, the person, presumably, who had been flying the _Ghost_. Zeb, Ezra and Sabine backed up to stand beside Hera and Kanan, their eyes never leaving the lithe woman leaning in the doorway, a Togruta with a warm, kind face covered with distinctive white patterns, her high, pointed white montrails striped with blue markings. On her belt, two lightsabers were clipped to each hip, and while the others leaned in to get a closer look, Kanan staggered back, his hand clutched to his chest when he felt his heart lurch, his throat so tight he couldn't breathe.

She nodded to the Sith Lord and smiled pleasantly. "Lumis."

"Fulcrum," Obi-Wan sighed, stepping away from the group to lay his hands on her thin shoulders and gently kiss the top of her montrails, her nose wrinkling as she grinned.

" _That's_ Fulcrum?!" Sabine asked, her jaw slack as she stared at the woman.

"She is..." Obi-Wan drawled. "There are many Fulcrum agents, but she is _the_ Fulcrum." He draped his arm around her shoulder. "Spectres, this it-"

"Ahsoka Tano..." Kanan whispered breathlessly, his voice audibly trembling and his face pale like he had just seen a ghost. The group slowly turned to look between the two as the woman slowly smiled.

"Caleb Dume..." Ahsoka said gently, her smile growing when Kanan's stunning, _memorable_ teal eyes grew wide and wet. "I hardly recognize you. You've...grown up."

"I could never forget your face..." Kanan choked, his knees buckling and he fell against the wall, his hands pressed flat against it to support himself. "I could never, I..." He whimpered and shut his eyes. "I thought you were dead..."

"I'm sorry I couldn't reveal myself to you sooner," Ahsoka said softly. "When Obi-Wan told me about you, I..." She sighed and smiled at him when he looked up at her again. "I never forgot you either. You said something to me back at the Jedi Temple when I left the Order, and it never left me." Kanan's eyes searched hers, confused at first and then widening with sudden understanding, and the Togruta couldn't help but grin at the sudden swell of warmth in the Force. "This isn't goodbye, Ahsoka Tano," she said. "I feel like we'll meet again. We're going to get to know each other very well. I can feel it." The Togruta shrugged. "Seems like you were right."

With a strangled whimper, Kanan pushed off the wall and rushed to her, his shaking legs giving out after a few unstable steps and he dropped to his knees before the woman and threw his arms around her waist and held her lightly. Ahsoka gently threaded her fingers through his thick hair, a light, soothing hand rubbing at his shaking back, the touch of the Force on her palm filling him with warmth and easing the pain of his injuries. She quietly shushed him as the Jedi broke down and cried, his breath hitching as he came close to hyperventilation, overcome with emotion and relief so intense that his exhausted mind couldn't even begin to handle it.

"Hera?" Ezra whispered as he crept closer to the Twi'lek. "Who's Caleb?"

"That's his name," Ahsoka said before Hera had a chance to answer. "Or, it was before it became too dangerous to be so. Before his life as Kanan Jarrus." Kanan's arms tightened around her, clinging to her like she would disappear of he were to let go. "That was a lifetime ago, wasn't it? It must have been so difficult for you out on your own."

"He's not alone," Ezra said, stepping forward, flushing deeply when the woman looked up at him. "M-ma'am. He's...Kanan's got us."

"And so he does," she said, sending the student a pleasant smile. "And for that, you have my most sincere gratitude."

"Is that why you called for ships to save Kanan?" Ezra asked. "Because you know him?"

"No..." Ahsoka said quietly. "I sent ships because of _you_. Because of the Spectres. That message you sent reached a lot of people, and after we saw what it did..." She shook her head. "Smaller groups started joining with each other and forming rebel factions, not just insignificant detractors. And _all_ of them are whispering about a Jedi, and there is hope where there wasn't before. We didn't want that hope to die."

"I told you they were worth it," Obi-Wan said softly, and Ahsoka smiled and shook her head.

"Oh, I knew that a long time ago. It was a matter of _when_ they would join us, not if, and the time is now." She laughed quietly when Kanan's tight grasp slowly relaxed, his arms slowly slipping from Ahsoka's waist, and Hera quickly moved in to attend to her lover, her hands on his shoulder as he leaned his head against her. "I can see why you like him, Obi-Wan. He reminds me of my Master."

"...yes," the Sith Lord whispered, his throat tight. "Yes, he does..." He whistled sharply, tearing his gaze from Ahsoka and Kanan, and the Inquisitor staggered to his feet, his eyes vacant as he mindlessly heeded the call of the Sith, Cody's blue saber trained on him in case of any sudden movements. "You have catching up to do, I'm sure," he mumbled. "I'll be in the cargo hold with my pet. Get me when we've arrived."

"Hey, Kenobi," Ahsoka called to the Sith before he managed to escape. "You better be prepared to make a public appearance. Everyone's heard about you and the Jedi on Lothal. When I left, they were all showing up to help K2 with the _Umbra_."

"...all of them?" the Sith asked, and the woman shrugged.

"They're treating it like one of the bi-annual gatherings. From the sound of it, Bo-Katan's been raging about the Shadow King's insolence on Lothal" Ahsoka smirked when the Sith's hard features softened considerably. "Sent out her best to go looking for him."

"...understood," Obi-Wan whispered, pushing the Inquisitor through the door before he and Cody stepped in after him, the door sealing tightly behind them.

"I suppose I have a great deal to explain," Ahsoka sighed, turning her attention back to the Spectres. "And I'm sure you have a great many questions. I will answer all of them, I assure you, but first..." She smiled at the group, her eyes drifting to the bold and brash Sabine, strong and fierce Zeb, kind and brave Ezra, the grumpy and resourceful Chopper, and the two lovers, the leaders that held the whole ragtag group together, dutiful Hera and loyal Kanan. It was a group that could lead the fight against the Empire. The time was swiftly approaching. She could _feel_ it.

"Allow me to officially welcome you to the Rebellion."

* * *

Despite being intended as a temporary base, the Rebel Base on Dantooine was alive with activity, and when the Spectres stepped out of the _Ghost_ , they stood in stunned silence as they took in the ships, the droids, the people all rushing about. The naps they managed to get in hadn't been nearly enough to prepare them for this. Hera had known there was something bigger, something she had desperately wanted to be a part of, but she never imagined it being this big, and she was sure this was only a fraction of the strength they commanded. She held Kanan's hand tightly as she looked around, biting down on her lip when emotion overwhelmed her. Her lover captured by the Empire, the successful rescue of him, the destruction of Grand Moff Tarkin's Star Destroyer, and now, their inclusion into the greater rebellion that had been brewing. And all of it the span of thirty hours.

As far as days went, it wasn't bad at all.

They followed Obi-Wan closely, the Sith Lord walking through the base like he owned it, which, judging from the salutes and bows and respectful acknowledgments he was getting, was at least partially true. Beside him stood Ahsoka, the Togruta quietly filling him in on everything that had happened in his absence, and on his other side walked Cody, a cowed and beaten Inquisitor shuffling meekly at his side, his mind returned, but his willpower had been sapped dry, his presence in the Force shaking and tremulous at best.

When they walked into one of the many auxiliary hangars of the sprawling complex, Kenobi stopped suddenly and gasped, the _Umbra_ on the ground where it was being repaired, the damage far worse than it had looked in space the previous evening. Droids and mechanics surrounded the ship, all of them diligently working to remove damaged outer plating and repair non-functioning systems, every single one of them obeying the commands of K-2SO, the droid occasionally stopping to coo at the wounded ship.

"Oh, _my baby_!" the Sith groaned, rushing to the ship and laying his hands and face on the hull. "Baby, Daddy is _so sorry_!"

"My sentiments exactly, Master," K2 said as he lumbered toward the Sith Lord. "We are working diligently to repair her, sir. We estimate two weeks for a full recovery."

"More than that, I'm afraid..." Kenobi muttered. "I need to upgrade the stealth system if I want her to be effective again, though I'll never be able to fly her against Tarkin again..." He sighed heavily. "I should have known better, Tarkin's _Carrion Spike_ used the same technology, of course he'd be intimately familiar with it..."

"I will begin immediately to seek alternative solutions and possible upgrades to the stealth system, Master," K2 somberly promised. "I will consult with Seg'rotth'uruodo. She has a talent for thinking of creative solutions."

"Ah, yes..." Obi-Wan drawled. "Where is my little Chiss slave? I am told she was instrumental in insulating my stolen TIE, I need to reward her for her service."

"She is inside the ship working on the hyperdrive, Master. Shall I page her?"

"Please do." K2's visual receptors drifted to the ground as it executed the command.

"Done, Master," the droid chirped. "What would you like me to..." K2 trailed off, its visual receptors snapping up when HK-45 approached. "... _oh_. And here I thought that _nothing_ could look worse than the _Umbra_." HK drew up to its full height, and K2 followed suit, the security droid towering over the assassin droid. "You look _awful_ , you useless pile of scraps."

"Defensive: at least I was out fighting for our Master, instead of being mated to the _Umbra_ like some filthy, squishy animal," HK retorted, a pleased whirring in its vocal modulator when K2 emitted an electronic burst of offense.

"I deeply regret that you did not sustain more severe damage."

"That's enough, droids," Obi-Wan commanded. "K2, see that you get one of the mechanics here to clean HK up. I believe the damage is superficial. Anyone should be able to handle it. If it's something more, contact me immediately."

"Of course, Master..." the droid groaned, its head lowering in its acceptance of the order.

"HK." Kenobi pointed a finger at the assassin. " _No murder_."

"Objection: Master, there is an excess of entirely unnecessary meatbags on the premise! If I could-"

" _No murder_ ," Obi-Wan said, much stronger this time, and the droid's circuits whirred in an expression of disapproval.

"Disappointment: As my cruel, unforgiving Master commands..."

"Glad we have an understanding..." Kenobi drawled, his eyes drifting to the boarding ramp when the Chiss woman walked off, an excited smile on her face when she saw him, and she rushed to him, stopping a respectful distance away and bowing. Obi-Wan quickly closed the gap between them when he reached out and grabbed her chin, his thumb running over her slightly parted lips. "Vah ttis'ah ch'ah, rvtiz. Ch'ah vsabah ch'a tsacah carcir can nasar."

"Ch'ah k'ir nah ch'aset csei s bun'as, ch'eo csahn..." the woman said softly, lightly sucking on the Sith's thumb, and he grinned wickedly.

"Vei k'ir vah baper?"

"Vah, ch'eo csahn." With a deep, predatory growl, the Sith grabbed her throat and savagely kissed her, a rough, dominating thing that the woman eagerly leaned in to, and with a roll of his eyes, Cody stepped between the Sith and the Spectres to shield them from the display, though Ezra notably leaned over in an attempt to look around the clone and watch.

"What, you haven't taught her Basic yet?!" Cody snapped, the Sith growling and biting the woman's lower lip as he parted from her.

"Does she need to know Basic?" Kenobi drawled, his hungry eyes focused on the woman as she panted to catch her breath. "Her only dealings are with me and K2, and the droid has been installed with a Cheunh language program. I don't need to hear her scream for me in Basic..." he said slowly, the woman gasping as he ran a hand down her chest, and beside Cody, the captive Inquisitor shivered. "Though while I'm here..." he said, dragging the woman close. "Do the Chiss have stealth technology?" The Chiss frowned, her nose wrinkling.

"What is stealth?" she asked in accented, slightly monotone Basic, and Cody's mouth dropped open.

"Nazebanto," Kenobi softly offered, and the woman nodded.

"Of a sort, yes."

"Develop it with K2 while I am out this afternoon," Obi-Wan said quickly, a wicked, feral grin on his face as he looked her over. "Csei s nuvci, ch'eo bustucah, ch'ah csarcican't tsan'ah vah cseo ch'itcuto vah csarcican't nah ch'islah vacosetahn ch'ican." Patting the flushing woman on the cheek, he strode away from her, passing Cody and flashing him a devious grin. "You were saying?"

"I was saying that you're an _asshole_ , Kenobi," Cody growled, roughly shoving the Inquisitor after the Sith as he turned to leave the hangar, the Spectres following close behind, still in awe of the base and its workings.

"One more stop to make..." Obi-Wan started, but trailed off when he felt the ground shake and the distant sound of surprised, frightened, and outraged screams. "Oh, never mind, it seems as though our stop is coming to us." A moment later, Yoda came tearing around the corner, unable to stop its forward momentum fast enough, and the massive beast went slamming into the large doorway, the metal bending on the impact with the sturdy body. Shaking it off like nothing happened, the rancor came bounding into the room, skidding to a stop before the Sith Lord, his massive claws pawing at the ground and making large, deep gouges in metal and the earth below. Obi-Wan raised his hand, the beast immediately laying on its belly on the ground, the large, dangerous maw open as it panted, his tongue lolling from his mouth and leaving a slick puddle in its wake.

"There's my boy..." the Sith drawled, laying his hands on the beast's face, the pudgy nose moving rapidly as he sniffed at his Master. "I have a gift for you..." Kenobi said, the rancor's black eyes widening, his rear legs stretching to arch his back in excitement. Obi-Wan looked over his shoulder, his golden eyes glowing with cruel, sinister delight as he stared at the wide-eyed, terrified Inquisitor. "Not as good as your last toy, I know, but until he comes back into my possession, he'll have to do." Feral black eyes landed on the Pau'an, a deep growl reverberated in the air, and without warning, the Inquisitor took off running, the massive rancor bounding after him and barking excitedly, the beast's predator instinct only amplified by the Inquisitor's screams.

"Kenobi, you're not _actually_ letting this happen, are you?" Kanan asked, a hand clasped over Ezra's eyes as he shoved Sabine's helmet on her head backwards, the struggling Mandalorian cursing as she struggled against the Jedi to get it off. Zeb's raucous cheers for the raging beast didn't help the situation. "I know he's an enemy, and he almost killed us several times, and he tortured me, and..." He trailed off, lazily stroking his chin as he thought. "...alright, maybe I care less than I thought." Kanan winced when a loud roar pierced the air, followed by frantic, terrified screams. "Alright, no, I don't want the kids to see a man _eaten alive_."

"Relax, Jarrus, the rancor gorged himself on Lothal," Obi-Wan calmly explained. "And Yoda knows better than to break his toys. The Inquisitor won't be killed." As if on cue, the rancor trotted in, the Inquisitor wedged between four sharp teeth at the hip and hanging out of the beast's mouth. Yoda dropped the man on the ground before the Sith Lord, the Pau'an quickly scrambling to his feet, only to be knocked back down by a large, heavy claw. The rancor plunked down upon the ground with a thud, his long arms surrounding the Inquisitor and batting him between the large claws like a cat that had caught a mouse. When it looked like he would make another run for it, Yoda reached out with a long arm and slammed his claw upon the fleeing Inquisitor, trapping him underneath the massive hand as the beast dragged the sobbing man back toward him, the Pau'an's pale hand clawing at the ground and leaving bloody trails from his fingers.

"Master..." he croaked, trying futilly to drag himself from under the beast's grasp toward the cold, indifferent Sith Lord. "Master, _please_ , have mercy..." With a cruel smirk on his face, Obi-Wan knelt down in front of the frantic man.

"There is no mercy among the Sith..." Kenobi whispered. "And especially none for you. If messing with my Jedi wasn't enough, you _killed Luminara Unduli_." Obi-Wan scoffed as he stood, glaring down at the wide, frantic eyes. "That alone is enough to condemn you to all the suffering I could ever conceive. But..." he drawled. "I _can_ be a good Master. We'll see how cooperative you are when I return."

"N-no, please, don't leave me!" the Inquisitor screamed as the rancor scooped him up and put him in his mouth, the Pau-an wedging between the jagged teeth and writhing in an attempt to escape, but to no avail. Obi-Wan patted the rancor on the nose.

"Take care not to harm him too badly. Need him alive." With a keening whine, the beast rolled over, sprawling out on his back, his teeth grinding together as he tongued at the sobbing man hanging out of his mouth. Obi-Wan patted Kanan on the back. "Come. I've something to show you."

"Y-yeah, alright..." Kanan stammered, following the Sith, and when the other Spectres started to follow, Obi-Wan turned and held up a hand.

"Not you, I'm afraid. Just the Jedi."

"We go where Kanan goes," Hera said, crossing her arms in front of her chest, but she was quickly pulled off-balance by Cody when he walked by.

"Come on, Syndulla," the clone said. "I need help repairing the _Umbra_. We're goine to be better than any of the mechanics around here."

"B-but-"

"Does that mean we get to stay with the rancor?" Zeb asked, rubbing his hands together and laughing as he ran off toward the beast. Sabine and Ezra quickly looked at each other, neither one saying a word for a moment before Sabine sprinted toward the _Umbra_.

"I call the sublight engines!" she shouted as she ran away, and Ezra was in quick pursuit a moment later.

"No fair, Sabine, you always get the best work!" Hera sighed heavily and shook her head.

"Guess that settles it..." She laid her hand on Kanan's cheek. "Whatever it is you're doing, be safe, love."

"I promise," he whispered, kissing her softly for a moment before they parted with a sigh, the pilot spinning on her heel and walking to the ship side by side with the clone.

"Mind if I tag along?" Ahsoka asked, and the Sith inclined his head.

"That was the expectation, yes." With a smile, the three walked off together toward the main hangar.

"So..." Kanan started. "Where are we going?"

"There's an ancient Jedi Enclave here," Obi-Wan said quietly. "Been abandoned for ages, sort of like the Temple on Lothal. Thought you'd want to see it. You might learn something."

"Yeah, maybe so..." Kanan said, and the trio fell into a comfortable silence. The walk through the base, borrowing speeders, flying fast and low across the open terrain of forgotten Dantooine toward the mountains in the distance, all of it in silence. Instead of words, the Force flowed between them, open and free without any restrictions, and Kanan could feel Ahsoka's serene peace, the weight of her responsibilities, her anticipation to finally fight against the Empire after so many years of waiting, her uncertainty of what would come next now that they had attacked the Imperial ships above Lothal, now that they had a new, exciting element involved in the rebellion.

He could feel Obi-Wan as well, the surging around him darker, but also calm, a contentment settling over him as he rode beside Ahsoka and Kanan, the fulfilment of a vision he had seen once long, long ago, the same vision that Kanan had once had as a Padawan, a vision he thought to be a mere dream, that very vision the reason that Ahsoka had remembered him after a single conversation when they were teenagers. Kanan could also feel the Sith Lord's longing that came with his relief, though a longing for what, he couldn't quite place. But he could also feel concern, a deep, lingering touch of something frightening, a future that lay before him he desperately wanted to avoid, the same future that Kanan had seen with him within Ezra's vision of the Sith Lords.

The Temple opened to the easily enough, the Sith standing back and watching as the two Jedi reached out together and compelled the stone of the mountain before them to give way, and sure enough, a rumbling in the ground saw the boulders shift and move, opening a way for them to enter deep within the hidden Enclave. Unlike the Temple at Lothal, the halls of the Enclave were lit by torches, the fires newly made, and Kanan slowed his pace. Someone was here. _Many_ someones were here. He could feel his heart pounding, and was fairly certain that Kenobi and Ahsoka could hear it too, they way they were looking back at him and smirking.

The hallway emptied out to the top of a balcony surrounding a long, wide staircase leading down into a wide, expansive room, the cavernous space filled with the buzzing of hundreds of beings speaking, and Kanan looked into the room to see Mandalorians, all of them armored save for their helmets, all of them young, and from more species than he could count. He could identify twelve different ones off-hand, but there were those that were so uncommonly seen he couldn't remember what they were called. The youngest among them couldn't have been much older than Ezra was, the oldest certainly younger than him, no more than twenty five, from the look of it. Kanan breathed deeply, and the air itself _was filled_ with the breath of the Force. This place was strong in it, had a long history with the Jedi, and he could feel the raw strength of these halls that were once sacred to the Order.

The moment the Mandalorians saw them, the entire room fell silent, every single eye focused on them, awaiting a signal, or instructions, or _anything_ , though what it was, Kanan didn't know.

"Your army, Kenobi?" Kanan asked quietly. "Mandalorians loyal to the Shadow King?" A slow, enigmatic smirk spread across the Sith Lord's face, an expression, to Kanan's dismay, was shared by Ahsoka.

"In a sense..." Kenobi said softly as he stepped forward, pushing Kanan with him. "Children of Mandalore," the Sith said strongly, his voice easily carrying through the air of the large cavern. "The Padawan of Jedi Master of the High Council, Depa Billaba, Caleb Dume." Kenobi nudged Kanan forward. A hiss of excitement went up among the group, and behind him, Kenobi's blue lightsaber hissed to life. A cascade of snapping hisses followed, and Kanan stared wide eyed at the hundreds of young warriors as each of them struck on a lightsaber, the room filled with the soft glow of green and blue, the thrum of the weapons filling the air, and everything he had learned, everything he had seen, every riddle he heard fell into place.

No Jedi lived, though there were those that survived the massacre.

Ages sixteen to twenty five.

The Mandalorian culture of adoption.

These were the _Jedi younglings_.

Kanan fell to his knees and stared at the sea of blue and green before him, for the second time that day rendered completely awestruck.

"We saved them from the Temple," Ahsoka whispered, her hand resting on his shoulder, the man whimpering softly at her touch. "Me, Master Yoda, and Master Luminara. I didn't do as much as they did, but I delivered some information they needed to make them aware of the grave danger they were in." Her lips pressed into a thin line. "Information my Master Quinlan died for. So I could escape with it and deliver it to the Council. Our warning from Obi-Wan to save what we could."

"I didn't do anything," Obi-Wan said quietly, and the Togruta smiled at him for a moment before turning her attention out to the Mandalorians.

"It's what remains of your brothers and sisters," Ahsoka whispered. "I know it isn't much, but-" She was cut off when Kanan quickly leapt to his feet and threw his arms around the Togruta and the cursing, struggling Sith Lord.

"Thank you..." he choked, and for a long while, he just stood there embracing the two, silent as he felt their presence in the Force envelop him. All of them, the lost Children of the Force, brought together at last.

The Empire didn't stand a chance.


	32. Drafted

**AN:** **Alright, start Act 2, GO! Things will pick up quite a bit next chapter, and while I will be following Season 2 of Star Wars Rebels, there will be a hell of a lot of diversions from canon here. Get hyped!**

 _Chapter 32:_ _Drafted_

Kanan had become a celebrity overnight. Not just to the rebellion, who had grown significantly after the Spectre's message and the destruction of Grand Moff Tarkin's flagship, all of them coming together to rally around a surviving Jedi, but to the Jedi younglings as well, who viewed him as not just a fellow survivor, but a teacher, a man that had been trained by a Jedi Master, had been a Padawan, had fought in the war, and survived on his own without any help from the secret network designed to support them. They had all been trained to survive, to conceal their presence from those around them, but Kanan was a cut above the rest, and the young Force sensitive Mandalorian warriors had flocked to him to learn all they could.

It wasn't just Kanan, of course. All the Spectre's were enjoying their time in the spotlight. As a young Jedi learner, Ezra had dived into his training with all the other Force sensitives, benefitting from the sense of community that they provided and learning from those who had been officially taught the ways of the Force for the better part of their lives. Zeb found a sense of comradery with Kenobi's rancor and quickly became the beast's new playmate when he wasn't helping to train the rebel forces in close quarter combat, something the powerful Lasat was uniquely gifted in. Sabine quickly found her niche in creating and improving weapons and explosives, putting her genius in the art of destruction to the betterment of the rebellion and working closely with Kenobi's Chiss slave to make improvements to the _Umbra_ 's stealth drive. Her Basic was shaky and broken at best, though she quickly discovered that the exotic alien was, in fact, fluent in Mando'a, and work progressed quickly after that. She had also, in her downtime, painted _several_ ships.

But the one who was truly thriving was Hera. Here at the temporary base of the greater rebellion against the Empire, Hera had everything she ever wanted. Finally, she was a part of something larger, was ready and able to put her skills to work for the betterment of the galaxy. She was working very closely with Ahsoka, was growing close to other Fulcrum agents, most notably Captain Cassian Andor, a former child soldier fighting for the Separatists. In the two weeks they had been stationed on the base, Hera had run several missions for the rebellion, from attacking and raiding Imperial supply caravans to breaking blockades to pick up Imperial prisoners sympathetic to the rebel cause. Everything she did, she did on a larger scale, the ability to call upon her rebel allies to provide her with additional ships and firepower letting her do what she was doing before, but much more effectively. The ability to steal one shipment of weapons and material from the Empire became the ability to steal ten, leaving the Spectres feeling as though they were finally making a notable difference, just like they had always wanted.

Kanan hated every second of it.

Before, it had just been them, their small family, he and Hera parent to a couple misfits, flying around and doing good deeds for a noble cause. They stole from the Empire, yes, but most of the time, what they took from the Empire they brought to the people that were suffering under their yoke. But now, it was a _military_ thing, with _Captains_ and _Commanders_ and _Generals_ and _Fleet Admirals_. There were codes and protocol and a thousand, thousand rules to protect the integrity of the rebellion, a million procedures that needed to be followed to maintain order and group cohesion and secrecy from their enemies.

Kanan didn't like it. He had done the military thing before. He had served in the Grand Army of the Republic beside his Master and their battalion of clone troopers, and he remembered how it all ended. Now, he found himself suddenly thrust into another military on the brink of another war, and he wasn't ready for it. He had always known that it would end up like this, with another galactic war, but part of him didn't believe that it would ever truly come to this. The Empire was too big, too powerful to actually stand against, and people were too afraid. In a galaxy ruled by fear, anger and outrage rarely saw the light of day, which made any real, significant uprising impossible. And while that wasn't fine, Kanan had been happy with doing good on a small, personal scale. But war, _another_ war following the one where he had lost _everything_...

He could feel the wandering drifter within him drawn out once again, the one that he had become after Order 66, and while he never let Hera go on her missions without him, they second they returned, he was off, running away as far and as fast as he could for the long forgotten Jedi Enclave where the Mandalorian Jedi lingered, coming and going as they pleased, training and fighting together in hand to hand combat and a variety of weapons, from blasters to staves to Kali sticks in the wide open space surrounding the subterranean temple. Within, away from prying eyes, they studied the Force, trained with lightsabers, practiced all the skills that would make them as Jedi in the greater galaxy, though these were _not_ Jedi.

The younglings had been trained to be _Mandalorian_ , and the code they followed was not the Jedi Code, but Mandalore's Resol'nare, the six tenants of what it meant to be Mandalorian. The warrior mentality these younglings were brought up with made them something new, something unique, and Kanan could think of very few things in the galaxy that were more frightening than a Mandalorian with Force sensitivity. But it made them loyal, not just to Mandalore, but to each other, who they considered their secret family, and Kanan was a part of that, dragged into their excited, willing embrace as both brother and teacher. Each time Kanan returned to them, he was surrounded by teenagers and young adults of several different species, all clamoring to pick his brain and learn what they could, all quietly asking if it was true that _he_ defeated the Grand Inquisitor, and not their Sith protector. And when he confirmed it was so, the real training began, and Kanan found himself with not one student in Ezra, but _hundreds._

It was overwhelming, and it didn't take long to discover that what Kanan had in sheer determination, he lacked in official training, his long years of living without the Force and trying to put the life of a Jedi behind him contributing to a serious deficiency in his training. These younglings, however, had been meeting in secret for years, as a collective group and in smaller units to train and hone their skills. They had grown under the instruction of Grandmaster Yoda, had learned to walk the balance with Ahsoka Tano, had learned combat and martial skills from the likes of Bo-Katan and Boba Fett, all under the watchful eye of the Sith Lord Obi-Wan Kenobi. There were warriors with formal training, not just in the Force, but in the art of survival, and the older, more skilled among them quickly took Kanan under their wing with offers to fill in the gaps in his training.

It was like being around family, like having a hundred brothers and sisters in the Force, just as it had been back in the Jedi Temple before everything was destroyed, but with one key difference. What unified the wasn't just the Force, or a common cause, but _trauma_ , the same black, empty space inside them that was left when the Jedi fell. The memories of Order 66, the horrors of Operation Knightfall, all of them shared a similar experience. They remembered what it was like to hear the Jedi Temple Guards dying, they remembered the heroics of Luminara and Yoda and Ahsoka, who risked everything to see them to safety, they spoke about the devastation of the Force when they were left homeless and purposeless on Alderaan, taken in by the planet's prince, Bail Organa. And they remembered their new purpose, their new families when Bo-Katan led her warriors into the city to choose the children they would raise.

It wasn't the same for Kanan, of course, but the pain was the same, as was the fear. Instead of the screams of dying Temple Guards, he saw his Master fall, dying to give him a chance to escape the slaughter. He saw the clone soldiers, their close friends and allies on the battlefield, Grey and Styles and Soot and Stance and so, so many others, brothers in arms that had saved his life more than once, and then saw them turn their weapons on them without warning to execute them, betrayed by the ones they depended on. Kanan's pain ended in family as well, but only after many years of drifting, a drunken roustabout who did everything in his power to forget about the Force, who drank to forget the past. It united him with these would be Jedi, and whenever he was able, he escaped the confining military of the rebellion to come be with them.

There were ranks among them as well, but it was much more fluid, less structured, and nobody gave orders. If they did, they weren't expected to be followed. In true Mandalorian style, orders were treated like helpful suggestions that could be taken or left. These were a fiercely independent people, made even more so by the whims of the Force that guided them. And it suited Kanan just fine.

What _did_ strike him as odd, though, was Obi-Wan Kenobi. He was essential to the rebellion, vital, a founding member, and yet he held no rank, was no General or Admiral or Commander, and stranger than that, now that he had the time to think about it, Kenobi didn't seem to have a _motivation._ Yes, he was fighting against the Emperor, his former Master that had betrayed him, but he didn't need a rebellion for that, and he certainly didn't need an army of former Jedi younglings. It would have been just as easy for Kenobi to break away and go off on his own to fight the Sith Master on his own, possibly would have even been easier, and even more than that, it didn't seem as though Obi-Wan was against the _Empire_ , only the Emperor that ruled it. Even more than that, Kenobi had been one of the architects of the Empire, a creation of the Sith for order and domination over the beings of the galaxy by the Dark Side. So _why_.

Even stranger, Kenobi all but disappeared from view as soon as things were settled at the base. Being without a ship, he hadn't left, but the man was nowhere to be found, answered no calls, returned no messages. More likely than not, the Sith Lord had retreated into the dark somewhere where he could do evil away from the prying eyes from his morally upstanding allies, a fact that Kanan hadn't ignored before, but was only just beginning to realize what it really meant to be allies with a Sith Lord. Kenobi was _Sith_ , absolute evil and enemy of all life, if the Jedi were to be believed. He had seen the cruelty in Obi-Wan, had seen him torture people, had witnessed the terrifying power of his mental manipulations, knew of the beings he enslaved, was keenly aware of the women he had raped, all on his whim, as if the lives of others simply existed to serve him if he wished it.

Was _this_ the creature that they wanted to be allied with? Did they seriously want to help such a man when his goals and ambitions were hidden to them? It was certain that Kenobi wanted to rule, and it was a good assumption that he fought to sit on the throne of the Empire, but was that what they wanted? To destroy one Sith Lord, only to see another on the throne who may be _worse_? His time around the rebels made it seem as though the point of the rebellion was to do away with the Empire completely and replace it with another Republic, which Kanan was _certain_ that Obi-Wan would have nothing to do with. At what point would the rebellion stop being of use to Obi-Wan? And when that day came, would the Sith Lord turn on them as well? Would the Jedi younglings he helped save follow the Shadow King, as all true Mandalorians would, or would they follow Ahsoka, the former Jedi that saved them?

He didn't know, and that made Kanan want to crawl into a hole and never come out.

But then, there was the occasional moment that he _did_ see Obi-Wan, when the Sith Lord would crawl out of whatever den of evil he had made for himself, and on those days, he visited the Jedi Enclave and was greeted by the warm, welcoming hands of the rescued Jedi. Obi-Wan was...different with them, the arrogant, cocky swagger in his step gone, the bemused smirk replaced with a tired smile, the boisterous, commanding presence faded into something quiet and patient. The way he taught them was _far_ different from his own intense, painful lessons with Kanan, the harsh hand of the Sith Lord replaced with the caring, gentle hand of a father. So much so, when looking at the Sith, Kanan couldn't imagine him _not_ being a parent. The patience, the stern but gentle instruction, the way he handled these teenagers was something instinctive, something learned from experience, and it was clear that he had, at one point, _must_ have raised his own children.

Perhaps it was simply a holdover from a time when he was going to be a father to a Mandalorian prince, the son he had lost with his lover so long ago. Perhaps he was simply seeking to replace the family he lost with others. Or maybe he had a family secretly tucked away from prying eyes somewhere out in the galaxy. Kanan wasn't sure, but what he did know was that when he watched Obi-Wan teach, he looked every bit the Jedi Master he may have been had he not been driven to the Dark Side.

It was nat at all what he'd expect from an infamous Lord of the Sith, but strangely, it was _exactly_ what he expected out of Obi-Wan Kenobi, the man that had saved them time and time again, had taken them under his wing, had made them stronger, had introduced them to the rebellion and given them, well... _everything_. For Zeb, an infinite supply of Imperials to destroy. For Sabine, comradery with the Mandalore she lost through the Shadow King. For Ezra, a way to learn to control his darker leanings, harness them for power, and then let go when he was finished. For Hera, the rebellion, in all its fledgling glory. And for him, the Jedi brothers and sisters he had lost. But again... _why_. Were they being used and manipulated? Would they be destroyed if they came to oppose and defy him? Could they in good conscience work with a torturer, a rapist and a slaver?

Kanan missed it when life was simple. He missed it when it was just him and Hera on the _Ghost_. Hell, he missed seeing her, and even though they had been here two weeks now and had seen _plenty_ of each other, he and his lover had yet to _be_ lovers _once_.

He _really_ missed that.

Kanan needed to talk to Kenobi, _really_ talk to him and find out his intentions. The way forward seemed tied up in the Sith's plans, and Kanan needed to know if he should guide the Spectres on a path that ran beside Kenobi, or away from him. That is, provided the Spectres were still his to guide. He felt the distasteful pull of resentment within him, the sudden repulsion to their current path that he disliked so much. Kenobi, at least, didn't give them _ranks_. He wasn't _military_ , he was just morally bankrupt. At least he was an evil that valued them personally. They weren't some small piece of a larger whole to Obi-Wan, they were...he wasn't really sure. Friends, absolutely, maybe even family. He was the weird, creepy, immortal brother that dad fathered on a virgin sacrifice during some cult bloody orgy. Because _every_ family needed one of those.

They could also just be pawns, but Kanan didn't think so. Not after all he had done for them, not after he had come to his rescue aboard the _Sovereign_. And seeing him interact with his Mandalorians, the former Jedi that he helped save...he couldn't help but believe that there was something deep inside him that was unmistakably good. Perhaps the Sith had changed. Perhaps Kenobi's way was different from his Master, just as Ahsoka's way was different from the Jedi as Kanan remembered them. Maybe, for all the evil Kenobi had done, there was still a place for him, perhaps not in the light but as a guardian of the Dark. Perhaps even now, he could find redemption, if that is what he sought, and even if he would _never_ admit it, Kanan thought that may be the case. For a Sith Lord, Darth Lumis sure was cozy with the Jedi, and while he didn't seem to particularly value life, he wasn't indifferent to it, and certainly didn't kill and murder without cause. He wasn't the violent butcher of the stories, at least, he wasn't now. It was hard to forget the burning of Ord Mantell, but by all accounts...that was hardly the same man he was now.

Yet more things to discuss with the Lord of the Sith. It was becoming quite a list.

Kenobi wasn't at the enclave that day. He was there just the day before, so Kanan didn't think he would be, but still found himself disappointed when the Sith Lord didn't make an appearance. At the end of the day, when he had finished training with his fellow Force sensitives, Kanan put his speeder on one of the Mandalorian's ships after accepting their offer to take him back in their much faster craft. Once back at the base, he quickly made his way to the _Ghost_ to check on Hera and found her in a strategy meeting with Captain Andor and Commander Sato, who headed up the rebel group that the Spectres now belonged to. He immediately turned around and left, a bitter taste in his mouth, and he quickly made his way to where the _Umbra_ was being repaired. He could think of no other place Obi-Wan could be.

As usual, K-2SO and HK-45 were outside the ship, heading repairs as much as they were bickering. When Kanan approached, the HK unit dropped the spanner it was holding right on K2's foot, the security droid fussing as the assassin abandoned the panel it was working on to bound to the Jedi's side.

"Greeting: Jedi Jarrus, it is good to see you!" the droid chirped. "Quarry: have you returned from killing something for my Master?"

"Mm, not exactly," Kanan said, a faint smile on his lips. The droid was murderous and defective, but Kanan liked it. At least he was simple. He always knew what to expect from the HK unit. It usually started with murder, and ended in murder. The middle often had murder in it too. Or at least a great deal of talking about it and wishing for it, since Kenobi rarely let him loose. "But I am looking for him. He in?"

"No," K2 called from his repairs. "Master is off doing his... _Master_ things."

"Contradiction: Master is in, Jedi Jarrus," HK said, looking over its shoulder to the fuming K2. "He is working in the hold, as usual."

"Oh, is that where he's been?" Kanan asked. "I've checked the ship a few times, but he was never in. I thought he just up and disappeared."

"Affirmation: he _did_ disappear," the droid confirmed. "Using the Force, Master becomes shadows." The electronic whine emitted from the droid sounded almost like a sigh. "Master is truly the paragon of you pitiful meatbags. Think of how many executions he could carry out _completely_ invisible!"

"And one of them is certain to be _you_ ," K2 huffed as it stomped up to them, a wrench in its hand that was shaken menacingly at the assassin droid. "Master was very clear that he was to be left in peace, and if anyone asks, we were to say he wasn't in!"

"Declaration: this meatbag is not _anyone_ , droid, he is Jedi Jarrus!" HK laid his hand on the iron plating on Kanan's shoulder, its fingers drumming against it. "He is marginally superior to the others! I wore his armor!" A soft electronic hum emitted from the droid's vocal modulator. "Pride: we are like _brothers_ now!" The droid's hands clasped Kanan's shoulders, and the Jedi's face contorted in pain. "My squishy, fleshy, easy to kill, inferior meatbag brother!"

"Really, this is _very_ touching..." Kanan grimaced as he wriggled out of the droid's grasp. "But really, I've got to see Kenobi."

"When you see him, please tell him that his _fool assassin_ sent you to him," K2 said, hitting its hand upon the HK's head with a metallic clang. With a quick salute, Kanan walked up the boarding ramp into the ship, the hallways dark and foreboding, and Kanan felt his mind slow, his thoughts running thick before he threw up his defenses and pushed the offending darkness out. The Force here was... _hazy_ , clouded and difficult to read, hanging heavy and oppressive in the air. He couldn't feel Obi-Wan, but he _knew_ he was here.

As the droid said, he found Kenobi in the hold, the large room dimly lit and the Sith Lord circling like a predator around a kneeling Grand Inquisitor, Cody with a datapad in hand nearby and leaning against an excitedly huffing Yoda, the beast flat on his belly as his large black eyes watched the Sith Lord pace. Draped alluringly over a sofa against the wall was the Chiss woman, the blue skin of the scantily clad female an eerie, ghostly hue and her red eyes glowing in the low light.

"So is this what you've been doing?" Kanan drawled, leaning in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest, the Sith's eyes snapping to him, shining brightly in the shadows of his face, and for a moment, the Inquisitor glanced up at him, his eyes widening with fear when he saw him and swiftly looking back at the ground. Glowing eyes, glowing eyes everywhere. As if this place needed to be creepier. "Sitting around in your torture dungeon, tucked away out of sight of those that may object to your methods?"

"That was certainly the plan..." Obi-Wan said quietly. "But mostly, I've been working."

"That work being torture?"

"That work being the gathering of information..." the Sith hissed, his hand laying on the Inquisitor's head, and the man shivered. "My new friend has a great deal to share."

"Share?" Kanan asked, harsher than intended. "Or does he have a great deal you can _steal_ from him?" Obi-Wan didn't answer, his eyes narrowing as he looked at the Jedi, felt at him through the Force, and found his walls completely impenetrable, the Inquisitor at his feet whimpering at the show of defiance.

"You're troubled," the Sith said softly, and Kanan's chest grew tight with sudden desperation.

"Of course I'm troubled, our _ally_ is a Lord of the Sith! _The Sith_!" the Jedi shouted, striding into the room to stand furious and unafraid before an indifferent Kenobi. "Not just any Sith, but _you_! The _Negotiator_! The leader of the Separatists, traitor to the Jedi Order! You...you put my Master in a _coma_!" He didn't realize how hard he was breathing until he had to stop and catch his breath, but it didn't matter. Kanan was angry now, and it wasn't going away. "You torture and enslave people, you control their minds, Kenobi, which is the scariest, _worst_ thing I've ever heard! You are _evil_! How could we even think that allying ourselves with you was a good idea?!"

"Because you were desperate and had no other choice," Obi-Wan said evenly. "I have never hidden what I am, and I will not apologize for the things I have done. I have always owned my actions, no matter what they have been, and I will not cheapen the things I have done by trying to explain myself to you, _Jedi_." He pointed his finger at Kanan's chest. "You finally have had a chance to breathe, and now you are _thinking_. Is that it?"

"Something I should have done a long time ago!" Kanan growled. "What are we to you, huh?!"

" _Friends_ , Kanan..." Obi-Wan said quietly, and the Jedi sucked in a sharp breath, observing the Sith cautiously. "Or so I am led to believe, but if it is too much for you to handle, then our relationship ends here. Walk away and you will not see me again." Kenobi smirked when Kanan looked offended, almost hurt by the very notion. "If my... _evil_ , as you say, is too much for you, I will not impose it upon you."

"So you will be free to do...what?" Kanan asked. "When you kill your Master, what's to become of the rebellion and the Empire? I don't understand, where do we all figure into this?!"

"...ah." A small smile crossed over Obi-Wan's lips. "I understand. This isn't about me, is it?"

"No, it is _absolutely_ about you!" Kanan growled. "Don't try to put this off on anyone else! I have questions, and you had better damn well answer them!"

"I would be happy to," Obi-Wan said quietly, gesturing to the couch for Kanan to have a seat, but the Jedi didn't budge. With a heavy sigh, Obi-Wan waved his hand, and the Chiss moved to make room for him, the Sith Lord sitting with an ankle crossed over his knee, and the Chiss lay back down, her head in his lap and her hand stroking his leg. With a short, sharp whistle, the rancor reached out, it's claw wrapping loosely around the Inquisitor, and pulled him back, the Pau'an relaxing with a soft sigh when the rancor closed his eyes, his breath deep and even as it began to doze.

"Right, see, _this_ is what I'm talking about!" Kanan said, pointing to the Inquisitor in the rancor's grasp and the Chiss on the Sith Lord's lap. "Is this the future of the galaxy?! Is this what we all have to look forward to under Emperor Kenobi?! More fear and slavery under the hands of _another_ Sith?!"

"For some..." Obi-Wan said slowly, his fingers entwining in the Chiss' hair. "You do not suggest I allow criminals and dangerous elements to run freely, do you?"

"And who exactly would those be?" Kanan snarled. "People that oppose you? People like the Spectres that the Empire calls criminals because we fight for what is right?! Or people like _me_. The fact that I even _exist_ is a crime in the eyes of the Empire!"

"Such a thing will not be a problem in my Empire," Kenobi growled, his voice low and almost dangerous.

"And you will ensure that _how?_ " Kanan bit back. "By making people too afraid to stand against you?! By _brainwashing_ people into absolute obedience?!"

"There will be those, of course, that are subject to _my_ brand of justice, _yes_ ," Obi-Wan hissed, quickly standing up to face the Jedi and smacking the Chiss' hand away when she reached up to try and soothe his temper. "Do not expect me to apologize for what I am! I will not become something I'm not because _Kanan Jarrus_ disapproves!" The gold eyes narrowed as fury overtook the Sith, and Kanan stepped back when he felt the Dark Side open up, sensing the cracks in the Sith's perfect concealment and seeing a fraction of the black, frightening void within. "I never asked you to follow my ways! I never tempted you to be drawn to the Dark Side, so don't you _dare_ apply your righteous double standard to me, Jedi filth!"

"Brother," Cody said quietly, stepping away from the rancor, the beast softly growling as his Master's emotions stirred him awake, his claw clutching the Inquisitor tighter and drawing him in possessively closer. "He doesn't understand," Cody said, stepping to the Sith's side and laying a hand on his shoulder. "You cannot fault a Jedi for ignorance anymore than you can fault me for being a clone." Obi-Wan slid his hand into his hair and ruffled the golden strands, the frustration on his face slowly fading into resignation as he nodded and sat once again, planting a kiss on the Chiss' forehead when she tentatively stroked his chest.

"Ch'ah'm ch'ithe'umi'aco," the Sith whispered in the woman's ear, and though Kanan couldn't understand the language, it sounded like an apology. Kanan thought it would have been sweet if the blue-skinned woman had a will of her own. But then...the Sith had loved and lost before, more than once. It was possible he surrounded himself with disposable people to keep his shattered soul from breaking further. The familiar pull of sympathy within him softened his features and eased his anger, recognizing what it meant for this broken man to take a chance on the Spectres the way he had.

"I have learned from the failures of my former Master..." Obi-Wan whispered. "A rule by fear does not work, not in the long run. Such tactics give rise to rebel insurgents such as yourself. Dangerous, desperate people who feel they have nothing to lose and are willing to die to see their goals achieved."

"So...what do you plan on doing?" Kanan asked quietly. "The rebellion seeks to overthrow the Empire, and you clearly have no intention of doing that."

"That's correct."

"So...what? When you kill the Emperor and sit on the throne in his place, the rebellion you helped build _will_ turn on you," Kanan said firmly. "Too much evil has been done in the name of the Empire, they won't allow it to continue. So what will you do when the rebellion you helped create becomes your enemy? What will you do when they move to destroy you as well?"

"They will not," Obi-Wan softly growled. "They will have no cause to."

"Kenobi, these rebels are dedicated to bringing back the Republic, they want to give freedom back to the people!" Kanan laughed nervously, though he wasn't sure _why_ he felt so tense. "They won't stand to see an Empire continue! And to give that power to a Sith Lord...can you _really_ say you're better than Palpatine?" For a long moment, they were in silence, the Jedi and the Sith staring at each other, neither wanting to be the first to look away. It was Obi-Wan that broke the stillness, a deep, menacing chuckle in his chest that made Kanan's hair stand on end.

"Is that what you want, Kanan?" the Sith asked softly. "You yearn for the return of the Republic? The weak, ineffective, _corrupt_ government that paved the way for the Sith to return? That breeding ground of greed and stagnant waste and self-service?" Kenobi scoffed, his eyes narrowing as he looked at the Jedi with disgust. "Even without the influence of the Sith, the Republic was in its death throes. Sidious wouldn't have been able to take over like he did if it wasn't! And _that_ is what you desire?!"

"I-I..." Kanan stopped, his chest tight, and put his hand to his head. He was starting to get a headache. "N-no, I...I don't know, I've never been one for politics."

"Your war is political, _Jarrus_ ," the Sith snarled. "You don't have a choice."

" _It isn't my war_!" Kanan shouted, the Sith drawing back slightly at the intensity of the outburst. "I don't want this war, I don't want any of this! I was _happy_ , Kenobi, just flying around the galaxy and doing what little good I could manage! That was _fine_ with me! I liked being an outlaw, I never wanted... _this_!" Kanan laughed bitterly and plunked down on the floor, his hands tightly gripping his knees. "A small piece in a military machine in _another_ war I wanted no part in! Maybe they don't remember what it was like, but _I_ do! I haven't forgotten what the Clone Wars took from us, from _all of us_!" The Jedi swallowed hard and took a deep, shuddering breath, his eyes cast at the ground. "I never thought the Empire could be defeated. I just...wanted to do a little good in this messed up galaxy..."

Obi-Wan looked at the Jedi for a moment before rising from the couch and slowly sitting beside Kanan on the ground, a respectful space between the two of them, but close enough to touch. "I fell to the Dark Side for...many reasons," Kenobi said softly. "For power, certainly, because of my constant betrayals at the hands of my brothers and sisters in the Order...but I joined the Sith because the Galactic Senate was _broken_ , and the Jedi were contributing to the problem. The Sith had the answers, they had a plan for order and progress and peace..."

"...you joined the Sith for the betterment of the galaxy?" Kanan asked softly, and Kenobi slowly nodded. It...didn't make sense. This wasn't at all in line with what he knew about the Sith. "I thought the Sith were all about, you know..." Kanan raised his hands up, his fingers hooked like claws and his face distorted with malevolence. " _Ultimate power_!" Obi-Wan snorted to hold back laughter.

"You cut the very image of my former Master."

"Do I?" Kanan flicked his short ponytail over his shoulder. "Maybe I'll make a go at being a Sith Lord."

"I fear you don't have it in you," Obi-Wan said, a small, soft smile on his lips. "There is much in the Code of the Sith to be admired, Kanan. My dark brothers set a bad example, but there is nothing in our Code that says we must be cruel, vicious killers. We are seekers of power, not the shepherds of life. It is our duty to see that the conflicts of living are used to elevate us. Conflict forces change, growth, adaptation, evolution, and the failure to do such brings death." He pointed a finger at the thoughtful Jedi. " _That_ is the way of the Sith. At least, that is how I have come to understand it. The Code is open for interpretation, as is the Jedi Code."

"So...what," Kanan asked. "If you become Emperor, what are you going to do? Cause problems for people to overcome? That isn't peace."

"Peace is a lie..." Obi-Wan muttered. "The first principle of our Code. I don't need to cause strife, Kanan, life is filled with it naturally. It is up to the people to overcome it when presented to them. I've no desire to command the lives of my subjects, it goes against the very essence of the Code I adhere to. I want _warriors_ , a population of the strong that will direct those that have failed so that they too may find purpose. The peace I will create in my Empire will provide a place where the conflict of life itself can be met head on so that true progress may be achieved. A united populace, overcoming the challenges the galaxy provides us _together_. This is how we advance. This is how we maintain order. This is how peace is ultimately achieved."

"Peace through conflict..." Kanan muttered. "Sounds like a contradiction."

"Yes? It looks like a goal to me. We strive for perfection. It is unattainable, and so the struggle continues." Kenobi breathed deeply and closed his eyes. "The Force rewards those that reach for perfection."

"You know..." Kanan said, leaning back on his hands. "The way you talk doesn't make the Jedi and the Sith seem very different."

"Oh, we are," Obi-Wan said quietly. "The Jedi serve, the Sith rule. The Jedi reject passion, the Sith embrace it. The Jedi uphold the standard of what's good and right and just, while the Sith seek to break through these restrictions." He shrugged. "But you will find many of our philosophies the same. Our Codes divide us, but many threads of belief are similar between us. We were once brothers, after all. Long before there were Jedi and Sith."

"Perhaps..." Kanan shook his head. "Be that as it may, we're talking circles around the problem. The rebels won't let you keep the Empire."

"And I will not allow them to disband it."

"So what will you do?" Kanan asked, and drew back slightly when a sly grin passed over Obi-Wan's lips.

"Is there a reason we cannot have both?" The Jedi could only stare at him, and Kenobi rolled his eyes. "This galaxy is vast, Kanan. There are too many species, too many cultures, too many viewpoints for a single system of government to work. Let the rebellion have their Republic when we destroy Sidious and his Empire. I will take the remnants of the Imperial forces and reforge them into _my_ Empire. If we give the people a choice, if we allow them to select their government instead of imposing one upon them, we eliminate the problems that led to the Clone Wars. Two centers of government can cover more territory more effectively, so the Outer Rim will not be neglected and ignored as it has been in the past." Obi-Wan shrugged. "And when the war is over, the defeated Imperials will have a place to belong instead of flying away to hide and quietly gather their strength to exact revenge on the rebels that destroyed them."

"That's...secretly brilliant." Kanan frowned. "Hold on, do the leaders of the rebellion know about this?"

"Not yet..." Kenobi grumbled. "It has been a very distant goal until recently. Gathering forces was more important than actually deciding what to do with them, though I suspect that will all be changing soon."

"I guess...if people have the right to choose, there would be no need for you to...you know..." He pointed at the Chiss. "Enslave them." Obi-Wan smiled softly.

"That is so. Though _criminals_..." he said, looking pointedly at the Inquisitor. "That is a different matter, and there are no shortage of those in the galaxy..."

"Is that why you burned Ord Mantell?" Kanan asked darkly, and Obi-Wan's expression became distant and emotionless. "Billions dead, so devastating that the Force was _torn_. There's a wound in the fabric of the Force, Kenobi, and you made it. Is that the fate of those who oppose you? Of those you deem criminals?"

"Ord Mantell..." Obi-Wan drawled, looking at the ceiling and silent for a long while. "I was...not myself..." He shook his head, his eyes distant, and Kanan felt the tug of loss from deep inside Kenobi, the pain rippling across the Force. "You don't know what it's like to have the Dark Side burn you alive, Kanan. I hope you never do. But I do. I've felt it ravage me, I felt it set everything in my being ablaze, and I _let it_ because burning alive was preferable to the pain I felt. And when I burned, I took Ord Mantell with me, I would have taken _everything_ with me..." He smiled sadly and looked at the Jedi, his hand resting over his chest. "There isn't anything inside me anymore. There's nothing left to burn. Do you understand?"

"Madness..." Kanan gasped, the gentle tug in the Force yearning for understanding, and a breath of relief sweeping warm through him when the Jedi _did_ understand.

"Yes..."Obi-Wan whispered. "I died the day those thugs set fire to Sundari. It took...a very long time to come back from it." He shrugged. "Maybe I never did. But you have seen within my soul, Kanan. You know there's nothing left to burn. What happened to Ord Mantell...it won't happen again."

"I believe you..." the Jedi whispered, his thoughts returning to the captives in the Sith's clutches, and he wondered if they weren't better off dead. "I'm not sure I like the idea of what you do to these people..." Kanan said nervously, looking at the Inquisitor, and the Pau'an began squirming under the gaze of the Sith and the Jedi, the soft whimpers in his throat making the rancor clutch the man closer and run his long, slimy tongue over his head in a gesture Kanan recognized as both affectionate and disgusting.

"What I do is no different than how the Republic handled their prisoners," Obi-Wan said, and Kanan looked at him like he was crazy. Because he _was_. Or, at the very least, had been.

"You cannot _actually_ believe it's the same..." Kanan gasped. "Obi-Wan, you _torture_ these people! You make them _slaves_!"

"Are the incarcerated not slaves of a kind?" Kenobi asked, a wry smirk on his lips. "They are permitted to go nowhere and do nothing without permission from their captors, the other inmates may beat them and rape them, the interrogations they endure is nothing short of torture..." The Sith grinned wolfishly. "In a way, what I do is _kinder_. I do not end their lives, if it can be avoided. I put them to use. I make them _want_ their chains. There is no suffering here..."

"Yeah, but prisoners don't have their will sapped from them..." Kanan said quietly. "At least prisoners are still themselves."

"Yes, the same criminals they were when they entered..." Obi-Wan drawled. "But very well, I see your point. They endure a temporary slaver to atone for what they have done. I suppose what I do _is_ cruel, when viewed from that perspective." The Sith Lord _grinned_. "And then I remember what the Inquisitor did to Luminara Unduli..." Kanan hissed as he sucked in a sharp breath. He forgot that Luminara's death was delivered by the Inquisitor's cold hands, but Kenobi hadn't forgotten. "And she didn't die right away, Kanan. Oh, if you knew the things he did to my sweet, loving friend before he executed her..."

" _Don't_..." Kanan whispered, his hands suddenly trembling, and he gripped his knees tightly so Kenobi couldn't see. "Don't tell me... _please_..."

"Very well..." Obi-Wan said, looking away from the Inquisitor when the man shivered and sobbed softly in the rancor's grasp. "Just know he deserves far, _far_ worse than what I am inflicting upon him..."

"What is it you were working on when I came in?" Kanan muttered, desperate to change the subject.

"My next move..." Obi-Wan said, his hand extended, and Cody quickly handed him the datapad. "With the capture of the Grand Inquisitor, I have no doubt captured Sidious' attention. This will be seen as a grave insult that cannot be allowed to go unpunished, and that's to say nothing of how furious Tarkin will be that I destroyed his ship, and that man will take that _very_ personally. A lot of people will be coming for me."

"A lot of people are already after you," Kanan pointed out, and Obi-Wan shook his head.

"It will be worse now. But more importantly, _you_ are linked to me, my Jedi friend," Obi-Wan said with a smirk on his face. "And _that_ means Inquisitors."

"...more of them?" Kanan squeaked. "There are _more_ of them?"

"Oh yes..." Obi-Wan drawled. "Nine more, to be exact. That's what my Pau'an friend and I were discussing before you arrived. Dangerous threats, made more dangerous by those _ridiculous_ lightsabers of theirs..." Obi-Wan sneered with disgust, looking out of the corner of his eye at the Inquisitor. "A blade created to overwhelm their opponent. Brute strength weaponized to compensate for a lack of _talent_..."

"They're certainly no match for you, Kenobi..." Kanan said quietly, and the Sith Lord laughed.

"No, you're right, they aren't, but I don't think Sidious is sending them for me so much as he's sending them for you and Ezra." He shrugged. "Still, I know better than to become arrogant, and in a group, even a scavenger may become a predator. Talented, powerful people have been struck down by their inferiors due to overconfidence." Obi-Wan looked down at his hands, and for a moment, Kanan thought the Sith Lord looked concerned. "Besides, there are two other Sith Lords besides Sidious and I, and he _will_ be sending them for me."

"...are you not stronger than them?" Kanan asked, and Kenobi laughed softly.

"Yes...Maul is no threat to me, and he is as like to turn on Sidious as stab me in the back. I don't know how much damage has been undone. But _Vader_..." Obi-Wan shook his head. "Vader is another matter entirely. Over fifteen years of apprenticeship under Darth Sidious is no joke. I don't know how much stronger he is now." The Sith Lord sighed heavily. "And then there's Ezra's vision..."

"You've seen it again?" Kanan asked, and Obi-Wan slowly nodded.

"Several times, and when I disabled Tarkin's ship, Sidious _saw_ me, I felt his eyes upon me. He's watching, he's coming closer, and I don't..." Obi-Wan snarled and shook his head, his fingers pressed to his temple. "I don't know what it means, I don't know if it's a warning, or a vision of things yet to come, or...I don't know. But it's drawing closer. I can feel it..."

"What are you going to do?" Kanan asked, and with a sigh, Obi-Wan stood, offering his hand and helping the Jedi to his feet.

"I'm going to consult with someone who will know what to do," Obi-Wan said quietly. "And after that, it's back to holocron hunting while I look for the Inquisitors. I need to be as prepared as possible for when I face him, and the more I know, the more armed I am, and if we can take out his Inquisitor support, so much the better."

"That's...really dangerous, isn't it?" Kanan asked, suddenly worried for his Sith companion. Perhaps he wasn't the best person, or even a good person, but he understood the man a bit better. Obi-Wan Kenobi was _fearsome_ , a dangerous predator and a hunter without compromise or remorse, but he wasn't a mindless killer. Unless he had been personally wronged, Obi-Wan simply didn't care what everyone else in the galaxy did. He wore an Imperial uniform and walked easily among them because to him, those were his future people.

"It is quite dangerous, yes," Obi-Wan said, the golden eyes seeming to brighten in their intensity with excitement. "While you and the Spectres do the work of the rebellion, I will be doing the work of the Force, as I have always done..."

"I want to go with you." Kanan said it before he even had a chance to think about it, the pull in his chest yearning for something, _anything_ that wasn't the war he wasn't ready for, a feeling that perceptive Kenobi picked up immediately.

"I don't believe Hera would like that," he gently warned. "She cares a great deal for you."

"Yes, but the mission has always come first," Kanan quickly dismissed. "And that's _fine_ , I never resented that, but..."

"But it wasn't what you expected," Obi-Wan offered, and Kanan nodded slowly.

"I miss what we had," he quietly confessed. "What we did before was small, but it made a difference. It was a noble cause and this..." Kanan sighed heavily. "This is just war. More chaos, more death, more commanders ordering people to their deaths for a greater cause...but, you know, it's what Hera wanted, and I won't leave her, so..." The Jedi sighed heavily and shook his head, but said nothing else. There was nothing else to say, and Kenobi understood it all too well.

"You walk with the Force, Kanan, it isn't conducive to following orders. I understand." He laid his hand on the Jedi's shoulder. "Don't worry about it a moment more. I'll think of something."

"Will you..." Kanan drawled, and the small nod Kenobi gave in return was so sincere, he couldn't help but remember how this fearsome Sith Lord was so caring and gentle with his Mandalorian Force sensitives. His rescued children. "Are you a father, Obi-Wan?" the Jedi asked, and immediately, he could feel the Sith Lord tense, his defenses snapping around him like a protective shell as he drew back, suspicion and anger on his face.

"Are you mocking me?" Kenobi growled. "You know very well I am not."

"W-well..." Kanan started, rubbing the back of his neck and looking away. "I don't know, you take a lot of women to bed, and I've seen you with the younglings and..." He sighed. "I don't know. Just the way you interact with them makes you look like a father. I thought maybe you'd have raised your own. It looks that way."

"Does it..." Obi-Wan drawled, his eyes darting to the side of the room when the door hissed open and Ahsoka walked in. "No matter their origins, they are children of Mandalore," Obi-Wan said proudly, the anger and offense he felt earlier faded. "As their King, they are all my children." He quickly turned to Ahsoka. "Can I help you?"

"Yeah, HK told me I could find Kanan here," the Togruta said, and Kenobi groaned and rolled his eyes.

"I'm going to take that droid apart, I _swear_ it..."

"That's a shame, I find him rather informative," Ahsoka drawled, laughing softly when the Sith rolled his eyes, and she turned to the Jedi. "Kanan, we're having a meeting, and as leader of the Spectres, your presence is required."

"Oh, _great_..." the Jedi growled. "Suppose I don't _want_ to go? I'm in the middle of something." For a moment, Ahsoka looked taken aback, confused by the sudden stubbornness of the Jedi, her eyes searching his face for an explanation that he wasn't giving.

"It's mandatory," Ahsoka calmly explained, her eyes narrowing when the Jedi bristled. "We're going to be discussing our plans moving forward and the _Ghost_ 's part in the rebellion. Now that Hera's well integrated into the Phoenix squadron, we need to coordinate our efforts."

"Well _maybe_ the _Ghost_ will be flying solo for a little while," Kanan snapped, and Ahsoka finally understood and looked sympathetically at the man and shot a pleading glance at Obi-Wan. With a sigh, the Sith Lord stretched, covering his mouth as he loudly yawned.

"Hell, I haven't been to one of these things in ages," Kenobi said in an almost lazy tone. "Mind if I come along? We need to coordinate a bit anyway, I believe we may have some overlap."

"By all means," Ahsoka said with a sigh of relief, her eyes on Kanan and smiling softly when the Jedi's stubbornness seemed to fade. "You know we always value your input."

"Yeah, yeah..." Obi-Wan punched Kanan on his unarmored shoulder. "Come on, Jedi. You can sit next to me. We can make Hera _really_ jealous!"

"Now _that_ sounds like a good time," Kanan said, a lazy smirk crossing his face as he walked beside the Sith Lord, stopping when Ahsoka laid her hand on his shoulder, and he found he couldn't meet her gaze. Neither could she.

"Caleb..." the Togruta said quietly. "I understand your misgivings about all this, and I'm sorry we haven't had time to talk much in the time you've been here, but-"

"How can you do it?" Kanan interrupted. "How can you go back to... _this_. Fighting alongside soldiers after what happened in the Clone Wars. You were there, you saw what it did, nit just to the Jedi, but-"

"To everybody, I know..." Ahsoka whispered, squeezing his shoulder. "I fight..." She sighed and shook her head and finally met Kanan's gaze. "I fight because war is coming, whether I'm involved or not, and when it finally does hit us, I want to make sure that hope isn't crushed by overwhelming evil. This is our only chance. I won't stand aside and watch when I can make a difference." Kanan didn't say anything. He simply lowered his head and followed Ahsoka and Obi-Wan out of the ship, silently thinking about where he belonged in a galaxy where Jedi had no place, and his thoughts couldn't help but turn to Hera. As out of place as he was, he'd always have a place beside his pilot, and no matter where her path may lead, Kanan would be certain she never went there alone.

* * *

"I need a consult on a vision I had," Obi-Wan said, his hands folded on the table in front of him as he addressed the assembled leaders of the rebellion. His presence had made the meeting much more confidential than had originally been intended, resulting in a much smaller meeting with only the highest ranking members. It certainly made it easier on Kanan, but the Jedi was none too happy about being there. "As soon as repairs on the _Umbra_ are complete, I'll be off. Don't expect me back for a while."

"A while?" Jan Dodonna said with a touch of surprise in his voice. "Surely a consultation cannot take long." Kenobi rolled his eyes and shot a look to Ahsoka that begged for help, and the touch of a smirk that crossed her face made it clear that she would be doing no such thing. It wasn't that Kenobi _disliked_ General Dodonna. Quite the contrary. The old man was more than a good military leader, and he currently commanded the largest rebel cell in the entire rebellion effort. The Massassi Unit currently made its home on _many_ planets, keeping the sizable fleet divided until the time was right for them to all unite, though the General personally operated out of a small base on a moon orbiting the planet Yavin. It wasn't much, certainly not yet ready to be called a base, but there moon was promising, and within a few years, it seemed very likely that the entire rebellion would operate from the tiny fourth moon.

"The consultation," Obi-Wan began, his voice straining to keep his patience, "should take no more than a few days. But after that, I have quite a bit to do. I have a few planets I want to search for information to aid us in the fight against the Emperor, most notably Volik. I hear there might be a holocron there, and I need it."

"Another artifact hunt?" Jun Sato asked, and Obi-Wan sneered at him. His Phoenix Squadron was another of the rebellion's largest, and it was the group to which the _Ghost_ now belonged. Again, he didn't dislike the unassuming commander, but his position now put him directly into conflict with Kenobi's wishes for his Spectres.

"A holocron is a rare source of very valuable information," Ahsoka explained, sparing the commander one of Kenobi's biting comments. "If he has a lead on one, he needs to take it. It would be _very_ bad if the Emperor got his hands on one. We don't know what sort of things he could learn from it."

"Precisely," Obi-Wan said evenly, smiling softly at Ahsoka. "Moving on, I've conducted a full interrogation of the Grand Inquisitor and the information I got is... _very_ useful. I now have the information I need to begin hunting the remaining members of the Inquisitorius." He shrugged. "Since we have a Jedi in Phoenix Squadron, you better believe they'll be dispatching Inquisitors to put an end to him. I'll be dealing with them before that happens."

" _That's_ what you're going to be doing?!" Ahsoka gasped, her mouth hanging open as she looked at the Sith Lord. "That's a _very_ aggressive action. If your plan is to draw the attention of the Sith Lords-"

"That is _exactly_ my intention," Kenobi growled. "I don't know if you can feel it, Fulcrum, but I do. The time is fast approaching us. We need to set the stage for our attack. And speaking of which..." he said, leaning forward and grinning at the occupants of the room. "I'm beginning my hunt for Thrawn as well."

" _How_ ," Sato asked. "There are _Chimeras_ everywhere."

"Yes, but only one of them is real," Obi-Wan said quickly. "And as it so happens, I know which one it is." The room fell dead silent, and Obi-Wan's grin grew wider. "I don't know _where_ it is, but I will know soon enough if you get your people searching for it, Ahsoka."

"How is it identified?" the Togruta asked, her eyes cast down at a datapad she swiftly ran her fingers across.

"It has a Chimera engraved on its ventral side," Kenobi explained. "According to the Inquisitor, it's _quite_ large and very hard to miss. Very impressive. Intimidating. And _completely_ unique. He says soldiers serving under Thrawn's command wear a Chimera on their sleeve as well." The Sith Lord smirked. "Done so, it would seem, in loyalty to _him_. Which I find both impressive and exceedingly rare in the Imperial Navy."

"Careful, Kenobi..." Kanan drawled, his hands behind his head and his feet very inappropriately on the table, a thing that earned him no shortage of disapproving looks from Hera. "Keep talking like that and _everyone_ is going to know about your little crush."

"It's his _eyes_ , Kanan, I could get lost in them..." Obi-Wan sighed, his hand laying over his chest. "It's his fault. Running around the galaxy, showing off his massive... _intellect_. _Ugh, I want it_!"

"Focus, Obi-Wan..." Ahsoka said tightly as she tried to repress the smile on her face that threatened to turn into laughter. "Have any of the false _Chimeras_ had this engraving?"

"They have not..." the Sith drawled. "Have you made contact with Nightswan?" The Togruta hissed between her teeth in aggravation.

"We were hoping that the Spectre's message would make him easier to approach, but it seems to have had the opposite effect. He won't let us near him."

"He sounds as stupid as Cham Syndulla..." A sharp gasp from the Twi'lek at the table, and Obi-Wan's gaze lazily shifted to Hera, the woman sitting bolt upright in her chair, her lekku squirming in agitation severe enough that Kanan stopped his act of objecting to the situation and dropped his feet off the table, his hands quickly moving to soothingly caress his lover's shoulder. "Mission on Ryloth," he quickly explained. "Your father went against my council and he lost everything. He's alive, no doubt, but he's _stupid_. You must take after your mother."

"In many ways..." Hera said softly, quickly pushing Kanan's hand off her shoulder so she could hold onto it, her fingers interlocking with his.

"I'll add Nightswan to my list," Obi-Wan said. "Maybe he won't talk to rebel agents, but he will talk to me. Where can I find him?"

"He has several holdouts..." Ahsoka said, reading off her datapad. "But the biggest one seems to be on Scrim Island on Batonn."

"I'll be sure to make my way over there at some point..." Obi-Wan said, logging the information on his own datapad. "Any movement on the Empire's secret project?"

"Nothing you'd be happy with..." Ahsoka mumbled. "But I have things in the works. I'll let you know when I'm not just grasping at smoke." The Sith Lord nodded, crossed his arms over his chest, and leaned back in his chair. Clearly, he was done. Ahsoka turned her eyes on Hera. "Spectre Two," the Togruta said with a smile. "Phoenix Squadron needs a base from which to run operations in their galactic quadrant. We want you to find that base."

"I can do that," Hera said with a nod.

"Are you _joking_?" All eyes turned to Obi-Wan, the Sith Lord looking perfectly disgusted with the proceedings. " _Really_?! Hera Syndulla is easily the best pilot you've got, and you want her to run a _scouting trip_?' Kenobi shook his head. "No, I don't think so."

"This isn't your call, Kenobi," Sato said, and he was supported by a glare from the Twi'lek.

"I think it _is_ my call, _Commander_ ," Obi-Wan said in a calm, even voice. "I'm a Spectre as well, and so long as the _Umbra_ is out of commission, I'll be traveling on the _Ghost_."

"Then I suppose you'll be coming with us to find a base," Hera said through clenched teeth. "This is important, surely you must realize that."

"You are overqualified for this job, Hera," Obi-Wan said swiftly as he stared Ahsoka down. "This is an insult."

"Maybe you're right," Ahsoka said tersely. "Maybe putting two Jedi and the best pilot we have on a recon mission is a waste, but it's what we _need_ Obi-Wan. Raids on Imperial convoys for supplies, stealing fuel from depots, scavenging for useable parts for shield generators... _that's_ the sort of thing we _need_." She sighed heavily as she looked at the Sith Lord, the golden eyes blazing, but not angry, not yet, a softness behind them that were always in his unnatural stare when he looked at her, his fondness for her late Master carrying over to his student. "You've been fighting all these years, Kenobi, but we have been struggling to give shape to this rebellion. Even now, we are just a collection of ships scattered across the galaxy. In order for us to fight, we need fuel, supplies, and a _base_. And we need our best on the job to make this rebellion a reality."

"...understood," Obi-Wan said after a moment of silence, sitting up straight in his chair and laying his clasped hands on the desk before him. "In that case, send the Phoenix Squadron with me. I'll oversee that your missions are completed, and with the squadron at my back, my own missions can be accomplished faster."

"You want the whole squadron?" Sato asked, shaking his head. "That's too many ships, it's too dangerous to send them all out."

"Then only send a few," the Sith said with a shrug. "Have the rest of the fleet on standby in case of an emergency and give Hera a small group to command."

"I can't do that, Obi-Wan..." Hera said between clenched teeth. "I don't have any authority to command."

"... _what_?!" Kenobi looked around the room. "Are you all idiots?" He crossed his arms over his chest and dropped his feet upon the table, a rebellious gesture that Kanan quickly followed. "Promote Hera to Captain."

"We can't just-"

"Stop wasting everyone's time and do it, Sato, you _know_ she is going to be a Captain soon enough anyway." He waved a dismissive hand in the air and ignored the startled look the Twi'lek was giving him. "We need her able to officially command ships if she's going to be doing this. Give her a few ships to command, and come along if you like, but my Spectres and I have work to do." The Commander sighed heavily and slowly nodded in agreement.

"Very well. _Captain_ Syndulla," he said firmly, the Twi'lek beaming brighter than any sun, the Jedi beside her flashing the Sith Lord a small, grateful smile. "You are to locate a base from where we can operate and undertake the mission to root out and disarm Admiral Thrawn of the Imperial Navy."

"We'll get it done, Commander," Hera said, her voice filled with strong conviction.

"I'll be going as well," Ahsoka said softly, her hands on the table as she rose to her feet. "This is the biggest undertaking the rebellion is involved in right now, and seeing as how you're going to be doing battle with Inquisitors, I think it might help to have another Force sensitive on board."

"This might just be shaping up to be the greatest mission _ever_ ," Kanan said, grinning like a fool in Ahsoka's direction, and the Togruta chuckled softly as she shook her head.

"Since we will need the _Umbra_ , we have a few days to prepare." Ahsoka looked over at the insufferably smug Sith Lord. "I take it we won't be leaving until after the Gemini leave, right?" The smug smirk on Kenobi's face dropped away in an instant, his feet pulled off the table as he sat straight up, the reaction leaving Ahsoka startled. "They said you told them to come."

"No," Obi-Wan said tightly. " _I didn't_."

"Oh..." Ahsoka rubbed the top of her montrails awkwardly. "Well...the Gemini agents will be here shortly. It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Too long, yes..." Obi-Wan said, his voice growing distant. "They will be the death of me..." The Sith's eyes narrowed, the golden fire behind them glowing brighter. "Or they better hope so, because I will kill them if they don't kill me first!"


	33. Waiting For Launch

_Chapter 33: Waiting for Launch_

Minister Tua stood beside the silently fuming Governor Tarkin and the uneasy Agent Kallus in the hangar bay of Lothal's Imperial government building, her eyes fixed on the ground instead of on the shuttle before them as the landing ramp lowered with a long, low hiss. She knew _exactly_ what it was that was on that ship, and it was, without fail, the most terrifying thing she could imagine, short of the Emperor himself. She'd rather deal with the cold, harsh demands of Lothal's Governor, Arihnda Pryce, a woman she had been terrified of since the day she became her minister. She'd rather deal with the rebel insurgents and their Jedi leader. She'd rather deal with the kriffing _Shadow King_. Hell she'd rather deal with a _hundred_ Shadow Kings and that beast rancor too if it meant she didn't need to deal with that was in _that ship_.

After the _Sovereign_ was brought down in the skies over Lothal, everything had changed. Tarkin had been recalled to Coruscant by the Emperor, and ordered Minister Tua to find the rebels, no matter the cost. Under Imperial decree, she had tightened the hold on the system, had ordered restrictions and curfews and checkpoints, all supported by an increase in troop movement in an attempt to flush the rebels out. The civilians complained and protested constantly over these changes, but the rebels themselves were _nowhere_ to be found, and with the Grand Inquisitor dead or fled or worse, Tarkin was looking for _someone_ to punish.

 _Someone_ had to be held accountable for the destruction of a Star Destroyer. Someone had to be held responsible for the failure of the soldiers that could not stop a small group from stealing a valuable prisoner and blowing up Tarkin's personal property. And when Tarkin had arrived that morning to find that no progress had been made, he had excused himself to make a call, the Governor visibly displeased, and Minister Tua knew what was to follow. Someone _was_ going to pay, and it was going to be at the merciless black hands of Maketh's worst nightmare, a shadow of terror that swept through like death on even, pendulous breath...

"Lord Vader," Tarkin said tightly, the warmth of familiarity and relief showing through the cracks of his strained visage. "Thank you for coming."

Minister Tua was certain she was going to throw up.

"There was little choice, Governor," Vader said in his deep, modulated voice, the tinge of something mechanical on the edge of his sinister tones doing nothing to hide the fact that there was something unmistakably alive behind that mask. Maketh had her doubts before, as stories and rumors surrounded the Emperor's right hand, none of which could agree on what Vader actually was under the helmet and armor, but being in his presence erased all doubt from her mind. There was something living inside there. No droid could exude such hatred and malice. No mere machine could inspire the shivers of terror that ran up her spine. This was a creature of vengeance, and it had come to not only solve a problem, but to destroy the ones responsible for allowing the problem to continue.

"One cannot stand idly by when the Shadow King has taken yet _another_ ship from you," Vader continued, Tarkin visibly bristling under the not so thinly veiled criticism. "At least he only destroyed it this time. It would have been far worse were he to have the armaments of an Imperial Star Destroyer at his heel."

"This slight cannot go unpunished," Tarkin snapped. "This time, he will be made to answer for his actions. He has been allowed to make fools of the Empire for long enough."

"I agree..." Vader said deeply. "Too long has he been infecting the galaxy with his presence, but it seems he has finally made an error. He has made allies within your insurgent rebels, and through them, we may draw him in and destroy him." Vader growled deeply, a sinister thing that made the terrified Minister's hair stand on end. She was _definitely_ going to throw up. "That Jedi was supposed to be _mine_. He will pay for robbing me of this."

"There are a great many things he must be held accountable for in regards to you..." Tarkin said softly, his cold gaze slowly drifting toward the Minister. " _Many_ people must be held accountable for what has happened here." Slowly, feeling the weight of the gazes in the heavy silence, Minister Tua slowly lifted her eyes, dizziness and panic hitting her as she felt the blood drain out of her face when she saw that black, expressionless mask looking _right at her_.

"M-me?" she squeaked, her timidness seeming to further annoy the already irritated Tarkin.

"Yes, _you_ , Minister," the Governor said with a roll of his eyes. "Are you not in charge of the forces on Lothal?"

"W-well, yes..." she stammered. "While Governor Pryce is...b-but I'm just a public servant, I don't-"

"Nearly three weeks after the rebels _attacked_ Lothal," Vader growled, taking a long, heavy step toward the shaking administrator. "Three weeks since the Shadow King hung _his_ banner on your government building, and killed one of your Senators and the key Imperial holonet spokesman in the region, and you have found _nothing_ to suggest there whereabouts."

"I-I have tried!" she squeaked. "I have exhausted every resource available to me to find these rebels, but there is _nothing_ to be found! What more do you and Governor Tarkin expect!"

"I _expect_ , Minister," Tarkin sneered, "for Lothal to be suitably _punished_. My own Star Destroyer was demolished by these rebels, and I find myself taking the matter _very personally_." Meekly, the Minister took a step back, her eyes cast back at the ground, fear and frustration knotting the muscles in her shoulders.

"Governor..." the Minister quietly explained, "I have doubled patrols, I have set up check-points, I have instated a curfew...I honestly don't know what else to do."

"And perhaps that is the problem," Vader said evenly, pointing a large, gloved hand at the shaking administrator. "You lack imagination, and that is why you are out of your depth. _That_ is why you have failed to produce results."

"Lord Vader, with all due respect..." the woman said, shrinking back when the intimidating man loomed over her. "You are Governor Tarkin are asking for miracles!"

"From you, perhaps," Vader growled. "As has been shown by your level of competence. A more effective commander would have flushed out these rebels by now."

"I'm not a commander, I'm a public official, I don't have any experience in this sort of thing!" the Minister cried, growing frantic and backing away as Vader drew closer.

"Then listen well," Vader said, his deep voice reverberating in the air and making Maketh tremble. "If the rebels have fled, we will draw them back, and if the rebels are here, we will draw them out. We will squeeze Lothal until _someone_ reveals something."

"My Lord..." Maketh whimpered. "The people are already-"

"They are insignificant," Vader snapped. "The fact that you allow them to protest is further evidence of your inadequacy in your position."

"These rebels have shown to have an interest in Lothal and it's people," Tarkin said coldly. "They are principled, and it is a weakness we will exploit. Arrest them, kill them, burn down their farms and their villages. Whatever it is that must be done to draw their attention, _do it_."

"I-I-I'm...I can't, I..." The minister stammered, tripping over her tongue every time she tried to speak, the whole thing made worse by Tarkin and Vader, standing there quietly and waiting for her to say something. Finally, she managed to squeak, "I'm not accustomed to such brutal tactics..."

"And you may explain that to me in private when you meet with me tomorrow to account for your failure, Minister," Tarkin said in his crisp, cruel tone, and the woman swayed on her feet, unable to draw breath and certain she was going to pass out.

"Governor, _please_!" she heard herself desperately cry. "Give me at least a chance to correct this!"

"Oh, very well..." Tarkin drawled with a roll of his eyes, beginning a slow walk through the hangar to return to his offices, Vader following in step beside him. "I am due back on Coruscant at the end of the week. I will give you until then, and failing that, you will accompany me back to Coruscant so that you may give your excuses to the Emperor himself."

"W-what?!" Tarkin quickly reeled on the pale, shaking woman. "Are you deaf as well as incompetent?" he snapped, and she quickly shook her head.

"Governor, the week's end is in two days!"

"Really..." the Moff drawled, sarcasm lacing his voice. "I do believe that is double the amount of time I would have given you originally. More than enough time to flush these rebels out, hmm?"

"I-I couldn't possibly leave Lothal!" she cried desperately after the retreating figures. "I-I'm needed here!" Neither Tarkin nor Vader even acknowledged that she was talking, leaving a silent Agent Kallus to lay his hand on the trembling woman's shoulder.

"Don't worry, Minister," the man said, his voice low and calm and cruel. "I'm certain Lord Vader and I can manage things in your absence." With that, the ISB Agent turned to leave, a smug look on his face, and when he was gone, Minister Tua's shaking legs finally gave out and she collapsed on the ground, the nausea finally overwhelming her and she gracelessly vomited on the ground. When she was done, she picked herself up off the ground and began the long, slow shuffle home.

What they asked was _impossible_. This wasn't even her job! She was a _minister_ , set in place to look after things while Governor Pryce was managing Lothal's affairs on Coruscant. She wasn't some military commander, her job was doing paperwork, putting in the occasional public appearance and looking after dignitaries when they visited. How could they expect her to stop a rebellion, flush out a group of dangerous insurgents, and make her own people suffer to do so? Lothal wasn't much. A backwater world that only had significance because the Empire had come to drag them out of the mud, but these people, like it or not, were her people, and she cared about their well-being. The Empire was there to help, to better Lothal, and the stubborn natives had fought every step of the way. But _now_ the Empire was going to make them suffer, going to execute _her_ if she didn't do this job that wasn't hers, and she knew she could not succeed.

She was going to die. There was absolutely no doubt about that. Tarkin would kill her for her failure just to motivate the person who took her place, and Vader would make Lothal suffer to make the insurgents reveal themselves. These... _rebels_. Rebels who had escaped to safety and would supposedly return to help Lothal when the Empire began to crush it. It conflicted with the image of the dangerous, violent insurgents the Empire was painting them as. Maketh had always believed in the Empire, had seen the good it could do, but was now at the other end of it. They were going to _kill her_...

She had to get out. No matter what, she _had_ to get out, though she knew there was nowhere to run. For a moment, she briefly considered attempting to contact the rebels for help. If they could save one of their own from the belly of Grand Moff Tarkin's Star Destroyer, they could certainly rescue her from Capital City. Though they never would, she knew that as well. She was an Imperial official, one that had stood against them in the past, had worked to see them captured and exposed. Were she to reach out to them, they would certainly see it as a trap and ignore it, and if the people had been keeping silent about the rebels before, she certainly wouldn't be able to convince them to lead her to them now. She had information, of course, and she was willing to trade it if it meant her safety, but she had no idea how to even contact them. It made her...a defector. A deserter. A _traitor_. But she didn't care. Maybe that made her a coward, but Maketh wanted to live. She didn't want to die for something that wasn't her fault or her responsibility, and if the rebels could save her, maybe they would be kinder than her superiors in the Empire.

But they wouldn't.

Her hand slipped into her pocket and she fingered the comlink there, as she had done several times a day for the past three weeks. She tried not to think about him, but now especially, she couldn't help it. Ben had been stationed on the _Sovereign_ when the ship had been destroyed, and while it was possible that he had been dispatched in his TIE fighter at the time the ship went down, the com silence seemed to suggest otherwise, and she was too afraid to call him to find out for certain. Ben was dead. He _had_ to be, and her life had been so upside down that she pushed the thought away and refused to deal with it. It was true she didn't know him well, or for long, but he had been a warm, comforting presence when she had needed it the most, which was more than she had anywhere else.

And now he was dead.

She quickly withdrew her hand from her pocket with a whimper in her throat, sniffling as she tried to fight back tears, saving them for the safety of her home instead of allowing herself to weep in public. There was no getting out of this. She could try and run, but she knew they would find her. Besides, she had nowhere to go, and all she knew, everything in her life had been for the Empire. What would she do if she ran, where would she go? _Nowhere_. There was nowhere to go but back to the Empire, and then she wouldn't just be a failure, she'd be a fugitive, and her execution would certainly be worse. As it was, it may have been painless, but it didn't need to be that way. She had heard that some prisoners wasted away in their cells under needless interrogations before they finally begged for death. She didn't want that to be her just because she was afraid and ran.

Again, she found her hand slipping into her pocket to finger her comlink. Ben had been worried about her. He had wanted her to check in after her meetings with Tarkin just to be sure she was alright. _If you fear for your life, Maketh, you call me and I will come running_. He had said that to her before she went to meet with Tarkin for the first time, and the words echoed in her mind now, that pleasing, lovely drawl in his clipped accent running over and over again through her mind. She needed Ben now. He would have understood. He would have saved her. Maybe he wouldn't have defected with her, but something about him made her trust him, make her somehow know that even if he remained loyal to the Empire, he would never give her up.

He had said he knew a Mandalorian, but the Mandalorians had left with Moff Kryze, and they were staunchly loyal to the Empire. There was truly no way out, and in her desperation, she clung to the fragile hope that her fighter pilot was alive somewhere, and when she stepped into her home, the comlink was in her hand, and all she could do was stare at it and wonder if it was worth knowing.

* * *

" _Visiskija nenx_!" Obi-Wan shouted in Ancient Sith as he stormed down the ramp of the _Umbra_ , a female Mandalorian in red and gold armor close on his heels. " _Absolutely not_!" Underneath the _Umbra_ beside HK-45 and K-2SO stood another Mandalorian, a male in blue and silver armor, his hands inside the ship's open engine panel as his fingers swiftly worked, and with a sigh, he shook his head. Even the rancor nearby remained sleeping, despite the fury of his Master. From the look of it, this was a common occurrence, though the commotion had drawn Kanan's attention, even though he couldn't understand the language they were speaking.

"And why not?!" Leia shouted back in Sith as she followed her father as he began pacing furiously to both vent his frustration and get away from her questioning. Neither were working. "We are almost sixteen years old! We should have been fighting a long time ago!"

" _Nearly sixteen_!" Obi-Wan snapped. "You are a _child_! No, you are too young for war."

" _You_ were sixteen when you fought in your first war!" she countered, swiftly pointing to the side where Kanan and Ahsoka sat. " _Fulcrum_ was fourteen when she began fighting in the Clone Wars! And your new friend Kanan was, what, thirteen?!"

"All child soldiers, all _far_ too young!" the Sith snarled, reeling on the armored girl. "And furthermore, they aren't _my children_!"

"You know..." Leia drawled sweetly, the sudden change in tone making the Sith stop and eye her cautiously. "Yesterday I got a chance to talk with the Spectres. Met a boy named Ezra, who, by the way, father, is _born on the same day as us_!" Obi-Wan bristled, and thought the helmet hid her face, he could tell that Leia was _furious_. More than he had ever seen the passionate girl. Something about the Sith language just made everything seem so much more... _extreme_. "Our age, father, and he's running into battle beside you!" She stopped to look back at Luke, who was clearly not paying attention, and it made her even angrier. Boys were so... _difficult_. "Are you _replacing_ us, father?!"

" _What_?!" Obi-Wan stared with wide, disbelieving eyes at the girl, her arms crossed tightly over her chest, her weight shifting from foot to foot. She was _nervous_. "My angel, nothing could _ever_ replace you..."

"Then let us fight, let us come with you!"

"Ah, no. Absolutely not." Leia yelled in frustration, her hands tightly gripping the sides of her helmet. They were talking in _circles_. Manipulating the Lord of the Sith _never_ worked. "Gods of the Sith! Are you _trying_ to drive me into an early grave?! Look at this!" Kenobi snapped, running his and through his hair and showing Leia the three strands he had pulled. "Not only are you _graying my hair_ , but you're making it fall out! People _die_ to correct the way you age me! Is this how you plan on killing me? Is this your grand plan to become Master of the Sith?!"

" _How_ could I do that?!" Leia scoffed. "As you're so quick to remind me, I'm _not Sith_!"

"Not yet, but you are well on your way with the way you _suck the life out of me_!"

" _Brother_!" From his place by the engines, Luke looked over to his sister. "You can step in to help at _any time_!"

"I advise patience," Luke said calmly, his spoken Sith a fair bit more gentle than Leia's. "Father's correct. We will join him when the time is right."

" _See?!_ " Obi-Wan hissed, pointing at the boy. "Good, honest, _reasonable_ son!"

"Oh, you are a _traitor_!" Leia shouted at her brother before quickly turning back to her father. "He only says that because he gets to fly his X-Wing every single day because he's a farm boy with _nothing better to do_!"

"Hey..." Luke gruffed, walking over to join his family, a wrench in his hand. "I'll have you know, it's the harvest right now! It's a lot of work!"

"And as soon as your work day is over, you're _up there_..." Leia said wistfully, her hand on Luke's shoulder. "Flying among the stars. You know what _I_ have to do? Diplomacy training! The Junior Legislative program! Senate meetings! _Refinement school_! My educational studies! Social events! You know when I have time to fly?" She scoffed. " _Never_."

"Sweetie, you are being groomed to _rule_!" Obi-Wan said, the strain of desperation in his voice. "Luke has shown no such interest, but _you_ are ambitious! Too many ignorant fools have let their ambitions lead them astray, and I will not be having my daughter fall prey to such when I set her up to rule in my Empire!"

"You don't _have_ an Empire!" Leia said, her hands balled into fists by her side. "And you _won't_ until we _fight for it_!" The girl pouted, her toe tapping against the ground. "I want to fight, father, not be involved in this pointless puppet Senate..."

"At least you're busy..." Luke said with a roll of his eyes. "Even with flying and training, here are days I think I may die of boredom." He paused for a moment to look at his sister, and returned his gaze to the Sith. "Father, take us with you. We're ready." The arguing renewed once again, Kenobi returning to his furious pacing, and from the spot by the wall, Ahsoka sighed heavily and shook her head.

"It never ends..." she muttered, and Kanan looked questioningly at her.

"Can you understand what they're saying?" the Jedi asked, and Ahsoka shook her head.

"No, but I know what it's about. It's always the same."

"Honestly, I'm sort of surprised that Kenobi's just letting them talk to him like that," Kanan mused, looking at the trio who had stopped stalking around and now stood huddled together, voices no longer raised, but hushed, commanding hisses could be heard over the distance. The two teenagers had arrived the day before, and since then, Obi-Wan had locked himself away with them. The Spectres had met them briefly when they landed, the two amicable teens acting as though they were meeting celebrities as they went down the line and gleefully shook their hands. They had asked a flurry of questions, inquisitive, adventure-hungry teens that they were, the two skillfully evading all questions directed at them with questions of their own, and it was only after Kenobi dragged them away that they realized that they didn't even know their names. They didn't know a single thing about them. They had been speaking to _ghosts_.

But _Kanan_ knew them. These were the X-Wing pilots that had escorted him and Ezra off the asteroid so many months ago on Empire Day. He had watched them take down a Star Destroyer, he had watched them fly in perfect, beautiful harmony, as one with each other just as they were as one with their ships. If they were not the best pilots in the galaxy, they were very close to it, their flying and their teamwork so perfect that Kanan couldn't imagine them _not_ being Force sensitive. And yet, when he looked at them, he felt _nothing_.

"The Gemini..." Kanan mused, leaning forward with his chin upon his fist. "Just who are they?"

"Mandalorians..." Ahsoka drawled as she rolled her eyes. "Kenobi's got a lot of those, as you saw."

"Well, yeah, but it wasn't the same," Kanan said quietly, leaning in toward Ahsoka. "The younglings were polite and respectful. They listened to everything he said without question, they fought with each other to learn from him. These two..." Kanan shook his head. "It couldn't be more different."

"There's no hiding anything from you, is there?" Ahsoka mumbled. "The Gemini are...well, they're Obi-Wan's apprentices."

"...like _actual_ apprentices?" The Togruta nodded, and Kanan looked back to the two Mandalorians. "So they _are_ Force sensitive. I thought they might be, but I couldn't feel it..."

"Well, Kenobi _did_ train them..."

"Is that right?" He didn't look at her, but Kanan could feel Ahsoka's eyes boring into him, could feel her caution and apprehension in the Force. She wasn't lying to him, but the Togruta was _certainly_ keeping secrets, and he suspected he knew _exactly_ what that secret was. No apprentice would speak to their Master this way, and no Master would allow it, especially not a Sith Master. Not even the willful, outspoken Ezra would openly and persistently challenge either of his teachers like this. No, this was downright _familial_. There was a strong culture of adoption among the Mandalorians, as he learned not just from Sabine, but from his Jedi brothers and sisters, all of them warmly embraced by Mandalorian parents, and like the wayward children, the Sith Lord had been taken in by Mandalore when he had nowhere else to go. It was almost natural that he should do the same.

Of course, what made the Gemini special was lost on Kanan. Why these two of all the hundreds rescued from the Temple? He hadn't seen their faces, so he couldn't be certain of their age, but he could make a safe guess and assume that they were around Ezra's age. Perhaps they simply showed the greatest potential, but Kanan felt it was more than that, and the more he looked at them, the more he believed that these children didn't come from the Temple, but from Kenobi himself, in some way. They certainly were not younger, and to be older would have been impossible, given that these two had to have been fathered on a woman that wasn't Obi-Wan's beloved Satine, and while that was _technically_ possible for the lusty Sith Lord, Kanan knew that Kenobi's heart beat for his dead lover. He wouldn't have been unfaithful to her, not while she was alive, and certainly not while his own child lay within her.

It was very likely, though, that in grief for the loss of his lover and his unborn son, Obi-Wan fathered a child or two on other women, though if the code name Gemini were at all an accurate description of the two young pilots, then they were likely twins fathered on the same mother, and Kanan couldn't help but wonder who she was, or _where_ she was now, since she was very obviously not a part of Obi-Wan's life in any significant way. But to raise these children, she _had_ to have been something special to him, if only for a little bit, or he wouldn't have known she had been pregnant. Kenobi didn't seem the type to keep in touch with his many lovers just to see if a child had come from their union. No, he _must_ have known and cared about this woman, so...

The Gemini were his children, there was no doubt about that, though, he supposed it was possible that Kenobi hadn't _actually_ fathered them. It didn't matter, of course. Just watching them made it clear that the Sith Lord lived for the feisty teenagers. This was why Obi-Wan had felt like a parent to Kanan, he _was_ one. And for the emotional Sith to have kept quiet about such a thing, for _Ahsoka_ to call them apprentices when they were family could only mean that this was a secret that was beyond even the fact that Mandalore kept an army of Force sensitives.

Or he was wrong about the whole thing.

"It's a little weird to have an apprentice but not keep them with you, isn't it?" Kanan asked the Togruta quietly. "He's protecting them, obviously, but from what? And _why_?" For just a moment, Ahsoka's eyes narrowed as she assessed the Jedi, felt him through the Force, and saw his conviction, far greater than he was letting n. A small, secretive smile touched her lips.

"You know why," she whispered. "And as for what he's protecting them from...has he not lost too much already?"

"...yes." Ahsoka lain her hand on the Jedi's shoulders.

"Some things are best left unsaid, Kanan. Some questions need to remain unanswered. Understand?"

"Yeah, I understand..." he said, watching as the Sith Lord lay an affectionate hand on his children's shoulders, and with a deep breath, he stood, and despite the Togruta's objections, he made his way over to the Sith and his family, the frustrated Fulcrum following close behind. The three spoke quietly in a language Kanan didn't understand, the anger and frustration of before faded into uneasy resignation, as Kanan suspected happened often, from they way they were behaving with each other. Clearly, none of them were happy with whatever arrangement they had come to, which meant that the children obviously didn't get their way, and the loving father was hurting for upsetting his kids.

"Kanan..." Obi-Wan said, drawing up and letting go of the teenagers, his voice adopting the lazy, carefree tone it always did when he was trying to be casual. "You've met the Gemini agents, yes?"

"Briefly yesterday," the Jedi confirmed, nodding to the two of them in acknowledgment. "You have a mission for them?"

"Yes, but not one that aligns with our mission," Obi-Wan said quickly, glaring at the two when it looked like they would say something. "I believe you two owe Fulcrum an apology..." Kenobi growled dangerously, the boy lowering his head and the girl standing taller. "For _lying_ to her about saying _I_ told her you could be here..."

"I'm sorry, Fulcrum..." Luke said softly. "I understand that being careless like that is how the rebellion gets put at risk. It won't happen again..."

"It wasn't _totally_ a lie..." Leia said slyly, earning herself a glare from the Sith Lord that she did not shy away from. "You said you'd see us when your mission was concluded," she swiftly said in her defense. "You _did_ want to see us, didn't you, _my Lord_?"

"Perhaps it was a mistake to give you training in _politics_..." Obi-Wan sneered, glaring at the haughty girl in her regal red and gold armor, his eyes drifting past her when he saw movement at the back of the private hangar as the rest of the Spectres came in, Ezra and Sabine talking and laughing at the head of the group and rushing forward when they saw the elusive agents that had been occupying Kenobi's time.

"Are you ready to leave?" Ezra asked as he jogged up, a broad grin on his face when he looked at the Mandalorian warriors. "Hey, are the Gemini coming with us?"

"They were just leaving," Obi-Wan snapped, cutting the twins off before they had a chance to say anything, and Sabine, Ezra, Luke and Leia collectively groaned. "I have said my piece and that is final!" Obi-Wan snapped, pointing a finger the twins. "I will not have you fighting this war until _I_ say it is time!"

"And when will that be?!" Leia shot back. "What if it is _never_ time!"

"Then you will _never fight_ ," Obi-Wan growled dangerously, clutching the girl with the Force, and with a gasp, Leia dropped to her knees, held down in submission by the Dark Side. "I am your Master, _girl_ , and you _will_ obey me." Slowly, _carefully_ , Luke dropped beside his sister, a hand on her shoulder as he kneed his head. They had overstepped, as they occasionally did, and in front of others, the Sith Lord drew the line between Father and Master much closer.

"Forgive us..." Luke whispered. "We didn't mean to offend you, we just-"

"You just _nothing_!" Obi-Wan snarled, grabbing the boy with the Force as well, not crushing or painful, but tightly and protectively, the nervous grasp of a worried parent that knew some day soon, his children would be ready to fly, but wasn't yet willing to let go. The world was dark and dangerous, and he had lost too much as it was. "You will fight when I say, _if I say_! You are not yet sixteen years old, you are too young for war! _I_ was too young for war at sixteen!"

"He's right, you know..." Hera said softly as she stopped before the group, a sad smile on her lips as she looked at the Sith Lord, the man's shoulders relaxing as he shot the woman a grateful look. "Even if you think you're ready, you're _never_ ready. This fight belongs to all of us. Don't rush it. It will come to you soon enough." With a sigh, Obi-Wan closed his eyes and released the twins, and slowly, cowed for the moment, they rose, their heads bowed respectfully, and the Sith laid his hands on their helmets.

"Nuyak vina berniuk, tu aras nuyak visuom," he muttered softly. _My dearest children, you are my world_.

"Mes zenoti, tevas," Leia said. _We know, father_.

"...but you _aren't_ going to war, are you?" Luke asked hopefully, and Obi-Wan groaned, his fingers rubbing his temple.

"Not you too, boy..."

"You said you needed a _consult_!" Luke pleaded. "That isn't battle, that's talking! And we haven't seen you in so long, please, don't send us away yet!"

"Please..." Leia whispered beside him, and Obi-Wan turned away, a deep growl in his chest as he began to pace.

"... _fine_ ," the Sith growled, the children repressing cries of excitement as they clung together. "But you are going home as soon as we are done!" Rolling his eyes and ignoring them as they carried on, Obi-Wan fished through his pocket for his comlink. "I'm calling your parents to let them know I have you, since I assumed you _lied_ to them as well..." The children muttered sheepishly for a moment before they returned to their excited chatter with each other, and Obi-Wan looked at the comlink and frowned, flipping through his missed messages and stopping on one in particular, his chest tightening as he looked at it. Sensing his sudden apprehension, the Force sensitives stopped what they were doing and looked at him, waiting for the man to make a move, but he never did.

"Obi-Wan," Ahsoka said gently, her hand on his shoulder, and the Sith tensed, drawn back into the moment and smiling gently at the Togruta. "What is it?"

Kenobi held his comlink out to her. "A missed message. From Minister Maketh Tua."

" _Minister Tua_?!" Ezra gasped, staring at the comlink in the Sith's hand. "Don't answer it, it's a trap!"

"I agree..." Zeb growled, baring his sharp teeth. "That woman's no good. I bet she's scrambling to find us since we humiliated Tarkin by blowing up his boat!"

"I fear you are correct..." Obi-Wan said absently, staring at the comlink in his hand before he looked up, a faint smile on his lips. "It wouldn't hurt to at least look at the message." Before anyone had a chance to object, he laid the small disc of his holoprojector on the ground, the little beam of blue light flickering on as it picked up the transmission from the comlink, and the small image of Lothal's Minister appeared before them. For a moment, the woman's eyes widened and she stood still, and with a small, pitiful whimper, she buried her face in her hands and began sobbing, the Spectres looking at each other uncomfortably.

"I suppose it was too much to hope for..." the Minister whispered, wiping her arm across her eyes, finding her last bit of courage as she stood up straight, but it quickly failed her when her shoulders shook with renewed sobs. "Oh, Ben...I-I suppose you're dead, but in case this is just some t-terrible nightmare, I-" She stopped, her breath hitching as she began to hyperventilate. "Tarkin's here, Ben, and he's _furious_! He's blaming me for what happened, and...a-and..." She took a deep breath and leaned in closer, her tear-filled eyes wide and terrified. "He brought _Vader_ with him, Ben!"

Immediately, Obi-Wan and the twins tensed, and for just the briefest moment, Kanan could feel them in the Force, the Gemini tied so closely together they were almost as one, their presence small and afraid, the smallest thread in the wind, as if the Force itself suddenly reached out to hold them, safe and hidden in its grasp. The Sith Lord, on the other hand, became _fierce_ , the beast awakened and surrounding the twins protectively, a snarling, hissing creature that warned all near it to back away, a dragon safeguarding its treasure. Strangest of all, though, wasn't the Sith Lord, but _Ahsoka_ , her usually calm presence suddenly furious and _dark_ , a burning anger that rushed through her blood and made her look every bit the Sith Lord that Kenobi did.

"Vader?" Ezra asked. "Kanan, isn't that-"

" _Shh_!" Obi-Wan and Ahsoka hissed, their fists in the air to call for silence, and Ezra quickly shut his mouth.

"I-I don't know what else to do!" the Minister continued. "I-I've tried to find the rebels, I really have, but..." She closed her eyes and shook her head. "He's going to kill me, Ben. Tarkin's going to _kill me_! He's blaming me for all this and I...I-I..." She began crying again, not the sobs from before, but silent, hopeless tears, a faint smile on her lips as she looked up. "Please, Ben. If by some miracle you're still alive, I...I need help. You once told me that if I felt my life was in danger, you'd come save me. I don't know where else to turn, Ben, _please_...help me." The image froze as the transmission ended, then flicked off, and the group was silent as they stared at the place where the projected minister stood a moment ago.

"Still think it's a trap?" Kanan asked, looking out of the corner of his eye at Zeb, and the Lasat scratched the back of his neck.

"I don't know, Kanan...there isn't a low the Imps won't stoop to. They could be using her to bring us back, or maybe she's in on it too, maybe _this_ is how she plans on catching us."

"She's genuine..." Obi-Wan said softly, his fingers running over the comlink. "And her life is certainly in danger. The question now is what she will do when she is faced with her rebels..."

"Wait, _what_?!" Ezra cried when the Sith Lord started entering a number into his comlink. "You aren't going to contact her, are you?! Kenobi, you'll lead her right to us!"

"Right to the _rebel base_ ," Hera said firmly. "You can't, not here!"

"Then _where_ , Syndulla?" Obi-Wan hissed. "It may already be too late for her. She was...helpful to me, unwitting as it was, and I do not forget those that aid me. My help is owed to her." The com pinged, the light upon it flashing as it worked to establish a connection, and Hera quickly grabbed the Sith by the shoulder.

" _You can't_!" Hera said, more forcefully before and hitting him on his armored chest. "Just look at you, _Shadow King_! She's going to know _exactly_ what you are!"

" _Relax_..." Obi-Wan said, gently pushing the woman out of the way. "It's a one way encrypted transmission, she won't be able to see us." A burst of static announced the established connection, and there was a brief stuttering on the other end, the woman unable to find her tongue or her words.

"Maketh?" Obi-Wan asked, sighing when he heard the woman gasp. "Oh, Maketh, thank goodness, I'm not too late." There was choked sobbing on the other end, helpless and relieved and completely unrestrained, and Obi-Wan softly hushed her. "It's alright, my dear, you're going to be alright..."

"I was _so scared_!" Maketh said between sobs. "I thought you died with the _Sovereign_!"

"I didn't, it's alright...tell me everything that happened."

"I-I...h-he, Tarkin, I..." she rambled incoherently for a moment, the fear in her eyes real as she shook and paced and wrung her hands. "Tarkin left to Coruscant, he left me here, a-and..." She shook her head violently. "Where were you, Ben?! I-"

"I went with Tarkin back to Coruscant to Royal Imperial for reassignment," Obi-Wan calmly explained, the woman taking deep, shuddering breaths as she nodded frantically. "Alright? See? I'm alright."

"I-I can't see you..." the Minister whimpered. "Is your comlink broken, are you-"

"Just in transit, sweetie," the Sith said, looking at the Spectres pointedly. "When it's safe, I'll encrypt the connection."

"He's going to kill me!" Maketh said, frantic again. "Ben, _please_ , help me! You said you would, you said-"

"I will," Obi-Wan promised. "You need to tell me what you did, Maketh, your message said you were looking for the rebels. Have you found them?"

"No..." she whispered, her eyes cast down at the ground. "They aren't here, and nobody's telling me anything. I _tried_ , Ben, I really did. I tried to find them, and then Tarkin..." Her shoulders shook as she tried to calm herself. "Don't be mad..." she whispered.

"I won't," Obi-Wan said gently. "I promise."

"I-I tried to find them so they could save me, I thought..." she swallowed hard. "I thought if I provided them with classified Imperial information, they might be willing to help..." The Spectres looked at each other, shocked and suspicious. It felt like a trap, but the emotion was too real, the fear too genuine. This was a desperate woman at the end of her line that saw the Empire she served willing to take her life simply because _someone_ needed to be held accountable for so many failures. She was a nobody, but it was good enough.

"You want to defect?" Obi-Wan asked, a smirk on his lips as he looked at Ahsoka, the Togruta returning his smile and nodding.

"I want to _live_!" the Minister said frantically. "And there's no way I can do that in the Empire! Tarkin will kill me now, or I will be a fugitive and he will kill me later." She rubbed her hands across her face before she stared into the transmitter. "I want to live, Ben. _Please_. Help me."

"Stand by, Minister Tua," Obi-Wan said, activating the holotransmitter and smiling as he watched the emotions play across, the woman's face as she saw him, first relief, then joy, and then muted confusion as her eyes narrowed, examining him, and then widening in shock and resignation as her face paled, watching as Kenobi took his helmet from Leia when she offered it to him and tucked it under his arm.

"Ben..." she whispered breathlessly. "You're...t-the armor, and the...that's... _you're_ -"

"The one and only, Minister," the Sith said, a cocky tone in his voice that Maketh hadn't heard before out of her sweet, modest pilot, and her hands flew to cover her mouth.

"Oh stars, I went to bed with the Shadow King..."

"Stay where you are, Maketh," Obi-Wan said. "I'm coming for you." He cut the com and quickly pocketed the holoprojector. "Change of plans, Spectres, we've got a minister to save before we head out for that consult."

"This is _way_ too dangerous, Kenobi," Hera said as she quickly stepped forward. "We barely made it away from Lothal, and now you want to go back?" She scoffed and shook her head. "We _have_ a plan!"

"And sometimes plans change..." Obi-Wan muttered, punching in numbers into his comlink. "Gemini, I'm contacting your parents and telling them you're on the way home." The twins began groaning, and their protests were quickly ended when Obi-Wan raised his hand. "They will contact me the moment you are home, so don't get any ideas about detours, you little shits."

"What about the _consult_!" Leia cried desperately. "You said-"

" _Plans change_ ," Obi-Wan said through grit teeth, and he sighed when the girl looked away from him. "When we've saved the Minister, I'll call you and you will meet us on Dagobah, alright?"

"Can't we just go right there?" Leia asked, and Obi-Wan groaned and pocketed his comlink.

" _Fine_. But you are to contact me the moment you arrive!" His attention was diverted away from Leia's celebratory excitement when Luke laid a hand on his shoulder.

"I agree with Captain Syndulla," the boy said, his tone tense with worry. "The risk is too great, and you heard her. _Vader_ is there..."

" _Vader_..." Ahsoka growled, her hand clenching tightly to the lightsaber on her belt, the heavy green blade that once belonged to her Master. "If you're concerned, Spectres, don't go, but Obi-Wan and I are going. We have some long overdue business with a Sith Lord."

"You aren't going, Ahsoka..." Obi-Wan said, his hand stroking his beard as he thought, and he hardly noticed when the Togruta reeled on him, her blue eyes filled with fury.

"You will _not_ deny me this, Obi-Wan!" Ahsoka snapped. " _Years_ I have waited for this, and I finally have a chance to set my Master's soul to rest!"

Obi-Wan sighed. "Ahsoka..."

" _He killed Quinlan_!" the woman shouted, the Kiffar's lightsaber held tightly in her hand out toward the Sith Lord. "You weren't there, Obi-Wan, but I watched him _slaughter_ your best friend, and you won't let me be there when you face him?!"

"I'm not going there to face Vader, Ahsoka, I am going to save the life of a rebel ally!" Obi-Wan snapped, finally reeling on the woman as his temper flared. "She has valuable information that we can use, and I _promised_ to protect her! I cannot do both, I cannot save her _and_ fight Vader! What's more, I don't know what he can do now, it's been a long time since I've faced him."

"We can face him _together_!" Ahsoka snarled, and Kenobi laughed harshly.

"You want me to fight him while my attention is divided so I can protect _you_? Are you out of your mind?!"

"I didn't ask for your protection, _Lumis_ , I asked for a chance to avenge my Master!"

"And that is not a chance I am willing to take," Obi-Wan said evenly. " _No_. I will hear no more of this." With a cry of frustrated fury, Ahsoka began pacing, the lightsaber turning over in her hand as her fingers lovingly ran over each groove. "...Ahsoka." The Togruta stopped, her eyes narrow and angry upon the Sith Lord. "You will have your chance. I haven't forgotten what you meant to Quin. I wouldn't dream of denying you a piece of revenge."

"Which is why we should..." she began, trailing off when Obi-Wan's gaze fell to the floor. "Your vision, Vader was in your vision." The Sith Lord nodded. "Do you believe this is it?"

"I don't know..." he muttered. "But if it is, I will be no help to you, and I don't believe you can defeat him on your own. If he knows you're alive and with us, Ahsoka, he won't stop hunting you until you've been caught. You're one of his last mistakes, and he will stop at nothing to correct it. I will not allow Vader to rob the galaxy of Quinlan Vos _and_ the student he loved."

"Alright, are we talking about Ezra's vision?" Kanan asked. "Because if we are, _maybe_ we need to rethink helping the Minister."

"We _have_ to do this!" Ezra said. "I know she's and enemy, and she's an Imperial so she can't be trusted, and that this is probably a trap, but she needs our help, she was asking for it! We can't turn down a person in need." He shrugged. "And that information she has sounds like it can really help us."

"To say nothing of the fact that she is _mine_ , and nobody touches my things," Obi-Wan growled. " _Nobody_. Especially not Tarkin. I'm going to make _him_ account for his failures with the Emperor. Empire Day _is_ coming up, I need to start planning."

"We can't take the _Umbra_ , she's still being repaired," Hera said, sighing in resignation. "And it's going to be harder to get into Lothal than ever before. I'm reluctant to take the _Ghost_."

"We can find another way on, that won't be a problem," Obi-Wan said.

"And the Gemini are supposed to be ace pilots, right?" Ezra asked. "If they supported us-"

" _No_!" The answer was quick, final, and in perfect unison, all the prior boldness and brashness gone, and suddenly, the two Mandalorians looked _very_ small and very, very afraid. "The Shadow King told us to go home until he calls for us," Leia said meekly. "We have to obey." The two of them laid their hands on Obi-Wan's arm,, squeezing softly as they stood closer to each other.

"Be careful, Tevas," Luke said softly.

"We'll see you on Dagobah," Leia said in a voice that was not nearly as confident as she had hoped, and together, the twins walked out of the hangar, looking over their shoulder at their father as they left.

"We need to leave as well..." Obi-Wan said blankly, whistling for HK-45, and the droid quickly trotted over. "Time is short. We can plan the rescue on the trip there." He shrugged. "Really, it should just be in and out. Quick and easy."

"Sort of like how you bedded the Minister?" Kanan drawled, and Obi-Wan hit him on the shoulder.

"Just like that," Obi-Wan quickly agreed. "Come on. We've wasted enough time already."

"Obi-Wan," Ahsoka said softly as the Spectres and the Sith Lord started to leave. "I'll meet you on Dagobah, alright? I'll keep the Gemini safe. Don't keep us waiting."

"I won't..." Obi-Wan muttered, a small, grateful smile on his lips as he passed her.

"May the Force be with you, Obi-Wan."

"It always is..." the Sith Lord said quietly, and he couldn't help but feel the chill in the Force, the all too familiar cold that came only from a Lord of the Sith, and he wondered how the other Force Nexus had been faring after all these years. He didn't plan on meeting Vader there on Lothal, but somehow, Obi-Wan didn't think it could be avoided. They stood opposite in the Force, as they always had, the vergences drawn inexorably toward each other, fated to cross blades again and again, and this time was no different. Vader was waiting, and it was finally time to size up Skywalker and see what he had become.


	34. The Siege of Lothal

**AN:** **Alright kids, you have NO idea how much trouble this chapter gave me, but here it is. The beast is done. And SO LONG! Jeeze...**

 **I am officially on summer schedule, which means I don't have much time to write. Now, I have an awesome idea for the next chapter, so I'll start on that tomorrow, but I really need to update Blood of Mandalore for my peeps over there. So, expect a new chapter...eh? Sometime soonish? Hopefully by Thursday or something.**

 **Alright! Lots in this one, my lovelies! Like, LOTS. Enjoy it!**

 _Chapter 34: The Siege of Lothal_

"You know what's worse than walking into a trap?" Zeb said lazily, his face pressed against the side viewport of the shuttle to Lothal from nearby Garel, their destination rapidly growing larger as they drew near. "Walking into a trap that guarded by, oh, I don't know... _eight Star Destroyers_!"

"I confess that security has increased..." Obi-Wan said quietly, leaning against the central console from which the RX-Series pilot droid helmed the ship, Kenobi's HK standing behind it with its interface arm plugged into the RX's central processor, the assassin overriding the pilot's programming to take command of the ship.

"Oh, is _that_ what we call this?" Kanan asked as he adjusted the orange shoulder pauldron of his stormtrooper armor, an indication of the rank that the dazed, broken man in the corner held. "I think this goes far beyond an increase in security."

"Increased security does not mean increased competence..." Obi-Wan muttered, his hand lightly stroking the beard that he had only just grown back and refused to shave again, the Sith Lord insisting on foregoing armor and uniforms in favor of his fine black robes, a calculated decision to sacrifice defense for speed and mobility, given what he was certain to be facing. "What we need to worry about is the trap itself. I've never walked into one set by Vader before."

"And you know it was set by him?" Kanan asked, tucking the helmet under his arm and walking to stand beside the Sith at the front of the ship. Obi-Wan nodded, and Kanan sighed, his hands tightening on the edge of the console. "I don't like this, Obi-Wan..." the Jedi whispered, looking over his shoulder at Sabine, Zeb and Ezra, the three Spectres, the kids in the family that he and Hera had painstakingly created together, all of them feigning a carefree ease that fell short of hiding how uneasy they were. At least Hera was on standby with Phoenix Squadron, awaiting a signal to retreat or to reinforce them if needed. She wasn't in any less danger, but Kanan still felt safer with Hera in the air, the area of her expertise and mastery, her domain where she reigned supreme, where she outmatched everyone but a very select few.

"Nobody likes this, Kanan, least of all me," Obi-Wan said quiet enough for only the Jedi beside him to hear. "I don't like going into a situation where I am forced to play by someone else's rules and Tarkin and Vader..." He stopped, biting down on his lip as he considered exactly how much to tell the Jedi. "They've always been a very dangerous team. That's why we're sticking together. I don't want to have my eyes off you, I don't want a repeat of last time."

"I don't get it..." Kanan said, looking carefully over the Sith Lord. "You are unbelievably powerful, I've seen you do things that _nobody_ can do. That nobody _should_ be able to do. Can't you just kill this other Sith Lord?"

" _Just kill_ that other Sith Lord..." Obi-Wan spat in contempt. "There is no _just killing_ a Sith. You clearly do not understand what it means to be a Sith Lord."

"Obviously not..." Kanan scoffed. "I'm a Jedi, my Sith education was a bit lacking."

"Your _Jedi_ education was a bit lacking, Padawan..." Obi-Wan teased, and Kanan grumbled a few curses at him under his breath as he rolled his eyes. "There were thousands of Jedi in the twilight of the Republic. Thousands of Jedi Masters throughout the years after the fall of the Old Sith, but of _my_ kind...there were perhaps only thirty. Our numbers are few because a true Sith is _rare_ , powerful beyond measure and possessing a quality that very few can ever come to hope to possess. A Sith apprentice, a _true_ one, should be a match for a Jedi Master. It is not something to be taken lightly by anyone." He chuckled softly, his eyes closed as he reached into the Force and found it running cold, colder and colder the closer they drew to Lothal. "Even a Sith Master must beware their apprentice, because one day, they will succeed in killing them. That is the way of the Sith."

"Maybe it's not such a good idea to be here..." Kanan said cautiously, and Obi-Wan shook his head.

"No, this is important..." Kenobi drawled, his hand running lazily over the console as he looked out the viewport at the Star Destroyers, so many it could technically be considered a siege of the planet. "Not just for the Minister and her information, but I need to size Vader up, and this is the first chance I've gotten to do that."

"Why?" Kanan asked. "Been too busy?"

"Among other things, and that's the problem..." Obi-Wan whispered. "Sixteen years, I have been running to avoid detection, causing problems while I could, helping to establish a viable rebellion, searching countless systems for potential bases and allies..."

"Raising two children?" Kanan cautiously offered, and slowly, the Sith's eyes drifted over to stare at the Jedi, glowing fiercely, more dangerously than he had ever seen them before, and he watched as gold gave way to searing, bleeding red, staining his irises in jagged spikes that made him look feral, predatory and terribly dangerous. The Force, cold before and deadly calm, suddenly turned razor sharp and painful, like the waters had snapped frozen and shattered into long, sharp knives of ice, all cutting into him, all piercing through him, all poised and ready to strike above his vitals, and Kanan dare not move, lest the cold trap slam shut. That was where Obi-Wan Kenobi drew the line, the point where friendships and comradery meant nothing at all. Slowly, the Sith averted his gaze, the blades of ice melting in an instant, and Kanan could breathe freely again, though he could see the jagged red ring still present in Obi-Wan's eyes.

"Raising two _apprentices_ ," Obi-Wan quietly corrected, the tenderness in his voice clearly suggesting otherwise, and Kanan felt that somehow, he had been admitted past the line, if only at the edge. "A difficult thing requiring a great deal of secrecy, especially with the likes of Thrawn after me. He can _never_ know."

"Does he?"

"...I'm uncertain," Obi-Wan said uneasily. "I don't see how he could, but he's surprised me before." He growled and shook his head. "No, no, the point now is _Vader_. The point is that I have been busy, _very_ busy, and Vader has had over fifteen years of hard, intensive training under Darth Sidious. Fifteen years of everything he does being for the Dark Side, fifteen years under a Master that not only wants me back in his grasp, but knows my strengths, my weaknesses, how I fight, the way I use the Force, the effect I have upon it, how I move it, how _it_ moves around me. Vader should, by all rights, be an expert in _me_ , and I know next to nothing about him."

"And you _want_ go meet a creature like that?" Kanan asked, his jaw slack in disbelief. "Like, this is the plan?"

"How else will I learn about my enemy?" Obi-Wan asked. "Vader was in Ezra's vision. I need to know him if I am to have a chance to avoid that fate..." Obi-Wan shook his head. "No, this opportunity is too good to pass up."

"...but you _can_ kill him, right?" Kanan prodded, and Kenobi rolled his eyes.

" _Yes_ , if that will please you. Yes, it is _very_ likely that I can kill him. I defeated him before, and I left him crippled when I did. I don't know if it is possible to recover from what I did to him." Obi-Wan ran his hand through his hair, ruffling the immaculately styled locks and holding his breath as the RX droid transmitted the clearance codes necessary to pass by the blockade. "But it may be...perhaps Sidious found a way around it. Perhaps Vader worked and overcame his deficiencies." He sighed and looked at the Jedi when the clearance codes came through, and the shuttle sped past the Star Destroyers and toward Lothal. "The _other_ problem I find myself facing is that Sidious is watching me in a very real, very literal sense. I can... _feel him_..."

Obi-Wan said, closing his eyes and rubbing his temples. "Not always, but when I reach too deeply into the Force, I feel him watching, I _see_ his eyes upon me."

"You're worried about drawing the Emperor right to you..." Kanan whispered, and Obi-Wan nodded. "You're hidden now, but if you use your full strength-"

"I may very well cause the vision Ezra saw to become a reality," Obi-Wan finished. "He finds me somehow, and until I know how he does it, it's dangerous to reach too deep." He groaned and buried his face in his hands. "More then that, killing Vader will _absolutely_ set Sidious after me. There will be no stopping him if I rob him of his pet. For now, I need Vader alive, at least until this vision has...resolved itself..."

"I think we really need this consult..." Kanan said, his voice tight with worry, and Obi-Wan slowly nodded.

"We do, but this opportunity is too good to pass up. We don't have a choice."

"I think Vader might be here until he gets what he wants..." the Jedi said, and Obi-Wan looked at him out of the corner of his eye, a hand on his lightsaber.

"Maketh won't be..." the Sith whispered. "Though I did not seduce her, I still used her, and she has been invaluable to us, though she never knew it. I owe her a debt. I know you all expect this to be a trap, and it almost certainly is, but she has no part in this. Maketh is a simple woman in way over her head, and she knows it. She just wants to live."

"You know..." Kanan drawled lazily, leaning back and crossing his arms. "You're pretty honorable for a Sith Lord."

"You're pretty slutty for a Jedi," Kenobi countered, and Kanan just shrugged.

"Can't argue with that..." Kanan said in a low, husky voice, winking seductively at Obi-Wan. "And it's just for you, babe..."

"Oh, _Jedi_ , you better bend over the console so I can-"

"Shadow King?" Sabine asked in a tight, excited voice, and Kenobi turned his attention away from the flirtatious Jedi and to the Mandalorian as she approached them. "We're going to be there soon. Can we go over the plan once again?"

"Gladly," the Sith said with a gentle smile, a hand on her shoulder as he passed her to walk toward the waiting Spectres. Besides the two Jedi, Kanan dressed as a stormtrooper commander and Ezra as a cadet, nobody had disguised themselves. It was pointless for Zeb, who would have stood out even more had he tried to impersonate anything other than what he was, and Mandalorians were considered the staunchest of Imperial allies and were rarely questioned, in part because they were renowned for their ferocity and appropriately feared.

"Can't we disarm this trap before we walk into it?" Zeb growled, nervously handling his bo-rifle. "I don't like this, especially since it's to help an Imperial we clearly can't trust."

"We can trust her..." Obi-Wan muttered. "It's the Imperials around her that we can't trust, and _they_ are the ones setting this trap with her as bait. They absolutely know that someone is coming for her, since Vader's involved, and setting the trap off is an inevitability, I'm afraid."

"But we can make that work," Kanan said, his voice strong and commanding as he came to stand beside the Sith Lord. "Knowing that we are stepping into a trap gives us an advantage."

"Precisely," Obi-Wan agreed. "Often, allowing a trap to be sprung will teach you more about the person that set it than the person that set it off. Knowing what we know, we may have the opportunity to choose how and when this trap is tripped, and believe me, there is very little in this world more infuriating than being a hunter that discovers their hard-laid trap is tripped, empty and baitless."

"...and you _want_ t make this Vader mad?" Ezra asked cautiously, and Obi-Wan looked at the teen and grinned wolfishly.

"I really, _really_ do. Angry is good. Anger has a way of showing a person's true colors, and I have need of learning the manner of beast we are dealing with."

"Getting in should be easy," Kanan said softly, nudging the Sith Lord when he felt the man getting lost in malice and sinister delight with the hungry stirring of the Dark Side. "Kenobi will lead us to the Minister's home, and we'll regroup there if it's safe. The _problem_ will be in getting out. Increased security means the Imperials will be tightly managing any ship entering and leaving Lothal, and we're going to need to steal a ship. Which, fortunately for us, happens to be Kenobi's specialty."

"Zeb and Sabine," Obi-Wan said, pointing the hilt of his lightsaber at the Lasat and the Mandalorian. "You two will remain out of sight above the streets while Kanan, Ezra and I are in retrieving the Minister. I'll be leaving HK with you in case something happens. If _anything_ seems suspicious to you, anything at all, I want you to call Kanan's com. He and I should be able to feel the Dark Side move if there's something else swimming around us, but I want you to stay vigilant. You may not have the Force, but trust your instincts and you will not be led astray."

"Will do, Shadow King," Sabine said, smiling excitedly and gripping her helmet tightly in her hands. "And after that?"

"We play it by ear," Obi-Wan mumbled. "I don't suspect plans beyond that will go at all the way we want them to. We'll have to improvise, but _tentatively_...we go to ground and plan our next move. Ultimately, we steal a ship and get out of here. Keep in mind that in a pinch, we can utilize Phoenix Squadron to help, but I'd like it not to come to that."

" _Well_!" Kanan said proudly, his chest inflating. "That's why we have Hera! She-"

"She's very good, it's true..." Obi-Wan muttered, and Kanan fell silent when he felt the Sith Lord's apprehension. "But Vader is...let's just say that he is raw talent coupled with an unnaturally strong connection with the Force, and _all_ of it focused into flying."

"He's a _pilot_?!" Kanan asked, his jaw slack and eyes wide as he stared at the slowly nodding Sith. "...well, that would have been a _great_ thing to know before we did this!"

"He's perhaps one of the greatest pilots in the galaxy, if not _the_ best," the Sith Lord growled bitterly. "Always him, _always_ better than me, _Qui-Gon_..." For just a moment, Kanan could feel the smallest trickle of warmth, a gentle current in the icy waters that felt like comfort and quiet affection and home, and he could see the Sith shiver against it.

"That good, huh?" Kanan asked, laughing nervously and his heart jumping as the spaceport below came into sight. "You make him almost sound like a legend. Like a Saesee Tiin or an Anakin Skywalker."

"Yes, well, he's something like that..." Obi-Wan muttered, flipping his lightsaber in his hand and clipping it on to his belt.

"...Kenobi, we can't have Hera face off against something like that..." Kanan muttered gravely. "If this Vader is _that_ good-"

"Have some faith in your lover, Jarrus," Obi-Wan said, looking out the viewport as the RX under HK's control brought the ship not toward the main Imperial port, but to a smaller commercial port at the edge of Capital City. "Even without the Force, she is brilliant. I believe Vader will remain focused on me, but if not, Hera will make him work to bring her down."

"Well, it isn't going to come to that," Sabine said confidently. "You're going to kill him, right?" For a beat, there was silence, the Sith Lord still as he gazed out the viewport, the Jedi looking down toward the ground, and it was enough to make Sabine _very_ nervous. "... _right_?!"

"Vader will be assessed, analyzed and disabled, yes," Kenobi said swiftly, the Mandalorian's frantic tone jolting him back to the present, briefly smiling reassuringly at Sabine before he turned his attention to the Jedi beside him. "Kanan, are you versed in Jedi mental manipulation?"

"The mind trick?" He drew up slightly, considering how to answer the question that would have been simple had anyone other than the kriffing Negotiator asked it. "Y-yeah, I can do it. Not like you, but...yeah. I'm not bad."

"Would you care for a lesson on the subject?" Obi-Wan asked, a cocky smirk on his face as the transport touched down. "As it so happens, I'm something of an expert on the subject."

"I-I want a lesson!" Ezra said, sliding his helmet on as Kanan did so as well, and the Sith chuckled softly as he stood beside the door, the cabin depressurizing as the airlock began to unseal.

"Most people, apprentice, are weak willed. They _want_ to be told what to do. Understand this, speak with the conviction that the Force has given you the right to by birth, and the fools of this galaxy will do _anything_ you say..." The door hissed open, allowing two armed stormtroopers serving as port guards to step on to the ship, and Kenobi put his hands in the air, a smirk on his lips as they quickly saluted to Kanan and Ezra. No sooner had they finished greeting their fellow stormtroopers, they raised their weapons, catching sight of the unconscious man slumped in the corner.

"All of you, on your knees!" one of the troopers commanded, and slowly, the group raised their hands in the air, Ezra and Kanan watching the Sith Lord carefully as his fingers slowly wiggled.

"Nothing to be alarmed about," Obi-Wan said in an even, emotionless voice. "Our friend back there works in the mines, and he had a _very_ long night." He leaned in slightly, a smirk on his face when he watched both troopers waver where they stood, their weapon's dropping to their side, Ezra behind him softly gasping his excitement to Kanan. "Now, he's still _very_ drunk, and he's going to need some help getting to work. His supervisor's pretty lenient on this sort of thing. Alright?"

"There's nothing here to be alarmed about," the commander said, pointing to the man in the back. "We need to help him."

"Statement: we should kill them, Master," HK said as it pulled away from the RX unit, the deactivated pilot droid falling on to the console without the support of the assassin.

"And have the Imperials on high alert when they find out a patrol is missing?" Obi-Wan said as he watched the stormtroopers pick up the unconscious man and begin to walk him out. "No thank you."

"Aren't the Imperials already on high alert? Zeb asked.

"They are..." Obi-Wan smoothly said. "So just think of how scary it will be when they're on high alert _and_ paranoid."

"Report: Master, a development you should be aware of. On our approach, the shuttle was scanned."

"Of course it was scanned, you mechanical idiot..." Obi-Wan said as he rolled his eyes.

"Correction: Master, the scan was abnormal. The Star Destroyers were not scanning for the usual pickup, they were altered to scan for magnetic signature."

" _That's_ how Tarkin is doing it..." Obi-Wan hissed. "Oh, that clever asshole, I knew he had something up his sleeve. Keep a record of the scan, I'm going to have K2 reverse engineer it and apply a countermeasure to the _Umbra_."

"Excitement: Master, you are a genius! We should celebrate your good fortune with _murder_!"

"One thing at a time, my psychopathic automata. Business before pleasure." When the stormtroopers had left, Obi-Wan indicated with his hand for the others to follow. "Come. Time to be heroes to a frightened young woman and villains to many, _many_ Imperials."

* * *

As predicted, getting to the Minister's apartment was an easy task, one made even easier by Kanan's liberal use of misdirection on the few patrols that looked their way. It was still early, the miners in droves in the streets as they headed to the mines, the factory workers and assemblymen all heading to the production lines, the merchants opening shop for the morning, and the crowed made it very easy to disappear. By the time they stood outside the Minister's door, it was still before the government officials met at a more reasonable hour, but if Maketh was inside, she wasn't answering the call button or their knocking.

However, doors never held Obi-Wan from anything, and with a wave of his hand, the door shuttered against the forceful intrusion before it hissed open, the locks and mechanisms releasing as the hydraulic systems failed. The room inside was dark, all the lights shut off and the curtains drawn, the small space devoid of anything more than minimal possessions. It was a sparse existence, and just from peeking inside, Kanan and Ezra both felt a twinge of pity for this woman who had been their enemy.

"Ezra," Kanan said, a hand on the boy's shoulder. "You keep watch out here, alright? We don't want to scare her away."

"If she's even here..." the teen muttered, looking at the Sith Lord when he breathed deeply, his eyes closed in focus.

"She's here..." Obi-Wan whispered, venturing into the room without another word, and with a shrug, Kanan followed, waving his hand in the air to close the door behind him. It only took a moment to find Minister Tua, her soft, muffled sobs echoing from the bathroom where she had closed herself in, and Kanan removed the stormtrooper helmet, smoothing his hair back as he watched Obi-Wan lay his hand on the door.

"Maketh..." he whispered, his voice smooth and even, the accent crisp and inviting, a tone that reminded Kanan of himself when he would charm his way into a new girl's bed every night he wasn't drunk on a tavern floor, back before Hera when he was young and selfish and _fake_. "Maketh, I know you're in there. You're safe now, I won't let anything harm you."

Save for the occasional sob, muffled for silence but failed to truly repress, a stillness fell over the room, Kanan hardly daring to breathe lest he shatter the pieces of the Minister's broken trust. Slowly, the door creaked open, just enough to see the woman's eye, puffy and red from crying and wide with fear for a long moment, they were still, the Sith Lord waiting as the woman eyed him, taking in the image of the man she knew intimately and not at all. With a quick sniffle, the woman broke, relief and fear and hope and desperation rolling off her like waves, and she threw the door open and flung herself at Obi-Wan, her shaking arms wrapping tightly around his body and crying freely when she felt him envelop her.

"Ben..." the Minister whimpered, her hand on his chest and pushing back, allowing herself the space to lean back and look into the face of the Sith. "S-shadow King..."

"Yes."

Maketh laughed nervously as she collapsed against the man once again. "I-I think we need to take a break..." she muttered, her hands balling into the folds of his robe. "Our relationship is a bit of a mess, and I don't even know _who_ you are. Or what you actually do. Or your name..."

"All things we will worry about the moment you are safe, Minister," Kenobi said firmly, allowing the woman to slip out of his arms. "Though your demand for a break is...quite reasonable." He gently nudged her toward Kanan, the woman stiffening the moment she saw the white armor he wore. "Minister, this is Kanan Jarrus, rebel Jedi. He's going to help me get you out of here."

"Y-you brought the rebels?" she gasped, her eyes wide as she looked at the Jedi, the source of all her troubles. "You work with the rebels?"

"I do, and they've all come to help you, so we need to move quickly..." Obi-Wan said as he pulled back the curtains, squinting against the morning sun that poured into the room, and quickly answering his comlink when it pinged.

"We've got a problem..." Sabine hissed on the other end. "Agent Kallus is on the way, he's backed up by a compliment of stormtroopers. It looks like they're headed right toward you."

"Oh, that's _exactly_ what we needed..." Obi-Wan growled. "I was hoping for more time to plan the next move. Damn it, by now, the port is going to be swarmed, there's no way we're getting out the way we came. _Ezra_!" The door hissed open and the summoned boy rushed in, quickly removing his helmet when the Minister shrank away, the shaking woman melting against the Sith Lord as if trying to disappear in the black of his robes.

"Don't worry, Minister," Ezra said soothingly. "We're going to get you out of this.

"In a moment, this city is going to be crawling with Imperials, we need a place to lay low while we regroup and come up with a plan, if we can-"

"Right, that's not the problem," Sabine interrupted. Zeb has a shot at Kallus and he's taking it." With a groan, Obi-Wan smacked his forehead with his open palm.

"Well _stop him_ , Sabine, you are Mandalorian, take command of the-"

"He riled up the HK unit, Kenobi, they're like... _murder buddies_. They just jumped off the roof."

"I need a drink, this job was _obviously_ not meant for sober people..." Obi-Wan growled, pushing the Minister against Kanan. "This is _exactly_ what I didn't want to have happen, Sabine, I didn't want to split up and now we _have_ to..." He began pacing, his hands sliding into his hair as he thought, his eyes fixed on Kanan and Ezra. "Then again, this may work to our advantage. Sabine, keep on them, support them from your position, I'll be there shortly. Kanan." He pocketed the com as he stopped, looking over the Jedi and his charge as he thought. "Protect the Minister at all costs. Looks like Kallus was on the way to fetch her, so having her in your possession may not attract that much attention. Ezra, you know the city. Lead them to safety. I'll contact you when we're in the clear so you can give us your location."

"You got it, boss!" the teen said as he saluted, gesturing quickly for them to follow her, and when Kanan nudged the Minister, she didn't move, her feet firmly planted as she reached out to grab Obi-Wan's arm.

"Ben..." she said softly, stopping herself and shaking her head before she looked back at him again. "Shadow King, whoever you actually are..."

"Obi-Wan," he whispered, carefully taking her hand in his, a small smile on his lips as the woman's eyes widened with recognition. "But that's neither here nor there."

"Obi-Wan?" she squeaked. "As in, Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Separatist leader, the _Negotiator_?!" He nodded solemnly, and Maketh covered her mouth with her hands to hide her expression, but her presence in the Force pulsed with excitement. "I-I studied your negotiation tactics at the Academy, your speech to the Senate denouncing the Jedi was _brilliant_!"

"W-wait, the _Empire_ studies me?!" She ignored him, stepping closer to the man and peering up into his eyes.

"You're supposed to be dead, they said you were dead. I watched the execution on the holonet news..." She gently touched his cheek, her fingers delicately running across his neatly trimmed beard. "How are you so young..."

"A healthy diet and lots and _lots_ of sex," Obi-Wan said as he gently pushed the girl back to Kanan. "It doesn't hurt that I'm extremely difficult to kill." He quickly leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Go now, sweet thing. We can discuss this when you're safe."

"Come on, Minister," Kanan said, a hand on her lower back, and this time, she allowed herself to be guided out of the room, the Jedi giving the Sith a thumbs up before he put his helmet back on and followed her out. With a deep breath, Obi-Wan calmed himself, felt the pull and tug of the Force, and jumped out the window, the wind rushing in his ears as he fell, and he landed easily in the streets below, quickly darting out from the back ally and into the streets, now almost vacant save for a few straggling Ithorians who lumbered by as quickly as they were able. Following the sounds of blaster fire and screaming, Obi-Wan ran down the vacant streets, cutting corners close and bounding over dead stormtroopers that littered the ground.

It didn't take long to find his renegade rebels, Sabine and HK-45 shooting down stormtroopers as they ran to reenforce the ISB agent who was locked in combat with the furious Lasat, both of them wielding the bo-rifles belonging to Zeb's extinct people, and Obi-Wan didn't need to know the history of the unique weapon to know that Agent Kallus had no business holding one in his hands. The Mandalorian and the droid were not interfering, which meant this fight was a highly personal one, and Obi-Wan kept a respectful distance, eyeing the two as Kallus deftly evaded the bigger, stronger creature. For all Zeb's strength and skill, the match was an even one, Kallus clearly familiar with the unusual weapon, the agent in possession of the advantage since he was calm and controlled while his opponent was wild and furious. Zeb would need help. But not yet. First, Obi-Wan needed to take back his possessions.

Slowing to an easy walk, he approached his maniacally laughing droid from behind, the HK shooting down both sides of the boulevard at the stormtroopers and Imperials as they turned the corner to reenforce Kallus. Rapping his knuckles on the back of the droid's head, the HK quickly spun around, the blaster in its hands primed and ready to shoot, and Kenobi tore it out of the iron grasp with the Force, his hand on its shoulder quickly spinning the mechanical around and quickly kicking its legs out. The droid fell against the Sith Lord's chest, a strong hand on the metal chest to hold it in place.

"Surprise: Master! Have you come to help us slaughter these meatbags? The Lasat is currently winning. He is a skilled murderer, Master, but I am not far behind! I'll catch up, you'll see!"

"Oh, HK-45, there's a _good reason_ I like K2 better than you, and it's not just because he's the _Umbra's_ boyfriend..." Obi-Wan drawled, his fingers scraping along the top of the droid's head. "What were my explicit instructions, HK?"

"Answer: Master, you said-"

"Don't kill the Imperials," Obi-Wan said sharply, punctuating each word with a swift tap to the droid's head. "We don't want them _excited_ , and _what are they, HK_!"

"...response: excited, Master."

"Excited!" The Sith cried, throwing up his hands and stepping away from HK, and with its support removed, the droid dropped to the ground with a metallic thud. "You know how hard it's going to be to get out of here now!"

"Soothing: now, now, Master..." the droid cooed, standing up and laying its hands on the Sith's shoulders. "We can just murder them all!" Obi-Wan rolled his eyes and paced away from the droid, a frustrated growl deep in his chest, and reeled on the mechanical to lecture the stubborn thing when a missile shot down the alleyway and struck the droid, exploding on impact. The searing shockwave threw Obi-Wan backwards and burned his forearms through his sleeves when he crossed his arms out in front of him to defend against the blast. With a groan, Obi-Wan got up from where he fell, his lightsaber in hand as he heard the Mandalorian on the roof shooting at their assailants, and with a swift shout, Sabine jumped off the roof and sprinted toward him just as the air was filled with high pitched shriek of a TIE fighter.

Obi-Wan sprinted toward where the droid fell in a crumpled heap among the rubble of a building it struck, the blood red armored body covered in dust and scratches and dents, the yellow light of its visual receptor flickering and blinking as its circuits shorted, its left arm torn off completely and laying on the other side of the street, the torn joint sparking and leaking oil and hydraulic fluid. Reaching out, Obi-Wan called the arm to him and used the Force to throw back the rubble laying atop his droid, lifting his hand to rise the HK in the air and lay it on the ground before where he knelt, his hands running over the armor and assessing the damage. He hardly heard Sabine run up through the furious roar of the Dark Side, and with his hand on the droid's head as it struggled in jerking, twitching motions to rise, he looked over his shoulder at the TIE fighter screeching toward them.

"Rest, HK..." Obi-Wan whispered to the droid. "I can repair you. I _will_ repair you when this is over, _I swear it_."

"Kenobi!" Sabine shouted, rushing up to stand beside him, her pistols in hand and aiming down the empty streets. "We have to get out of here!"

"Agreed..." Obi-Wan snarled as he stood, his balled fists by his sided crackling with blue electricity. "Right after I murder this TIE fighter. Contact Kanan, get his location. Secure our route, Sabine, go." She quickly looked over at Zeb and Kallus, the sparking yellow electricity at the ends of the ISB agent's bo-rifle sparking as he jammed the point into Zeb's side, a savage, pained, furious roar shaking the air as the Lasat reeled on his opponent, striking up, down, hard and fast, and Kallus avoiding it all.

"We need to help him!" Sabine shouted, and furious gold eyes fell on her, making her stop in her tracks.

" _I_ will help him as soon as I bring that TIE down! _Secure our route_!" Nodding quickly, Sabine ran down the street, and Obi-Wan stood with his fists clenched, staring down the TIE as it swooped down low, its green plasma bolts firing and hitting the street with explosive force, sending dirt and cobblestone showering into the air. The moment it was close enough, as soon as the rapid fire drew close enough for sand to fall upon his robes, the Sith Lord extended his hand and threw the full force of his rage at the TIE fighter, the lightning dancing around his hand flying from his fingertips like a torrent, the spreading arch striking the fighter and the high whine became a low moan as the engines fried. The ship spiraled out of control as it fell, shooting toward a building and colliding with it, the entire structure coming down in a blazing explosion.

Another sharp roar of pain drew Obi-Wan's attention back to Zeb and Kallus, the Lasat dropping his bo-rifle and falling to his knees before the victorious agent, his weapon poised above his head to deal the killing strike. The Sith reached out and grabbed the weapon with the Force and tore it out of the agent's hands, the bo-rifle flying to his grasp, and with a push, Kallus was thrown backwards against the nearby building. Grasping the weapon tightly as the streak of more incoming TIEs approached, the Sith sprinted to the fallen Lasat, his hand on his chest as he violently shook the groaning man, his teeth grit as the Dark Side coiled and hissed in warning against the sudden cold snap in the air.

"Get up, Zeb, I need help..." Obi-Wan muttered, his eyes darting up to the sky, down to his fallen droid, and back to the Lasat. "Zeb, _please_! I've made a mistake, I'm being watched _right now_. Vader's coming and I can't... _I can't_ lose any of you, I can't..." With a deep groan, the Lasat reached out and grabbed hold of his weapon, his sharp teeth grit and bared as Kenobi slowly helped him to his feet.

"I'm up, I'm up..." he growled, rubbing his head and wincing as he took unsteady steps with Kenobi's help. "Where's Kanan and the kid?"

"With the Minister, Sabine went to contact him for their location," Obi-Wan said, his voice straining under the weight of the much bigger man. "What were you thinking?" he hissed at the limping Lasat. "Stay hidden, report in, not...fly off the handle and attack the kriffing ISB agent that's been tailing you!"

"Is he dead..." Zeb growled dangerously, hissing as he was thrown to the ground, the Sith igniting his sabers and standing over him as two TIE fighters swooped in with forward cannons blazing, the barrage of green fire flying toward the pair and striking before them and behind them, the sabers swinging to knock back the bolts that came too close. When they flew past, racing upwards to flip around for another attack run, Obi-Wan picked up the Lasat and rushed him toward the ruined building where HK-45 lay.

"I don't think he's dead, no, and I'm willing to bet that _you_ want to finish the job, so, you know..." He let go of Zeb when they reached the droid, and Obi-Wan picked up the torn arm and pointed it at the Lasat. "You're welcome. But we aren't going to get that chance if we don't leave _now_." He turned back around, his sabers tearing through the air as he struck back the barrage of green energy fired by the TIEs on their second pass, and the Mandalorian ran up to them as soon as they had flown by.

"Kanan and Ezra are safe with the Minister, and I found a route to their location that should take us out of the way of..." She indicated toward the TIEs in the sky and the bodies and smoking rubble on the ground with her pistol. "Out of the way of this whole mess."

"Well done..." Kenobi muttered, his eyes closed as he felt the Force, a raging storm roaring around him, and through the wind and the rain and the crashing of the waves, he could hear the chilling cackle of Sidious. Vader was near, and the Master was watching his apprentice and his wayward student, and Obi-Wan nearly retched. He felt like an _experiment_ , part of the sick game the Sith Master was playing, a pawn in his plans, as he had always been. He felt... _trapped_ , saw the vision in his mind, his consciousness wrecked while his body served Sidious. He could almost feel his grip upon his heart, the Emperor's cold fingers slowly closing upon him.

"Zeb," Obi-Wan said swiftly, shaking his head to clear the vision in his mind and the sinister laughter in his ears. "Can you carry HK? I...can't leave him."

"What's this?" the Lasat asked as he hoisted the battered body up. "What happened to _it_ , Kenobi, is the droid a him now? Is the infamous Separatist commander _caring_ for his droid?"

"This Separatist commander is about to care a whole lot less about you, you big stupid cat..." Kenobi muttered with a roll of his eyes. "Not only is that droid expensive, he's basically an antique! Of course I care, he's a _relic_!" A smug smirk from the Lasat made the Sith avert his eyes and curse at him under his breath. "Just keep moving, fool...where are we going, Sabine"

"Oh, you're _really_ going to like this..." Sabine drawled, jogging ahead with the two men on her heels, the girl ducking into a narrow alleyway and disappearing from view, the TIEs overhead passing through the air as they searched for the rebels, but saw nothing in the narrow, winding streets.

* * *

"You're right..." Obi-Wan said as he looked around the large, dark room, the massive painting on the far wall of the Senate building a testament to Lothal's progress. "I _do_ like this."

"It's an important landmark to the people," Minister Tua quietly explained, the woman nervously wringing her hands as she watched the rebels go about their business. Ezra was with Zeb, tending to his injuries the best he could, Sabine sat with HK-45 on a table before her, her deft hands working to repair the droid so it could at least walk on its own. Kanan was pacing before a holoprojection of the city, his hand stroking the hair on his chin as he studied the maps, which left Obi-Wan free to admire the artwork.

"Do you suppose Thrawn has seen this?" the Sith Lord asked, drawing closer to the massive painting examining it closely. " _New Freedom_...I wonder what he'd have to say about this, what he could glean from it. I heard from a..." He thought for a moment, tilting his head from side to side before he smiled at the Minister. "From a _very_ reliable source that he is something of an art nut. That he sees things in artwork that nobody else can see. Is that true?"

"I-I wouldn't know..." Maketh whispered. "I'm not sure he's been to Lothal, and if he had, I haven't heard about it."

"Really..." the Sith drawled, casting his gaze on the woman, and she shivered at the intensity made worse by the bright glow. "I would have thought he'd be here at least once. Was he not assigned to deal with me and the rebels?"

"I don't know about you, but Admiral Konstantine and Agent Kallus were assigned to the rebels." She shifted her weight from foot to foot and nervously glanced up at him when he growled softly and returned his gaze to the painting. "I-if you _are_ Obi-Wan Kenobi," she ventured timidly, "then you use the Force, you used to be a Jedi. Maybe the Inquisitors are assigned to you, or Lord Vader."

" _Very_ perceptive, my dear," Obi-Wan said quietly, raising his hands to peer through the square he made with his fingers at the image of two people on the upper left side of the painting, a father holding a bundle of wheat over his shoulder, his hand on the shoulder of his child, the boy pointing forward to the future. "I do not believe they would send an Inquisitor after me, but you have the right of it with Vader."

"...so what are you going to do?" she asked, and the Sith tore himself away from his examinations and began a slow walk toward Kanan.

"We're going to lay low, let them look for us, see if the security level comes down a bit."

"And what if they search _here_?" Maketh squeaked, and Obi-Wan waved his hand in front of her face, her eyes wide and nervous and her breath catching in her throat.

"They will not come looking for us."

"They will not come looking for us..." the Minister mindlessly repeated, staring blankly at the Sith Lord for a moment before she shook her head, released from the light brush upon her mind, the man smirking when the light came back to her eyes, looking at him with confusion before she gasped, her fingers coming to her temples as she stared at him in awe.

"I can convince almost anyone of anything. Between Kanan and I, we can easily turn away a search party." He shrugged and continued walking toward the Jedi. "Unless, of course, Vader is in the search party, in which case we're in for a shit storm. Kanan! How's progress?"

"Not bad, actually," Kanan said with a cocky smirk, his finger running over the hologram and highlighting a winding path between two points. "This here," he said, pointing to a point on the map, "is our current location. That point over there is the Imperial Headquarters, which includes their spaceport, and this," he said, dragging his finger over the twisting line, "is the sewer network beneath the city, which, as it so happens, connects this building with the complex. We have a way in."

"Oh, Kanan, you're an absolute dream..." Kenobi drawled, running his hand down the white armor on the Jedi's chest. "It's a real turn on, you keep this up and I'm not going to be able to contain myself..."

"Save it for later, lover, the kids are around..." Kanan whispered, a sly smirk on his face. "We could leave at any time, when do you want to go?"

"Let's give the kids a little time to regroup, they aren't doing great," Obi-Wan said, looking out across the room at the others. "It's quite a lot of trouble we're going through for you, Minister, this information you have better be good." He looked back at the woman, her eyes cast at the ground. "Did you know you were bait? The Empire certainly knew you would try to defect, but did _you_ know they did?" The shock on the woman's face said it all, and Obi-Wan sighed and shook his head. "Never mind...it doesn't matter anyway, we've come too far to change our course, and I'm a bit too proud to lose my bait now that I have it."

"Hey, ease up a little, Kenobi..." Kanan said, laying his hand on the woman's shaking shoulder. "She's had a rough go of it."

"I suppose..." He waved in the air for them to follow as he turned and walked back toward the painting. "I think we can improve this work of art and send a message at the same time. Would you care to help me?"

"...you're going to deface a painting?" Kanan said in a flat tone, but he followed anyway, the Minister clinging to his arm. "It's sort of a famous thing, Kenobi, the people of Lothal treasure it for some reason."

"All the more reason to improve it!" the Sith Lord cried. "I see _such_ potential!" Obi-Wan paced before the painting, examining it once again. "...well then? Go on, Kanan, see if you can find some paints."

"I am _not_ your errand boy, Kenobi..." Kanan growled as he left to do as he was told, the Minister watching the Jedi leave before she looked back at the imposing man as he studied the painting.

"Did you..." Maketh ventured quietly when the silence became too much for her. "Did you...m-make him do that?"

"W-what?" Obi-Wan said, looking back at her quickly, his eyes narrowed in confusion for a moment before he understood and returned his attention to the painting. "Oh, the mind control thing, no. It's not something I always use. Often it's not something I _have_ to use."

"Did you use it on me?" Obi-Wan turned to face her this time, the woman standing with her arms grasped tightly around her and her eyes cast at the ground. He didn't need the Force to know what she was thinking, but he looked anyway, a gentle brush of the Force within her mind causing the woman to shudder as she opened herself up to him, eager and willing in her fear and desperation. She was grasping for answers, for reasons why she had so easily fallen into bed with this man, how she could fail to recognize that he was a rebel, a murderer, the Shadow King that the entire galaxy feared. And how she could still so willingly follow him.

"I targeted you," he quietly explained, his hands running down her arms, "because we needed eyes within the Imperial command here on Lothal, and anything less than top security clearance wouldn't do. Now, at the higher levels like we needed, the military is terribly difficult to infiltrate, but _you_ , sweet thing, aren't military." He gently ran the back of his hand down the Minister's cheek, the woman closing her eyes and whimpering softly. "It made you ideal for our purposes, and when I finally managed to run into you, _well_..." He shrugged, his fingers tracing her jaw and lifting her chin, forcing her to look at him. "You were so willing, so lonely, so _desperate_ for kindness and affection, I didn't have to push at all to get you to pull me into your bed."

"You didn't do anything..." she said, swallowing hard, and Obi-Wan slowly shook his head.

"Not a thing, my dear." Taking a deep, shuddering breath, the woman nodded and very slowly wrapped her arms around the Sith Lord, clinging tightly to him and slowly relaxing as he dragged his fingers down her spine.

"Should I come back later?" Kanan asked as he approached the pair, holding up buckets of paint clutched in his hands when Kenobi looked at him. "Can't say I'm not jealous, though," he said with a smirk as he put the paint on the ground. "After all, just last night, you swore your eternal love to me. And I thought I was _special_ ," the Jedi drawled, mocking offense as he laid his hand on his chest. "I bet you just say that to all the girls. You've got too many lovers, Kenobi."

"Jealousy doesn't suit you, Jarrus," Obi-Wan said with a roll of his eyes as he let go of the Minister and knelt beside the paint cans. "And you don't see me complaining about playing second fiddle to your pilot. Besides, you know full well that I don't keep lovers anymore." He tapped the top of the paint cans, softly humming to himself as he eyed the painting. "Red, yellow, blue, black...enough for my purposes."

"Right, _how_ are you going to paint that?" Kanan drawled, looking au at the massive painting. "That thing is huge. What are you going to do, paint the bottom?" In response, Obi-Wan shot Kanan a bored, mildly irritated look, and with a flick of his hand, the paintbrush floated into the air, dunked itself into the blue paint, and floated up to the top left where the man and child were painted.

"The Force, Kanan Jarrus," Kenobi drawled, "can do _anything_."

They were quiet as they watched the Sith Lord work, the brushed moving swiftly over not just the man and child, but over the entire thing, the care of each stroke clear in the Sith's focus and the slow, even movements of his hand. The changes were slow and careful, and they weren't sure how much time had passed when Zeb came shuffling up, a slight limp to his gait and a bo-rifle clutched in his hands. He stood beside Kanan, watching as the Sith carefully painted helmets over the heads of the farmers on the right side of the painting, some the distinctive Mandalorian, some the white of the Imperial stormtroopers.

"I liked it better without the kriffing Imperials," Zeb growled, his grip on the bo-rifle tightening as he stepped toward the Sith, a deep growl in his chest as the weapon extended, the ends of the staff sparking to life with yellow electricity, the sudden disturbance jolting Obi-Wan out of his focus and he held his hand out, the brush gently floating to his fingers. "Kenobi..." the Lasat said quietly, his eyes on the weapon in his hands. "Listen, this..." He held the bo-rifle out to the Sith, his grip on it tightening as he swiftly drew it back to his chest. "This weapon," he whispered, "may only be used by the Honor Guard of Lasan. Kallus was there when Lasan fell, he... _stole it_ from a warrior he killed." He held it out once again to the Sith Lord. "You don't know what it means to have it out of that murderer's hands. Y-you should have it."

Obi-Wan crossed the short distance between them and closed Zeb's clawed hand around the weapon, lightly patting his arm when he gently pushed the weapon back to him. "I'm not in the Honor Guard, Zeb," Obi-Wan whispered. "You keep it."

"But you recovered it."

"Maybe so..." the Sith said, dunking the brush in the paint again and returning to his work. "But like Kallus, I am responsible for the genocide of a race. Not Ord Mantell," he said quickly, holding up a hand when it looked like the Lasat would speak. "Thought I did burn the planet. Dathomir. The Nightsisters and the Nightbrothers, a race of Force sensitive Zabraks. I invaded their planet with my army and we killed them all. There's only one child of Dathomir left in the galaxy." A slight smile touched his lips when he looked at Zeb. "If Kallus' hands are too dirty to hold such a weapon, mine certainly are as well."

With a heavy sigh, Zeb nodded, the crackling yellow electricity shut off as the bo folded up. "I'll hold on to it until you're ready for it," the Lasat firmly said, sliding the weapon next to his own on his back. "You saved my life. I don't take that lightly."

"We're teammates, you big stupid cat, we've all saved each other countless times, it's what we're supposed to do..." the Sith said evenly as he moved the brush to paint the eye of the child in red.

"Maybe so," Zeb said with a shrug. "Doesn't make it mean less."

"Hey, Shadow King," Sabine said as she walked up with Ezra, and with a sigh, Kenobi clenched his jaw, his focus strained on his work.

"Honestly, do _none_ of you uncultured peasants have a respect for art?" Sabine stopped, looked at her painted armor, and shot a disbelieving look at the Sith Lord.

"...what, are you serious right now?"

"Sabine's been trying to fix HK, Kenobi," Ezra said quickly. We got the arm reattached...sort of, but it's not good." Obi-Wan was silent for a moment, his brush stilling as his hand wavered.

"...is the damage reparable?" he whispered, and Sabine nodded.

"Yeah, should be. I just...don't have what I need here. I'm sorry..."

"It's alright, Sabine," Zeb said, laying a hand on her slender shoulder. "I'll carry him to the ship. We ready to go, Kenobi?"

"In a minute..." the Sith Lord said, his brush flicking across the painting at greater speeds as he put the finishing touches on the piece. "Get everyone ready and be prepared to run. Kanan, contact Hera, tell her we'll be out of here within the hour and we're going to need her help." The Jedi nodded and turned to go and was stopped when Obi-Wan reached out and grabbed his arm. "Can you feel it?" Kenobi whispered. "The chill in the Force."

"...yeah," Kanan said, hardly daring to breathe as his eyes drifted around the large room. "Is that him? Is that Vader?"

"It is..." he whispered, flicking his wrist to put the finishing touches on the altered painting. "Keep close and do as I say, Spectres. May the Force be with us."

* * *

Even with the frightened, stumbling Maketh Tua and the weight of the wrecked droid in Zeb's strong arms, it only took fifteen minutes for them to run through the sewer network under the streets of Lothal, the group led by Kanan, the Jedi effortlessly guiding them through the twisting, winding tunnels with his finely honed instincts. They stood beneath their exit, looking up at their exit, and with a deep breath, Kenobi mounted the ladder, pushed aside the cover, and climbed up right into the middle of the Imperial compound. Quickly checking to ensure there was nobody around, Obi-Wan motioned for the rest of them to climb up, and as soon as they were all out, the group ran down the hallways toward the starport.

It didn't take them long, the massive hangar not far from where they had emerged from the sewers, the hallways mostly empty, crossing only a handful of troopers and officers which the Jedi very calmly convinced that there was a pressing matter in the mess hall that needed their immediate attention. Just as Kanan and Ezra began cutting through one of the blast doors on the way to the hangar, the snapping hiss of a lightsaber igniting sounded through the air and the group turned to face the source of the red glow. A tall creature, thick shouldered and dressed in black and gray, a helmet on his head and a shielded visor pulled down over his eyes, and behind them, Maketh Tua began to quietly cry.

" _You're_ not Darth Vader..." Obi-Wan said, sauntering forward and raking his eyes over the creature, the dark figure laughing deeply and spinning his blade, the other end of the hilt igniting to become a double sided weapon.

"You aren't worth Lord Vader's time, _Jedi_ ," the creature growled, and Obi-Wan's eyes widened, called his lightsaber to his hand and ignited the blade, the snapping hiss of glowing plasma filling the corridor with blue light. With a harsh laugh, the creature lifted the shielded visor, the man underneath a pale, sickly yellow with gray eyes that glowed. "My Master is looking for something stronger than you. A predator, _not_ pray. I'm more than enough for you."

"An Inquisitor..." Obi-Wan said quietly. "I didn't expect an Inquisitor, I couldn't sense this insignificant _pissant_ through the feel of his Master." The Inquisitor bared sharp teeth in a vicious, angry snarl, and with a light, easy laugh, Obi-Wan tossed his saber in the air and caught the blade in his off-hand. "You better leave this guy to me, Kanan. Get the kids to a ship, the hangar's not far. I'll be right behind you."

"Don't take too long, Kenobi" the Jedi cautioned, his hand extended to push the cut steel away from the hole in the door, and he quickly waved the others through, looking over his shoulder just in time to see the Inquisitor's eyes widen with fear, his pale eyes fixed on the man he was only just realizing was a Lord of the Sith, Kenobi's red blade flying to his hand and igniting. Without waiting another moment, Kanan ran through, quickly catching up to the group as the sound of clashing lightsabers chased them down the hall.

They only had to cut through one more blast door before they were running through the hangar toward an Imperial shuttle, a craft big enough for all of them with a modest hyperdrive, enough to allow them to jump out of the system. They had nearly made it when the silence of the hanger was broken by the hiss of an igniting lightsaber, and immediately the darkened bay was cast in a sinister red glow, Kanan and Ezra sliding to a halt and shivering at the sudden snapping chill in the Force. The looked in horror as they watched a tall, menacing figure walk slowly toward them with heavy, purposeful steps, the even, ominous sound of breathing through a regulator echoing through the air, his lightsaber in hand and his entire being oozing of the Dark Side. Swallowing hard, Kanan and Ezra stepped forward, their lightsabers held out before them.

"Sabine, get to the ship, we'll cover you," Kanan commanded, and the Mandalorian didn't need to be told twice. Pushing the Minister forward, she and Zeb ran for the shuttle, spurred on faster when the pounding of armored feet stomped into the hangar, a company of stormtroopers come to support Vader. Sabine quickly turned on them, her blasters drawn and firing rapidly, taking out several before they could make it to cover, and the moment Zeb got the broken HK and the Minister into the shuttle, he lent his support to the Mandalorian as she backed up toward the ship.

Gripping his saber tighter, Kanan and the Sith slowly circled each other, Ezra keeping close behind his Master as the Jedi assessed the man in black, the cape billowing behind him, the helmet with the skull-like faceplate that emitted that horrible, pendulous breathing from the grill of the respirator. This Sith Lord was so unlike the one they had grown used to, somehow more frightening than the calm, measured beast they had come to call friend and family. No, this was a _monster_ , his very presence exuding cold and power and hatred and murderous intent in a way Kenobi rarely did. This was a beast without a chain, without limits or restrictions, one that lived purely for the power of the rage in his heart.

There was nothing else to be done, the people in that ship the top priority, and with a deep breath to center himself, Kanan rushed at the Sith, his blade swinging to strike at the man, and the red blade hardly seemed to move, effortlessly blocking the strike. Undaunted, Kanan struck again, his weapon held in two hands for more power behind his swing, only to have the blade knocked effortlessly to the side by the one handed red blade. Vader wasn't fast, but he didn't need to be. Each move was purposeful, each action deliberate, as if he knew exactly what Kanan would do next. Low, high, slash or stab, Vader predicted it all, his each movement effortless as he defended himself, and when the blades locked, with the towering figure pressing down against Kanan with a strength no man should have, Kanan realized that this Sith was _toying_ with him, not simply a predator, but a killer that lived for the hunt, not the kill.

With a slow, effortless wave of his black gloved hand, Kanan was torn off his feet, the Jedi flying up through the air and slamming against the high ceiling, a loud, snapping thud echoing through the hangar as the metal snapped and buckled underneath him, and a moment later, Kanan fell, the Jedi striking stacks of crates and ships on his way down and slamming unconscious to the ground. Ezra looked on in horror as his Master fell, and looking between the Sith and the Jedi, the teenager grabbed hold of his fear and turned it to hatred for the beast that did this to Kanan, his eyes lightening in color as they began to glow with power, just as Kenobi taught him. With a feral yell, the teen charged Vader, only to be caught with the Force and held in the air by the throat, his lightsaber batting the air in a futile attempt to cut the invisible bonds. A strong pressure on his wrist found his arm stopped, his entire body shaking against the grip as his hand moved on its own to hold the blade of his lightsaber at his own neck.

"Interesting..." Vader said, his voice with a mechanical twinge as it echoed through the air and chilled it. "You reach for the Dark Side. Did your Jedi Master teach you such a thing?" Ezra couldn't answer if he wanted to, his eyes drifting to Kanan as the Jedi stirred, slowly coming to and trying to climb to his feet. He was vaguely aware of shouting in the hangar, but he could hear nothing but Vader's breathing. "It matters not," the Sith continued. "You have been deceived into believing you will become more than what you are." He took a heavy step forward, his hand tightening, and Ezra's throat constricted harder, the blade closer to his exposed neck. "A thief and a traitor, and very soon, a dead one..."

" _Skywalker_!"

The air fell cold and still, the name echoing over and over again in the deafening silence, and slowly, Vader turned, his fist tightly clenching his lightsaber and his rage seething as his focus turned to center on the man in the arching hangar door, standing tall and unafraid, a red lightsaber in his hand and the hulking Inquisitor kneeling at his side, his expression vacant as he absently drooled. Ezra dropped to the ground, forgotten by the intimidating man, and he quickly scrambled to Kanan, hoisting the Jedi to his feet as the man stared at the two Sith, his head shaking in disbelief.

"Kanan, we need to go _now_ ," Ezra said, pulling the Jedi, but Kanan would not budge.

"It...it _can't_ be. Kenobi said he burned, h-he said..." He swallowed hard, his hand clutching his chest to feel for his heart, certain that it had stopped beating. "Skywalker... _Anakin Skywalker_..." The swift, sharp tug on his arm snapped Kanan out of it, and with a last look at Obi-Wan, the man slowly walking with even, measured steps toward the other Sith Lord, the Jedi nodded and turned toward the ship. There was nothing he could do here, and this Vader, whoever or whatever he was, would not be defeated by him. All he could do was obey the urging in the Force to leave, and with Ezra in tow, he ran for the shuttle, leaving the two predators to circle each other as they sized the other up.

"Kenobi..." Vader snarled, his lightsaber held before him and growling in irritation as Lumis lifted the Inquisitor with the Force and threw him at his feet.

"I'm _insulted_..." Lumis spat, his eyes glowing with a fierce blaze as he looked at the man that unwittingly took everything from him so very long ago. "You send these _toys_ to keep me occupied while you prowl for weaker prey. What sort of a thing is that to do to a fellow Sith, _brother_ of mine?"

"You are _not_ my brother!" Vader snapped, stepping over the groaning Inquisitor. "You are an outcast. _Garbage_ my Master threw away when something better came to him."

"And what a thing you have become!" Kenobi chirped, gesturing to the stalking Vader a smirk on his lips as the shuttle carrying the SPectres flew out of the hangar. "Just _look_ at you! You are a thing of beauty, a _vision_! Genius how Sidious crafted you. I would have does something flashier, but, _well_ , his taste has always been more austere than mine."

"An opulent, wasteful fool..." Vader growled. "A vain, pointless waste of potential. You funnel your powers into keeping yourself superficially young, _old man_."

"Sounds like jealousy to me," Lumis said, spinning the blade in his hand. "Tell me, is it _painful_ in that suit? From what I understand, burning alive is _quite_ unpleasant, I can only imagine that the suit must be _excruciating_." A deep, savage growl reverberated in the air, and Obi-Wan spun his lightsaber again, feeling the Force rage and pull, deadlocked between the two vergences. "I wonder how Sidious has upgraded you..."

Vader said nothing, only howled in fury and pushed back with the Force in a storm of power, the Inquisitor thrown back against the far wall and Obi-Wan sliding back, crouching down for balance and pressing off as soon as he had stopped, rushing toward Vader with all the speed he was able and grateful he had opted to forego the armor to keep his agility up. He met Vader's red blade in a shower of sparks, the two sabers moving so fast they left bleeding lines in the air. Vader's strikes were _powerful_ , stronger than any Obi-Wan had ever felt, the wide, sweeping strikes savage and deadly, each slash meant to bisect the body or sever the head, each stab meant to be fatal. There was no elegance, no grace, no wasted movements, only brutal efficiency meant to kill quickly, only powerful hits made to send his opponent off-balance with each blocked strike. It was a vast difference from Vader's swift, agile style he possessed as Anakin Skywalker, the heavy cybernetics of his badly damaged body unable to support such fluid movement.

And yet, his powers with the Force were _strong_ , his mental walls high and impenetrable, even through the avenues that the Dark Side so often left open for Obi-Wan. Sidious had trained him to resist mind probes and mental control, the exact brand that Kenobi had used to his advantage. In this sense, Vader was well trained, a bastian against him, a dangerous weapon made to counter Sidious' renegade apprentice. And yet, through it all, something seemed... _off_. Wrong in a way that Obi-Wan couldn't place, his sharp eyes watching Vader's movements as he used his superior speed and agility to dart around the other Sith and attack at every angle, the stiff, mechanical movements of his opponent easily keeping Kenobi away despite the limitations of his heavy, cybernetic limbs.

Obi-Wan brought his blade swiftly down, only to have Vader swing up, the savage, heavy strike sending Obi-Wan off balance, and instead of fighting to keep it, he allowed himself to jump into the upward motion, flipping above Vader's blade and deflecting the swift stab as the red blade rushed toward him. Kenobi growled when he hit the ground, shutting off his saber and clipping it back on to his belt. It was a _distraction_ , one that was likely to get him killed. In this situation, against this enemy, the blade was a hindrance, each deflection of each powerful strike knocking him off his balance. The only thing to do was immerse himself in the Force and evade, the temptation to block and deflect gone with his blade, replaced with the knowledge that one wrong move would end in his death.

Obi-Wan ducked and dodged, his focus perfect as he deftly avoided the other Sith's blade, and with nothing to hit, the heavy, powerful strikes served only to put Vader off his balance with each miss, his weight thrown for nothing but shifting the Sith off his center. Vader snarled in his fury as his unarmed opponent evaded his blade, his strikes becoming harder and faster and only serving to throw him more off-balance as he tried to keep up with his much faster opponent. When he howled in rage and brought his blade down toward Kenobi, the slippery man slid between Vader's legs, the heavy strike making him step forward to catch himself. The moment his foot hit the ground, his weight shifting forward, his heel rising, Obi-Wan kicked out his planted foot from under him, the uneven balance of weight causing Vader to fall hard to his knees upon the ground, a furious, wrathful cry torn from his chest.

When Vader rose, he was faced with the calm, impassive face of a Sith Master, the man slowly circling the other Sith Lord, and for the first time since his fateful duel on Mustafar, Darth Vader felt like pray.

"I don't understand..." Obi-Wan said quietly, his eyes roving over the man as he brought his lightsaber up once again. "You are strong in the Force, I can _feel it_ , you cause the very air around you to freeze. So _why_. Why do I feel this... _this_..." Obi-Wan growled in frustration, his hands sliding into his hair. "You are _slow_ , and you are _broken_ , Anakin, so why didn't Sidious _fix you_?!" With a cry of fury, Vader clutched his saber in both hands and rushed Lumis with as much speed as he was able, but this time, the Master rose his hand, shooting a barrage of Force lightning at the other Sith that made Vader stop in his tracks as his blade absorbed the energy.

Slowly, Vader began to step toward Lumis, and with a short, sharp scoff of disgust, Obi-Wan reached out his other hand, grasped for Vader's leg, and compelled the Force to crush it, the cybernetic limb quickly and easily giving way, groaning as the metal bended and twisted, and Vader howled in fury as he fell into a pool of his damaged limb's spilt hydraulic fluid. The loss of focus allowed the lightning to strike the Sith full in the chest, and the howls of outrage became howls of pain, the man convulsing on the ground as the lightning surged through what was left of his body and coursing through his life support systems, the metal of his arms and legs conducting and amplifying the surge. When Obi-Wan realized how severely crippled such a thing left Vader, he quickly pulled back, cutting off the lightning and slowly circling the man, observing the smoke as it rose from his body.

It was... _unthinkable_. All this power, all this hatred and rage, all this talent in the Force _wasted_ in a moment, undone with a single stroke of Force lightning, the Dark Side skill that Sidious himself excelled in more than any other Sith ever had. And it could have _easily_ been avoided, the suit could have been insulated, built to withstand such, and yet here he was, the mighty Darth Vader, brought to his knees by _Force lightning_. Only one thing made any of this make sense. Sidious had done this on purpose, had built his new apprentice with an easily exploitable flaw, one that would allow him to assume control of the man with little difficulty, to give him a quick and easy way of bringing a rebellious or a murderous apprentice to heel. He had learned his lesson from Lumis, and it was Vader that had reaped the consequences.

"Oh, Anakin, look what your Master has done to you..." Obi-Wan drawled, extending his hand and calling the other Sith's lightsaber to his grasp, turning it over and examining it, keeping an eye on Vader as his regulated breathing turned labored and heavy, the panel on his chest blinking wildly with warning lights.

" _You did this_!" Vader snapped, his anger and rage flaring and summoning the Dark Side to him for strength, only to have it fail when his breathing hitched and he began wheezing and coughing.

"Perhaps I did," Obi-Wan said impassively. "I caused the injuries that led you to be trapped within your own body, and I am _certainly_ responsible for your defeat today." Vader snarled in pain and rage and reached up toward the Sith Master, and with a disdainful sneer, Lumis swiftly closed his fist, the mechanical arm crushed in the Dark Side's hands, the intricate mechanics sparking as they were torn, and another outraged howl was torn from the Sith.

"Please..." Lumis drawled, rolling his eyes, his hand extended out before him. "Don't give me a reason to destroy your other limbs as well. Your repairs are becoming more and more expensive, I can't imagine your benevolent Master will be happy about it. A loss is one thing, but an _expensive_ loss..." Kenobi shook his head. "He never looked kindly on waste, don't be _stupid_."

"Why won't you _kill me_?!" Vader howled, his chest rising and falling erratically, and Darth Lumis shook his head and laughed.

" _Kill you_? And miss out on watching you suffer? Oh, Anakin, _darling_ , death is a mercy! And mercy is _not_ the way of the Sith." He kneeled beside the weakened man, the cyborg trying to squirm away from him, but between the excruciating pain that movement inflicted and the failing life support and cybernetics, he quickly stopped, snarling savagely as he begrudgingly yielded to the victorious Sith Master. Obi-Wan placed his hand on the mask Vader wore, his fingers tightening around the grooves of the eyes, and pulled, the mask hissing and straining as the locks disengaged, and Lumis lifted the mask from his face.

Vader glared at him through bloodshot yellow eyes, red-rimmed and sunken and positively furious, his presence in the Force snapping and howling against this violation, a cornered beast lashing out at the predator that calmly approached, aggressive only because of how fearful he was. He winced, shying away from the Sith Lord once again as Lumis reached out and laid a hand on his pale forehead, and his touch _burned_ , corrosive like acid and worse than the fires of Mustafar.

"Sidious has _wronged_ you," Lumis calmly explained. "You are powerful, Skywalker. Not like you once were, but you are still strong. And Sidious has _wasted_ you, has kept you weak by forcing you to exist in that armor."

"I _need_ this armor!" Vader snarled weakly, the vocal modulator removed and allowing him to speak with his own voice, a wheezing imitation of what it was before his vocal cords were ravaged by flames. "Because of you, because _you put me in it_!" The Force ripped around them, a violent storm summoned by the weakened Vader, and Obi-Wan calmly put his hand on Vader's throat and squeezed, the sudden pressure making the man freeze and the Force yield.

"He has taught you the bare minimum," Obi-Wan continued. "You are strong, but you _should be_ stronger. The armor is a prison, but it doesn't have to be, he fears having another apprentice like me, so he has made it so you can _never_ rise against him." Obi-Wan drew up, taking his hand away from the gasping man. "You aren't an apprentice, Anakin, you are a _slave_ , just as you have always been..."

"I am _not a slave_!" Anakin howled, his hand shooting out and grabbing hold of Obi-Wan's throat, and before he could move again, the hiss of a lightsaber filled the air as the arm was neatly severed.

"I _warned you_..." Lumis growled dangerously, standing up and taking a few steps away from the man, the stumps of his cybernetic arms clawing at the ground. "How many times have I severed your right arm, hmm? This would be the...fourth time?" An anguished, angry scream was torn from Vader's raw and damaged throat, and Kenobi pointed down at the man. "You armor, Skywalker, is your _leash_. Sidious has limited your training and he keeps you like some _dog_ to heed the call of its Master! The way of the Sith paves the way for the apprentice to kill the Master, but he is denying you this by making you _crippled_ by Force lightning! And you know as well as I there is none with more talent than him in this matter."

" _I hate you_!" he shouted as loud as he was able in his weak, rasping voice, and Obi-Wan merely shrugged as he stepped away.

"As you should, apprentice. As is expected of you, I expect no less." He tapped Vader's lightsaber against his palm, a hollow smirk on his face. "I confess, this whole thing leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. So this is what's going to happen. To make me feel better about having to deal with _that_ ," he said, pointing at the unconscious Inquisitor, "I'm taking your starship. You _do_ have a ship here, don't you?" The renewed squirming confirmed it, and Obi-Wan held out his hand. "No, please, don't get up, I'll find it myself. And to apologize for..." He gestured with the lightsaber in his hand at Vader's battered body and the severed and broken mechanical limbs. " _That_ , I'm giving you this back." He dropped the lightsaber on to Vader's chest, the wounded man hissing in rage when it hit. "You'll need that for when we fight again. And we _will_ fight again."

"I know..." Vader wheezed, his yellow eyes locked on the other Sith. "I have seen it. You've seen it too. I've seen your end, Obi-Wan, and it is coming." A soft, rasping laugh came from Vader's throat when Lumis' eyes narrowed in rage. "End me now or not, it does not matter. My Master will have you before long. You have _always_ belonged to him."

"We shall see seen enough," Lumis snapped, planting his foot on Vader's chest and leaning his weight forward, the man choking with pain as his burned chest was crushed. "You are fortunate that we're in an Imperial compound and will no doubt survive, though I don't envy you the punishment you will receive from Sidious for your failure here today." With a final tightening of his fist, Vader's last limb was crushed, the man howling in pain as the leg twisted and turned and pulled from his body, and without another look back, Lumis strode through the hangar in search of Vader's ship, leaving the other Sith alone to think about if what Lumis had said was true.


	35. Tracker

**AN:** **See, I haven't forgotten about you guys! Work's just been killing me. Expect updates to be slower during the week. I should be able to churn out a chapter a week for sure, and if I'm lucky I might get two out, but I need to update Blood of Mandalore first. The idea bug bit me on that one, and I gotta get it out. Then it's back to this one for the big stuff. Again, I'm going to be diverting a great deal from Rebels season 2 in this part of the fic, so get hyped. It's gonna be good.**

 **Alright, enjoy, lovelies!**

 _Chapter 34: Tracker_

Admiral Thrawn stood silently in the large room, a hand to his chin while he examined the wall behind the podium. _New Freedom_. A piece of art so important to the people of Lothal that they had nearly rioted when the Empire sought to demolish the building it was housed within, a foolish proposition to begin with that the Chiss was grateful the citizens had the stubbornness and will to defend. He glanced down at the datapad in hand at the image of the mural, a testament to everything that it meant to be a citizen of Lothal. It only took a glance for Thrawn to understand the sort of people that inhabited this remote Outer Rim world, and a closer examination left him with an intimate knowledge of their spirit and culture. This painting represented the very heart that beat within Lothal.

The artistry of the piece was simple, its lines solid, its colors bold, a perfect representation of the inhabitants of the planet. A simple, steadfast, stubborn people, much like the art they produced, a fierce pride for their planet running through their veins. The mural was composed of a relief depicting the rounded white towers of Capital City, the planet's largest and most prominent city, as well of scenes of the industries that brought Lothal to prominence, most notably fishing and agriculture. The absence of the mining industry was particularly notable, as it was the discovery of doonium in the ground of Lothal that brought Imperial attention to the planet. Before that, Lothal was nothing to the galaxy, just another simple, backwards world in the Outer Rim, and that the people did not recognize mining as a key industry of importance was particularly telling. It was no wonder that the rebels had a hold here, the Imperial mind and the heart of Lothal were drastically out of sync.

At the center of the piece was a depiction of the people on the sea in their fishing boats, and above that, a celebration of the booming agriculture that sprung from their ore-rich soil, a thing that Imperial mining interests had all but destroyed. Farmers working the fields, fishermen hauling their catches, and the images of a boy and his father, the child pointing toward an unseen future, the guiding hand of the father on his shoulder, all of it spoke to the spirit of Lothal's simple people. The painting was done in purposeful strokes, the colors solid and stark, the atmosphere peaceful and industrious, all of it woven together beautifully to show the heart of an entire people and their culture, clear as day, upon the wall of the building from which they were once governed. Thrawn looked up from his datapad at the painting on the wall, his eyes narrowed as he examined it.

This was _not_ the painting displayed on his datapad.

 _New Freedom_ had been _altered_ , the new additions outlined in lines reminiscent of calligraphy instead of the bold even lines, though there was no hesitation in the strokes, no uncertainty, bespeaking instead of an artist with purpose and a stylistic hand, perhaps not a professional, but a man with a vision. The bottom half of the painting remained untouched, the skyline of Capital City still bold and beautiful, but everything above it had been marked by the new artist.

Instead of the fishing boats that sat in the center of the painting, impressionist sketches of the ships known as the _Umbra_ and the _Ghost_ flew beside each other, the massive guidance spire in the background now bearing the black and red banner and sigil that the Shadow King claimed as his own, the ancient Sith sunburst surrounded by the Mandalorian Crusader dragon. The fishermen taking in their haul no longer held nets of fish, but lightsabers, blue and green, the swirling currents that were representative water between them, though in this context, it seemed very likely that the currents here were not currents at all, but a representation of the Force. The farmers in the fields above now wore the outlines of armor, the helmets on their heads both Imperial stormtrooper and the distinctive Mandalorian, each holding blasters and rifles instead of bales of wheat and grain.

But most notable was the father and son, not the centerpiece, but the point to which the eye was instantly drawn. The father now wore the black and red armor and the horned helmet of the Shadow King, his bale of wheat transformed into the Sith Lord's blood red blade. His armored hand still rested on the child's shoulder, but now, the child's hair was black, his skin blue, his eyes red, a clear relief of a Chiss, the uniform the dark gray of an Imperial Navy officer. The message was clear, and it was a friendly one. An _invitation_ , and an intriguing one. It would take no genius to discern the meaning here, and yet, as Thrawn's gaze passed over the officers gathered in the senate building, it was clear they did not _see_. Like so many, they did not understand.

They saw defamation and vandalism and graffiti when they should have seen the care, the thought, the passion behind the strokes. They saw a threat, the promise of a conqueror, the danger present in the predator when peace and unity and industry were the point of the alterations. The heart of _New Freedom_ hadn't been altered, that remained consistent. What changed was the subject, but it remained a celebration of success and prosperity. This message wasn't a threat, it was a promise, and it was directly addressed to Thrawn, as evidenced by the re-purposed father and son, the Shadow King and the Chiss. _Join me and help me guide the galaxy_.

A sharp, high-pitched laugh tore Thrawn out of his thoughts, the Chiss frowning as he looked over his shoulder at the furiously pacing Maul. The man was barely hanging on to his sanity, flipping between wrathful and desperate at a moment's notice. Since the Grand Inquisitor disappeared after the Shadow King's attack on Lothal, Maul had been erratic at best, insisting that the Inquisitor was alive, though he had no evidence of such. Some days were worse than others. Some days it was fury, the raging tempest that never ceased, one that was outraged over what Obi-Wan Kenobi did, how he could so easily rip their Grand Inquisitor from them and press him into his service. He swore violence, swore death, promised to find Kenobi and end him, thrust his lightsaber through the hole where his heart should be in vengeance for his lost legs, his dead brother, his stolen life, the continuous insults, for the madness he could feel churning in his mind.

But those days were rare. Most days, Maul paced restlessly as mad laughter and wrenching sobs were torn from his throat, his hands clenched tightly around his cranial horns as he tugged at them, the points cutting into his palms and fingers. He was _jealous_ , envious and betrayed, a mix of mournful and desperately anxious as he sat huddled in corners muttering to himself. He knew what the Inquisitor faced, could feel it deep in his bones, and he _ached_ for it, could feel his Master's cruel and soothing touch in his mind and caressing his skin, could feel the horrible comfort of the rancor's teeth scraping against his mechanical legs, legs that had been forced upon him when his Master had bisected him in his first touch of the darkness he would one day come to master.

And now, _now_ , the Inquisitor sat in _his place_ beside Darth Lumis, served as pet to the rancor, felt both the delight and wrath of the Master, was given place and purpose that should, by all rights, belong to _Maul_. He was going to kill him. The Inquisitor deserved death for many reasons, not the least of which was for his failure on Lothal, but this was even worse. The Inquisitor had _stolen_ Maul's place, and for that, he needed to be executed.

Thrawn kept Maul around because despite his obvious madness, he was excessively useful, not just in his studies of what Kenobi could do to a mind, but in his understanding of the Sith Lord's powers and the mysterious nature of the Force. His studies were nearly complete, his plan nearly perfectly formulated, his trap nearly set, thanks to the data received from the torture of Jedi Kanan Jarrus. All that was left to do was to get the Emperor to allow him near Kenobi once again, a task that was proving to be more and more difficult as the Shadow King became more destructive. He had the bait, he had made the trap, and all that was left to do was arm it, and with his new test subject, he would soon have everything he needed to bring Obi-Wan Kenobi, the would-be Emperor, to heel.

"Admiral Thrawn?" The Chiss turned to face his aid, Commander Eli Vanto, as the man approached, a datapad in hand. "Admiral, the troops and I have swept the perimeter. We haven't found anything else, like you thought."

"Very good, Commander..." the Chiss said softly, returning his gaze to the painting. "I thank you for confirming that."

"Not a problem," Eli said, his tone a pronounced Wild Space drawl that made him sound far less intelligent than he was, a thing that his Chiss Admiral had made ample use of when he wanted to disarm hostilities. "As you've requested, Agent Kallus is waiting to meet with you at your leisure."

"And the Inquisitor?" Thrawn asked, and Vanto quickly flicked his finger over the datapad.

"Lord Maul approved that in place of punishment for his failure here, the Ninth Brother will submit himself to your studies. Needless to say, the Inquisitor was happy to accept the alternative." Vanto handed the Admiral the datapad. "He's been transferred to the _Chimera_." He tapped the datapad in Thrawn's hand. "That's his file."

"Interesting..." the Chiss said, his eyes quickly running over the information. "I believe the Inquisitor will prove useful to my research."

"Do you think this will help us catch the Shadow King?" Vanto asked, and the Chiss slowly stroked his chin.

"Perhaps..." Vanto sighed. It was the answer the Admiral always gave when he didn't want to say more, when he was keeping his cards close to his chest. He had learned not to press the Chiss in times like these. In time, he'd learn, usually in a dramatic and spectacular fashion. "Tell me, Commander Vanto," the Chiss said quietly, gesturing to the painting before him. "What is it you see here?"

"What, this?" Eli looked up at the mural for the umpteenth time that day. It was hard not to. His time with Thrawn had taught him to notice these things, and while he would never see what the Chiss could, he was developing a discerning eye for things that were less than obvious. "Well, a celebration of Lothal, I suppose."

"Yes, an industrious people..." Thrawn said in his flat, vaguely bemused voice. "It is little wonder that Governor Pryce is so invested in its elevation under the Empire."

"But that isn't what you meant is it?" Eli asked, and a faint smile touched the Chiss' lips. "I don't know, sir..." Eli said, examining the painting next to the Chiss. "I know the men are saying it's a threat, but this whole thing sort of feels like... _flirting_."

"An apt description, Commander," Thrawn said quietly. "If a bit crude. Observe the brush strokes, if you will. Careful, deliberate, precise. The hand of an amateur, for certain, but such strokes and lines are congruent with the hand of the writing on the notes I have received from the Shadow King. Like his written hand, these lines are..." He stroked his chin, looking up at the painting before a faint smile touched his lips. " _Playful_. This is not a threat."

"And meant for you, obviously," Eli said, pointing at the former father and child on the mural. "So, what does it mean? Is he trying to disarm you? Court you? Kill you?"

"Perhaps all the above, Commander..." Thrawn mused as he turned from the painting. "It would be foolish to assume his intentions until I have spoken to him myself, though I suspect I have an understanding of his motives."

"...which are..."

"Intriguing..." Thrawn said in his vague, bemused tone, and Eli sighed heavily. Whatever it was that the Chiss suspected, he wasn't sharing. "In time, we will understand exactly what the Shadow King wishes, and my progress with the Ninth Brother will allow me to do just that."

"Safely, sir?" Eli asked, and the Chiss nodded.

"Perfectly, and the Shadow King has earned my attention. Dangerous though he may be, our meeting has been a long time coming. When I have the opportunity to speak with him, I will take it. I feel we have... _much_ to discuss."

"But when you do, you'll have defeated him, right?" Eli asked, the two stepping out of the Senate building and walking past the sentry line of stormtroopers, five black armored men falling into formation behind the Admiral and the Lieutenant Commander.

"That is correct, but even a defeated opponent has value, Commander Vanto. The Shadow King is too dangerous to keep in captivity, and his crimes prevent him from ever being allowed to serve the Empire, but I feel he is a valuable resource, one that must not be wasted."

"Um, sir?" Eli asked timidly, looking over his shoulder at the black armored troopers behind them, and behind them, _Maul_ , feral and savage with a wild look in his eye that Eli had never seen. "I mean no disrespect, but what sort of use could a man like the Shadow King be?"

"That depends entirely on him, Commander Vanto," Thrawn said quietly as he eyed the man with his curious, appraising gaze. "You are correct that he will be defeated when we speak, but there is a vast difference between defeat and loss. There are many ways to achieve victory." He quickly glanced behind him. "Why? Are you concerned for what will happen?"

"I don't know..." Eli said, staring at his feet as he walked down the street toward their waiting shuttle. "It's just...I mean, look what he leaves in his wake. Bodies and broken minds. That's probably why the Emperor himself forbid you from engaging with him. How are you going to get him to change his mind?"

"I won't have to, Commander," Thrawn said. "There are many paths to a single destination, and I believe very soon, we will find ourselves indirectly engaging with him." The Commander's brow knit together in an expression of worry and unease.

"If anyone can take him down, it's you, I know that..." Eli said, stepping closer and keeping his voice low in the hopes that the black armored elite soldiers behind them didn't hear. "But _something_ happened here, something more than some vandalism, some dead soldiers and a humiliated Inquisitor, and they aren't telling us what that is." He indicated with his head at the elite soldiers behind them. "I mean, _nothing_ explains the presence here. Ten Star Destroyers, Death Troopers, hell, I thought I saw the Imperial Guard st the starport when we landed. Even Maul's hit new levels of crazy."

"Very astute, Commander..." the Chiss whispered, stopping for a moment as they passed through the security checkpoint into the hangar, his sharp eyes looking at the crowed surrounding his shuttle, including a tightly guarded Agent Kallus. "You are correct. Something has happened. My meeting with Agent Kallus is not just to satisfy Governor Pryce's request to have me involved in the defense of her world."

"Ah, I see..." Eli said, a faint smirk on his lips. "You think the Agent will tell us what we need to know?"

"I find it unlikely he will know himself. Regardless, I believe we will find his input valuable." Thrawn lengthened his stride, taking him faster over the landing pad to his ship where Agent Kallus stood, the man drawing up taller when he saw the alien approach, and he moved out to meet the Chiss halfway, quickly saluting the man in greeting.

"Admiral Thrawn," the ISB Agent said, the stormtroopers behind him snapping to attention when the Chiss stopped. "Welcome to Lothal. Unfortunately, we do not seem to be at our best at the moment."

"A work in progress, Agent Kallus," Thrawn said in his flat tone, observing the Agent's facial expressions carefully. Superiority, pride bordering on arrogance, commanding confidence, and just the slightest hint of disdain. It was a look that Thrawn had grown accustomed to in the Imperial military, the human-centric government breeding a current of contempt for non-humans. It never bothered him, though more often than not, such attitudes got in the way of his ability to properly do his job, a thing that his aide Eli Vanto was quick to point out when Thrawn did not recognize it himself. Somehow, this man had found himself in command of Lothal, and in such, had come into a great deal of power, and with it came the self-importance that allowed a person's true natures to come forth. This would not do.

"Colonel Yularen speaks very highly of you," Thrawn said quietly, a slight smirk tugging at the corner of his lips when the Agent's eyes widened slightly. "I am certain you are up to the task of restoring order to Lothal, as per his expectations."

"Y-yes, well, we are doing what we can to establish order after the recent attacks," Kallus said, somewhat humbled as he fell in beside the Admiral as he slowly walked toward his shuttle.

"Quite a lot of power you seem to have found yourself in possession of," the Chiss said impassively, though the Agent seemed to bristle, his shoulders tightening and his back straight. "How did you come to be in such a position? Surely this was not your original purpose here."

"The responsibility has fallen to me. One must be flexible in these matters, Admiral," Kallus calmly explained. "A ship with no captain is in danger of sinking, and I am the highest ranking official on Lothal at the moment."

"Yes, but _how_ ," Thrawn said cooly, stepping into the shuttle and remaining standing as the doors were sealed shut. "I understand that you are in power, but I do not understand the circumstances that have led to your command. Explain, if you will, how this has come to be."

"Sir, the report-"

"The report is incomplete," the Chiss interrupted, his eyes narrowing as he observed the agent's sudden discomfort. Whatever it was that happened on Lothal was humiliating, that much was clear, and the command, it seemed, wasn't the honor it appeared to be. This command was unwanted and unwelcome, a duty that had been badly failed by everyone that had attempted to hold it and have paid dearly for that failure.

"Lothal is held by Governor Pryce," Kallus began quietly, sitting in the flight seat as the shuttle lifted off from the ground, his hands clasped tightly before him. "In the Governor's absence, she assigned a minister to oversee Lothal's affairs in her place."

"Minister Maketh Tua," the Chiss said quietly, his eyes drifting to his aide, who was swiftly bringing up her file on his datapad. "A civilian. Who was the military commander in charge."

"That would be Commandant Aresko..." Kallus said slowly, unease creeping into his voice, his posture tensing even further. "But he's-"

"Dead, Admiral Thrawn," Eli said, turning the datapad toward the Chiss, his red eyes quickly running over the information.

"Governor Tarkin's first casualty here on Lothal, yes?" Kallus didn't move, didn't breathe, clearly disturbed by the harsh policies of the Grand Moff. On this matter, Thrawn and Tarkin fundamentally disagreed. Commandant Aresko may have failed time and time again when it came to dealing with the rebels, but all that meant was that a transfer was in order. There was little sense in wasting a resource when it was simply being misused.

"Him and Taskmaster Grint, yes," Kallus said quietly. "Good men. Incompetent, perhaps, but..." He shook his head. "Good men." He cleared his throat and looked up at the Chiss and his young aide. "Then the rebels and the Shadow King attacked. You must know what happened."

"I know parts, yes..." Thrawn whispered. "If you would..." Kallus groaned and ran his hands over his face, shaking his head slowly, but said nothing. The Admiral paced slowly before him, taking the datapad from Eli's hands. "Agent Kallus, ISB-021. You were sent to Lothal to deal with the rebel trouble, and the Grand Inquisitor was sent for after they discovered that the rebel leader was a Jedi, is that correct?"

"That's correct..." Kallus said, slowly nodding. "But the Inquisitor failed as well. That's why they brought Tarkin in, he came back from some asteroid with no fingers on his left hand."

"Yes, I am familiar with that incident," Thrawn said dismissively. "I'm more interested in you, Agent Kallus." He flicked through the datapad, stopping for a moment while he examined the screen. "Your record is impressive. Your work to quell dissension spans dozens of worlds, you have fought against the infamous insurgent Saw Gerrera, and you participated in the genocide on Lasan. There's little wonder they selected you to aid in putting down the rebellion here."

"I will be successful, Admiral," Kallus said firmly. "There isn't a place these rebels can run where I won't-"

"I wonder if you weren't brought here because one of the rebels is a Lasat," Thrawn mused, his glowing red eyes searching the agent. "You are something of an expert in killing the species, yes? The reports from Lasan say you are responsible for giving the order to bring disruptor weapons to bear on the population." Thrawn stopped, his hands folded neatly behind his back as he examined the man as he became defensive. "A weapon that disintegrates organic tissue on an atomic level. A weapon so destructive that the Imperial Senate banned its use."

"A weapon that is _terribly_ effective if you want to cleanse a planet from _filth_ ," Kallus snarled. "I don't know if they assigned me to Lothal because one of the rebels is a beast that survived the purge of Lasan, but mark my word, I _will_ finish what I started!"

"Is that how you came to control Lothal?" Thrawn asked again, his tone hard. "The Grand Inquisitor, Maketh Tua, Governor Pryce, Admiral Konstantine, Governor Tarkin, all these people will control Lothal before you, so _how_."

"Admiral Konstantine controls the fleet that blockades Lothal, the activities on the ground are mine," Kallus slowly explained, his patience strained. The Grand Inquisitor is dead or captured, Governor Pryce will not leave Coruscant, Maketh Tua has disappeared, and Tarkin left for the Imperial Palace with Lord Vader to-"

"Darth Vader was here?" Thrawn asked, surprise sneaking into his voice, and on the other side of the shuttle, Maul savagely snarled and kicked the wall, the wall denting from the hard impact of his cybernetic legs, and suddenly, everything made sense. Maul's state of agitation, the presence of the Royal Guard, the bodies in the hangar, the secrecy surrounding the mess here. Lord Vader was on Lothal, and he left in complete secrecy, which meant something happened that the Empire didn't want public. Vader was defeated, and Thrawn knew of only one that could accomplish such a thing.

"We tried to draw the rebels out by making Minister Tua scared enough to reach out for help," Kallus growled. "She's a timid sort. We thought she'd lead us to a rebel faction."

"And she did," Thrawn finished. "More than you could handle."

"They have _Jedi_ with them, what was I supposed to do!?"

"Did you face a Jedi?" Eli asked, swiftly jotting notes down on the datapad, and Kallus glared at him.

"I _did_ , as it so happens, and before you ask it, _no_ , the Inquisitor wasn't with us, and neither was Lord Vader. Obviously the Inquisitor failed to stop him, and they must have gotten away before Lord Vader could get to them."

"And the Jedi you faced?" Thrawn asked, his fingers steepled together. "Was it the rebel leader, Kanan Jarrus?"

"No, and not his student either," Kallus said, shaking his head. "This was a different one. I didn't get a good look at him, but he was young, blond, wore black, carried a red lightsaber." He paused, thoughtful for a moment before he looked at the Chiss. "Do you think he took the weapon from the Inquisitor? Do you think they took out the Inquisitor before they went for the Minister?"

"Perhaps..." Thrawn whispered. It wasn't, but the ISB Agent didn't need to know that. Not yet. "Was the Shadow King present, did he return with his rebels?"

"No, he wasn't there," Kallus said quietly, jolting straight up in his seat when he felt the ship shudder as the landing struts unfolded.

"But the painting-" Eli began, but quickly stopped when Kallus rolled his eyes.

"Fear tactics, boy. The rebels are associated with this renegade, and they have a Mandalorian vandal with them. This is just another one of their attempts to disturb the peace."

"You believe this to be the work of Sabine Wren?" Thrawn asked calmly, and Kallus scoffed and shrugged.

"If that is the vandal, than yes." Eli glanced sidelong at the Admiral, looking to see if he could detect any offense for the disregard for the art he s valued, but if the Chiss was offended, he wasn't showing it.

"I thank you for your time, Agent Kallus," Thrawn said, bowing slightly to the man as he stood. "This meeting has been...most informative. I do hope your efforts will be more successful than your predecessors."

"Is that it?" Kallus asked, his voice strained with uncertainty. "I thought you were sent to lend us your aid."

"That is unfortunately not the case," Thrawn said softly. "My attention is required elsewhere. I am only here because of the unusual nature of the last attack as a favor to Governor Pryce."

"He already has ten Star Destroyers and the Imperial garrison at his command," Maul snarled as he stalked forward. "One would think that would be enough to crush any trouble that may arise."

"And yet, I have been given to understand that the might of a Star Destroyer is insignificant next to the power of the Force," Thrawn said, his voice affected with light amusement, and Maul visibly bristled, snarling at the Chiss as he stalked off the ship. "I will make all possible haste to finish my current assignment, Agent Kallus, so that I may have a chance to lend my assistance to Lothal."

"How are we supposed to fight that?" Kallus gasped in frustration, his hand running through and messing his immaculate hair. "If it's as powerful as you say, how are we supposed to destroy people like that when our defense against Jedi are not enough?!"

"I have some ideas about that," Thrawn whispered, an enigmatic smirk on his lips as he slowly turned and walked out of the shuttle, his aid close at his side, and Kallus slowly followed.

"What kind of ideas?" the Agent asked quietly, and Thrawn slowly shook his head.

"Nothing that will work more than once, and not without perfect timing," the Chiss firmly answered. "I'm sorry, Agent Kallus, but I will not set my trap until I am certain of its success." A group of officers stood waiting for the Admiral, quickly updating him in hushed whispers that Kallus couldn't hear, the aide by his side quickly swiping his fingers across the datapad. After a moment, Thrawn turned to the Agent, his hands folded tightly behind his back. "To ease your mind, I do not believe the rebels will attack Lothal again."

"And why shouldn't they?" Kallus scoffed. "Nothing has stopped them in the past."

"Perhaps not..." the Admiral said quietly. "But the painting they left for us spoke of...finality. In time, they will return to Lothal, but not until they are ready to take it from the Empire. It is our duty to destroy them before it comes to that. Now," he said, gesturing to the officers behind him. "My men will assist you in retrieving the information you need to feel secure in your new role so that you may see to the successful defense of Lothal until I am able to return. We have compiled extensive data on your key rebel insurgents that you may use as you please. You will be escorted back to Lothal when you are ready."

"Will I need this information if the rebels do not return?" Kallas asked almost bitterly, and Thrawn slightly inclined his head.

"As I said, the information is available to you if you wish, though I have always found it advisable to arm oneself with knowledge, given the opportunity. Do with it as you wish, Agent Kallus." Without another word, Thrawn turned and walked into his ship, his aide at his side and his guards behind him as he entered an elevator to take him to the most secure depths of the _Chimera_. They were silent for a time, the Chiss and his aide walking slowly through the corridors and quietly dismissing the guard when they came to a door requiring top security clearance that the guard did not have. As soon as they were alone, their already slow pace slowed even further, Eli switching the datapad off and tucking it under his arm.

"Do you not trust the agent?" Eli whispered, despite them being alone, and the Chiss shrugged almost in indifference.

"I have found it unwise to trust desperate men, and Agent Kallus is truly in a desperate situation. He may be foolish enough to waste the trap on Kanan Jarrus."

"And we need it for the Shadow King," Eli said, nodding. "I understand. I just wish there was more we could do."

"In time, Commander," the Chiss said softly. "Perhaps after we apprehend the Nightswan and his insurgency."

"You still think he's hiding something?"

"About the missing doonium, yes..." Thrawn whispered, his brow drawing thoughtfully together. "This secret is a well kept one, and Nightswan has been pursuing the truth long before you and I began seeing the pattern. I should very much like to hear what he has discovered. After he is apprehended, perhaps our pieces and his may be joined to make a completed picture."

"And after that, it's just the Shadow King, right?" Eli asked. "You think this trap will work?"

"It is our best chance, yes," Thrawn whispered, a slight smile on his lips, punching in a secure code on a console beside a locked door. "Of course, it all depends on how testing today goes." The door slid open, and the pair stepped inside the brightly lit, sterile command center, a handful of Imperial scientists working fervently over a workstation and Thrawn passed by them all without a word, stopping before the large, transparisteel divider that separated the lab from the large, empty observation room where the Inquisitor knelt.

The tests had already begun, as per Thrawn's instructions, and a quick glance seemed to confirm all his expectations. The Ninth Brother knelt in the middle of the room, his pale eyes clouded and his expression dazed, the result of the research provided to Thrawn by Governor Tarkin on the interrogation of Kanan Jarrus. The drugs used had been altered and perfected by his team of scientist and only now had they been given the chance to test them. From the look of the man, they appeared to be working.

His lightsaber lay loosely in his hand, the burning red blade hissing as it burned into the floor, his bare chest bloody from superficial cuts, the result of successful tests of Thrawn's new measures against a Force sensitive opponent. The stark white walls of the room were covered in lines of carbon scoring from earlier tests of the creature's abilities, the expected result of blaster fire against an opponent with a lightsaber that knew the Force. But the preliminary testing was over, and it was time to see exactly how well the trap he had built worked.

"Inquisitor," Thrawn said, his finger on the intercom, and the yellow-skinned man shivered and looked up, wavering on his knees and raising his saber slightly. "We are introducing a remote droid into the room," he said, watching as Eli quickly entered the commands into the display, a port on the ground sliding open and admitting the spherical droid, the device floating in the air as the basic systems scanned the surroundings. "I would like you to use the Force to destroy it, Inquisitor."

The Ninth Brother made no response save for the soft groan of acknowledgment in his chest as he staggered to his feet, swaying as his lightsaber deactivated and dropped from his hand, clanging as it struck the floor. His eyes closed as he breathed deeply, jaw clenched and shaking his head to clear the fog in his mind, and reaching out with his hand toward the droid, he tightened his fingers as if he was grasping the droid in his hand. For a moment, the droid shuddered, falling in elevation slightly as invisible pressure pressed down upon it, the Inquisitor shaking as he strained to hold the droid, and with a spasm of his fingers, the droid took off into the air, spinning and floating as it returned to scanning the area, free of the grasp of the Inquisitor and quickly scanning the man when he howled in outrage and dropped back to his knees.

"Inquisitor," Thrawn said again on the intercom, "please destroy the droid." With a frustrated scream, the Inquisitor reached out for his fallen lightsaber, the hilt scraping on the ground as it vibrated, but the weapon didn't heed the call of its master. Baring his sharpened teeth, the Inquisitor crawled the short distance to the weapon and snatched it from the ground, switching it on and throwing the spinning weapon with practiced precision, the weapon slicing through the droid and the two hemispheres falling to the ground.

"Inquisitor," Thrawn said evenly into the intercom. "We are deploying another remote droid. Please destroy this one with the Force, not your lightsaber."

" _I can't_ ," the Ninth Brother snapped, his hazy pale eyes struggling to follow the remote droid as it floated through the room, his jaw clenched in useless anger, and a faint smile touched Thrawn's lips, Eli, leaning forward closer to the glass to observe the creature. He was still dangerous, no doubt, but as Thrawn predicted, his ability to touch the Force had been disrupted, if not blocked entirely. The research provided by the Jedi's interrogation was proving to be more useful than anticipated.

"Very well..." Thrawn said into the intercom. "We are activating the droid's security settings. Please take the appropriate measures to defend yourself." With a few taps of his finger on the controls, the spherical droid began shooting at the Inquisitor, the red blade spinning furiously and deflecting the bolts as the remote droid fired them. Most were struck away, the rapidly spinning blade catching nearly all of the shots and sending them burning randomly into walls and the observation glass and the floor, but occasionally, a bolt got past the saber, the weakened charge striking him in the arms, the legs, the chest until the furious man managed to bring the remote droid down. Without hesitation, Thrawn's fingers tapped the console, and access doors on the side of the room hissed open, allowing six sentry droids to step into the room, blasters primed and ready in their hands as they began to shoot at the Inquisitor.

"He's doing better than I expected..." Eli muttered, slight concern in his voice as he looked at the Chiss' impassioned face. "Is this even working?"

"It is, Commander..." Thrawn whispered, his eyes staring transfixed at the Inquisitor as he fought the droids, hissing and snarling in pain as plasma bolts from every direction grazed his skin, leaving burning welts where he was struck, far too many to deflect them all. Still, despite the pain, he pushed on, his spinning blade slicing through the droids as he got near.

"It doesn't look like it's working," Eli said, wincing as the man destroyed another droid. "The Shadow King's gonna be stronger than him. If the Inquisitor is doing as well as he is, than the Shadow King's certainly going to do better."

"Yes," Thrawn agreed. "No doubt he will be extremely dangerous. We are neutralizing the battleground by removing the Force as a factor, but he still has training, a strategical mind, and a wealth of experience to draw upon. Such things are not to be discounted simply because he does not have access to the Force." Thrawn tapped his fingers on the controls as soon as the droids were destroyed, releasing six more into the arena, and the Inquisitor immediately began attacking them before they could start firing. "However, the Force is an unpredictable variable that allows the clever practitioner to turn a disadvantage into an advantage and a defeat into a victory. Do not underestimate the devastation of losing such an advantage."

The droids opened fire, the red lightsaber thrumming and hissing as it spun to deflect the new barrage, but this time, the Inquisitor howled in pain, the plasma rounds usually fired gone and replaced with heavy metal rounds that stayed their course, superheating or melting as they came in contact with the lightsaber, but never altering their course, leaving the pale yellow skin to be struck and splattered by molten iron and steel. For a while, he stood, attempted to fight back, but the surrounding droids became too much, and he was quickly subdued, dropping to his knees when his movements became inexplicably slow and sluggish, like his limbs were suddenly heavy and his mind dulled. When he dropped his lightsaber, the droids moved in and restrained the sedated creature.

Eli gasped and put his hand on the glass, looking carefully at the Inquisitor as he understood the trap that had been so carefully built. He glanced sidelong at the Chiss as he quickly jotted down observation notes into the console, and after speaking briefly to a scientist and a medic, ordering them to return the Inquisitor to full health and reward him for his cooperation, Thrawn left the room, Eli quickly following. It was genius, as were most of the Admiral's plans, and for the first time since this whole thing began, Eli saw the end gleaming before them, their victory within their grasp. All they had to do was reach out and-

"A well made trap does not mean the desired prey will be captured, Commander," Thrawn said in a light, bemused voice, and Eli looked at the Admiral with a displeased frown on his face. It was like the Chiss could read his mind from his expressions. "A great deal may still go wrong. Many things may alert him to the nature of the trap, and thus far, he has largely known exactly what he was walking into. Our opponent is clever, and an intelligent predator knows how to observe and assess. Capturing him will not be easy, even with the trap we have created."

"We just need to find the right bait, right?" Eli asked, and the Admiral nodded.

"The right bait administered at the right time," Thrawn quietly corrected. "We have the bait, but the moment is not opportune. It is too soon after his assaults on Lothal. He will be too on guard for the trap to be successfully baited." Thrawn's lips pressed together, his eyes falling thoughtfully to the ground. "No, we must wait. There is still information I should like to acquire before he has been caught that will help inform me exactly what is to be done with him once he is in my possession."

"Aren't we going to turn him over to the Emperor?" Eli asked, though the apprehension he felt as soon as he said it. The Shadow King was a dangerous threat to the security of the Empire and he was almost certainly going to be executed for his crimes, but a recent mission to the secret Baklek Base had led them to the discovery of Imperial sanctioned slavery of Wookies captured from Kashyyyk, and it left both Commander Vanto and Thrawn with a bad taste in their mouth. As if a major secret military project wasn't enough, the idea that it was being built on the backs of slaves as Thrawn surmised was somehow worse.

"Perhaps..." Thrawn said slowly. "He is far too dangerous to be put to use for the Empire, so I should think his execution is an inevitable outcome, after he has been extensively interrogated. I should like to run my own interrogation of him first, if at all possible. I feel I may have a better chance of gleaning information out of him."

"Information about what?" Eli asked reflexively, and took a sharp breath when he realized what just after he had asked. "You think he knows something about the project?"

"I find it far less believable that he knows nothing," the Chiss said. "I would be very interested to hear what he has to say on the matter."

"You think he'll talk to you about it?"

"I know he will. We have something of a correspondence already. His artwork on Lothal has made the next move mine. I should hate to disappoint him." Eli sighed and shook his head.

"Looks like love to me," Eli said with a sly smirk on his face, the playful jab earning a short, amused scoff from the Chiss. "You think he's connected to Nightswan?"

"Possibly, but I find it unlikely," Thrawn said quickly. "Nightswan is clever, to be sure, but his activities are that of a rebel. The Shadow King is _not_ a rebel, he is a usurper."

"The Lothal rebels are rebels..." Eli said, and Thrawn's eyes drifted to the ceiling in thought.

"Yes, but they also have a commonality in the Force, and while it is certainly possible that Nightswan has the gift as well, I find it unlikely." He shrugged, his pace quickening as he pulled himself out of his thoughts. "I shall have to ask Nightswan when I apprehend him. Ut for now, Commander Vanto, while we wait for the right moment to bait our trap, we have a message to send to the Shadow King."

"You think that's a good idea to keep leading hm on like this, sir?" Eli asked cautiously. "We're drawing him closer each time you contact him, and if your trap isn't ready, he might come looking for you to make good on this flirtation you have going with him, and I _really_ don't think this is the sort of suitor you want coming to call."

"Isn't it?" Thrawn asked quietly. "The sort with potentially every answer I seek. Not only is he involved with a particularly large and troublesome rebel cell, but he may very well have information on the Empire's secret project. No, Commander Vanto, this is _exactly_ the sort of man we want drawn to us. I dislike wasting resources, and the Shadow King is a valuable one."

"I don't think the Empire would agree..."

"Perhaps not..." Thrawn said, his voice hardening. "But I do not believe you were comfortable about the discovery that the Empire is engaging in slavery."

"No, I wasn't," Eli quickly offered. "Were you?" Thrawn was silent for a moment, his pace slowing again until he stopped in the hallway, his hand stroking his chin and his eyes distant.

"If we conformed to every idea and every belief the Empire provides us with, we would be no better than the droids we program to serve," Thrawn said slowly. "It is our duty to think critically, or the Empire will never progress. We must adapt to changes and new information, or we simple become a drain on our resources instead of a resource ourselves. To this end, our enemies hold unique value to us, and I will not waste the ability to glean information from them simply because the Empire believes they are good for nothing but execution."

"I understand..." Eli said. "I just think we should be careful."

"And we will be," Thrawn assured him. "While we wait for the right moment to set our trap, we shall continue to learn what we can. Come. We have to decide what to send the Shadow King. We have a unique opportunity to learn a bit of what he does. I should hate to waste it."


	36. The Immortals

**AN:** **TA DA! updated! Had some extra time with a long weekend, so I updated both the things I'm working on! The downside is that I'm still working a forty hour work week in the span of three days, so...don't expect an update until Friday or Saturday. But mostly Saturday, I think. Or maybe even Sunday. Next chapter is one a lot of you have been waiting for, so I gotta put the time in, you see. It's important to do it right!**

 **If you're itching for stuff to tide you over and you aren't reading Blood of Mandalore, you could read that. Or not. Or you could go outside. It's hot as hell here, but maybe it's nice where you live! Enjoy, my lovelies! A lot happens here!**

 _Chapter 36: The Immortals_

"I can't even _look_ at you!" Obi-Wan snarled as he furiously paced, his eyes fixed firmly on the ground before him and his chest tight as he struggled to quell the Dark Side, the savage beast roaring as it thrashed so violently, the Sith Lord thought he'd be pulled to the ground, that he would lose the chains and the beast would take him over. It wasn't angry, or warning, it was _terrified_ , the darkness of the Force scrambling to get away from the threat before him. He'd rather face Sidious. He'd rather face _two_ Sidious' than deal with this nonsense.

" _I can't even look at you_!" he shouted this time, his eyes closed and his voice carrying across the swampy water to the other mass of soft land where a small, green creature sat calmly upon a stump. He was _amused_ , mocking him with his very presence, Obi-Wan could _feel it_ , and though his hate grew with each passing moment, it never took hold, fleeing instead with the Dark Side as it tried to escape his stubborn grasp.

"Over here, you must be, Obi-Wan," Yoda called to him, the Sith Lord cringing as the light, raspy voice carried across the water, the tiny creature's hand gesturing in a sweeping gesture to the people gathered behind him. "Here, the party is. Invited, you are."

"Letting you learn from Qui-Gon was a _mistake_!" Kenobi snapped, but the ancient Jedi just chuckled, brandishing his stick in the air.

"Permission, I did not need," Yoda corrected. "Free, Qui-Gon is. Control him, you do not."

"I should have killed him!" Obi-Wan shouted, opening his eyes and looking toward the Jedi, only to quickly shut his eyes and hiss with pain as blinding, searing light penetrated the Force and his vision. "I should have killed him on Geonosis back when I sill had the chance, before he had the chance to spread this...this _ridiculous_ affliction!" At a loss of what to do, the Sith Lord stomped his foot petulantly upon the ground. " _I should have killed him_!"

" _Now, now, Obi-Wan_ ," the calm, soothing voice of his former Master echoed around him, and Obi-Wan _cringed_. " _There's no need for talk like that. I may be dead, but I have feelings too, you know_."

"You are not nearly dead enough!" he snapped, reeling on the Force spirit beside him, the soft blue glow of the spirit a calming, soothing presence to everyone but the Lord of the Sith. "Apparently, ghosts can still spread _diseases_ ,"Obi-Wan said, pointing the hilt of his lightsaber at the indifferent ghost. "If I hadn't been such a sentimental idiot, I would have killed you and Skywalker instead of getting off on watching you break. Without Skywalker, there would be no cause for me to leave Mandalore, no chance for Maul to burn the city and murder my family! If I just _killed you_ , I'd have Satine, the galaxy would be mine, Sidious would be dead, there would be peace under the Dark Side and the rule of the Sith, and I'd have _children_! A whole _mess_ of children!" Obi-Wan sighed heavily as he ran his fingers though his hair. "And what do we have instead?" he asked, looking pointedly at the spirit. " _Space ghost herpes_."

" _None of this bothered you when you needed someone to watch your kids_ ," Qui-Gon said dryly, his arms crossed over his chest and watching the Sith as he returned to his pacing. " _What I have done only bothers you when you don't like what I do with my immortality. You don't see my pitching a fit worthy of the most disagreeable toddler whenever you do something awful with your eternal youth_."

"What are you talking about?! You are _constantly_ getting in my face when you don't agree with my more questionable behavior, which, _by the way_ , is my right to do since I have the power to do it!"

" _Sweet Force, you recognize it as questionable now_?" Qui-Gon said, his eyes wide as he stared at the suddenly furious Sith, the red blade activating in his hand. " _This is an improvement, I have always said there is a conscience somewhere beneath all that evil_!"

With a deep, ferocious shout made up of years and years of anger and resentment, the Sith Lord swung his lightsaber swiftly through the air and slashed at the spirit, the cuts passing harmlessly through the ghost as he sighed and shook his head, the furious Obi-Wan growing more and more wrathful with each strike. From the opposite bank, the Spectres stood and watched the red blade as it arched through the air, bloody trails cutting around the Sith Lord as he attacked the pale blue of the Force spirit, a thing that only the two Force sensitives could see, a second blade quickly joining the first, adding slashes of black to bleeding red.

After saving Minister Tua from Lothal, they had made a quick stop to an unidentified ship to drop the Minister off, a thing the Spectres were not permitted to do, and when Kenobi returned, he locked himself in the cockpit with Hera without a single word to the others in regards to where they were going. They had no idea what was going on, as was the standard when Kenobi was involved, and dutiful Hera wasn't saying anything either, ever the one to understand the need for secrecy to protect the rebellion.

So when they landed on the unsettled swamp to find the small, wizened figure of Jedi Grandmaster Yoda, very, very much alive and exactly as Kanan remembered him, the Jedi had something of a freak out, a weak-kneed moment that had him on the ground clinging to the little creature's robes in relief, a thing that was permitted for only a short time before Yoda's stick connected with his head. To knock the sense into him, the Master had said, reminding the Jedi that they had met before on the Temple of Lothal, though Kanan insisted that the incident was part of a hallucination caused by breathing in the decomposed dust of dead Jedi. It better explained what was happening than the little Master throwing his consciousness halfway across the galaxy.

Ahsoka, though, was nowhere to be found, nor were the Gemini agents, the three said to be off training together while they waited. That would have all been fine had Kenobi not stepped off the ship and immediately started to hiss curses at nothing in particular, the Sith Lord running almost over the water of the swamp to reach a cave tucked behind a pair of massive trees covered in thick, ropy vines. It was weird, especially given how the man had come to see Yoda, and now not only staunchly refused to go near him, but according to Sabine, was suffering from hallucinations brought on by humid swamp air as he furiously slashed away at nothing at all.

"Maybe," Zeb quietly mused, "a bug crawled into his brain and it's making him more insane than usual, and the only way to save him is to cut the bug out of his head."

"I already told you, Zeb," Sabine said as she checked to make sure her helmet was secure. "It's the _swamp gas_. Damn stuff messes with your brain. Why else do you think this planet is inhabited only by that crazy old guy, huh?" She crossed her arms and nodded knowingly. " _Swamp gas_. You should all put your breathers on, it's affecting him faster because his brain's already addled."

"Yeah," Zeb agreed, leaning in and smirking at the girl. "Addled by the _brain bugs_."

"Or maybe he's just fighting his inner demons," Hera said, her eyes on the datapad on her hands and completely uninterested in the madness of their most volatile companion. "Kanan said this place is exceptionally strong in the Force, maybe it's making him confront the past evil he's done."

"Yeah right!" Zeb said, laughing loudly and patting the Twi'lek on the back hard enough to make her lose her lose her grip on the datapad, the woman fumbling it for a moment before she managed to catch it, and she shot the impervious Lasat a glare. "Like that could _ever_ happen."

"It _could_ ," Hera insisted. "Anyone can change their ways, anyone can find redemption of they are willing to do the work to actually seek it out."

"And that involves...fighting the air?" Sabine asked, pointing to the Sith Lord across the way as he shouted and cursed in four different languages, electricity flying from his fingertips as he slashed the air. "That's crazy, Hera."

"It's far more likely than _brain bugs_!" the Twi'lek stressed, lightly punching Kanan on the arm. "Tell them, dear."

"I told you why already..." the Jedi groaned, running his hand over his face. "There's a Force ghost talking to him, and I _guess_ he pissed our darling Sith Lord off. Does anyone listen when I talk?"

"No," Sabine said quickly. "Probably because that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. You know, this is why the Mandalorians kill Jedi, because of all the creepy space magic. It just doesn't make any sense."

"Mysterious, the Force is," the small, raspy voice said from behind them, and the spectres turned to look down at the tiny Jedi Master as he hobbled up, Kanan kneeling respectfully to bring himself closer to Yoda's level. "But blame the Force, you cannot, for the hatred of your people for the Jedi." His ears lowered, his mouth in a thin line as he looked up at the Mandalorian. "More complicated, it is."

"...w-well the space magic doesn't help!" Sabine said, crossing her arms over her chest almost petulantly, and the Grandmaster smiled warmly at her, his large eyes drifting over the assembled group and feeling them all through the Force. His ears perked up when his eyes fell on Zeb, the Lasat's gaze averted, his clawed hand scratching the back of his neck, his ears flat against his head. When he saw the tiny creature looking at him, Zeb balked and quickly stood at attention.

"Something wrong, Zeb?" Kanan asked, and the Lasat laughed nervously, his shoulders slumping a bit.

"I don't know, Kanan..." he said sheepishly. "You _sure_ this guy is a Jedi Master?"

"Positive," Kanan said with a confidence that left no room for doubt. "This isn't just any Jedi Master, he's _the_ Jedi Master. One of the greatest the galaxy has ever known."

"Yeah, I know you _said_ that..." Zeb said hesitantly. "I just thought he'd be...well... _bigger_ , you know?" Zeb asked, gesturing with his hands to convey the hugeness of the warrior in his mind. "Kenobi's rancor's named Yoda, I thought he'd be _at least_ that big! Or that strong. Or have teeth that sharp." He stopped and looked down at the kind, diminutive old creature. "You don't happen to eat stormtroopers, do you?" When Yoda shook his head, Zeb sighed heavily. "I suppose it was too much to hope for."

"In jest, was the rancor named," Yoda quietly explained, putting his weight on his stick as he drew up taller. "But turned on Obi-Wan, it was. Strong, the beast is, but gentle, as well, is he. A compliment, the names is. Not an insult."

"I don't know, the rancor's just so... _big_! And bitey! And you're so..." Zeb extended his palm toward the ground toward Yoda's head, the Lasat's palm not even touching the little green creature. "You're just so _small_."

"Think me small, do you?" Yoda asked, poking the Lasat in the stomach with his stick. "Think strength there is in size?"

"W-well, yeah," Zeb scoffed, laughing awkwardly and looking at the other Spectres for support, only to find Kanan shaking his head in dismay.

"Now you've gone and done it, buddy..." Kanan sighed, patting the Lasat on the back before he stepped away, taking Hera's hand and pulling her back with him, the two teenagers following suit. "Good luck, Zeb."

"Kanan, _come on_! What could he possibly-" A sharp, startled cry was torn out of Zeb when he was suddenly lifted into the air by his feet with the Force and gently shook, the bo-rifle falling off his back and ammunition and wrapped packages of snacks stolen from the _Ghost_ 's stores falling on to the ground.

"Size. Matters. _Not_ ," Yoda said, punctuating each word with a sharp rap to the Lasat's nose with his stick. "Small, I am, but friends, I am, with the Force. Strong, it makes me, yes?" he asked, chuckling softly when he released the squirming Lasat and Zeb dropped unceremoniously to the ground. Shuffling before the groaning creature, Yoda held up his hand, one of the stolen snacks floating to his three fingered grasp. "Asked Obi-Wan for these, I did, when lest he was here," he muttered. "Deliver them, he did not." Yoda carefully unwrapped the packet and took a small bite from the crumbling treat, the Master closing his eyes as he throughly chewed. "Like these, I do."

"Hey, Kanan?" Ezra asked, standing closer to the man and watching with a grin on his face as Zeb staggered to his feet and quickly backed away from the tiny Jedi. "No offense, but I want to be trained by _him_."

"I think we all do, Ezra," Kanan said, watching as Cody came out of the _Ghost_ , the Chiss right beside him and a pack slung over his shoulder, the clone slowly sauntering over to the group, looking them over quickly before glancing over to where Obi-Wan stood in the distance, appearing to shout at a tree while brandishing his red saber, the blade crackling with lightning.

"He still at it?" Cody asked, and Yoda quietly grunted.

"Difficult, it is, for him to be here."

"He's just too sober to deal with you the way he needs to," the clone said, patting the pack at his side. "Don't worry, I'm going to see to that."

"I don't understand," Hera said forcefully, mild irritation in her voice. "He _wanted_ to come here to consult with you, why is he doing this! It's wasting time we could be spending doing something _actually_ productive, and instead, he's fighting the _air_."

"No, he's fighting his Ghost Dad," Cody said casually, the Twi'lek looking at him like he was as insane as the Sith Lord, and Cody rolled his eyes. "Look, I can't see him either, but the spirit of his former Jedi Master sort of...haunts him. This happens more than you think, Qui-Gon is around _a lot_."

Hera quickly reeled on Kanan, the man stepping back and his hands raised in surrender when it looked like she might yell at him. "You mean to tell me that Obi-Wan is _actually_ doing battle with a _ghost_?!"

" _Well_..." Kanan shrugged, looking over his shoulder toward the Sith Lord and the calm, collected spirit. "He can't hurt a spirit, so it's more... _aggressive conversation_." Hera smacked her forehead, her lekku squirming in her agitation.

"He ran off as soon as we landed, if he didn't want to do this-"

"Painful, for Obi-Wan, this is," Yoda explained, his hand raised and projecting calm thought the Force, and immediately, Hera felt her anger fade. "A creature of darkness, Obi-Wan is. Walked the dark path, he has, for many years. Forgotten, he had, the touch of the light. Painful, it has become. Burned, he is. Suffering, there is, in the Light Side of the Force, for Obi-Wan."

"He's known you for a long time," Kanan slowly ventured. "He must have known what would be waiting for him here, but he sure as hell didn't seem like it." A small, enigmatic smile crossed the tiny Jedi's thin lips, and he lightly tapped Kanan on the shin, but said nothing more. The Spectres didn't entirely understand what was going on, but Cody certainly did, his eyes widening as he stared at the little Jedi.

"You've got to be shitting me, _really_?" the clone asked, and the soft, peaceful look on Yoda's face was all he needed. " _Shit_."

"Bad news?" Hera asked quickly, her eyes wide and worried, and Cody shook his head.

"No, no, not bad..." the clone muttered, quickly reaching out and grabbing hold of the Chiss' arm. "To sum up in terms you'll understand, we came out of hyperspace, and there's a sun where there wasn't one before, and we're asking our little Lord of Darkness over there to jump in."

"...he gonna be alright?" Kanan asked quietly, and the clone swallowed hard, his grip on the Chiss tightening.

"I-I don't know," he muttered. "I don't know, yeah, _probably_. He's endured more than you know, a few burns aren't going to kill him." He quickly pointed to Yoda as he started to head toward the Sith Lord. "Don't do anything until Ahsoka comes back." Yoda silently nodded and sat on the ground, his legs crossed and his eyes closed as he slipped into a light meditation, reaching out carefully toward the Sith Lord to find him closed and guarded and quickly looking away from the blinding light, struggling to keep the Dark Side close to him as it roared and screeched and thrashed in its attempt to flee from the light, as all shadow must.

"Watch your step," Cody muttered, taking the Chiss' hand as they waded into the swampy water. "The trees have their root systems running through the water, so just...be careful." She squeezed his hand, a faint, muted smile on her lips as she looked at the clone with unreadable red eyes, Cody putting up a valiant effort to hide that he was staring. Chiss expressions were difficult to read, everything so subtle and understated, and he wondered if Thrawn would be the same way. It didn't matter, he supposed. Kenobi didn't need to see a face to know the thoughts behind it.

"Is the Master going to be alright?" she asked quietly, her gaze drifting to the Sith Lord as they drew closer, the man panting heavily as he sat huddled in the mouth of the cave, the lightsabers back on his hip and his temper abated for the moment.

"He won't die, if that's what you're asking," Cody grumbled, his hand tightening around the delicate blue one in his grasp. "I won't allow it."

"Do you have that power?" the woman asked, looking up at him with her strange, glowing eyes, and Cody felt his chest swell, his back straighten as he stood up taller.

"Yes," he said confidently. "Yes I do." The clone laughed softly when the Chiss' thin eyebrow arched, her skepticism unmistakable, and he pulled her closer, nearly upsetting her balance in the knee-high water, and placed a kiss on the top of her head. "Like the Jedi said, he's a creature of the night, and the sun just came up. He's just irritable because he can't see."

"I am _not_ just irritable!" Obi-Wan irritably snapped from where he sat huddled in the mouth of the cave, a devious smirk spreading across Cody's face as he and the Chiss stepped up from the water. "All of this, _all of this_ would be easier if I weren't haunted by a _kriffing ghost_!" he shouted again, his eyes darting to the trunk of the nearby tree where Cody knew the spirit must have been, though he could see nothing himself. "Stupid, _foolish_ Jedi filth, what right have you to judge me when this is _your doing_?!"

"Aw, does the baby need a nap?" Cody said mockingly, his smirk growing wider when burning gold eyes slowly turned on him. "Did the big, bad Jedi hurt your itty bitty feelings?"

"This isn't a joke, Cody!" the Sith Lord gasped in exasperation, his fingers running through his hair as he strained his already flagging patience. "Qui-Gon's up and spread his ghost plague! I can't even _look_ at the wretch anymore, and while I would usually be _eternally_ grateful to have an excuse to avoid this place, I need that little shit! I've been through this before with Qui-Gon, but this is _much_ worse because Yoda is _exponentially_ stronger than Qui-Gon ever was!" The Sith Lord laughed, high and almost frantic, his glowing eyes wide and wild like he was struggling for control, not to keep the sharp claws of the Dark Side from sinking into him, but to keep his coveted power close to him when it yearned to flee, a man grasping at shadows in an attempt to prolong the night in the face of dawn.

"Oh, suck it up, you big baby..." Cody said with a roll of his eyes, reaching into the bag at his side and taking out an unopened bottle of strong liquor and tossing it to the Sith Lord. "You can whine about your problems like a little bitch, or you can deal with your problems like a real man and drink them all away." With a heavy sigh of relief, Obi-Wan opened the bottle and took a long, deep drink from it, pushing past the burn as the liquid slid down his throat. Savoring the taste for a moment, the Sith opened his eyes, quietly looking over the clone and the CHiss, and a slow, hungry grin spread across his face as he beaconed for the woman.

"Vacosetahn sah csah, en'tisan'sasi'at, come here, baby..." The woman obediently did as she was told, sinking to her knees beside him and crawling into his lap when his fingers gently hooked under her chin, drawing them close enough for the Sith Lord to fiercely claim her lips, a ferocious hunger within him that the gentle touch of his hand failed to convey. With his arm snaking around her waist, she fell against him, the taste of the fine alcohol on his tongue and the tension in his body fading into nothing as her hands pet and stroked the tight, scarred muscles.

"Don't get too carried away there, boss," Cody said, groaning as he sat beside the man and took a quick drink from the open bottle. "The kids will be back soon, and I don't think we should be giving Leia any ideas, she's trouble enough as it is."

"Yes, well, Bail doesn't seem to think so..." Kenobi muttered, threading his fingers through the Chiss' fine blue-black hair as she nuzzled his neck. "When I met with him today, he told me she's been a _perfect_ angel."

"Damn, she must _really_ hate you if she's willing to spare Bail her mischief," Cody snorted, taking another drink from the bottle when Kenobi glared at him. "That, or she's got him completely fooled."

"That sneaky, devious little slut..." Obi-Wan growled under his breath, snatching the bottle from Cody and taking a long drink. "Never tell that little reprobate that she makes her father proud."

"Wouldn't dream of it." The small, relaxed smile on Cody's lips slowly dropped away as he looked at the Sith Lord, young as he always was, but his eyes were sunken, the fire in them low and just barely burning, the tightness of his jaw the tell-tale sign of him grinding his teeth, a thing he only did under extreme duress. While Obi-Wan's body may have been relaxed due to the work of the woman and the alcohol, it wasn't possible for Kenobi to hide the tension he was feeling from his perceptive companion. "Hey..." the clone whispered, gently nudging the Sith Lord. "Are you going to be alright, brother?"

"Of course I'll be alright, why wouldn't I be?" Obi-Wan said dismissively, the sudden silence making him look at his clone and his chest tightened to see concern in every line of his old friend's face. "I've been through this before with Qui-Gon," he quietly explained. "It's hard to explain what it was like. I couldn't look at him, couldn't feel him in the Force without considerable pain. Like I was _burning_ , Cody, it was like falling into a star." He sighed, tightly grasping the Chiss close to him, a gesture less possessive than driven from a deep need for contact and comfort. "And now I need to do it again, I need to lower my defenses and let it in, and I honestly don't know what's going to happen."

"Could this kill you?"

"I sure as hell hope not, but I don't know." Obi-Wan smiled reassuringly at the clone when he felt the man tense beside him. "Hey, don't worry. This is good. It's _very_ good, as much as I hate it. This could be our key to killing Sidious. If Yoda's very presence is crippling to creatures of the dark, then this could give us the advantage we need."

"It will weaken you as well," Cody cautioned, and the Sith nodded.

"Yes, but maybe I was never meant to kill him," he said, shivering as the memory of the vision flashed through his mind. "Maybe it was always meant to be someone else..."

" _Lumis_!" The voice was clear and strong and Obi-Wan knew it immediately. Ahsoka, which meant his children were not far behind. Quickly untangling himself from the Chiss, Obi-Wan only had the time to stand and take a step outside the cave before two armored Mandalorians went barreling into him, so fast he didn't even see from which direction they approached, and with an unceremonious grunt, the Sith Lord went toppling backwards, wrapped tightly in the embraces of his two twins.

"I'm so glad you're alright, Father," Luke said quietly, a smile on his face as he released the groaning Sith Lord and helped him to his feet, his sister latching one once again the moment Obi-Wan was upright. "We were _very_ worried about you."

"I wasn't," Leia said swiftly, her voice muffled against his chest, a self-satisfied smirk on her face when she finally released him. "I _knew_ you'd be alright, Father."

"Oh, _please_ ," Luke said with a roll of his eyes. "You cried the entire way here!"

"I-I did not!" Leia stammered, her face flushing deep red as her temper flared. "Ugh, you are _awful_ , Luke!"

"The _entire_ way, Father" Luke repeated, the boy smirking triumphantly when his sister petulantly crossed her arms over her chest and stuck out her tongue. Sighing in contentment, Obi-Wan drew them both back into his embrace, much warmer than the vicious tackle he suffered at their hands earlier, and both children's bravado melted away as they clung to their father.

"W-what happened?" Luke carefully ventured. "I almost don't want to know, but-"

"Did you kill him?" came the hard voice of Ahsoka as the Togruta finally caught up to the children, Luke and Leia's helmets tucked under her arms, and both twins tensed in his embrace. "Did you engage Vader, was he there?" When the Sith's eyes grew cold and unfeeling, offended at the presumptuous girl, the Togruta slowly backed off, shaking her head as she began again. "After what you said about your vision, about how Vader was there, I was worried. That wasn't it, was it?"

"...no," Obi-Wan said stiffly, his arms tightening protectively around his fearful children. "No, that...that has yet to pass."

"Did you fight him?" Ahsoka asked again. "Did you face Vader, did you kill him?"

"No."

"...no?" Ahsoka asked after a moment of silence, allowing for the Sith Lord to elaborate, but he did not. "No what? You didn't face him? You didn't kill him?"

"I faced him, yes..." Obi-Wan said softly, closing his eyes and breathing deeply as the twins clung to him. "But no, he is not dead."

"Damn it..." Ahsoka whispered, her hand wrapping around the lightsaber at her waist. "Why?" When the Sith didn't respond, she took a few quick stepped forward, her heart beating faster as she struggled for understanding. " _Why_ , Obi-Wan! Was he powerful? Did you barely escape? Is he stronger than you?!"

" _Ahsoka_!" Obi-Wan snapped, the sudden harshness in his voice stunning the girl into silence, the Togruta slowly backing up as she looked at the terrified children in their father's arms.

"I'm sorry..." Ahsoka muttered apologetically, her eyes downcast. "I'm sorry, that...was insensitive. "I didn't mean...I-I just..." The Togruta growled in irritation, her hands grasping her montrails as she began pacing. "When I think about what he did to my Master, h-how he could do what he did to _Quinlan_ -"

"I _know_ , Ahsoka..." Obi-Wan said, slowly releasing the twins when Cody took their hands and the Sith grabbed hold of the frustrated Fulcrum as she paced by, pulling the squirming woman into a reluctant but much needed hug. "More than anyone else, I know..."

"I want justice done, Kenobi," Ahsoka whispered. "For Master Plo and Master Quinlan and Ventress and all the children that died in the Temple that day, I want _justice_!" She took a deep breath and relaxed against the man that held her, her eyes closed as she pushed aside the memory of the night Quinlan Vos died to save her and the message she carried, a small but vital part of the plan to save what Jedi they could when Darth Sidious sprung his trap. "Did you at least learn something about him? Did you gather what intel you could on your enemy for next time?"

"Oh yes."

"Did you at least get a little revenge on that monster?" she asked, and the Sith scoffed.

"More than a little," he said, kissing her cheek and releasing her. "Next time, you'll be with me. We'll get revenge for Quin together."

"What happened, Father?" Leia asked, the girl reaching out to take hold of her brother's hand, the two children glued to Cody's side. "You...fought _him_ , right? W-what was it like? What was _he_ like?"

"Weaker than he should be..." Kenobi muttered almost bitterly, and he could instantly feel the burning need from Ahsoka, the touch of fear in Leia, the tug of hope in Luke. "That's not to say he's _weak_ ," he quickly corrected. "This is still Anakin Skywalker we're talking about, and changed as he may be, he is still _extremely_ dangerous. Kanan says he was forced to engage him for a moment, and he threw Kanan around like he was nothing. My assertion still stands. If you see him, you _run_ , because if you stand and fight, you will die."

"But _you_ won," Leia quietly asserted. " _How_? Father, please, he's..." She stopped, biting down on her lip in frustration, and Obi-Wan could feel his chest tighten. " _Please_ ," Leia begged once again. "How did you win? What did you learn. What...what was he like?" Both twins looked at him expectantly, their eyes wide and fearful, both so scared of the man they had hidden from their entire lives, and Obi-Wan's first instinct was to lie to them, to cut the story short, to shield them from what had become of the man that had fathered them, though they knew well the story of his fall and his ultimate defeat on Mustafar. This was different, however. This wasn't a story from the past, the vivid, distant fear of a monster from their childhood. This was _now_ , Darth Vader closer than he had ever been to them, and they were terrified.

The path forward was immediately clear, despite his desire to shield them. Obi-Wan had always told his children the truth, and that wasn't about to change now. He took a deep breath, his eyes looking out over the swamp, and with a gesture, Luke and Leia's helmets floated to his grasp from where Ahsoka had placed them, and Obi-Wan very gently placed them on his children's heads when he saw the Spectres slowly approaching, moving faster once they saw Obi-Wan gesture for them to come over. So long as he was telling Luke and Leia about what had become of their father, he may as well tell Kanan about the fate of the Jedi Order's best and brightest.

"Darth Vader," he began when they had settled just outside the cave, the Sith Lord standing in the mouth of it and breathing in the heavy darkness of the Dark Side vergence within, thinner now in light of Yoda's transformation. "Darth Vader is a cybernetic construct, the result of our first duel on Mustafar at the end of the Clone Wars. So far as I can tell, he is essentially a torso on mechanical limbs sealed within a suit that doubles as a life support system."

"Anakin Skywalker..." Kanan muttered beside Ahsoka, shaking his head in disbelief. "It's not true, is it? There's no way a Jedi hero could become... _that_!"

"Isn't there?" Obi-Wan said bitterly. "It was before your time, Jarrus, but once, a very, _very_ long time ago, I was a Jedi hero as well." Obi-Wan smirked almost bitterly, a mocking thing filled with contempt. "The _Sith Killer_. The Padawan Slayer, the first Jedi to kill a Sith Lord in over a thousand years...and only a few years later, I was murdering your Master Depa Billaba's helpless sister in the name of the Sith." He rolled his eyes when he felt a flash of betrayal and anger through the Force, a quick and sudden pulse that made the Dark Side flare against the light around them, and Obi-Wan felt strength coursing through him once again, the emboldened Dark Side venturing out from hiding.

"Mind you," Kenobi continued, "I am _still_ the only Jedi to have killed a Sith Lord since the destruction of our order. The one I became famous for killing isn't actually dead, of course, but I killed Count Dooku during the Battle of Coruscant, not Skywalker like the histories say."

" _You_ killed Count Dooku?" Hera asked, and Obi-Wan slowly nodded, a small, sad smile on his lips.

"I did, though not for want of doing it. Darth Tyranus was...my friend, but that wasn't enough to save him from my blade through his heart." He sighed sadly, but didn't elaborate, offered no excuses, and Hera looked at the Sith Lord her crew called friend and couldn't help but wonder if he would turn on them as well were his Dark Side to demand it.

"This doesn't make any sense!" Kanan said almost frantically. "You said Anakin Skywalker was dead, you said you killed him, you said you watched him burn!"

"I _did_ watch him burn," Kenobi growled darkly. "Anakin Skywalker died that night on Mustafar, and Darth Vader rose in his place."

"No," Ahsoka said quietly, her eyes closed, but the woman was clearly distraught. "Anakin was dead before then. He wasn't my friend anymore when he came for me and my Master."

"...there was nothing you could have done, Ahsoka," Obi-Wan said quietly. "There was nothing anyone could have done. Sidious had his sights on him for far too long."

"But _why_ ," the Togruta snarled. "If he had you, _why_."

"There isn't a day that goes by that I don't ask myself that same question," Obi-Wan growled bitterly. "But he traded me for Vader, and for his betrayal, I cut off Skywalker's limbs and burned him in the fires of Mustafar, and now my former Master's little pet is confined to life supporting armor. He is a fraction of the potential he once was, and if our fight is anything to go off of, Sidious _isn't_ training him the way he should be."

"I don't know, he beat me easily enough, Kanan grumbled, and Kenobi rolled his eyes.

" _Of course_ he beat you, Kanan, you were a Padawan when you left the Jedi and you only just picked up training again. A fraction of Vader's power is still far greater than anything you're capable of. Even a small piece of limitless potential isn't anything to take lightly."

"But you beat him," Luke said quietly. "You beat him _twice_."

"The first time, he was a child given a weapon, new to the Dark Side and recklessly drunk with power, and I had just come into Mastery." Slowly, Obi-Wan pulled aside his robes and unbuttoned the top of his silk shirt, exposing the long, deep black scar across his chest. "And he nearly killed me anyway. A fraction closer, and he would have cut through my heart and lungs."

"And this time?" Leia asked. "What happened _this_ time."

"This time," Obi-Wan began slowly, "he is _bigger._ Much bigger. Sidious didn't just save his life, he rebuilt him. He has augmented strength. And despite being diminished, he is _very_ strong in the Force. So strong, so entrenched in the Dark Side that his mere presence freezes the air around him. He doesn't conceal himself like I do, he flaunts the power he has. His lightsaber technique is _savage_ , his strikes brutal and efficient, and what he lacks for mobility, he makes up for precision. You can't clash sabers with him because he is so physically powerful that each strike you intercept will send you off balance."

"It was like he knew exactly what I would do next," Kanan said quietly. "I couldn't get anything past his guard, and he just...threw me like I was nothing at all. His very presence disturbs the Force, I couldn't find my balance at all."

"Of course not, he's had over fifteen years of hard training under Darth Sidious," he warned, his eyes looking at each of those present in turn, each of them fearful and apprehensive. "And it shows. He's greatly changed from his time as Anakin Skywalker, he's something new and fearful, without remorse or pity or mercy. He is hate and fear, and he will find your weaknesses. Even I couldn't get past his defenses, Sidious has trained him specifically to keep me out of his mind, and through the Dark Side, I can usually get in. But not with him."

"Vader's trained to deal with _you_?" Luke gasped, stepping closer to his father, and though he couldn't see the boy's face through the helmet, the concern and fear in his voice and in the Force couldn't go unnoticed. "If he's trained to fight you, how did you win!?"

Obi-Wan was silent for a moment, his finger absently drawing circles in the damp soil, his eyes closed as he relived that fight, the wrathful, hateful screams of his enemy as he lay on the ground in pieces.

"Vader is _broken_ ," Kenobi said slowly. "Sidious may have repaired him, but he did not _fix_ him. As much as that suit is his strength, it is also his weakness. It keeps him living, but it is the life of a slave, his life in exchange for endless pain and restrained potential. The pain fuels his powers in the Dark Side, yes, but it is also limiting him." Obi-Wan shook his head. "But it didn't need to be this way. Sidious could have put him in an armor that enhanced him, improved him, made him stronger and faster than before, and instead, he was given... _this_ ," he said with disgust, flicking his hand in the air. "He was given _weakness_. For as strong as he is, Sidious hasn't trained him the way he should have. He _should_ be stronger. He should be a masterwork by now, a work of art crafted by the hands of a Master. And instead, he is _raw_ , a perfect slab to be sculpted left neglected to erode until the stone is _ruined_."

"You sound almost disappointed," Ahsoka said jokingly, and quickly shut her mouth when the Sith Lord glared at her.

"I _am_ disappointed. This is a disgusting waste. _I_ could have done a better job with him. It's... _pitiful_. Anakin Skywalker, living nexus of the Force, the shining Knight of the Jedi Order, reduced to _this_ , a creature with no weakness save for _Force lightning_ , a crippling flaw that keeps him slaved to Sidious. He so fears another renegade student that he has left this one a shadow of what he could be, left him with a weakness that he could easily exploit should the need ever arise to destroy him." Obi-Wan growled in frustration, running a hand through his hair as he felt the anger coil tight within him, silent and seething in the proximity of such powerful light instead of the thrashing wrath he was accustomed to. "This is _not_ a fitting end to the man that was my rival, my _counterpart_. He...deserves _better_."

"Or maybe it's _exactly_ what he deserved," Leia snapped, her shoulders visibly shaking, and Luke very gently took her hand and pulled her close, the twins huddling together and silently easing each other's fears. This wasn't easy for them. The trust never was, and while Obi-Wan knew they needed to know, that hiding things would only complicate things later when clarity was needed, it did nothing to stop the aching in his chest when he looked on them and saw them as the terrified children they had been inside their poor mother.

"That's how you beat him?" Ahsoka asked quietly. "With Force lightning?"

"Yes." Obi-Wan shrugged. "I also cut off his arms and legs _again_ , so that should please you."

"Oh, it does..." the Togruta drawled. "I suspect his Master won't be pleased. That's humiliating."

"It is, and no doubt Sidious will make him suffer for it," Kenobi said, wincing and hissing and quickly averting his eyes when the Force began burning as the light intensified, and he scooted back inside the cave, trying to keep to the retreating Dark Side. Yoda was coming. "I suspect he'll make some adjustments to the suit," he shouted toward the group. "More durable, harder to break. Hell, if we're _really_ unlucky, he'll find a way to make it resist lightsabers. But that weakness to Force lightning..." Obi-Wan laughed, high and tight and tense, an almost frantic nervousness in his entire being despite his attempts to repress it. " _That_ will always stay, it has to stay, or it defeats the purpose. Sidious means to be the Master forever, he's denying Vader the Apprentice's right to slay him, so he is making it _impossible_ for Vader to kill him."

"Doesn't seem like that's the only way to beat a Sith Lord," Kanan drawled lazily, pointing to Yoda as he slowly hobbled up, and Obi-Wan retreated further into the cave, hissing and cursing at the little creature in Sith as he looked out of the shadows at the group.

"You are breaking the rules of our deal, you little shit!" Kenobi hissed. "Your house is the Light Side, my cave is the Dark Side, get back on your side of the swamp!"

"Lonely, I was," Yoda said lightly, his stick tapping Kanan on the leg, and when the Jedi knelt down, the Grandmaster climbed up on to his back. "Fearful, are you, of the Dark Side, Caleb Dume?" Yoda asked, and Kanan sucked in a sharp breath.

"Yeah, I am," the Jedi said, and Yoda grunted softly, tugging on the man's ponytail.

"Nothing to fear, have you. Show you, I will." His toes tightly gripped Kanan's sides, and with a few sharp taps of his stick, the Jedi rose to his feet, his eyes following Yoda's stick as he pointed it toward Obi-Wan in the shadows of his hiding place. "Come. Go, we must, into the cave."

"Oh, no no no no no no no!" Obi-Wan said frantically, scurrying further into the cave as Kanan and Yoda slowly entered. "You aren't being fair, you are in violation of our treaty! And my rights! And...a-and..." He snarled in frustration, shielding his eyes with one hand and pointing accusingly at Kanan with the other. "There's no way that carrying that little wretch around on your back is part of Jedi training! There's _no way_!"

"Stalling, you are, Obi-Wan," Yoda said firmly, his hand extended toward the Sith Lord as the man quickly retreated, and despite the turbulence in the Force and the power of the thrashing Dark Side around them, Kanan felt _peace_ , no fear in the face of the Sith's wrath because Kenobi couldn't get near them. "Came here for this, you did."

"I didn't know you achieved Qui-Gon levels of irritating!" Obi-Wan shouted back. "That was before I knew, if I had known, I'd have _never_ come here!"

"Fear the light, do you?" Yoda asked as he jumped off of Kanan when Kenobi hit the back of the cave, the man firmly pressing himself against the wall and his eyes squeezed tightly shut.

"Don't insult me, Yoda, I fear _nothing_!" Obi-Wan snapped, his lightsaber quickly flying to his hand and igniting when the tiny creature stepped forward. "No, _stay back_!" When Kanan quickly drew his own saber, the sound of Ezra's igniting behind him along with the sounds of blasters being primed as the Spectres cautiously followed, Yoda quickly put up his hand to stop them. When the weapons lowered, he gestured for Luke and Leia, and the twins quickly rushed forward, but stayed by Yoda's side when he quietly told them to go no closer.

"Help you, your lightsaber cannot," Yoda said soothingly as he took a step back. "Know this, you do. Always known this, have you." They were still for a moment, the tiny Jedi looking up at the Sith Lord who was decidedly not looking at him, and after a moment, the red blade retracted. "Kill you, will this?" Yoda asked kindly, and with a hollow laugh, the Sith Lord slid to the ground, a hand covering his eyes.

"I don't know," he quietly confessed. "I don't know what will happen. All I have are past experiences to go on, and none of it looks good for me. I remember what it was like to touch Qui-Gon's mind after he had achieved..." His hand circled in the air as he grasped for the right word, and decided that there were no words for it. " _This_. It was like burning alive, Yoda, and I couldn't break away. But most of all, I remember _you_." Yoda's ears perked up, his large brown eyes assessing the man before him. "The lesson you taught me on Dathomir, the things I saw happen in that shrine."

"...long ago, that was," Yoda said after a moment.

"Long ago, yes, but that lesson stuck with me forever," Obi-Wan said, his chest spasming with pain when Yoda took a step forward. "You were trying to teach me the power of the light, that no Jedi need fear the Dark Side, and I was never afraid of darkness again after that." He laughed almost cruelly, his eyes opening for a moment before he quickly shut them again. "You were trying to help keep me from falling, but all you did was teach me to be a better Sith."

"Too late, was I," Yoda said sadly. "Fallen, you were already. Nothing to be done, there was. The wrong lesson, you learned."

"Maybe it was the wrong lesson I was _taught_ ," Kenobi sneered, and Yoda sadly looked at the ground.

"Yes..." he quietly rasped. "Failed you, I did."

"...there were spirits in that cave," Obi-Wan said after a moment of tense silence. "They couldn't touch you, they couldn't even get near you, and when you drew one in, it turned from a terrifying warrior into a little girl. It was _helpless_." He took a deep breath, his shoulders shaking slightly, though it didn't go unnoticed by his now fretting children. "Is that what will happen to me?" Yoda was silent, his jaw clenched tightly, and unable to take it anymore, Luke and Leia rushed forward, dropping beside the Sith Lord and tightly hanging on to him, their presence comforting and soothing, and Obi-Wan felt his rapid breathing slow.

"Virt'ne lyteti naile, Tevas. Zhol's bukle kia'buti zemone," Luke whispered, his grasp on the Sith's arm tightening. _Don't be afraid, Father. It's going to be alright_.

"Mes zinot kia zenoti tave prasme iv tu'iea vaizdas," Leia said, kissing the man's cheek, and Obi-Wan felt his chest tighten. _We have to know the meaning of your vision_. "Nu'm liudnas, Tevas, I'm sorry." The Sith's eyes widened, his heart suddenly jumping in his chest when he realized that the twins weren't just easing his frayed nerves, they were restraining him. He began thrashing as Yoda hobbled closer, but the twins would not be dislodged, his hissed curses and demands to be released quickly becoming pleas for it to stop, and that quickly became screams of pain when the Jedi Grandmaster laid his three-fingered hands on the Sith Lord's chest.

The darkness was pierced by sudden blinding light, a star exploding into existence where before there was only the black of night, and Darth Lumis stood his ground, intent on repelling his luminous intruder, his eyes wild and blood red with the screaming power of the Dark Side that he forced to his side, the beast bleeding and thrashing as it struggled to flee, but the Sith Lord would not allow it. Grasping tightly the chains of the savage beast at his side, he shut his eyes and faced the raging heat, slowly circling the point of light and keeping to the shadows, looking for a weakness, for something, _anything_ to allow him to repel the Jedi from his mind.

"Obi-Wan," Yoda said gently, reaching out toward the raging Sith Lord. "Show me your vision, you must."

"And let you in?!" the Sith hissed, his voice deep and fierce and clearly not his own, the dark timbre of the Force accenting his words. "I saw what you did to the spirits of my Sith brethren, I will not allow this!"

"Difficult, you are being," Yoda said tiredly. "Speaking, the Dark Side is. Not you, Obi-Wan." He shuffled closer, the Sith sputtering and hissing and backing away to keep in the shadows. "The vision. Show me." When the Sith Lord spat curses at the Jedi, Yoda sighed and extended his hand. "Rooted in the light, you are, Obi-Wan, through love for your children. Destroy you, this will not."

" _Lies_!"

"Force you, I will," the Jedi warned. "Your last chance, this is." When the Sith Lord extended his hand and shot lightning at the Jedi, Yoda leapt up into the air toward him, Lumis howling in pain as the Jedi drew closer, and when he tried to run, Yoda grabbed his leg with the Force and pulled, the Sith screaming as his fingers dug into the ground in an attempt to keep himself from being puled into the light. Slowly, Obi-Wan was pulled toward the Jedi Grandmaster, smoke rising from his body as the light burned him, the darkness rushing back toward the shadows where the light could not touch. Lumis screamed, thrashing and hissing against the light as he burned, slowly growing still as his strength began to fade.

Yoda hobbled toward Obi-Wan when he stopped moving, his screams faded to quiet whimpers and gently ran his hand through his hair, the creature left behind after the darkness had fled an emaciated, miserable thing, small and neglected with skin so paper thin his bones could be seen beneath atrophied muscles. He was _young_ , younger than the eternally young Darth Lumis, no older than eighteen, his sunken eyes a light, brilliant blue, and despite the poor state of the boy, Yoda couldn't help but smile. As Qui-Gon had always said, there was light still in his wayward student, a thing born from the love he felt for his children, as was made apparent when the soothing voices of Luke and Leia began to echo around them, the leftovers of Obi-Wan gasping and coughing and reaching a skeletal hand up in response to the twins.

"Obi-Wan." Wide, frightened blue eyes shot to the Jedi Master, his face kind and understanding, and with a groan, Kenobi tried to push himself to his knees, but lacked the strength to do so.

"I feel so weak," Kenobi said in a thin whisper. "Why am I so weak..."

"A creature of the dark, you are, Obi-Wan," Yoda calmly explained, stroking the back of his hand when the man grasped the Jedi's in a feeble grasp. "Weakened, you have been, in the presence of the light. Return to you, the Dark Side will, when gone from you, I am." The old Master smiled gently when very slowly, the images of Luke and Leia appeared beside their father, the twins carefully helping the neglected spirit to his feet. "But a strong anchor in the light, you have. Destroy you, the light cannot, so long as your love, you hold close."

"Oh!" Luke gasped, wrapping his arm around his father's waist and leaning in toward his sister. "Leia, we need to get Father a _girlfriend_!"

With a groan, Leia rolled her eyes. "You idiot, he's talking about _us_!"

"...I have to admit, that's a lot more disappointing," Luke muttered, Yoda softly chuckling as he shuffled toward the Sith Lord, a small smile on his lips as he looked into the blue eyes he had known so well when Kenobi was a Padawan.

"It's you, Yoda," Obi-Wan whispered in a thin, weak voice. "Force, it's _you_. With this power, you can destroy Darth Sidious. The Dark Side can't _touch_ you, you drive it away, you can weaken him, you can rob him of his powers!"

"Afraid of Darth Sidious, are you?" Yoda asked, and Obi-Wan laughed weakly as he shook his head.

"You know I'm not."

"But fear your vision, you do." It was a statement, not a question, the gaze of the Jedi filled with sympathy and understanding that make Kenobi's chest ache. "Believe you cannot kill him, you do. Believe failure, you will have."

"...y-yes."

Yoda nodded and stepped closer to the shaking man, gesturing to the twins to help him kneel, and when Obi-Wan was on level with him, Yoda laid a hand on his cheek. "Show me."

Obi-Wan closed his eyes, and their surroundings immediately began to change, the turbulent storm of the Dark Side outside Yoda's protective bubble shifting and changing, the savage, feral beasts becoming shadows, though their glowing yellow eyes still appeared to glare at them from the darkness. The swirling, living shadows twisted and writhed, giving shape to dark room lit with red light, the shadowy figures of Maul and Vader standing behind Darth Sidious as he looked upon the empty shell of Obi-Wan Kenobi. The twins huddled close to their father, their bodies shaking in the cold air of the eerie room, a vague and hazy vision taken straight out of their nightmares, and despite his frail, wasted body, Obi-Wan found the strength to draw the children to his chest and quietly shield them.

Frowning as his eyes drifted around the image before him, Yoda slowly shuffled out to get a closer look at the tall, imposing Vader, the wild and unstable Maul, the grim delight of the Emperor, the lifeless, vacant expression of Obi-Wan. For a long while, he walked among the figures, reaching out to touch them to find his hand passing through them like black mist, observing the smoke that rose from Kenobi's body, the acrid smell in the air, the faint crackling glow of blue lightning around Sidious' hand. Occasionally, he looked back to his living companions, the father quietly comforting the terrified children in his arms, though here, the younger, frail spirit of Obi-Wan looked to be more a younger sibling than a parent.

"Always like this, the vision is?" Yoda asked, and Obi-Wan quickly looked up and slowly shook his head.

"No, not always," Kenobi said, his voice stronger than before, his skin not quite so pale, the man looking more living than dead, as if he were being restored. "On a few occasions, I've seen Sidious' eyes, he's spoken to me."

"Seen you, he has?" Yoda asked, concern creeping into his voice, and Obi-Wan slowly nodded.

"To mock me, mostly, to tell me this is my fate and there is no escape." He clutched the twins closer, quietly hushing them when they began softly crying against his chest. "But I don't think he can see us now. I think your presence would keep him from it. If I can't see in the light, there's no way he can."

"Agree with you, I do," Yoda said as he hobbled back to them, his ears low as he considered all he had seen. "A warning, this is not. A vision of what is to come this is, Obi-Wan. Shown you the future, the Force has."

"So this is it?" Obi-Wan asked quietly, his hands threading gently through his children's hair as they tightly hugged his thin frame. "This is my fate, this is how I end?"

"Know that, I do not," Yoda rasped, his hands clutching tightly to his stick. "Mysterious, the Force is. Deceptive, can visions be. Incomplete, perhaps. A beginning to something greater, it may be, instead of the end." Yoda laid his hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder. "Meditate on this, I will. Seen enough, I have. Come. Return, we must."

Yoda didn't wait for Obi-Wan to pull them out, Releasing a long, deep breath, Yoda vanished from the Sith Lord's mind, the sudden absence of the light allowing the Dark Side to rush in like a violent torrent, tearing at everything in its wake in its fury. The savage beast from the depths, the ancient, draconic beast of the Dark Side rose up to snatch the emaciated Obi-Wan, long, sharp claws piercing into him and filling the waters of the Force with blood, and as the pain summoned the darkness to him, Obi-Wan welcomed it.

When Yoda opened his eyes, returned to the present from the currents of the Force, Obi-Wan lay pale and still in Cody's arms, the twins to the side of him shaking their heads as they sat up after having been thrown out by the raging dark at the vanishing of the light. Ezra and Sabine quickly rushed in to help the twins when they woke gasping for breath, the two waving the young Spectres off when they saw their father, his half-lidded, sightless eyes showing pale, muted yellow in place of his usual vibrant gold.

"W-what happened to him?" Leia asked Yoda frantically. "You said he'd be alright, this is _not_ alright!"

"Patience, young one," Yoda said as he stepped away from the Sith Lord, giving the unconscious creature of darkness ample space away from the light of his presence, the cold feel of the Dark Side of the cave returning as the Jedi backed away. "Weakened, he is, by the light. Time, he needs, for his strength to recover. But fine, he will be. Undamaged."

"Well, that's more than enough for me," Cody said, groaning as he lifted Obi-Wan up into his arms, the Sith's chest rising and falling faster as consciousness slowly returned. "I'm going to get this loser back to the ship so he can rest up. Mind if we use your room, Jarrus?"

"Be my guest," Kanan said with a shrug, and instantly regretted it when the clone grinned widely.

"Oh, _excellent_!" Cody chirped. "We need this guy at full strength, and there's no faster way to do that then degenerate sexual behavior, rampant alcoholism, virgin sacrifices, and the blood of the innocent. And since it's _not_ the _Umbra_..." He chuckled deeply and slowly sauntered over to where the Chiss woman stood patiently waiting. "We can get started on that first one."

"Oh, not in my room, you don't!" Kanan shouted at the laughing clone as he turned and began walking out of the cave. "Do you hear me, you clone bastard?! _No sex in my room_!"

"We'll help get him to the ship!" Luke said quickly, he and Leia rushing to follow Cody, but he quickly scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Oh, _please_ , I might be old, but I don't need help. I've carried this lout's sorry drunken ass to bed more times than I can count."

"At least let us go with you," Leia put in. "We can help see to his recovery back at the base, we-"

"You most _certainly_ will not, young lady," Obi-Wan said, his voice thick and heavily accented as he slowly regained consciousness, and Leia crossed her arms over her chest defiantly. She never won arguments with the Sith Lord, but now he was dazed. She could certainly get her way with a man that wasn't all there. "I had a word with your father before we came here," Kenobi continued, and all of Leia's defiance left her, her arms dropping to her side as she stared at the Sith Lord. "He says he needs you back tonight. You're going to a _charity auction_."

"Oh, ancient gods of the Sith, kraujas iv'tave nekaltas, Haar'chak an!"

"You had better watch your language," Luke said smugly. "Talk like that now and you might forget where you are at the _charity auction_." He patted his sister on the back. "Don't worry. I'll watch after him."

" _Your_ father left me a message," Obi-Wan drawled, and Luke's shoulders tensed. "He said the harvest is earl this season. He needs you back to help."

"Are you _kidding me_?! Luke said in disbelief. "Par te akaan bal kote be talyc Manda'yaim, we have the droids for that! He _knew_ I was coming out here!"

"The droids are broken," Obi-Wan said casually, and Luke threw his hands up in the air.

"Oritsir te beskar'ad at te diryc be haran, bal hiibir'te vhekad ti'bic!"

"And you say _I_ need to watch my language," Leia drawled, looking over at the laughing Sabine as she translated the boy's curse on the droids and the sand that wrecked them. With a growl of agitation, Luke drew his lightsaber, the green blade igniting as he began chasing Leia out of the cave, the girl's blue blade lighting in her hand as she ran into the swamp, and with a heavy sigh, Cody carried the dazed Sith Lord out toward the ship, the Chiss following closely behind.

"Hey!" Kanan shouted at Cody, the Jedi running out of the cave but stopping at the edge of the swampy water. "You never answered me! No sex in my room, you bastard! Do you hear me?!" Cody said nothing, but the Sith Lord in his arms held up his hand and slowly formed a very rude hand gesture. With a loud groan, Kanan ran his hand over his face. "This is why _nobody_ likes clones..." he mumbled, sitting at the edge of the water and watching the two Mandalorian teenagers bounce between trees and swing on vines as they fought, the blue and green flashing brightly and sending sparks showering into the water and across the damp ground. When Obi-Wan recovered, Kanan was certain the Sith would share the meaning of the terrifying vision he and Ezra had seen, but for now, he needed a drink.


	37. Repairs

**AN:** **So this chapter was actually going to be a lot longer, but the next part I thought needed its own room to breathe, since it's sort of a big chapter. So here you go! Also, I should explain my interpretation of Boba Fett, since I think my head -canon of him is a bit...unconventional.**

 **YES, he is one of the best bounty hunters in the galaxy. Yes, there is a reason for him to be feared if Darth Vader himself has to personally tell him not to disintegrate anyone. But let us remember how that poor bastard died, shall we? Did it involve...accidentally getting hit by a blind man in the jetpack, causing it to malfunction and send him crashing into the side of a ship where he fell and was thusly swallowed whole by a gaping sand vagina with teeth? Yeah, I THINK that's exactly how that went. Which can only mean one thing, of course.**

 **Boba Fett is a huge dork.**

 **Explanation over. Thank you very much. Enjoy, my lovelies! I'm starting on the next chapter tonight, hopefully it'll be done by next weekend. Let me know what you think!**

 _Chapter 37: Repairs_

"The Republic has created millions of beings specifically made to fight, and your Jedi and your Generals every day lead them to their deaths, and they were never once given the option of doing anything else!" Satine said, her brow drawn together in anger, the fire in her eyes obvious even over the recording. Obi-Wan watched it in rapt attention, his eyes drawn to the image of himself behind her, her fingers lightly brushing his, his other hand at the small of her back. "This is a slave army, and it is an insult to the freedom you claim to stand for!"

Obi-Wan wasn't sure how many times he had watched this particular speech over the past two days. His forced recovery from his trip to Dagoba he was treating as the vacation that he so richly deserved, and the moment he arrived back at the base on Dantooine, he sequestered himself away inside the _Umbra_ as K-2SO and his Chiss lover worked to repair and upgrade the ship. Deciding that his time was best spent repairing HK-45, Obi-Wan took the opportunity to not just carefully fix the damage to his assassin, but to _finally_ plug the datacard from Thrawn into the holoprojector so that he may watch what was on it as he worked.

Just as Thrawn had said in his note, it was a collection of _every_ speech that Satine Kryze ever publically made, from her first addresses as a young diplomat in training from a time before Obi-Wan had known her, the earliest one placing her at only twelve years old, all the way to the ones near the end of her life, her appearances more rare as she grew larger with their child, though the last recording on the datacard was from a speech she had made to her Empire only days before her death. Work on the droid was slow going because of it, the Sith Lord often finding himself staring at the woman transfixed for hours at a time. This speech in particular was important to him, a decidedly dangerous risk they had taken that brought Obi-Wan into the heart of Coruscant at the height of the Clone Wars, and it was Satine's careful planning and brilliant ability to use words to bend people to her will that allowed Obi-Wan to walk among the Jedi without them able to do a thing about it.

She was brilliant, as always, a quick mind and a sharp tongue allowing her to tear into all those that spoke out against her and gather allies in the process, as well as hundreds of worlds lining up to join her Empire, a safe haven from the increasing devastation of the war between the Republic and the Confederacy. This was the only one of her speeches that Obi-Wan stood beside her, so often relegated to helping her rule from the shadows, which was what made this address unique. They did it _together_. The Mand'alor and the Lord of the Sith, publicly united not just to grow the Mandalorian Empire, but to discredit the Jedi. It was beautiful and it was brilliant, the briefest glimpse of what might have been had she lived to rule beside him. In that moment, they _owned_ the galaxy, and there was nothing anyone could do to stop them.

It was painful to watch. After so many years with Satine existing only in his memories, it was jarring to _see_ her, to hear her, vibrant and alive, the beauty of her live a sharp and almost nauseating contrast to the memory of her gutted and dying in his arms, the feel of their son fading to nothing, her own presence disappearing as he body failed her. She was just as he remembered her, all the way back to the thin, lanky teenager, all boney legs and arms, the stubborn, emotional fugitive he was sworn to protect, the girl he hated before he loved, the two of them not yet a man and a woman when they had first given in to the feelings that frightened them so badly and lay moaning in each other's arms as Obi-Wan sunk deep within her.

Or when she was older, not the frightened teenager, but the Duchess of Mandalore, the strong, steadfast woman that had rebuilt her ravaged world on her own after Obi-Wan had left her. Out of his sight, Satine had grown into a woman, her passionate spirit tempered by the war, making her cold and logical, a thing she had learned from her Jedi protectors, a thing that had become easier to her when she let her love walk away from her. She grew cold and hard, stubborn in her rule over her stubborn people, and when Obi-Wan returned to her, frantic and fearful and steeped in darkness, forced to face what he had become in his hunt for the Sith, he had flown to her. He was in search of family when he felt he had none, when the Jedi had sent him to die against Count Dooku, and though Satine had been initially furious, the love they had for each other hadn't faded, had only grown strong with yearning, and they quickly fell beck in bed together with the promise that he would return for her.

Or again after they had spent years together, after they had grown powerful together, after she had formed the new Mandalorian Empire with Obi-Wan in the shadows at her side. She wasn't just a woman, she was a _queen_ , a woman worthy of bearing the future of the Sith, strong and cunning and intelligent, a master politician that didn't know the meaning of no. With her Sith Lord at her side, she had a way to enforce her peace, her idealistic pacifism transforming into pragmatic politics, her enemies quickly disappearing and transformed into allies with a simple word to her lover. They had made a child together. They had plans to rule the galaxy, to see the Sith returned to shepherd the people to progress, to kill Sidious so Obi-Wan could finally be free. He had felt their son grow within her. He had felt the woman's loving care of the life they had created. And he had felt them both die, the two lost to him forever.

Until Thrawn gave them back to him, in this small way. It was... _indescribable_ , his feelings for his hunter quickly changing. If the Chiss weren't such a danger to Luke and Leia, Obi-Wan wouldn't hesitate to seduce the man to his side. As it was, Thrawn needed to be killed or enslaved, a waste of a clearly brilliant mind, but it couldn't be helped. Despite their obvious flirting, death was on the line, the two far too dangerous to each other's causes to be allowed to live. It was a shameful waste, but it couldn't be helped. For this gift, Obi-Wan would make certain to give the Chiss a clean death, a mercy he offered very rarely. He would, of course, prefer the Chiss warrior to join him, but Obi-Wan wasn't an idiot. Thrawn served the Empire and had no cause to join him. He was, after all, a _rebel_ , and a very dangerous one.

Kenobi's hand ran over HK-45's armored chest plate, the hard, rust red steel scrubbed and polished, the dents and gouges hammered out and corrected. He looked over to the droid and sighed, it's exposed chest a mess of wires and components and circuits as the Sith worked to repair the assassin. The superficial damage had been corrected, the arm reattached and the hydraulics replaced and optimized, which would allow for faster, smoother movement once he got the droid functioning again.

Obi-Wan was finding himself actually missing the murderous automata, and even K2 had expressed some concern for its companion, even though the stubborn security droid insisted that its concern was a programmed response to human distress, and he was, in no ways, _actually_ upset about the psychotic droid getting what it deserved. This was said, of course, right before K2 had offered no less than twelve times to lend his mechanical expertise to repairing the assassin. With the speech ending and the hologram flicking to the next one, Obi-Wan tore his eyes away from his Satine, his chest aching with pain as the Dark Side festered within the wounds inside him. He was recovering, though it was a slow affair, and even two days later, he still didn't quite feel himself, like he was suffering from a flu brought on by the Force, like a two year old throwing a tantrum and ravaging its host. It was unpleasant. And _messy_.

"Shadow King?" a soft voice asked, and despite the surge of irritation that someone was on his ship when he specifically demanded to be left undisturbed, Obi-Wan didn't move from his seat, his fingers carefully disconnecting the central processor from HK's chest, his eyes drifting up to the hologram and reveling in the painful ache in his chest brought on by the warmth of love and the pain of loss.

"Shadow King?" came the voice again, louder this time as Sabine Wren entered the room, her back stiffening and standing straight as she entered the dark room and lay eyes on the man. "S-sorry to bother you," she began when disinterested glowing eyes fell on her. "I was just helping out on the ship and..." she trailed off, stepping forward slowly when she saw the hologram. "H-hey, I know that speech, it's famous! My mother made my brother and I memorize it when we were children!" Sabine drew up taller, a proud, smug smirk on her face. "A multitude breeds discourse, right?"

"Yes, that's right..." Obi-Wan said, his voice hollow and distant as he looked upon the hologram, and slowly, Sabine inched closer to him.

"Is that her?" Sabine asked quietly. "Is that Mand'alor Satine?" Obi-Wan said nothing, only stared at the hologram, his face blank and expressionless, his fingers absently attaching the nodes to the processor in his hands to link it up to his datapad for repairs. "She really meant everything to you, didn't she?" Sabine asked, her voice laden with sympathy, which knocked Obi-Wan out of his thoughts, scoffing slightly as he returned his attention to his work.

"Don't be absurd..." he muttered. "Of course she wasn't everything to me, love isn't that simple. You're just a child, you wouldn't understand, no teenager does." The Sith glanced sidelong at her, expecting to see offense on the fiery girl, but instead only found her listening intently as she waited for an explanation he had no intention of giving. "If she was _everything_ ," he said after a moment of consideration, "I would have nothing to live for, there would be no point, no _purpose_ , and I have always sought order. The peace the Sith can bring to the galaxy has _always_ been the point, my greater purpose, not something so _common_ as love." He sighed, turning over the processor in his hands. "But that doesn't mean she wasn't important to me..."

"...my mother said she could have changed everything," Sabine quietly said. "She said Mandalore could have ruled the galaxy, and now we're just..." She scoffed bitterly, her hands balling into fists at her side. "I believed we were part of something greater," she whispered. " _Moff_ Bo-Katan was one of us, was so close to my mother. I didn't think she'd sell us to the Empire. I didn't think she'd make her own people slaves..." Sabine's breath hitched when she felt _something_ close around her, the air in the room seeming to chill, her lungs tight like she simply couldn't breathe deeply as the golden eyes appraised her, the Sith's brow furrowed in focus before relaxing with understanding.

"Ah..." Obi-Wan put the processor on the table beside the droid as his datapad began running the diagnostics. "Your mother is Ursa Wren. I know that was your clan, but I didn't think it would be _her_."

"You _know_ my mother?" Sabine gasped, and Obi-Wan chuckled softly and leaned against the table, reaching over to mute the hologram as he looked the Mandalorian over.

"I do. She tried to kill me _many_ times while I was defending Satine during the Clan Wars." He shrugged when the girl's jaw dropped, and he took one of the lightsabers from his belt and held it out to her. "I bested her in single combat. This is the blade I used." He extended it toward her, and she carefully took the offered weapon in her hand.

"She _never_ mentioned that..."

"It was, admittedly, _very_ humiliating for her," Obi-Wan said, his gaze drifting back to the muted hologram. "She has certainly changed her tune if that is what she had to say about Satine, though all Death Watch reconsidered their position after I made Pre Vizsla _beg_." He looked back to the Mandalorian when he heard a chair shuffle against the ground as she sat, the technical expert quickly surveying the components of the droid before her before she looked back at him and smiled.

"Do you need help repairing the droid?" she asked, her hands hovering over the open chest cavity. "I would have thought you'd be done by now, so it must be worse than I thought it was."

"I don't _need_ help!" Obi-Wan snarled, snatching the datapad from the table and furiously watching the diagnostic's slow progress bar. "...but it would be appreciated," he grumbled after a moment, and with a smug smirk he had come to expect from his Mandalorians, Sabine began busying herself with the precision mechanics of the droid's body cavity.

"Recordings of the Mand'alor are hard to come by," Sabine said, pointing a screwdriver at the hologram. "We still study some of her speeches, but the Empire banned the holorecordings." She scoffed bitterly, poking the screwdriver inside the droid's chest and undoing the rear control covering. "And Katan allowed it. Her own _sister_ , and she allowed the Empire to do that!"

"...did you just call your Mand'alor _Katan_?"

"Last I checked, she's _Moff Kryze_ ," she spat. "She's not _my_ Mand'alor."

"No?" the Sith asked, swiping his finger over the datapad when the diagnostics pinged their completion, his eyes running swiftly over the report. "Last I checked, she's the only one you've got. Who else but Bo-Katan?"

"...I-I thought it might have been you," the girl said shyly, her eyes cast down as a deep flush spread against her face, and when he said nothing, she ventured a glance up to find him staring right through her, lost in a place where she simply could not reach him. She could feel him refocus on her when she laughed nervously. "You're the _Shadow King_. Do you have any idea what it's like to grow up on Mandalore?"

"Obviously not," Obi-Wan muttered, his gaze turning back to his datapad. "I grew up in the Jedi Temple, not on Mandalore."

"You wouldn't know it from the stories," Sabine said with a sigh. "Mandalore's avenging angel, the Shadow King! Rising from darkness and flames to destroy our enemies, only to disappear and return again to save his people when they call for him." She quickly picked up a precision tool and handed it to Obi-Wan when she saw him pick up the processor in his hands and examine it. "The way the stories tell it, you were greater than Mand'alor the Ultimate. My brother and I would spend _hours_ pretending to be you when we were children. All of us did, we _dreamed_ of the day you would return to us and bring Mandalore to glory."

"Bo-Katan really outdid herself..." Obi-Wan said, a soft smile playing on his lips, his eyes darting up to the girl when he heard her growl in protest, her nose wrinkling in distaste. "Do you honestly believe that any of that would be possible if your Mand'alor did not allow it? _Especially_ in your mother's home, given how close the two of them are?"

"It's oppression that gives rise to the need for such things," Sabine said bitterly. "Even if my mother supports Bo-Katan and the Empire, and she _does_ , a repressed people will dream." Her face suddenly fell, her hands releasing the wires she was working on, her eyes fixed on the table and decidedly not looking at the Sith Lord, though she could feel him looking intently at her. "I believed in the Empire once. _All_ of me, devoted to the Empire and our Mand'alor, and I did terrible, awful things for them." She shook her head and bit down on her lip, quickly looking away from Kenobi when he scooted closer to her. "The Empire is subjugating my people..." she whispered. "Bo-Katan is complicit in it, my family is complicit in it, _I_ was...I-I..." She stopped, her breath hitching when she felt Obi-Wan's hand upon her shoulder. "We all know it, that's why we still tell the stories of what we once were instead of what we are now. But nobody will do a thing about it. Those who ask questions or defy the Empire are thrown away, and without faith in our Mand'alor, all we have are the hopes that you'll return to drive the Empire out."

"You _do_ know this is by design, yes?" Obi-Wan asked, and Sabine immediately tensed, closing herself off to the idea entirely. "Bo-Katan has been, and _always_ will be on my side."

"Are you sure about that," Sabine asked in deadpan voice, her expression skeptical and her arms crossed over her chest. "Mandalore could have stood against the Empire! We could have _fought_ , and instead, Bo-Katan sold us out for a position as a Moff!"

"A position that put her very, _very_ close to Grand Moff Tarkin," Obi-Wan said calmly. "Or would you rather her lead Mandalore against the Empire in a war they have no chance of winning?"

"N-no, but-"

"I understand that Mandalore has it bad, but Bo-Katan has shielded you all from the worst of it," Obi-Wan explained as he returned his attention back to the droid. "You are respected members of the Empire, elite warriors made to do their bidding, but it is Bo-Katan that commands you still. She has sacrificed herself to keep your people as free as possible. Do you truly believe that Bo-Katan Kryze, feared Death Watch commander, would give up the chance for a fight without good reason?"

"I-I don't know..." Sabine muttered, shaking her head and looking over at the silent hologram. "Are you so certain she is with you? The things she has done-"

"Has _killed_ her," Kenobi said, the slightest hint of remorse and something else in his voice, something Sabine couldn't place, and she leaned in, listening intently to the Sith. "When I call for Mandalore to stand beside me, the rebels like you will answer the call. The rest will obey the orders of their Mand'alor, and Bo-Katan will strike hard against the people who have spent the past decade suppressing her spirit."

"Which wouldn't have happened if she just fought in the first place!" the girl snapped, and Obi-Wan stared at her for a moment before a slow, sad smile passed over his lips.

"She is Mand'alor, Sabine, her life belongs to her people, not to her. Would she have been a better leader if she did as she wished and fought? Would it have been better to have her executed by the Empire as you know she would have so an Imperial could bring down the might of the Empire on you?"

"W-we'd turn to you!" she insisted, and Obi-Wan looked away from her, slowly pulling aside wires as he replaced the processor. "That's your plan anyway, isn't it? You're going to lead Mandalore to victory! You have an army already, do you not?"

"Without Bo-Katan, there wouldn't be a Mandalore to call upon, Sabine," he quietly explained. "And we are not yet ready for war. Not yet. But soon." He sighed heavily and brushed his hair back when the girl still seemed displeased with the explanation. "One day, when you are a leader instead of a rebel, you will know the meaning of sacrifice. It isn't so simple as you believe."

"...but how can you be sure she will come when you call?" she asked almost nervously. "How do you know that she hasn't become an Imperial while pretending to be one like you think?"

"I know..." Obi-Wan muttered, his fingers moving quickly now that the processor was installed, Sabine working beside him and silent as she waited for him to elaborate, but he said nothing more. She opened her mouth to ask him to clarify all the new information, all things that conflicted with what she believed to be true, but her thoughts never organized, the questions never sounded right in her head, or sounded redundant enough for her to believe she would irritate the man by asking. So instead, she stayed silent and thought, her eyes periodically drifting up to look at the hologram of the woman she had known to be a legend, the mother of the Mandalorian Empire that her kinsmen would one day bring back.

"You must have some connection to Bo-Katan," Obi-Wan said as he replaced the chest plate, the two of them working to tightly secure the heavy armor. "Your helmet's design is that of the Nite Owls, which was Bo-Katan's elite force within the Death Watch. How did you come to possess such a thing?" This time, Sabine fell silent, her lips pressing into a thin line as she stubbornly refused to say a word, and Obi-Wan chuckled softly. "We all have secrets, ner adiik."

"Nobody has secrets from _you_ though," Sabine muttered, sinking down in her seat as she snatched her helmet from the table. "You can just read their minds and get what you want."

"Cody tells me it's... _unsettling_ ," the Sith said with a scoff. "Not the best way to build trust, he says."

"And you're trying to do that with us?" Kenobi nodded tersely, and Sabine laughed as she helped the Sith sit the droid up. "He's right, you know."

"Which is part of the reason I haven't just _made_ you all trust me. I can do that, you know." He growled softly, his teeth grinding together as he brushed off the droid's armored shoulder. "But it wears off eventually if I don't keep it up, and if I do, the rest of your mind eventually... _decays_."

"And Kanan would know."

"And _Kanan_ would know, yes..." he grumbled. "Damned Jedi..." He patted the girl on the shoulder and pulled her close to him, an affectionate gesture that made the teenager flush considerably. "Not that I would do that to you anyway, my child of Mandalore." Obi-Wan reached over to switch off the hologram, his hand hesitating over the controls for a moment before he closed his eyes and powered it down. "So," he said as lightly as he could, though Sabine could hear pain and longing straining his voice. "Shall we see if our repairs were successful?"

"Of course they were," Sabine said smugly, opening the rear panel and powering the activation sequence. " _I_ was working on him." With a low hum, the processors and circuits were powered, the initial checks and system boots causing the hydraulics of the arms and legs to be tested, the yellow light of the visual sensor flickering on as power was restored. Unable to keep the bright grin off his face, Obi-Wan grabbed hold of the droid, supporting its back as its arms and legs twitched and jerked as the systems were engaged, the new components and improvements assimilated into its programming. When it's vocal modulator burst with static and low, mechanical groans, Obi-Wan shushed the droid as he put his hand over the grilled speaker on its face.

"Hush now, my friend, you're rebooting," the Sith quietly explained, the droid's head turning its head to look at the man, the visual receptors pulsating as it scanned him. "Everything should be online and integrated within the hour, and you'll be better than new." The door hissed open and the droid violently jerked, reaching behind it to grab for a rifle that wasn't there and then pointing its arm toward the newcomer to fire lasers from its wrists that hadn't been activated. All the while, Kanan stood, looking at the flailing droid as the Sith tried to calm it, the Jedi bored and indifferent and secure in his safety.

"You know, Kenobi, there are easier ways to kill me than with an assassin droid that's been broken to hell," the Jedi drawled. "Honestly, I'm shocked you got that piece of junk working again."

"Keep talking, Jedi filth, this piece of junk can hear _everything_ you're saying..." With a frown, Obi-Wan rapped the droid on the head, the HK looking at him and its vocal modulator grinding with a series of beeps and whirs that emulated confusion. "...in theory, at least. And I _told_ Cody I was to be left alone, what is this, do I suddenly have an open door policy?"

"Last I saw, Cody was chatting up one of the rebel pilots," Kanan said, a sly grin on his face that made Obi-Wan's already queasy stomach turn. "Nice girl. Togruta. I didn't want to interrupt, they seemed _very_ involved in their conversation... _if_ you want to count stuffing his tongue in her mouth as conversation. Which I do."

"I kriffing _hate_ that clone..." Obi-Wan grumbled, rolling his eyes as he slapped the droid's hand away from trying to pry the armor off its forearm to check the weapons installed there for malfunctions. "What do you want, Jarrus, I've had enough of the Jedi for a lifetime, and Qui-Gon _still_ won't leave me alone." He scoffed as he ran a hand over his face and shut his burning eyes, suddenly overcome with weariness and made all too aware of how badly his body had been damaged by Yoda's intrusion. He was physically healthy, but he still felt _sick_.

"I wanted to check and see how you were doing," Kanan said simply as he strolled over to the pale man, his gold irises a stark contrast to the dark circles under his eyes and the pale and sickly pallor of his skin. He certainly looked sick, though he wasn't acting it, and it was extremely likely that the man hadn't been sleeping. _Again_. "I ask because I don't know what the Sith do with your bodies after you die."

"Good thing you don't need to worry about that because I'm _never_ dying," Obi-Wan hissed. "I'm just recovering, it's taking longer than I thought. I swear, it feels like a Star Destroyer fell on me, this whole transcending the Force thing is _entirely_ unacceptable."

"Mm, think I can learn it?"

"You do, Kanan, and this relationship is _over_ ," Obi-Wan snapped, rolling his eyes as he opened one of the panels on HK-45's back to make some quick adjustments. "If you want immortality, I could teach you how to achieve it without the whole... _ghost_ thing."

"Thanks, but no," the Jedi said quietly, grinning when he saw the faintest smile on the Sith Lord's lips, his eyes drifting to the Mandalorian working at his side. "Doing alright, Sabine?" he asked, and the girl rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, _dad_ , I'm fine," she teased gently, lightly punching the Jedi on his armored shoulder. "Getting a history lesson, that's all." When the Jedi arched his eyebrow, the girl scoffed and snatched her helmet off the table. "It's not like I'm being _seduced_."

"What, my seduction attempts weren't working?" Obi-Wan asked innocently, laying a hand on his chest in feigned hurt, and Sabine patronizingly patted him on the cheek.

"I'm Mandalorian and I've been a bounty hunter for _years_ , Kenobi," Sabine drawled lazily. "You should know I'm no stranger to this sort of thing. You're going to have to try harder than that."

"Ooh, I'm telling Bridger the girl he's pining for is _used_ ," Obi-Wan said in a sing-song voice. "He's going to be _heartbroken_."

" _He's_ going to be heartbroken?" Kanan asked, trying to sound as offended as he could, but the smirk on his lips and the mischief in his eyes gave him away completely, and Obi-Wan flashed him a wolfish grin. " _I'm_ heartbroken, I thought we had something special, Kenobi!"

"Kanan, _sweetheart_ , you know that you're at the very least third or forth in my heart! The others don't actually _mean_ anything to me!"

"Right, well, since you clearly _aren't_ dead, Kenobi, Ahsoka's asked for you," Kanan said with a sigh."She's got a mission she wants you in on."

"Well, you can tell dear Fulcrum that I am _not_ at her beck and call!" Obi-Wan snapped, powering down the droid when it tried to get off the table and gently laying it face down so he could make necessary adjustments.

"Hey, don't take your temper out on me, I'm just the messenger!" Kanan said defensively, putting his hands in the air. "Hell, I shouldn't even _be_ the messenger, and I wouldn't have if I didn't want to make sure you hadn't died from being _too evil_!" He smirked when Sabine snorted with laughter she wasn't trying terribly hard to suppress and the Sith Lord rolled his eyes and grumbled curses under his breath as he tried to look busy. "Really, Ahsoka should have come here herself if she wanted to give you something to do."

"You're right, I should have." Obi-Wan groaned loudly when the Togruta stepped inside the room, followed by Hera, Ezra, Zeb and a _very_ disgruntled Cody.

"Alright, contrary to what appears to be the popular belief, there is _not_ an open door policy on my ship!" Obi-Wan said, his voice tight with irritation as he powered on the droid again and slammed the back panel closed.

"K2 sent us in," Ahsoka drawled with a superior smirk on her face, the Sith Lord glowering as his fist tightened by his side. "I was asking him if you were alright, and he insisted that you weren't sick or dying, you were just having yourself a _sulk_."

"Oh, I'll show that heap of scrap sick when I vomit on his feet..." Kenobi growled, wiping his forehead and shoving the hand in Ahsoka's face. " _Look at this_! I am _sweating_ , Ahsoka, but I have chills, and those two things don't go together! I am _dying_!"

"Oh, for Force sake, Kenobi, you have the flu, you big baby!" Ahsoka said, crossing her arms and glaring at the man when he dramatically threw himself on the table. "Have you honestly _never_ been sick?!"

"It isn't just a flu, it's _Jedi Flu_!" the Sith Lord gagged. "I was _fine_ until Yoda went and infected me! You must see how this is all the Jedi's fault!"

"Yes, yes, we all feel very bad for you," Ahsoka said with a roll of her eyes. "But you aren't dead, and even weakened, you're still more than a match for most anything the Empire can throw at you. You'll just have to be subtle." A sly smirk slid across her face, the Sith eyeing her suspiciously as she drew closer. "You _do_ remember what that's like, don't you?"

"Oh, _please_ , being subtle is my speciality. If it weren't, the Jedi would have caught me long ago."

"Then this next mission should give you no trouble," Ahsoka said with a smile. "Your activities on Lothal have left behind a mess, Kenobi. A Senator and a Holonet reporter publicly executed, Lothal's Minister kidnaped, Tarkin's Star Destroyer brought down over the planet...the Imperials are on edge, Lothal is blockaded, the population is repressed, the entire system is cracking under the Imperial heel. You've created Coruscant levels of security in the Lothal sector."

"Not bad for a day's work..." Kenobi muttered, and Ahsoka glared at him.

"This isn't a joke, Kenobi. At this rate, we're going to be forced to fight them openly, and we aren't ready. A force of this size will crush us. We need more time."

"Can't we just hide out here?" Ezra asked. "When I was running the streets on Lothal and things got bad, I'd keep low and wait for things to blow over."

"A base is all well and good, but not this one," Ahsoka said firmly. "We can't keep all our strength in one place, if the Empire finds us, it'll all be over. Over fifteen years of work crushed in an instant. No, we need to split our force in case something happens. We need a new base."

"Unfortunately, the ones we know about lack the tactical advantages we need to protect what's left of the fleet," Hera said quietly. "We lost a command ship in our battle over Lothal, it's crippled our ability to successfully fight the Empire. We need a base that's easy to defend while we rebuild."

"We need a base that's close enough to aid the nearby systems suffering under Imperial oppression," Kanan said pointedly, and Hera's eyes narrowed as she looked at her lover, the tension between them caused by their differing ideals plain as day.

"We can't help others if we can't help ourselves, Kanan," Hera countered tiredly, the fight one they had several times before with no resolution. "We need more allies."

"Which is where the mission comes in," Ahsoka said softly, a faint smile playing on her lips when all eyes turned to her. "I know someone who might be able to help us."

"Then go get him," Obi-Wan scoffed, dropping down into the chair with a smirk when the droid whirred to life, it's interfaces quickly beeping as they connected to the processors, and HK slowly sat up, a hand on its head. "This isn't a mission, Ahsoka, it's an _errand_ , and you know I don't do those." He tapped the droid on the forehead. "HK, can you hear me, buddy?"

The whirring and churning of the droid continued for a moment before the visual receptors lit up, pulsating softly as it scanned the room. "Quarry: Master, where did the slaughter go?"

"Right, you failed the slaughter when you got blown up," Obi-Wan said, pointing to the droid's shoulder. "Your arm fell off, we had to repair _everything_. Might take a few days to get adjusted to the upgrades."

"Shock: Me? _Blown up_?" The droid hung his head in dismay, a long mechanical groan emitting from its vocal modulator. "Repentant: Master, I am unworthy of being rebuilt for suffering such an embarrassing failure. I must be greatly valuable to you to be reassembled!"

"Oh, don't be stupid, you useless pile of junk!" Obi-Wan said as he smacked the side of the droid's head. "You are my _property_ , and I dislike it when my things are ruined! I expect you to pay me back _tenfold_ for this!" For a moment, the droid's head dropped in disappointment before it quickly looked back up at the Sith Lord.

"Excitement: in _murder_ , Master?!"

"Of course in murder, HK, what else are you good for?" Obi-Wan asked with a roll of his eyes, patting the droid on the shoulder when an excited series of electronic bursts emitted from it's speakers in an approximation of sinister laughter.

"Declaration: beware, meatbags! I have a debt to pay!"

"Good as new, I suppose," Sabine said with a sigh. "Sounds like our repairs were a success...if _this_ is what you'd call a success..."

"I do," Obi-Wan said, leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes. "Ahsoka, please send K2 in on your way out so he can run a final diagnostic on HK. Thank you."

"Is that it?" Ahsoka asked, her arms crossed over her chest and clearly irritated "You aren't going to help me on this mission because you're _sick_?"

"No..." Obi-Wan drawled. "I'm not going to help because there _is_ no mission. You have a guy in mind, go get him. You don't need me for this."

"It isn't that simple," she said between grit teeth, and Kenobi rolled his eyes and pointed to his _very_ irritated clone. "I'm letting Cody decide if we go or not."

"Oh, _come on_!" Cody snapped, looking back at the smirking Sith, the superior expression on his face disappearing quickly when he paled and began shivering. With a roll of his eyes, he looked pointedly at the hopeful Ahsoka. "Alright, Fulcrum, we'll help..." he drawled, the grin on the woman's face stopped quickly when Cody pointed a finger at her. " _If_ you call back my son."

"W-what?" Ahsoka looked at the man completely astounded, reaching through the Force to see if the hard, serious expression was just the face of a man who could keep a straight face during an absurd joke, but found him _completely_ serious. "Y-you want me to call Boba Fett?"

"You know how many times he's called you in the past month?" Cody asked sharply. " _Fifty six_. And every single time he calls and you don't pick up, you know who hears about it?" He didn't wait for her to respond and pressed a finger hard against his own chest. " _Me_. I'm sick of hearing him _pine_! Call him back, and we'll go fetch... _whoever_."

" _Really_?" Obi-Wan drawled from his chair. "You're going to whore us out so Boba can have a _booty call_?"

" _Noooo_ ," Cody drawled, casting a lazy look at the Sith in the chair. "I'm whoring _you_ out, you fantastic slut. Nobody in their right mind would pay for me." When Obi-Wan made to protest, Cody pointed an admonishing finger at him and the pale Sith Lord fell silent. "You wanted me to decide, Obi-Wan, so I'm deciding, so if I tell you to bend over, you better be ready to take it!"

"I _hate_ clones!" Obi-Wan hissed. "This is why nobody likes clones, Cody, _this is why_! Isn't that right, Kanan?"

"Damn right," the Jedi agreed, and beside him, Ahsoka sighed heavily.

"Cody, I _don't_ have time for this!" the Togruta said firmly, trying to keep a commanding presence, but she failed to stop the deep flush from spreading across her cheeks and down her neck, the lekku draped over her shoulders squirming in aggravation when the clone scoffed.

"It's not like it takes much time!"

"I don't have time for what he _wants_!" the Togruta insisted, and Cody just rolled his eyes. "I don't know if you noticed, but we're preparing for war, not...running a social club!"

"All the more reason to return his calls!" Cody chirped. "We could all be dead tomorrow, why not enjoy yourself while you can? And don't say it takes too much time, because what he wants from you takes just a few minutes!"

"Speak for yourself..." Obi-Wan scoffed, and Cody rolled his eyes and turned on the Sith Lord.

"Well excuse me, _Master_ , but we can't all be immortal gods with eternal youth and infinite time! Some of us have to _work_ , and Boba tells me that Bo-Katan is an absolutely _brutal_ taskmaster."

"Sounds like he doesn't have the time either," Ahsoka drawled, and Cody laughed quickly.

"Oh, sweetness, he'd make the time for you. And I'm not asking you to _sleep_ with him, Ahsoka," Cody said in a voice that was close to begging. "Just call the poor boy back."

"I'll _think_ about it, alright?" the Togruta said between clenched teeth, and the clone casually sat in the chair beside Obi-Wan.

"Fantastic. We'll _think_ about helping you in this mission," the clone said with a yawn. "What is it exactly, why can't you go get this guy yourself?"

"I lost track of him a long time ago, and my transmissions have gone unanswered," Ahsoka said slowly, almost reluctantly, and she glared at Kenobi when he scoffed, only to find him pale and trying not to heave. "Though I do have a lead about where he was last seen."

"If you have something to go off of, Ahsoka, we can find him," Kanan said, laying a hand on the woman's shoulder. "Who exactly is this guy?" At that, the woman hesitated, her eyes averting from the Jedi, and Obi-Wan felt his chest tighten. She was _hiding_ something about this man.

"He's a military commander," she finally said. "One with leadership experience and great knowledge of the Outer Rim. He can help us find a suitable base."

"Where was he seen last?" Hera asked, stepping forward when Kanan's shoulders tensed, the man still coming to terms with being part of a military once again.

"Out in the Seelos system," the Togruta said. "We can pinpoint his last known location once we get out there."

"This sounds like a trap..." Obi-Wan muttered, and Ahsoka sighed and slowly nodded.

"I agree," she said slowly. "Which was why I was hoping to have a team for this. It's too dangerous to go alone."

"You won't have to, we're with you," Kanan quickly reassured her. "Don't worry, if he's out there, we'll find your friend."

"Thank you, Kanan," Ahsoka said with a sigh of relief, gratefully laying her hand over his.

"Do we have a plan?" Hera asked, and the Togruta quickly nodded.

"We do," she said, walking around the table and placing her hands on the smooth surface when she addressed the group. "We'll fly out to Seelos and send a survey teem down to the search perimeter. They will go in, sweep the area, and extract the target if they manage to locate him."

"Sounds like a job for the Spectres," Hera said, quickly taking out her comlink and activating it. "Chopper, get the _Ghost_ ready to depart, we've got a mission." A series of short, agitated chatter sounded on the other side of the connection before it was rudely cut off, and Hera shook her head and replaced the device on her belt. "I suppose that leaves me in the _Ghost_ to play lookout," the Twi'lek said, and Ahsoka nodded.

"I can think of nobody better for the job. I'll be with you, of course. The search perimeter is going to be large. With two of us out there, we should be able to find him faster, and in the event it _is_ a trap, two targets will divide attention and aid in our escape."

" _Excuse me_?" Obi-Wan said, finally standing from his chair and facing the now guarded Ahsoka. "You're sending my Spectres on this mission and you're not even going to be _with them_?!"

"Last time I checked, they're _my_ Spectres," Kanan drawled. "We can do this, Kenobi, relax. It's a simple extraction."

" _Or_ a trap!" the Sith Lord snarled. "And Ahsoka isn't even going to be with you!"

"I told you, Obi-Wan..." the Togruta said with a sigh. "I'm on the mission too, we-"

"I heard what you said, Fulcrum, and splitting up isn't the same as being _with him_ ," Obi-Wan snapped. "The last time we split up for a mission, Kanan, you were captured by Tarkin and I _lost you_! It won't happen again, I won't allow it! I won't lose more people!"

For a long moment, everyone was silent, the room tense with the Sith Lord's fury and borderline panic, the group slowly coming to understand exactly how badly the battle above Lothal had effected the man, how many losses he had suffered, and how they had come to slowly mean something to the hardened man, how their deaths and their loss were frightening enough to make the Sith Lord bring them under his protection. They had known it before, though they had taken it with a great deal of suspicion, given Kenobi's own vicious brutality and his inclination to use people and cast them aside when they had been throughly used. Now, they actually saw they were more than tools. They were, for better or worse, family.

"Well..." Kanan said softly. "I suppose we'll just have to demand that Spectre Zero come along with us. And since I _am_ the leader of the Spectres, I don't suppose he can say no," the Jedi said when it looked like the Sith Lord would speak, and with a soft growl of irritation, Obi-Wan crossed his arms over his chest and looked away from the group.

"When you put it that way, I suppose not..." Obi-Wan muttered, trying to sound as grumpy and reluctant as possible, but failing spectacularly when a slight smile crossed his lips. "For the record, Ahsoka, I don't like that you aren't telling us who this man is."

"If I told you, none of you would ever agree to go," the Togruta quietly confessed. "I have my reasons, Obi-Wan. You're just going to have to trust me, and when we meet my friend, you're going to have to trust him too."

"You're asking an awful lot..." Obi-Wan said, and Ahsoka rolled her eyes.

"Is it asking any more than trusting you, oh great and mighty Lord of the Sith?" she asked, her tone almost harsh, not quite bitter, but close enough, and Obi-Wan winced in response. Brutal though it may be, she had a fair point.

"I suppose not..." Obi-Wan muttered, sinking back into his chair and running his fingers along the communication array on the arm of his seat. "K2," he said firmly when the line picked up. "Is the _Umbra_ ready to fly?"

"Oh, you're alive, Master," the droid said, sounding almost disappointed. "That's a shame. I had a bet with the Chiss on the matter, and I insisted that the probability of your survival was so low, it may as well have been negligible." A light, smug female lit could be heard in the background, and K2 groaned loudly. "Yes, I know what I said, you insufferable woman," the droid droned. "I liked you better when you were a mindless slave in a cage. You were manageable then." There was female laughter in the background, and K2 groaned loudly. "I told her that in the unlikely event that you actually survived, I would let her open me up and have a look at my security encryptions. So...thank you for that, Master."

"You are _very_ welcome, you ingrate," Obi-Wan happily chirped, watching as HK slowly walked to stand at his side.

"Declaration: that is what you get for having no faith in the Master," HK said smugly, and K2 gave the approximation of a desperate wail, the laughter in the background growing louder.

"While I am pleasantly surprised that the Master lives, the same cannot be said for you, you useless-"

"The _Umbra_ , K2, focus..." Obi-Wan interrupted. "Is she ready to fly?"

"The upgrades to the stealth drive have yet to be calibrated, but the basic system is available, and she is otherwise functional," the droid quickly stammered, hissing for the woman in the background to be silent, which she notably did not obey.

"Prepare her for departure, K2, I'll be in the cockpit shortly." Obi-Wan didn't wait for the droid to respond before he cut the connection and slowly stood, a hand to his forehead as he brushed back his hair, and he frowned at how hot his skin felt. "Spectres, I will be ready to leave in fifteen minutes..." the Sith muttered, closing his eyes and leaning back in his chair. "Let's coordinate our launch so we arrive at Seelos together."

"Sounds good to me," Hera said softly as she turned away from Obi-Wan and motioned for the others to follow, her crew quickly obeying her.

"Ahsoka," Obi-Wan called when the Togruta made to follow the Spectres out, and everyone stopped to look at the man, the woman stepping forward and crossing her arms. "I would like it if you flew with me to our destination," he quietly continued. "I sense some tension between us that wasn't there before, and I think it has to do with what happened between me and Skywalker on Lothal." The sharp intake of breath and the brief tightening of her shoulders was enough, but the quick and sudden change in the Force as the Togruta quickly shut herself behind her defenses confirmed it. "I dislike friction between us, and I should like to clear the air," Obi-Wan said as soothing as he was able. "This rebellion functions best when you and I are in sync, and right now, we are the furthest thing from it."

For just a moment, Ahsoka tensed further, the long ends of her lekku twisting in her agitation, and with a heavy sigh, she nodded. "I'll see you above Seelos, Spectres," she said, and with a quick nod of acknowledgment, Kanan ushered the others out, allowing the two friends to sit together in silence, the Force between them intermingling as they lowered their defenses and opened themselves to each other, the former Jedi and the Sith Lord slipping into an easy meditation as they became one.


	38. The Lost Commanders

**AN:** **So, as a show, I think Star Wars Rebels is pretty solid with some really excellent characters. So far, the extended material has done a great job expanding on Kanan, and while Rebels has to keep it's child target audience in mind, the expanded material doesn't. As a result, some of the show's darker elements are touched on, but not explored, which is what I'm correcting in this story, this chapter most notably in one very important way.**

 **Kanan, without question, has PTSD in a very bad way, which is a crippling psychological mess. The show actually touches on this a bit in season 2, but being a kid's show, it's not exactly realistic to depict your hero having flashbacks and acting in ways that make sense for someone crippled by trauma, but doesn't make sense for your show's hero. It's one of the show's biggest weaknesses, in my opinion, so guess what? I'm gonna fix it.**

 **Boom, Kanan. Enjoy your PTSD. And you, my lovelies, enjoy this chapter. The next one's a big one too, so look forward to that. Let me know what you think, kids!**

 _Chapter 38: The Lost Commanders_

"What do you suppose Ahsoka meant by _trust him_?" Kanan absently asked as he piloted the _Phantom_ through the sky, the white sand below them reflecting the sun and blinding him to the details of the vast desert below. Ezra, Sabine and Zeb stood close behind him, clinging to the pilot's seat and squinting out the forward viewport in hopes of seeing anything other than the shimmering expanse of heat radiating off the white desert below. There was no such luck to be had, and they were forced to rely on other means of seeing what was beneath them, be it the small transport's scanners or the Force.

"Just look at this place..." Zeb muttered, pressing his nose and his clawed hands against the viewport. "I'm getting lost just _looking_ at it, think how easy it would be to disappear down there."

"That's probably the point..." Sabine muttered, her hand on the comlink as she tried to get in touch with Hera and couldn't get a signal at all. While that would usually be cause for concern, upon their arrival in the Seelos system, several of the _Ghost_ 's systems shorted, including the hyperdirve and the communications relay, the result of Chopper's repairs to the ship and the moody droid's definition of important systems, which left the _actual_ essential systems only partially fixed. The stereo system and the radio were, of course, functioning perfectly, a thing Sabine greatly appreciated. If they were going to die, it may as well be to a good beat.

An entirely different reason kept their contact with Ahsoka spotty at best. Massive sandstorms covered the planet, and while they weren't currently experiencing one, the atmospheric pressure and the charge in the air from local storm clouds and sprawling tornadoes of sand was scrambling their ability to communicate. It was a mess, one that had the Spectres extremely grateful for their Force sensitive companions, who could miraculously see through it all, and while Kanan's powerful connection with Hera only went one way, the Sith Lord that lay sprawled over four seats in the back of the transport was able to have mental conversations with Ahsoka, even with all the distance between them. Kanan and Ezra called it a powerful Force bond. Sabine and Zeb called it _witchcraft_.

"I mean, Ahsoka trusts him, so _of course_ I'd trust him..." Kanan muttered. "Why would she think I wouldn't trust him!"

"Maybe," Sabine said quietly, her voice tinged with excitement, "her friend is a Separatist. _Maybe_ it's... _General Grievous_!"

"Grievous is dead..." Obi-Wan drawled from the back, his voice thick and slow as he lay across the seats in a daze, his eyes foggy and distant as he kept one foot in the Force and only barely managed to hold on to reality.

"How can you be sure?" Sabine asked. "Maybe he found a way to escape! The histories say he was _always_ escaping!"

"Skywalker killed him," Cody said quietly, his rifle laid out in pieces before him as he carefully cleaned and maintained each component. "We weren't there, but we saw the holorecording. He's dead. There is no possible way he survived."

"I felt it when he died..." Obi-Wan droned, and with a sigh, Cody reached up to slip a comforting hand into the Sith Lord's hair, though the man barely seemed to notice.

"Alright, well, what about one of the Separatist leaders?" Sabine asked again. "Oh, maybe one of the bankers, one of those Muun banking guys! Maybe Ahsoka wants them to fund us!"

"No..." Obi-Wan muttered. "I slaughtered the Separatist Council..."

"You can be certain they are dead," Cody said lightly, slowly beginning to reassemble his weapon. "I watched him execute them. It was a massacre." He shrugged, ignoring the horrified looks of the teenagers. "In any case, the Empire seized control of the Banking Clan's assets. Even if San Hill or his associates were alive, they wouldn't have access to any significant sort of funding."

"I don't get it..." Ezra mumbled. "He was the leader of the Separatists, wasn't he? Why would he kill his own people?"

"Because the Sith ran the whole thing..." Kanan growled. "There was only ever one side. A manufactured war with manufactured soldiers and billions of dead just so they could kill the Jedi and prime the galaxy for their conquest. No matter which side lost, the Sith won." He laughed bitterly and looked behind him to find Obi-Wan staring at him with distant, eerie eyes. "That's what all this was for, wasn't it? For the revenge of the Sith."

"A plan a thousand years in the making..." Obi-Wan drawled, a hint of pride in his voice that quickly turned cold. "And _still_ it failed."

"Yeah, because of _you_ ," Kanan countered, and Obi-Wan slowly shook his head.

"No...I would have been content to serve Sidious in his Empire. After I lost Satine, I...lost my motivation to murder my Master." He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, groaning softly as he extracted himself from the Force's hold, and with a shuddering breath, the Sith returned to himself. "Our revenge failed because Sidious became greedy. We failed because he _betrayed_ me, and for that, he will die. The Force demands it."

"So...are you going to see that it succeeds?" Ezra asked cautiously, earning himself a cold, hard glare from the Sith Lord as he rose to his feet, and quickly reseated himself when he paled and swayed where he stood when a wave of nausea hit him.

"There are no Jedi left to take revenge on, Ezra," Obi-Wan explained. "Kanan, the last Padawan, is no Jedi, Ahsoka left before she could become one, my younglings are Mandalorian, _not_ Jedi, and killing Yoda would be a kriffing _nightmare_." He scoffed and pulled his cloak tightly around him as he shivered. "Guiding that damnable imp into immortality is just _asking_ for trouble. Seriously, how many more ghosts do I need haunting me...and _no_ , don't you say a _kriffing word, Qui-Gon_!" he snapped as the Force spirit shimmered into existence beside him, an amused smirk on his ghostly features, but otherwise silent.

"I feel something..." Kanan muttered, turning his attention back to the viewport, his hands closing around the controls as he closed his eyes and opened himself up to the Force.

"I feel something too..." Obi-Wan drawled thickly. " _Hot_. I can already feel this damnable desert, why couldn't this person be hiding on a _reasonable_ planet?!"

"That's not the desert, that's the fever, you great big idiot," Cody said with a roll of his eyes, his hand held to the back of the Sith Lord's forehead. "Just because you hate sand-"

"I don't _hate_ sand, Cody, I hate the _desert_ ," Obi-Wan growled as he smacked the clone's hand away. "Everything always goes wrong in a desert! Look at all the shit that comes out of the desert! Sarlacs! Crime syndicates! _Anakin Skywalker_!" he snapped, pointedly glaring at the ghost at his side before be groaned and laid back down. "Sand sucks too."

" _You know who also doesn't like sand_?" Qui-Gon said gently beside him, and the Sith Lord immediately cringed. " _Anakin. Anakin doesn't like sand. The similarities between you two continue to amaze me_." Without wasting a moment, Obi-Wan stood up, slammed his fist on the hatch controls at the back of the ship, and vomited out the open door.

"Hang in there, Kenobi!" Kanan shouted from the pilot's seat to be heard over the sudden rushing of the wind and the pitiful heaving of their companion. "I don't think we're going to be here long, I found something." The Spectres immediately turned their attention away from the sick Sith Lord and looked out the viewport, squinting against the light and trying to see what Kanan saw. After Kenobi had been hauled back inside and the hatch resealed and pressurized, Cody joined them, the clone ignoring the Sith as he quietly whispered to the spirit that sat with him so that Cody could look out for what he was certain would be a trap.

For a long while, they didn't see anything as Kanan flew the ship down lower toward the ground, the blinding sands keeping them from discerning anything at all. After a moment, they saw it as they continued their approach, an almost indiscernible blemish on the sea of white that grew larger and more detailed with each passing moment. It was a moving, patchwork creation, a mechanical fortress that walked slowly on jointed legs almost like an insect. Kanan swung around wide the moment he got a visual on it, his chest tightening when he saw the rotating laser turrets along the sides of the massive walking tank and the huge cannon fixed to the broad head of the vehicle. He recognized this weapon of war, and despite Ahsoka's words echoing in his mind, her plea to trust her friend, he couldn't help but be set on edge by the reminder of the war that destroyed his life.

"Shit, that's an AT-TE..." Cody said, pressing closer to the Jedi as he leaned toward the viewport, and Kanan could feel the clone tense as well, his breath held and his focus intensifying as he looked at the tank. "I haven't seen one of these since the Clone Wars. I thought the Empire took all these apart to make their fancy new equipment, how did this guy get one of these?"

"Could he be an Imperial that defected?" Sabine asked, her eyes fixed on the tank as Kanan steeled himself and flew them in closer, the massive walking battle platform emitting smoke and steam as it was brought to a stop when the small transport was sighted. "I'm not the only one who sees the Empire for what they are. Maybe some officer didn't like that his Republic became an Empire and left."

"Yeah, maybe..." Kanan muttered, trying to calm his nerves, but his anxiety continued to rise as memories of his time in the war flashed through his mind, a time when he was not Kanan Jarrus, but Caleb Dume, a thing he was usually so good at separating, but now meshed within him as a keen reminder that he had once been that scared boy, that teenage Jedi Padawan instead of the roguish rebel he was now. There was Kardoa, his first battlefield, where he was shot twice by Separatist droids when he had disobeyed orders, and his life was saved by a clone soldier, who stood protectively above him until his Master could reach him. There was Mygeeto, where his battalion was saved by Mandalorian soldiers stationed to bring aid to the suffering civilians, where he watched his Master fight against General Grievous himself.

And then there was the horrors of Kaller, where they had liberated the people from Separatist rule, where he finally felt at peace, like he had a place in this world. Where the clones had betrayed them. Where he watched Depa Billaba be gunned down by the soldiers she fought beside, trusting them with her life, only to have them take it from her. Where she had told him to run, promising to be right behind him, though he knew very well she was lying to him, and instead of fighting beside her, he ran like a coward, like she had wanted him to. The last gift from his Master wasn't the holocron he still kept, but a chance to live.

Kanan's hands shook on the ship's controls, his teeth grinding together as he tried to banish the images running rampant through his mind, the bitter sting of betrayal, the terror that was put in his heart the night the Republic died, but it was no good. The war still clung to him like his old life, like the tiny voice of Caleb Dume deep within him that he never managed to silence completely, like the Force that he had once bitterly tried to drive from him and forget. Beside him, he could feel Cody change as well, the clone's breath slowing in his focus, his hands still and steady, though his body tense and ready for combat. Kanan could feel the clone's mind racing with death and killing and battle, with massacre on Dathomir, with slaughter on Umbara, with infiltration on Kamino, with atrocities on Haruun Kal, with death and terror and pain on Mustafar. The reaction was different from his, but even the battle-hardened Cody hadn't left the Clone Wars behind.

He landed the _Phantom_ behind the now stationary tank, and the Jedi closed his eyes and took a deep, calming breath, but couldn't shake the tension in his shoulders or the tightness in his chest. While his companions got ready to leave, checking weapons and securing blasters and helping the feverish Sith Lord to his feet, Kanan quickly activated the ship's comlink and tried to contact Ahsoka, but got only static in return.

"Don't bother, Jedi..." Obi-Wan said tiredly, shaking Zeb's supporting hands off his body and smoothing out his robes. Growling deeply as he shivered, the Sith unfastened his belt and quickly tore his robes from his body, carefully laying them on one of the seats as he pulled his shirt off and tossed it on the next seat over. "Ahsoka is caught in a sandstorm, she had to set the ship on the ground. Qui-Gon went to give her the details, and she would like to remind you to trust her friend."

"Oh, is that all?" Kanan asked with a high, nervous laugh, one that did nothing to ease his tension and only served to heighten the clone's unease. "Yeah, great, no problem. Is this how you communicate now?" he asked, watching as the Sith pulled the black robes back on, his partially exposed chest and bare arms allowing his flushed, heated skin to breathe. "Through _ghost_?"

"Hey, it's more reliable than sending coded messages when we may very well be sitting in a trap..." Kenobi said, his fingers absently running over the partially exposed deep, black scar on his chest. "Though if ever I needed proof that you Jedi are a contagion, Qui-Gon is a _fine_ example." He scoffed softly, his hand quickly wiping the sweat from his forehead. "Stupid Force spirit, jumping around where ever he pleases, spreading it to Yoda, infecting me with _Light Sickness_."

"By the gods of war, Kenobi, it's a _flu_!" Cody snapped, swiftly tightening the strap to the holster on his thigh.

"Yes, inflicted upon me because the Jedi _touched me_!" Obi-Wan said pointedly, tightening his belt around his robes and securing his lightsabers. "If I hadn't been so badly weakened, I _never_ would have contracted it!"

" _Well_ , after we fight our way out of this trap, we'll get some women to drain the illness right out of you," Cody said tightly. "This isn't something that can't be cured by one _very_ good night."

"You think this is a trap," Kanan said, standing from the chair after he powered the ship down, his hand resting on his lightsaber, and Cody bit down on his lip, his eyes narrowed as he looked toward the closed hatch.

"I don't know..." he quietly muttered. "But I don't have a good feeling about this. We would do well to prepare for the worst."

"I agree," Kanan quickly said. "Something doesn't feel right, something is... _off_ , I can't quite place it..."

"Didn't Ahsoka say something about trust?" Obi-Wan drawled with a roll of his eyes, and with a disgusted grunt, Cody snatched his helmet from the seat and tucked it under his arm.

"With all due respect, sir, Lady Tano _isn't here_. She doesn't know what we're facing, and by her own admission, this could very well be a trap. We should treat it like one."

"I don't feel anything strange..." Ezra said, stepping toward the hatch and quickly hitting the release, the door hissing as the airlock disengaged and the hatch cover folded up, the bright sun reflecting off the sand lighting the inside of the transport. "Come on, I bet everything's going to be fine. You're probably just worried about Hera and Ahsoka, and you know what you say about letting emotions get in the way!"

"Yes, we say _let them_ ," Obi-Wan said, draping his arm over the teenager's shoulders and walking out with him into the desert and around the ship to face the tank. "Seize your emotions, apprentice, let them focus you, let them fuel your power! Be they anger or joy, hatred or love, lust or devotion, your emotions are _life_ and the Force is fueled by them!"

"Uh, no, _no_ , that isn't what we say, Ezra, don't listen to him!" Kanan called after his student, quickly following them, and Sabine and Zeb casually walked out after them with a shrug, Cody walking out a moment after, his helmet held tightly in his hands like a lifeline.

The tank had been heavily modified, not with armor or weapons, but with adornments and decorations, the walking battle platform personalized by whoever lived within. Functioning turrets and the intimidating laser cannon at the front did well enough to warn people away, but this was clearly not a military vessel, and the additional exhaust stacks on the top of the vehicle spoke to the state of disrepair of the engines, mended in a crude but functional manner with the addition of extra engine vents. The back hatch of the tank had been expanded into a balcony surrounded by a guardrail, making the whole thing look like a ridiculous stilted home instead of a re-purposed Clone War era military machine.

They stood in a line in front of the _Phantom_ , staring at the still tank and the closed door and waiting for those inside to come out. Whoever was in there must have seen them, or else the tank stopping would have been terribly coincidental, and none of the Spectres believed in coincidences. Each second where nothing happened only made Kanan's mounting anxiety continue to build, his unease at looking upon the Republic tank only heightened with the knowledge that such vehicles were used to kill Jedi when they were all betrayed, that perhaps even this one turned its blasters on a hapless Master or a frightened Padawan. Most Jedi didn't live to carry the scars of Order 66.

They thankfully didn't have to wait long for the door to slide open and for three men to walk cautiously out on to the balcony, though from the ground, the Spectres could see others waiting inside the tank, peering out from the confines of their armored home to see who had come to disturb them. It was a military tactic that the soldiers among them knew well, never revealing their hand in order to lull an enemy into the security that came from larger numbers.

The three men that stood high before them all had facial hair whitened with age, the tops of their heads either clean-shaven or cut short, and despite the different cuts of their beards, the hair on their heads, and the array of scars that marked their faces and the exposed skin of their arms, each man looked strikingly similar to the other. While their nearly identical faces could be passed off as simply familial, the worn white armor they wore was unmistakable, and the blue streaks and patters upon their armored shoulders denoting the famous division that they belonged to. For a long, tense moment, they looked at each other, silent and still as they analyzed what stood before them, the fear and the tension mounting as old memories asserted themselves, and before anyone knew what was happening, the man standing in the middle drew a blaster from his hip and pointed it at the people below just as Cody pulled his helmet on and stepped forward.

" _Traitor_!"

" _Slave_!" Cody hissed in response, quickly drawing the rifle from his back and getting off a shot just as the other man fired a volley at him. The Spectres quickly scattered to avoid the sudden fire, and before anyone else could draw a weapon, Kanan's lightsaber ignited in his hands, the Jedi's breathing hard and fast and shallow as he held the blade out before him and quickly intercepted the shots, deflecting them back up at the soldiers on the tank just as the six mounted turrets on the side of the vehicle groaned and swung around to aim at them, manned from the inside by men they had yet to see.

"Clones, they're _clones_!" Kanan snarled, his eyes fearful and furious as he slowly advanced, and the other two men on the balcony quickly drew their own weapons.

" _Jedi_!" one of them shouted in warning for the men who could not see what was happening down below. "They've come for revenge!"

"Not just Jedi, boys," the man in the middle growled, indicating with the blaster in his off hand at the group while he trained his other pistol on Cody as the Mandalorian carefully aimed his weapon at the men on the tank. "That's the kriffing Negotiator and that traitor right hand of his!"

"Oh, this is _perfect_..." Obi-Wan said with a roll of his eyes. "This is what happens when you put a bunch of men with post traumatic stress disorder in a sandbox together. No wonder Fulcrum wouldn't tell us who we were going for, this is _madness_..."

"Sir, that's Captain Rex of the 501st Attack Battalion!" Cody snapped quickly, the clones on the tank and the black and red armored Mandalorian staring each other down, twitching fingers on triggers just waiting for a moment to escalate opening shots into a full-scale battle. "That's _Skywalker's_ clone commander!"

"Guys, _stop_!" Ezra said quickly, pushing past Sabine and Zeb to be closer to the front line. "Ahsoka said to trust these guys, she said-"

Whatever it was that Ezra was going to say was lost in the sudden sound of firing weapons as Cody dashed forward, followed closely by Obi-Wan, now brandishing two lightsabers in his hands as they rushed toward the tank, the hulking battle platform hissing and groaning as it began to move again, the turrets opening fire and scattering the group as they dove out of the way. Plasma shots struck holes in the sand, leaving blackened, melted grains to congeal together into volcanic rock in the craters left behind, and when Rex shouted for them to make certain they couldn't escape, a well-placed shot struck the _Phantom_ 's engines, sending flames dancing up into the air from the hopelessly ruined rear trusters of the transport.

With no cover to duck behind and the increasing distance between them only serving to make them better targets for the turrets as the tank began to turn its broadside toward them, Ezra, Zeb and Sabine followed the example Kanan, Cody, and the deliriously laughing Obi-Wan and sprinted toward the tank, the close proximity keeping them out of range of the rapidly firing turret guns. The run was a hard one, the plasma shots flying through the air towards them peppering the ground and sending sand into the air to obscure their vision and the fine white sand quickly giving way beneath their quick steps and slowing them considerably, serving both to make their rapidly tiring legs move much more slowly and to make them easier targets. However, the much more threatening targets in the Jedi, the commander of the Shadow Legion, and the Separatist's Negotiator kept most of the attention off the three Spectres as they ran toward the tank.

It wasn't until they drew closer that Ezra began understanding what insane plan the feverish brain of Obi-Wan cooked up in the heat of the desert, but when he saw his three incensed companions under the shadow of the tank and quickly leaping upon the mighty legs of the mobile platform, he understood and he ran faster, intent to stop this madness before someone got killed. Ahsoka said to trust these people, and so far as he could tell, these weren't Imperials, and when he sensed from them wasn't a desire to kill but a very real, very visceral fear. He wasn't sure he blamed them. Ezra had seen the terror that Obi-Wan had inspired in Kanan, and he knew very well the things the Sith Lord had done to earn his murderous reputation. They had a right to be afraid.

By the time he reached the shadow of the tank the high sun cast on the ground, Obi-Wan, Kanan and Cody were all brandishing their lightsabers and putting them to one of the tank's thick legs, molten steel running in rivulets down to the sand below as they worked together to slice through it. Alongside the belly of the tank, hatches opened up where other clone soldiers in full armor took shots at the men on the legs, and Sabine and Zeb immediately returned fire, but the clones were much harder targets than their Imperial counterparts, and they were proving to be far better shots as well when they turned their attention on the distracting Mandalorian and Zabrak and fired volleys of suppressing fire at them, cleverly covering others who kept their fire on the enemies on the tank's legs.

Ezra reached the leg just as Obi-Wan, Kanan, and Cody had successfully cut through it, the segmented support falling with a heavy thud to the sandy ground, and the tank lurched at the sudden loss, the now limping tank making it more difficult to move and to aim the turrets. As soon as the severed leg hit the ground, Obi-Wan, Cody and Kanan jumped down and immediately ran for the far leg on the same side through a hail of blaster fire, the Force sensitives batting back the plasma as the concentrated effort rained down upon them. Ezra sprinted toward the three men beside Sabine and Zeb, defending his two friends as they shot to miss, their returned fire meant to distract, not kill. Ahsoka had said to trust them, and while the traumatized Kanan, the incensed Cody, and the feverish Obi-Wan seemed to have forgotten this, the other three Spectres meant to at least try to honor Ahsoka's plea.

That meant getting to Obi-Wan. The Sith Lord had the power to control the raging Cody, and the way Ezra saw it, things escalated quickly when Kenobi's clone snapped and went completely insane. This could be managed. This _whole thing_ could somehow be salvaged. Nobody had died yet, so it wasn't too late, but that wouldn't last for long, especially not when Ezra saw the wild, feral look in the Sith's eyes as he ran up beside him.

"Kenobi, we need to make this stop!" Ezra said between hard, panted breaths, his lightsaber blurring green in the air as he knocked back the fire from the clones in the tank. "Ahsoka wouldn't send us to them if-"

"Ahsoka didn't send us to them at all!" Obi-Wan snapped, rushing to run in front of Cody as the man aimed his rifle at the hatches the clones were firing from. "Whoever Ahsoka wanted us to meet is gone, these are _Skywalker's clones_! And I'm going to make them _mine_. Kanan, get to the leg!" Obi-Wan commanded, the Sith skidding to a full stop and defending Cody as he crouched down and looked through the sights of his rifle at the well-concealed clones in the tank. Instead of running forward, Kanan fell back behind Obi-Wan, quickly grabbing Ezra and pulling the teen defensively behind him, the Jedi batting back bolt after bolt, his eyes wide and wild and distant, filled with a fear that didn't come from the moment.

"Or just stand there..." Obi-Wan said with a roll of his eyes. "That's fine too."

"Kenobi!" Ezra tried again, joining his two Masters in deflecting the rain of blaster fire upon them, and quickly moved as Sabine and Zeb ran to stand beside Cody in the protective circle the Force sensitives had made. "Kenobi," he tried again when the shooting lessened, the air filled with the muffled echoes of shouts from inside the tank as the clones readjusted their position. "The _Phantom_ is damaged, we don't have a way to escape! Our best chance is to get them to stop shooting! This is a misunderstanding, if we just-"

"We need to get in that tank!" Obi-Wan quickly interrupted, his eyes darting between the vehicle's legs as he searched for an entry point. "Good idea, Bridger, we can tear them up from the inside and use the parts from the tank's engines to repair the _Phantom_!"

"N-no, that's not what I-" The sudden shot from Cody's rifle roared in Ezra's ears and a sharp cry pierced the air, his careful aim paying off as a clone soldier came tumbling out of the hatch and hit the sandy ground below. Obi-Wan didn't waste a moment before he rushed forward toward the slowly moving man in the sand, his red saber effortlessly deflecting bolts back up into the hatch they were fired from, allowing a temporary reprieve from the sudden intensity as the clones regrouped. The Sith dropped to his knees beside the fallen man and quickly tore his helmet off, a face he had seen a thousand times before underneath, and Obi-Wan closed his eyes, his fingers on the man's forehead as he plunged into his mind, searching for what he knew to rest deep in the brain of every clone, the quick and easy, nearly effortless way to command complete obedience from the slave soldiers.

A biochip, a control method programmed with a series of protocols that enslaved the clones to the will of the Master that made them. Obi-Wan had learned long ago how to break the chip, to short it out and render it useless, severing the chains that bound them and giving them freedom under the Sith Lord's guidance. It was an easy thing to do, a slight shift, the right push, and the commands in their mind compelling them to obey were replaced by the Sith Lord's own smooth, accented voice telling them the truth of what they were, how they had been used and manipulated by their Masters, and how they were now free. The chip was the best way, the fastest way, the _kindest_ way to free the slave soldiers of the former Republic and bind them to him, their loyalty earned by acting as their benevolent liberator.

The chip _wasn't there_.

With a gasp, Obi-Wan released the man, his eyes searching the soldier's face, reaching out with the Force to feel at the man's presence. This _was_ a clone, as were the other nine that he could sense still inside the tank, but the biochip that rested inside each of them, _had_ to be inside each of them was _gone_. It was absolutely impossible unless... _unless_ the clone had the chip removed. Unless these were the clones that had been with Skywalker on Colstev and had seen what their brother had done to the young General. Unless these clones looked upon their comrade as he was compelled to kill his Jedi commander and wondered _why_. And on reflection, when he had first saved Ahsoka, she had _told_ him about Skywalker's Captain Rex and how the clone and a handful of his squad had _saved_ her from Coruscant the night Order 66 was executed. Clones that had overcome their programming. Clones that had _removed their biochips_.

"Oh, Ancient Gods of the Sith, _damn it all_!"

" _Kenobi_!" Ezra shouted, running across the sandy terrain to stand beside the Sith, the boy dodging out of the way of the plasma bolts that were fired at him and knocking them away with slashes of green light when they got too close. "Kenobi, did you know that Cody has a _jetpack_?!" Obi-Wan looked up at the boy, his mind churning laboriously under the combined effects of the heat and the fever, and he shook his head to clear it as he tried to make sense of this entire situation. "Well," Ezra said frantically, not waiting for the man to respond, "the second they stopped shooting for a moment, your stupid clone took off and flew around to the other side. I don't know what he's planning, but if we don't do something, he's going to get himself killed!"

"That great big _idiot_!" Kenobi snarled, rising to his feet with a groan. "You were right, Ezra, these are the ones Ahsoka was looking for." He nudged the nearly unconscious clone on the ground with his foot, his lightsaber igniting in his hand when the soldiers began firing at him once again, much more cautiously this time because of how close the Sith Lord was to their wounded comrade. "Not just any clones, but clones that broke free of their slavery to the Republic and helped a Jedi to escape."

"Ahsoka?" Ezra asked, kneeling beside Obi-Wan and keeping his head low as the Sith hoisted the wounded clone up and used his body to shield them, the others ceasing fire on them immediately to the chorus of tense shouts and commands, the fear in the air reaching a new high. Obi-Wan slowly nodded and quickly looked around to assess the situation, the enemy attention divided by Kanan, Sabine and Zeb, the Jedi defending the Mandalorian and the Lasat as they ran toward one of the tank's legs, a small shower of blaster fire from above following them. The clones in the hatches above had ceased their fire, looking for a way to save their friend from what they knew to be a _very_ dangerous man, though the number of blasters trained on them simply didn't match up. The numbers were too small. Some clones were unaccounted for, meaning Cody was somewhere doing _something_ , and whatever it was, it wasn't going to be good.

"You knew?" Ezra asked, his voice a low hiss as he ducked behind his human cover, the body held before them with the Force as Obi-Wan quickly formulated a plan. "If you knew, Kenobi, _why_ -"

"Have you _seen me_ , Bridger?!" the Sith Lord said defensively. "My body can't decide if I'm hot or cold, I threw up out the back of the _Phantom_ , and I'm fairly certain I'm dying. You expect me to remember something Ahsoka said in passing sixteen years ago?!" He scoffed and rolled his eyes, his hand on the boy's shoulder as he gave the clone to the teenager to hold, his hand extended and shaking slightly as he adjusted to the weight. "And here I am, about to be the sensible one and stop this madness."

"W-what are you going to do?" Ezra asked, his hand stabilizing as Obi-Wan gave the clone fully over to Ezra's control of the Force.

"I'm going to get in that tank and stop this before Cody kills Rex. I don't think Ahsoka will take kindly to that, and if this commander is who I think he is, I can make him stop shooting at me long enough to listen." He pointed with his lightsaber out toward the other Spectres, Kanan's saber swinging to deflect the volley of plasma rounds as Zeb and Sabine clung to the leg and worked to cut the wires and oil and fluid lines of one of the segmented knees. "You and the Spectres stay on the ground and serve as a distraction. Their attention is divided and we want to keep it that way. I'm going up there, and you're going to stay by Kanan to make sure he doesn't hurt anyone."

"Right..." Ezra said, pulling the clone closer to him and muttering a quick apology to the dazed man. "Hey, may the Force be with you, Obi-Wan."

"It will be if this idiot Jedi poisoning doesn't get in the way..." the Sith Lord said, his shoulders heaving for a second before he slowly, bitterly swallowed, pushing the rising bile in his stomach down with a grimace. "I swear, _everything_ is the Jedi's fault..." Without another word, he pushed off the ground, sand flying up behind him as he sprinted toward the yank's forward legs, the furthest point from where the Spectres were attacking at the rear. The moment he was away from Ezra, the firing began again in earnest, bolts striking the ground all around him as he swiftly evaded danger when he felt it coming, deflecting bolts out of the way or deftly sidestepping mere moments before the plasma struck the ground where he once was. The result was a fast path to the leg, a jagged, random trail of blackened sand hardening into crystalline, volcanic stone making Kenobi's path.

He could hear the clones' muffled shouting in the tank above him, the pounding on the floor inside as they ran from hatch to hatch, stopping to shoot when they had clear shots and then quickly running to the next. For all the commotion the Spectres were causing and the threat of Cody, who was no doubt inside the tank by now, Obi-Wan thought that the clones were certainly focusing a lot of attention on bringing _him_ down. As his target grew rapidly closer, Obi-Wan briefly wondered exactly what Ahsoka was thinking by sending him with the Spectres to collect this clone. Not only was she putting her faith in a Jedi who already feared clone soldiers because of his narrow escapes in the past, but as the former leader of the Separatist army, Obi-Wan was in the unique position of not only being instantly untrustworthy to former soldiers of the Republic, but also as public enemy number one to men who had once served beside Anakin Skywalker. His survival wasn't even an option.

And here he was, his mind addled by heat and fever, and he was about to be the _sane_ one.

Throwing his lightsaber before him and catching it in a backhanded grip, Obi-Wan jumped as high as he could and stabbed the glowing red blade into the tank's leg, the saber slowly cutting down through the steel and giving the Sith a chance to plant his feet against the leg and press off, jumping higher up toward the tank's underbelly. He had to jump twice more to get to the top, wedging himself between the tank and the leg at an angle that made it very difficult for the clones to shoot at him with any sort of accuracy. Making certain his grip was secure, Obi-Wan thrust the lightsaber into the tank and began cutting himself an entrance into the vehicle. It was short work, and within a minute, the rounded slice from the hull of the tank fell to the sand below, and Obi-Wan pulled himself up inside the armored cabin.

He crawled up inside a space under the floor, the loud hissing and humming of the engines and the systems that ran the various moving components of the mobile platform echoing around him along with the pounding of armored feet on the floor above him and the shouts of the clones as they scrambled to keep control of a battle that was quickly slipping out of their hands. With their opponents splitting up and dividing their attention, the clones were having difficulty despite the advantages they possessed. Their numbers were too few to successfully split their attention, their enemy too dangerous to ignore in favor of a concentrated effort, and the presence of the Force sensitives were a thing that the clones were all too familiar with, each of them having seen first hand the advantages the Force bestowed upon those that could feel it. It was leaving them on the edge of frantic, just enough to make the buzz of combat new and strange to the seasoned, yet our of practice warriors.

When he was certain nobody was above him, Obi-Wan thrust his lightsaber through the floor above him, using the Force to augment his strength to cut through the metal as quickly as he could, the shouts inside becoming less commanding and more tense as the clones saw what was happening. Before they could regroup, the hole was cut and Obi-Wan jumped out, his blade quickly swinging to deflect the fired shots from the few clones who were in position on both sides of the corridor he emerged from. With his hand extended before him, Obi-Wan quickly turned and pushed the clones on one side of the hallway with the Force, the five men crouched there sent flying back to hit the wall behind them.

The Sith Lord quickly swung his lightsaber around to deflect the suppressing fire from behind him, the three clones on his other side having used that moment to take up a defensive position. Reaching out to them as well, Obi-Wan quickly ducked down just as he pulled the three men quickly toward him, the clones flying through the air and over his head to crash against their brothers as they scrambled to their feet in a mess of flailing limbs, knocking them all down again as their bodies careened into them. With his opponents no longer flanking him, the Sith Lord slowly advanced on them, his lightsaber returned to his belt and both hands extended before him as he grasped the Force and sent it to subdue the thrashing clones. With the eight men in the hall and the one down on the ground with the Spectres, the only man left unaccounted for was the Captain, but that was enough. The battle was, by all rights, over. All that was left now was the negotiation.

It was irritating work to subdue the clones, like trying to herd a group of particularly rambunctious kittens. Over fifteen years of freedom had left the Republic's former slaves willful and wild, a streak of individualism within them that Obi-Wan recognized as the same free spirit of his own liberated Shadow Legions. The man they were based on was Mandalorian after all, and that same fearsome warrior spirit ran through the blood of his cloned soldiers, a thing that became more prominent with the removal of the biochips that allowed them to be docile slaves to the Republic. Trying to keep the men in tact was far harder than Obi-Wan's usual disregard for the minds of those that opposed him, and it left him with a group of eight men that fervently resisted the shackles that were clasped around their minds, and while he did control their bodies, he never got a firm grasp on their minds, the clones left struggling and resisting the worming fingers within them.

Still, it was enough. Obi-Wan didn't need the men to _like_ their chains, he just needed them to stop shooting at him long enough to get their commander to see reason. With all the clones' bodies compliant to the Sith's demands, Obi-Wan commanded them to drop their weapons and follow him through the tank like reluctant pets on a leash, their slow, jerky movements indicative of their continued struggle for control over the bodies that betrayed them. Still, Obi-Wan would not let go, and the clones were left with no choice but obedience as their legs moved on their own after the Lord of the Sith.

When he came across a wide living area, a re-purposed command center lined with tables and couches and chairs strewn with spare helmets and armor, Obi-Wan pressed his hand to the controls on the door and quickly flattened himself against the wall when the door slid open to let the bright sun from outside in. His hand extended and issuing a silent command for the clones to stay put, the Sith ducked out into the light, his eyes closed against the blaze and feeling his way around the balcony with the Force. He quickly stopped, his lightsaber drawn and his eyes flying open when he felt the sudden shifting presence of the clone captain, the red blade blazing as he easily deflected shot after shot high into the air and on to the deck to keep from hitting the man. With a swift gesture as the weapon was primed for another volley, Obi-Wan tore the blasters from Rex's hands with the Force, sending them flying off the edge of the tank. With the lightsaber pointed menacingly at him and completely disarmed, Rex slowly rose his hands in surrender.

"You made our brothers do your bidding at the end of the war!" Rex snapped, retreating slowly as the Sith turned his blade over in his hand, his frustration and anger becoming confusion when Kenobi switched the weapon off and returned it to his belt. "The Jedi are _dead_! What more do you want from us?!"

"Nothing at all," Obi-Wan said tiredly, wiping the sweat from his forehead and shrugging his robes off his shoulders with a soft groan, his belt holding the fabric as it looped down by the Sith's knees. "I'm here on behalf of Ahsoka Tano."

"Ahsoka?" Rex asked, his eyes widening with shock and his chest tightening as he held his breath, a frown on his lips as he examined the Sith's face. His hand tightening at his side, Rex started to speak, but never had a chance to finish when Cody had sprinted out from the other side of the balcony and went barreling into the other clone, tackling the Captain with such force that both men went tumbling over the guard rail and landed with grunts of pain and a loud thud in the sand below. Obi-Wan stood for a moment, staring at the spot where he only a moment ago had begun to reason with the clone commander, and with a deep, frustrated hiss, ran to the rail and looked down at where Cody and Rex rolled on top and around each other in a fight for dominance as they threw punches and very earnestly tried to kill each other.

"Damn it, Cody, what are you doing?!" Obi-Wan shouted down at the clones as they rolled in the sand, but neither man seemed to hear the Sith Lord. Kenobi's hands tightened around the rails, briefly considering jumping over and forcing the men to separate, but the long fall and the heat and the weariness in his mind made him reconsider an alternative way, and he quickly ran back into the tank to set his formulating plan in motion.

Cody's hands were held in front of his face as he blocked punch after punch from the man above him, Rex having gained the upper hand and rolled on top of him during their brief scuffle after they fell. Each strike was fast and heavy, Cody managing to deflect most of them, but a few glancing blows still caught him on the side of his helmet, and despite the protection it afforded him, he still felt his brain jar inside his skull with each hit. Rex was punching too fast for Cody to have a moment to reach a hand down to draw one of the blasters strapped to his thigh, the other clone as fierce in his intent to murder as Cody was, which made this a dangerous position to be in, especially if the Captain learned there were two weapons just within reach.

Seeing his moment when Rex drew up for a particularly hard strike, Cody blocked the punch as it descended on the outside of Rex's arm, forcing his arm to cross his body and the weight behind it upsetting his balance just slightly. It was enough, and when the fist his the ground beside his head, Cody quickly brought his foot up and kicked out Rex's knee, straightening the leg out and forcing the man to lose his footing, allowing Cody to roll on top of him, and in the next moment, the positions had been switched and it was Cody throwing the punches while Rex defended.

With the advantage in his hands, Cody brutally threw punch after punch at Rex with the intent to put his fist through the other man's skull, but Rex was quick, and despite over fifteen years of being away from war, the man had kept in shape, his edges dulled with age, perhaps, but the blade was still sharp. When he had caught the Captain with the edge of his fist on the side of his head, Rex grunting in pain as it hit, Cody swiftly reached down and drew the blaster on his leg and pressed the barrel right up against the exposed joint under Rex's arm. The Captain's eyes widened when he felt the weapon, heard it charge, and twisted his body just as it was fired, the plasma bolt striking the ground just beside him when the sudden movement dislodged the barrel from it's place.

Hissing a curse under his breath as the advantage left him, Cody felt his upset balance immediately used to Rex's advantage when the Captain hooked his arm under Cody's leg and grabbed for the other blaster. As Cody moved to stop the other clone from taking the weapon from him, Rex threw him, sending him tumbling into the sand, and as Cody caught sight of the Captain, he saw the man scramble to his feet, the blaster stolen from his holster in his enemy's hands. As soon as Cody was on his feet, he opened fire on Rex, the other clone running out of the way and returning his own fire, the bolts striking the sand and occasionally glancing off their armor, making the men stagger and groan from the impact, but taking no serious damage through the sturdy protection they wore.

The Spectres ran toward the clones the moment they fell from the tank, the firing stopped and the tank still presumably due to Kenobi's success inside, though reasons for the mad dash toward the brawling pair differed greatly among them. Kanan led the charge, his lightsaber grasped tightly in both hands, his breathing fast and frantic as he rushed to save his comrade, the fact Cody was a clone forgotten in the Jedi's mind as his vision tunneled to focus on the clone trying to kill him. The other three followed as fast as they were able to stop Kanan, both from killing Ahsoka's friend and from getting killed himself. Ezra had done what he could to follow Kenobi's instructions, had quickly informed Zeb and Sabine about the Sith Lord's plans, but keeping the Jedi out of the terror of his memories was proving to be far more difficult than the teen had anticipated.

About halfway through the long run under the length of the tank to where the clones were shooting at each other, Zeb managed to get close enough to Kanan to pounce on the man, the Jedi and the Lasat tumbling in the sand, the lightsaber knocked from his hand, and Zeb quickly wrapped his arms around him and pulled the squirming Jedi into his lap. With nowhere to go and absolutely no ability to move, Kanan's ragged breathing slowed into shallow gasps as he caught his breath, his eyes shut tightly and listening to the distant sound of the clones fighting, the pervasive clanging of the war machine in motion and the high whine of rapid nearby blaster fire faded to the sound of the wind in the air and the hard pounding of the Lasat's heart behind him.

Kanan opened his eyes to see Ezra kneeling in front of him, the teen's face both concerned and understanding, and the Jedi quickly averted his eyes, swallowing hard and allowing his body to relax, despite the tension he still felt in the air, the Force still disturbed and turbulent. "I'm sorry..." Kanan muttered, breathing easier when Zeb's tight grip relaxed slightly. "I thought I put all this behind me, I-I thought-"

"Hey, it's alright..." Ezra said, laying his hand on the Jedi's shoulder. "I don't know what you've been through Kanan, I don't know what the war was like, but if you need help with all that, we're here to support you." The teen shrugged, a slight smirk on his face when the man looked gratefully up at him. "And, you know...keep you from killing Ahsoka's friends."

"Clones, Ezra, are _dangerous_ ," Kanan growled softly. "They fought beside us, they were our friends and our companions, and without warning, they turned on us. The Jedi are gone because of clone treachery."

"...which is why we're going to let Kenobi deal with this, alright?" Ezra said nervously, looking behind him at where Cody and Rex still fought, much closer to each other now and alternating between swift kicks and punches and shots from the blasters in their hands. "He's got a plan."

"We should be helping Cody," Sabine said, her back to her fellow Spectres and her blasters in hand, the girl ready to rush in and start shooting, but Ezra reached out and quickly took her hand.

"I don't know if that's a good idea," he said quietly to the Mandalorian. "I'm...not sure Cody won't turn on us if we try to get between them, and we don't know that the other clone won't just kill Cody if we restrain him. We need both of them alive. Kenobi needs to handle this." When he was met with silence from the stoic Mandalorian, he laughed nervously and ran a hand through his hair. "Well, they don't call him the Negotiator for nothing, right?"

"They tank stopped and the clones stopped shooting," Sabine said matter of factly. "Probably because he killed them all."

" _Hopefully_..." Kanan growled, earning himself a tight squeeze from the Lasat as Zeb quietly hushed him, his large hand patting the Jedi on the head.

"Obi-Wan said to trust him, and Ahsoka said to trust her friend!" Ezra said firmly, standing before the seated Lasat and the restrained Jedi defensively, his hands on his lightsaber just in case it was needed. "I'm going to trust them. He'll find a way to fix this. I _know_ he will."

"...I don't like this," Sabine grumbled, her eyes drifting between the protective Zeb, the concerned Ezra, the pacified Kanan, and the unconscious clone that fell out of the tank earlier, the man knocked out by Zeb the moment Rex and Cody tumbled from the vehicle. "You're right, but I _really_ don't like this." She pulled down her visor and zoomed in on the fight, the Mandalorian jogging closer when she saw the two clones drawing closer to each other, their strikes becoming harder, their aim becoming better, and when Rex took a shot and Cody cried out in pain, a hand clutching his side, Sabine couldn't help but run across the sand toward them.

Cody fired at Rex as quickly as he could, his eyes narrowed in rage and pain, plasma flying rapidly and wildly at the other clone as he dove out of the way, cursing loudly and dropping the weapon when a shot hit the junction between his wrist and forearm, but didn't have time to stop as the other continued his suppressing fire. Cody only stopped shooting when the blaster began beeping, a red light flashing on the side of the weapon indicating that the pistol was overheating. Cursing loudly and throwing the blaster to the side, he squinted against the blazing sun at Rex as the man ran toward him, aiming a punch right at his head, which Cody quickly dodged to return his own strikes.

They both moved fast despite the sand, their breathing heavy from exertion and sweating profusely as they nearly cooked in their armor from the sun beating down upon them. For a long while, they blocked and punched, kicked and dodged, lunged out and quickly back in, their movements so seamless, so perfect it looked rehearsed, like a training exercise they had practiced together for years. They easily feel into their old training on Kamino, the close quarter combat that had been so rigorously drilled into them since the day they emerged from the tubes they were made in fresh in their minds, altered slightly by their differing experiences, but their extensive training left them well prepared to deal with the variations.

Things only changed when Cody quickly shifted his stance, ducking under a swift hook but getting caught by the clone's knee, the hard impact striking Cody on the side he had been shot. With a yelp of pain and stubborn fury, Cody stumbled back and extended his hand, the gauntlet on his wrist shooting his grappling line out at Rex's feet, the strong tensile cord wrapping around the Captain's legs, and with a swift tug on the line, Cody pulled Rex's legs out from under him, the clone falling heavy to the ground and quickly trying to untangle his tightly bound legs. His enemy lay prone before him, his mobility severely restricted and his attention divided by not just the cord binding him, but by the sudden appearance of another Mandalorian at the edge of his vision, and Cody felt rage and pain and _victory_ , the conclusion to a fight began long, long ago at hand. He drew the lightsaber from the back of his belt and quickly ignited it, and with a savage growl, Cody jumped toward the prone Rex, his lightsaber held over his head as he bore down on the man for the killing strike.

Just before Cody's blue blade connected with Rex's body, an invisible force slammed into him, knocking the air out of him and throwing him backwards, the lightsaber dropping out of his hands as he reached up to claw at his throat, the clone held in midair and struggling to breathe as the Force constricted around him. A moment later, and the same force slammed Cody down to the ground, the impact leaving an indentation in the sand, the pressure released from his throat allowing him to scream in pain, his heels digging into the sand and his back arching off the ground as the Force spiked through him. Swallowing hard and staring at his enemy with wide eyes, Rex slowly looked up at the tank and saw his men kneeling on the balcony, their heads bowed and their shoulders slumped in defeat, the Negotiator standing up tall behind them, his red blade in his hand. Fear for his friends' lives kept Rex from moving, his legs still loosely tied as he kneeled in the sand.

"As I was saying," Obi-Wan said in a lazy, affected drawl, his voice carrying easily through the hot air. "I'm not here to kill you or your men."

"And why else would you be here?!" Rex shouted back, and Obi-Wan answered him with a short, dismissive laugh.

"Sweetie, they call me the Negotiator. I'm here to _negotiate_." Obi-Wan shrugged, watching as Rex cautiously removed the bindings from his legs and beginning to pace, looking cautiously back toward Cody, who now lay doubled over and panting as Sabine hovered protectively over him. "Don't worry about Cody, Captain," Obi-Wan said, Rex swiftly looking back up at the menacing man. "I won't let him hurt you. You have something I want, after all, and you can't give it to me if you're dead."

"You expect me to deal with you while you hold my men hostage?!" Rex snapped, and Obi-Wan rolled his eyes and kicked a rolled up ladder down to the ground, the rungs unrolling as it fell and giving those on the ground access to the tank's balcony platforms.

"You don't have a choice," Obi-Wan drawled. "Come up, we'll discuss the release of your men." Rex didn't move, didn't look away from the Sith Lord as he stood over his clone brothers with a weapon in hand. He couldn't see his men's faces, couldn't see if they were injured, or even alive at all.

"Wolffe!" Rex called, and the clone beside Kenobi tensed, his shoulders shuddering for a moment before he looked up, his eyes searching before him before he leaned over and looked down below, and Rex breathed a sigh of relief. "Are you and the men alright?"

"Yeah..." the clone replied, looking cautiously up at the Sith Lord beside him, his gaze returning to Rex when Kenobi didn't say anything. "Kix was shot down, but he survived the fall. The rest of us are fine." A low, deep growl rumbled in his chest. "The kriffing Negotiator threw up on my boot!"

"I told you I was sick, you ingrate!" Obi-Wan shot back, smacking the man lightly on the back of his head. "You'd do well to not make me angry if you want to keep your other boot clean, getting angry is making me _nauseous_."

"Are you trying to tell me that a _sick man_ defeated ten men and captured our tank?" Rex frowned when he heard the men on the balcony grumble, and he eyed the ladder for a moment, looking back at Cody quickly before turning his attention back to the Sith. "Did Ahsoka really send you?" he called, and Obi-Wan nodded.

"She did," the Sith confirmed. "I'm here because she's my friend and she _asked_ me to come for some stupid reason. Honestly, she could have done better than the Negotiator, the commander of the Shadow Legion, and a Jedi survivor of Order 66." Rex slowly looked behind him at the Spectres as they slowly approached, the clone looking over the man he had seen with a lightsaber, his face hard and distrustful, the man just old enough to have fought in the war beside a Jedi General.

"Y-yeah..." Rex said, swallowing hard. "Yeah, this maybe wasn't the best choice. Granted, knowing Ahsoka, she was probably anticipating a trap, and were that the case, I think you may have been the best choice."

"Ahsoka tells me it was you that saved her," Obi-Wan said somberly. "She was dear to my friend Quinlan, and for that, you have my most sincere thanks." Rex was speechless, staring at the Sith Lord for a moment in silence, his jaw slack, and Obi-Wan leaned over the railing. "Tell me, Captain, how does the clone commander of Anakin Skywalker come to save Ahsoka Tano when I distinctly remember him ordering her hunted and killed? How does a clone come to save _any_ Jedi, for that matter?"

"Not all of us betrayed the Jedi," Rex said, pointing to a long scar on his shaven head. "I watched one of my brothers betray General Skywalker. He would have killed him if we didn't stop him. Some of us went to Kamino and learned the truth, and we got our chips removed before the order was given." Rex's chest tightened when he heard the Jedi growl viciously behind him, but he didn't look away from the Sith Lord, afraid of what would happen if the young survivor felt provoked. "And what about you?" he asked. "How did the Negotiator come to be friends with Jedi?"

"A very long story," Obi-Wan drawled. "Why don't you come up here? You ruined our ship, and I'd like it fixed, and no doubt you want to negotiate for the release of your men. After all that's settled, perhaps I'll tell you."

With a sigh of relief, the tension leaving his shoulders for the first time since this whole ordeal began, Rex grabbed hold of the ladder and quickly climbed so that he may face the Negotiator.


	39. Relics of the Old Republic

**AN:** **Ok, this chapter is a monster. You lovelies enjoy, I'm going to go have a coma.**

 _Chapter 39: Relics of the Old Republic_

"I don't trust _any_ of this..." Kanan muttered, keeping an eye on the tank as he worked with Sabine to repair the engines of the _Phantom_ , the parts needed to replace the badly damaged components as part of the deal that Obi-Wan had worked out with Rex. The clones were _acting_ amicable enough, but Kanan knew better. He had seen how quickly they turned, he had seen how brutally they executed their friends and allies. The nonsense about being compelled and controlled by a chip implanted in their brains was _absurd_ , a thin and feeble excuse to absolve themselves from their treasonous actions. Actions that effectively ended both the Jedi and the Republic.

"Shadow King trusts them," Sabine said with a shrug. "And they're giving us the stuff we need to repair the _Phantom_ so we can leave."

"It's probably broken..." Kanan muttered. "Or _bugged_ so they can sell us out to the Empire."

"Oh please..." Sabine said with a roll of her eyes. "If these clones really did save Ahsoka, then they're on our side. The Clone Wars are over, Kanan. Hanging on to it is part of what's keeping rebel cells from uniting, both Separatists and Republic aligned people are against the Empire."

"Yeah, I know..." Kanan said, his gaze falling to his work on the engine. "But it isn't so simple as you're making it out to be. You weren't there, you don't know what it was like. Working with people who were once Separatists is one thing, but the _clones_..."

"You trust Cody," Sabine said, pointing to the man below as he glowered at the tank and treated his injury with a strip of bacta from the _Phantom_ 's first aid reserves. "He's a clone."

"Hey, don't you dare compare me to them!" Cody hissed, quickly stepping out into the sun to look up at the two on the top of the _Phantom_ , his bronzed skin covered in dust and sweat and bruises and his graying hair unruly from the helmet he had worn before. "I am _nothing_ like them! I was killing Jedi before it was cool to kill Jedi! I was _free_ , I made my choice!"

"Further proof that betrayal runs in the blood of clones," Kanan spat bitterly. "You realize you are no different from them, right? You betrayed the Jedi, just like all the rest of them!"

"Wouldn't you?" Cody sneered in return, quickly climbing the ladder on the side of the ship to join the Jedi and the Mandalorian at the engines. "If you found out that the people you were serving beside, the brothers you were grown with were not an army, but _slaves_ to the people that claimed to be our friends and allies..." Cody ground his teeth together, his hand tightening into fists by his side as he glared daggers at the Jedi before him. "In an instant, they could make us do anything they wanted, whether we wanted to or not, could rob us of our free will and our identities on a whim should they wish it...would you not want revenge on the people that lied to you and called you friend when you were actually a slave?"

"...we didn't know either, Cody," Kanan said quietly, though he couldn't quite meet the clone's eyes, and despite his innocence in the matter, he couldn't keep his chest from aching with guilt.

"Maybe not, but _someone_ knew," Cody growled. "The Chancellor, the Kaminoans, the politicians, hell, maybe even some of the Jedi knew. But someone did. _Someone_ knew they were making a slave army." He groaned softly as he knelt down and sat beside Kanan and Sabine, grabbing a wrench and looking into the engines to help with the repairs. "What I did was _nothing_ like the other clones..." Cody continued softly. "I chose to serve the man that freed me, I chose to fight against a Republic that would treat my clone brothers as lesser beings and enslave them. What _they_ did, they did at the behest of their masters. We may have both betrayed the Jedi, but it was _different_. They betrayed you because they were told to. I betrayed them because they betrayed me first."

"Rex said he broke free," Sabine said when Kanan stayed silent. "He says that he and the clones on the tank removed whatever it was that controlled them. They say they didn't betray the Jedi."

"That very well could be..." Cody mumbled. "It would match up with what we know about the final days of the Republic. One of my brothers had infiltrated Skywalker's battalion and triggered the chip in a susceptible clone. It's very possible that the Captain learned of what rested within them and took steps to counter it." He growled softly, his teeth grinding together and his hand tightening on the wrench. "He _did_ save Ahsoka, so..."

"I still don't like it..." Kanan muttered. "He might be Ahsoka's friend, but he's no friend of mine. We should stay on our guard."

"Oh, I completely agree," Cody said quickly, a devious smirk on his face. "In fact, do you know what we _should_ do? After the ship is repaired and we have what we need, we should _kill Rex_. Without their commander, the other clones are no threat at all! We cause panic, chaos, cut off the head and then kill them all!"

"Didn't Kenobi already talk to you about this?" Kanan drawled, the anxiousness he had been feeling slowly beginning to lessen. A soft buzz at the back of his mind instead of the unbearable, itching nag he had been feeling. "I seem to recall him being _very_ cross with you on this exact subject."

"Obi-Wan Kenobi is _sick_ ," Cody said firmly. "For perhaps the first time in his life, he's got the flu and a taste of what it's like to be mortal like the rest of us. He has _no idea_ what he's saying!"

"He seems to trust Rex and the other clones anyway," Sabine said with a roll of her eyes, sitting back on her heels and frowning when both Cody and Kanan gagged. "What! He does! Even though he was the leader of the Separatists! _He's_ overcome the lines drawn by the Clone Wars!"

"Well, well, your Shadow King can do no wrong in your eyes, can he?" Kanan teased, smirking when the girl's face turned a fierce shade of red as she glared at him. "As I said, it isn't so simple as that, Sabine. It would be really nice if war could be neatly divided into sides like that, but it is never that clean. At the end, the lines between Republic and Separatist began to blur, and it's worse now than ever with the Empire and the rebellion in the mix. It doesn't matter of we're all on the same side now, or fighting for the same thing because old wounds are difficult to forget."

"It's always been simpler for the boss," Cody quietly agreed. "He doesn't need to worry about things like rebel or Imperial, Separatist or Republic, Jedi or Sith. All he concerns himself with now is the Force."

"But he _does_ take sides," Sabine said, and swallowed her next words when Cody gave her a look that made her feel stupid.

"Does he?" the clone asked softly. "His path has already been carved for him, all he does is follow it, and the Force that guides him cares nothing for sides."

"Must be nice to be so certain about your path..." Kanan grumbled, and Cody chuckled softly, his hands working swiftly inside the engines.

"His path is simple, yes, but I didn't say it was easy. Quite the contrary. The Force asks things of him that no man should have to do." Cody sat back, wincing in pain when he turned slightly, the clone having forgotten about the wound in his side. "Like letting Skywalker's clone commander live. _Nobody_ should have to do that." His jaw tightened, his eyes narrowing in a sudden flash of rage. "I had him. _I had him_! One moment longer, and my blade would have cut through him and he'd be _dead_!"

"Now, now, dearest..." the thick, accented drawl of the Sith Lord said, the group looking down to see Kenobi being carried in Zeb's arms, the man visibly worse for wear after the battle, Ezra and Rex followed behind, each carrying small crates of supplies, and both Kanan and Cody looked at the clone suspiciously, their guards up and ready to engage an enemy if necessary. "I do believe we talked about this, yes?" Obi-Wan continued, his voice slightly slurred as he fought to stave off sleep. "As per our agreement, Rex falls under my protection for the duration of our stay in the ungodly hell, just as we fall under his."

"The word of a slave means _nothing_ , sir..." Cody growled, locking eyes with Rex and feeling his blood begin to boil with rage once again. "They have no will and mind of their own, its their Master that dictates who they are and what they do. Who's to say this isn't a trap that will be sprung the moment our guard is down?!"

" _Because_ , you ridiculous _twit_ ," Obi-Wan snarled, his hand tightening as he pulled Cody off the _Phantom_ , the man grunting when he hit the sand, the tiny grains sticking to his sweat-slicked skin when he quickly rose. "He has been _freed_ from his chains, he is no longer a slave! And unless you want to make dear, sweet Fulcrum very, _very_ cross when she shows up in a few minutes, I suggest you use your kriffing brain and understand that we are out numbered, you're wounded, and I'm _dying_!"

"You aren't dying, you're _sick_!" Cody snapped, stomping over to the Sith Lord when Zeb put the man down on his feet, and the clone quickly supported Obi-Wan with an arm wrapped around his waist and the Sith's arm draped over his shoulders. "Kriffing hell, I wonder what it's like to be you. You've _seen_ what sickness looks like, did you truly believe you were above such things?"

"I truly believe that I threw up on a clone..." Obi-Wan choked. "And _twice_ into the sand. There's nothing left inside me, Cody and it _keeps coming_!"

"We really need to get you back to the _Umbra_..." Cody muttered, walking the man into the _Phantom_ and laying him down on the seats, the Spectres following them inside and Rex and Ezra placed the crates in the corner and quickly began unpacking them. "Sabine, how long before you can have the ship up and running?"

"I don't know..." she said absently as she rummaged through the boxes. "A few hours, I suppose, maybe less with some of this stuff."

"Don't use it all," Ezra said, taking out one of the larger pieces. "Rex gave us things to improve our com signal. We get this thing hooked up and we should be able to contact Hera and Ahsoka."

"Don't bother with Ahsoka, she's already on the way..." Obi-Wan muttered, a soft, delirious chuckle in his voice, his eyes sliding out of focus and the golden glow intensifying and giving way to bleeding red as it so often did when he gave himself over to the Force.

"Ahsoka..." Rex muttered, a small smile on his lips as he took the device from Ezra and the two began working to hook it up to the shipboard comlink. "I can hardly believe it. It's been such a long time since I've seen her. Is she really coming?"

"She really is," Ezra chirped, handing the clone the pieces he needed. "She said you'd be a huge help in our fight against the Empire."

"Did she now..." Rex said softly, walking to the back of the ship and whistling up at the tank. "Alright, boys, bring her up!" A long, low mechanical groan reverberated through the air, and a loud clang was heard on the top of the _Phantom_ , Kanan quickly taking his lightsaber in hand when the ship shuddered, but kept from igniting it when Ezra quickly laid his hand upon his. "There are some very nasty predators living beneath the sands here," Rex calmly explained, holding tightly on to a handhold by the door as the ship was lifted into the air by the magnetic clamp on a crane the tank carried. "The tank's too big for them to do anything about, but I think they might be able to eat your ship. And I like to keep moving, you understand."

"Right..." Kanan growled, suspicion and menace tight in his chest. "Keep moving so Ahsoka can't find us, right?"

"Ahsoka," Obi-Wan drawled in a flat monotone, "is uniquely gifted with the Force and trained by the greatest tracker that ever graced the galaxy. She'll find us. She's coming." The Sith turned blank, unfocused eyes on the Jedi, and Kanan couldn't help but shiver. "Can't you feel her?"

"Uh, no, because my connection to the Force doesn't border on _extremely_ creepy like yours does, Kenobi," Kanan muttered, quickly turning away from the Sith Lord and putting his hands on the control console, shutting his eyes and wincing when the _Phantom_ gently landed on the deck of the tank with soft bang, but to the traumatized Jedi, it almost sounded like war. "Is it fixed yet?" he asked, leaning over Ezra and Sabine as the two teens worked. "Please say it's fixed. I don't want Hera to worry about us."

"Calm down, lover boy, it's fixed," Sabine said, her hand on the device and rolling her eyes at the Jedi.

"You sure did fix that quickly," Rex said, leaning in the entry hatch and seemingly oblivious to the hostility within Kanan and Cody. "Think you could have a look at our systems? Sixteen years and hundreds of sandstorms really clutters a system. We've made repairs as we could, but..." He shrugged. "We're not experts."

"Yeah, I'll have a look," Sabine said quickly, smacking Zeb and Ezra on the arm as she passed by them. "Come on, boys, let's give mom and dad some privacy, yeah?"

"R-right," Ezra said, laying a hand on Kanan's shoulder before he left, Rex sighing and starting to follow but was quickly stopped by Cody, a face identical to his but contorted in fury, his face clean-shaven while a white beard graced Rex's cheeks, a full head of peppered black and gray hair on Cody where Rex had none. They may have been clones, perfect genetic copies of each other, but they couldn't have been more different.

"You can't be trusted..." Cody whispered mere inches from Rex's face, but the Captain held his ground. "None of you can be trusted. I'm going in there to watch after _my_ team so I can keep them safe from _you_." A slow, cruel smile spread across Cody's face. "Got a problem with that?"

"Not at all, _Commander_ ," Rex said sweetly, gesturing out the door. "It would be a great pleasure to have you aboard, CC-2224." With a sneer of disgust, Cody pushed Rex out of the way and started to follow the Spectres, but was stopped when he felt a gentle tug on his hand but felt nothing touch him. He turned to see Obi-Wan reaching out to him, grasping his hand with the Force and insistently tugging him back. With a heavy sigh, Cody's features softened significantly, his defensive anger forgotten in favor of sitting beside the man and threading his fingers through his sweat-damp hair.

"So help me, Kenobi, if I catch this nasty Jedi cold of yours because you literally can't function without me, I'm going to puke on _all_ your things." Cody looked up at Rex, his face hard and cold, but the blinding wrath was gone. "Those kids are important to Obi-Wan. You said they're under your protection, and I am holding you to that, _slave_."

"Between the two of us, _you're_ the traitor, let's not forget that," Rex said as he turned to go. "No harm will come to them, I can promise you that." When Cody didn't respond, didn't bite back to have the last word, Rex chanced a look over his shoulder to find his counterpart tenderly caring for the debilitated Negotiator, the close bond between them clear as day, and though the resentment Rex had for Cody ran deep, he couldn't help but feel a tug of kinship for his lost brother. The war had taken its toll on everyone, and perhaps this wayward clone was no different, and like Rex, was simply clinging to all he was left with.

Kanan breathed a sigh of relief when Rex left and removed the tie from his ponytail and shook out his hair, his fingers running through the shoulder-length locks and smoothing it out. He felt like he hadn't slept in days, the adrenaline slowly leaving his blood creating an overwhelming sense of fatigue, though his swiftly beating heart refused to calm. He was anxious, ruled by his fear like he hadn't been since he was a child on Kaller after Order 66, forced to live in hiding like some rat for a month while the clones mercilessly hunted him. Grey and Styles, his close friends turned instantly into his enemy, and little Caleb Dume didn't have it in him to murder the clones he held in such high regard.

He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, reaching into the Force for comfort and found it immediately, the warm, gentle breath across the back of his neck coaxing him to let go his fears and worries, though Kanan still couldn't release it completely. He could feel Cody, the clone just as worried as he was, the scars just as deep, a fear for the Sith Lord he cared as deep as the close bond they shared. He could feel Obi-Wan, fearless as always, lethargic in his illness, a spark of hope hidden beneath the irritation and the nausea, though the black haze the man sat in was too dark for Kanan to see why. He could feel his fellow Spectres, his ragtag band of survivors so carefree and easy, secure in their safety, trusting and brimming with excitement at the prospect of new allies.

But hanging above it all like a cloud was the clones, ten men with an identical presence, one that Kanan knew all too well, had remembered despite his attempts to forget. And within them, he felt _fear_ , the likes which he had never remembered feeling before from the soldiers of the Republic's grand army. He couldn't find it in himself to trust them, he _wouldn't_ , but these clones, these survivors of the war that supposedly never betrayed the Jedi, but these men were just as frightened as he was.

"Kanan?" With a sharp gasp, Kanan opened his eyes, coming out of his meditations to look at the concerned hologram of his beloved Hera, and he could feel the tension leave him immediately his fears melting away before the warmth that flooded him, and he absently reached out to run his fingers through the holographic image, the faintest smile coming to her face. "You were really out of it for a moment there. Everything alright?"

"No," he answered quickly, and immediately regretted it when the woman's eyes widened with sudden panic. "I mean, _yes_ , everyone's fine-"

"Except for me!" Obi-Wan called from the back, and the Twi'lek rolled her eyes, chuckling softly when she heard Cody hiss for him to be silent.

"We got off to a rocky start here, Hera,,," Kanan said, rubbing the back of his neck and averting his gaze from her when the pulse of shame spread within him. "We're... _fine_ now, but we almost killed each other, and it's _my_ fault..." When Hera said nothing, Kanan nervously looked back up at her, expecting to see irritation or frustration, but instead only found the endless patience she always showed him when they were alone. "They're _clones_ , Hera..." the Jedi whispered, and understanding flashed across the Twi'lek's face.

"I can see how that could be messy, yes. Are you alright?"

"No, I'm not alright!" Kanan said, his voice tight with tension as he tied his hair back up. "I'm sorry..." he whispered, his teeth grinding together as he felt the agitation return and tried to keep himself from taking it out on his lover, though he knew his tone was unnecessarily harsh. "I thought I was over this."

"Well, Ahsoka's full of surprises..." she muttered. "An odd choice to send a Jedi and the leader of the Separatist army to pick up a bunch of clones after what happened."

"I know, right?!" Kanan said, throwing himself back in his seat and sighing. "Honestly, I don't think she believed she'd actually find them. She must have thought this would be a trap, or she'd have just come herself like Kenobi said."

"So you don't think this is a trap?" she asked, a sly smirk on her lips, and she laughed softly when the Jedi looked away. "That's good. I can see why things didn't get off to a good start, though. You didn't kill anyone, did you?"

"No, no," Kanan quickly dismissed. "Cody almost killed their Captain, though, I guess they have something of a rivalry that goes back to the Clone Wars. Kenobi ended the hostilities... _somehow_. I didn't ask, I just want to leave. Clones are dangerous and they can't be trusted. We aren't safe here."

"You know..." Hera said slowly after a moment of watching fear and anxiety burn in her lover's eyes. "I remember a time when the Jedi and the clones fought side by side. They saved _billions_ of lives, including my own." Kanan sighed heavily and leaned back in his seat, pinching the bridge of his nose as he tried to push his fears away.

"I know..."Kanan said softly. "You're right, I know, and I know Ahsoka said to trust them, but I _can't_."

"I understand, Kanan, you know I do," Hera said gently, her holographic image reaching out to brush her hand over his cheek. "But maybe these clones are different. They must be for Ahsoka to trust them. And Obi-Wan made peace with them, right? That says a lot." With a slight smile, she turned her attention away from Kanan. "I've got to get back to these repairs if we want to leave the system. Come back to me soon, love. You sound like you need me."

"Understatement of the century..." Kanan muttered, his shoulders relaxing slightly when he saw the promise in the Twi'lek's eyes.

"Com when you're en route, Kanan. Take care of the kids."

"You know I always do." Flashing him one last smile, Hera cut the com, and Kanan leaned back in the chair and sighed, his eyes closed and warmth spreading through his body as he pictured his lover, suddenly seeming so much closer now that the mission was coming to a close. He didn't move until he heard the distant whine of a ship, a smile spreading across his face as he stood, his gaze briefly drifting to Cody and his Master as he began to leave.

"Ahsoka's here," Kanan said, lowering his voice when Cody put a finger to his lips. "Are you coming?"

"What, and miss _this_ momentous occasion?" Cody whispered, Kenobi's head in his lap and the Sith's arms wrapped loosely around his waist. "Not a chance. It's such a rare thing for him to actually sleep, usually he just lets the Force take him. I'd hate to disturb him."

"...he gonna be alright?" Kanan asked quietly, and the clone scoffed slightly at his concern.

"Yeah, he'll be alright. He just needs some rest and he's not getting any. When we get back, I'll make sure he does." Cody shrugged, his eyes drifting toward the open door as the sound of the approaching ship grew louder, its approach heralded by the warning shouts of the clones and the swift, sharp barks of their Captain as he ordered them to stand down. "I'd go with you, of course, but I fear my presence will...complicate things," Cody growled. "And I don't much trust myself out there. You saw what happened when we arrived."

"A little difficult to judge you when I behaved the same way," Kanan muttered, his hand drifting unconsciously to his lightsaber. "I'll keep watch on things out there. Make sure our Negotiator gets some rest."

"Will do," Cody said gently, watching as the Jedi sighed and slowly walked toward the hatch. "Hey, Jarrus." Kanan stopped and looked back at the clone, the man chewing on the inside of his lip and frowning like he had something distasteful in his mouth. "May the Force be with you. Or whatever..." Flashing him a playful grin, the Jedi walked out of the _Phantom_ , squinting against the light and shielding his eyes as he looked up to see the ship approaching, a small, single man pod he recognized as the _Umbra_ 's auxiliary ship that Kenobi had acquired when he and Hera had gotten into one of their frequent pissing matches about who had the better ship. Hera had always been quick to point out that the _Ghost_ had the _Phantom_ , the secondary shuttle allowing them a versatility that the _Umbra_ lacked. Obi-Wan had conceded the point, and the next day had appropriated the small, as of yet unnamed vessel as his own from the rebel fleet.

Kanan kept his hand on his lightsaber as the ship hovered above the tank and slowly began to set down beside the _Phantom_ , the clone behind him nervously pointing their weapons at the ship despite Ezra and Rex and Zeb insisting that it was fine. Sabine was notably absent, presumably still inside fiddling with the tank's systems, the girl often lost in her work when an idea struck, as it so often did with the inspired girl. When the ship settled down with a low hiss, the small cabin depressurizing as the high whine of the engines powered down, everyone on the deck was still, the tension tight in the air, nobody knowing what to expect with the arrival of this newcomer since their last guests brought such turbulence. The fragile peace they had now could be easily disturbed, and they all knew it.

When the ship's cockpit opened, the clones peeked out of their cover and aimed their weapons, and Rex gasped beside Kanan and slowly, cautiously stepped forward when he saw the high cones of blue and white striped montrails, the orange skin, the familiar white facial markings of the female Togruta as she stepped out, a full grown woman where his memories held an adolescent, but she was unmistakable. _This_ was Ahsoka Tano, the child he had helped save grown into beautiful adulthood.

They didn't say a word to each other as they strode across the distance between them, not a word when the long strides became a swift run, not a word when they came together and tightly embraced, Ahsoka's head nestled into the crook of Rex's neck, the clone's hand on the back of her head and holding her as close as he was able. Kanan took his hand off his lightsaber when he felt the tension in the air release, the soldiers behind him lowering their weapons when they realized who it was they were looking at. Slowly, the other clones began to creep closer, whispering at each other and pointing to the Togruta that Rex was embracing.

"Ahsoka..." Rex whispered, clutching the woman tighter when he felt her shoulders shake. "Ahsoka, I am _so_ sorry for what General Skywalker..." He choked on his words when the Togruta's hands grasped his back tighter. "For _all_ he has done. In the Jedi Temple, on Colstev, on the _Enigma_. I-I didn't get to tell you when last I saw you, but I-"

"Peace, Rex..." Ahsoka whispered. "You aren't responsible for what Anakin became. He was a good man once."

"He was..." Rex said, softly kissing her forehead when she sniffled. "It's why I followed him. Why I _kept_ following him. Even after he changed, I just...I didn't see it until we started hunting you." He laughed sadly and shook his head, holding Ahsoka closer. "Maybe I didn't _want_ to see it. An _army_ to hunt one little girl..." With a sigh, he held her at arm's length, smiling softly as he looked her over. "When we saved you, I wasn't sure if you'd survive out there all on your own, but I somehow _knew_ you had it in you. And just look at you now. You've grown up."

"And just look at you..." Ahsoka said, laying her hand on Rex's bearded cheek. "You've...grown _old_." They were still for a moment before a wide grin crossed Rex's face and the man started laughing, the Togruta quickly smiling and laughing along with him. "I've missed you, Rex."

"And I've missed you," Rex returned, turning to his men and pointing at the Togruta to make sure they somehow didn't miss her. "You look good, Ahsoka. How have you been, what have you been up to?"

"Starting a rebellion..." she said coyly. "Against the Empire. Against the people that took _everything_ from us. And now that I've found you and your men, I was hoping you'd join us."

"Ah..." Rex said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck and quickly waving his men off, the other clones slowly going back to their business, but staying on th deck to keep an eye on their Captain and the Togruta. "Ahsoka..." Rex said quietly, draping his arm over her shoulders. "The boys and I are getting old, we've been retired for a _very_ long time, and this fight against the Empire...it isn't our fight."

"Not your fight?" Ahsoka repeated, drawing away from the clone and turning to face him, the man's eyes averted from her and filled with guilt."Not your fight, Rex, this fight belongs to _all_ of us."

"Yeah, maybe so," the man said, leaning on the railing and looking over into the sand below. "But I was already part of a war, Ahsoka. Billions of innocent people dead, and for what? What was it that we were even fighting for?" Ahsoka was silent, staring at the clone and uncertain of what to say. There wasn't an answer for the questions these clones had. "And besides..." Rex said, looking over his shoulder at Kanan. "I don't think your Jedi likes me much. Don't suppose he ever will. And that's to say nothing of the Negotiator and _his_ clone." Rex sighed when Ahsoka leaned on the railing next to him, her eyes focused intently on him in a way that only a Jedi could. "Not that I blame them. They have a right not to trust us, especially after what my brothers have done..."

"So you won't come with me?" the Togruta asked gently, and Rex shook his head.

"I'm sorry. It sounds to me like you need team unity, and I think my presence will cause a rift in your team. If you are truly going to stand against the Empire, you must be united." Rex laughed softly as he looked over the deck of the tank at his clones as they talked and laughed with Zeb, at the wary Jedi and his young, excited student. "And really, Ahsoka? The kriffing Negotiator? How did you manage that?"

"One day, when the war is over, I'll come back to tell you," Ahsoka said, a small, sad smile on her lips. "I don't agree with your assessment, Rex, but I understand your position. Just know that if ever you are ready for it, there is a place for you by my side."

"You may want to reconsider that, Fulcrum..." Ahsoka and Rex quickly turned around when they heard the flat monotone to face Obi-Wan, the Sith Lord walking in a slow, even gait, his eyes blazing and distant, a dark undercurrent in the accented tones of his voice that wasn't his own. He was pale, sickly, dark rings around his eyes making his face seem almost skull-like and the blazing eyes seem even brighter in contrast, and though his body looked worse for ware, Obi-Wan moved like a man untouched by weariness or illness. Cody walked behind him, quietly pleading with the man to return to the _Phantom_ to rest, but the man didn't seem to hear him.

"You look better, Obi-Wan..." Ahsoka carefully ventured, her hand on Rex's chest and making him back up as she did when the Sith Lord drew ever closer.

"Can you _feel_ it?" the Sith Lord asked, the smooth, even tone of his voice affected by the Force and making Ahsoka shiver with sudden cold. She could feel the Force rolling off him in thick, dark waves that seemed to make the bright sun overhead dim, like a cloud had passed overhead, though the sky was clear. The strange tension and the sudden change in the man didn't go unnoticed by the clones, and they quickly raised their weapons, pointing their blasters at the surrounded Sith Lord, though Kenobi didn't seem to notice.

"What's the meaning of this, Negotiator?" Rex asked, his voice tight with tension, his eyes narrowing when Cody quickly stepped between him and the Sith Lord, both clone laying their hands on their holstered weapons. "We had a deal, traitor," Rex growled. "We fall under the Negotiator's protection! He promised us safety!"

"Yes, he did, he was _very_ clear on that with me," Cody said in almost a whisper, the hushed tones carrying not just fierce protection for the Lord of the Sith, but a fair bit of uncertainty that wasn't lost on Rex. He pointed to Obi-Wan, the man's head tilted back as he gazed up into the sky toward something that only he could see. " _That_ isn't the Negotiator, slave. _That_ is what you clones, the Jedi, the entire Republic learned to rightfully fear. That's what slaughtered your brothers on Umbara, that's what committed genocide on Dathomir, and if your men don't lower their weapons _now_ , they're going to learn very quickly that there's a huge difference between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Lumis."

"And I bet you're just _itching_ to see that happen," Rex growled, earning himself a harsh laugh from Cody.

"Oh, if only!" Cody said gleefully before he took a deep breath and shook his head. "But no, not this time. Obi-Wan insisted that the peace be kept, and I'll be damned if I don't do everything in my power to see his word be upheld." He ground his teeth together and looked back at the Sith Lord. "Even if it means getting in the way of _that_."

"...men, lower your weapons!" Rex commanded, the clones slowly, uncertainly doing as they were told.

"Can you feel it, Ahsoka..." Lumis muttered, his eyes closed as he breathed deeply, the Togruta slowly inching closer to the man as the clones and the other Jedi stepped further away. "I can. I can smell it on the breeze, I can taste it in the air, I feel it deep in the very heart of me, in my blood, in my _bones_ , and it is like fire and ice and pain and pleasure like you cannot possibly begin to understand until you've tasted it yourself..." The Sith Lord finally opened his eyes, blood red and glowing gold darting between Ahsoka and Kanan, Rex and Cody, and slowly, he began to grin, a sinister, malicious thing. "But this is none of those things. This is all hatred and anger, revenge and ambition and a lust for blood. Darkness is coming, Fulcrum, but I did not summon it." He pointed a long finger at the group of clones on the deck of the tank. "But _they_ did..."

"What does that even mean?!" Rex asked desperately, his chest tightening when agitation and unease spread through the soldiers, the already nervous Kanan resting his hand upon his saber when the Sith Lord began chuckling.

"You will see soon enough..." Lumis whispered, his eyes drifting lazily over to the door to the tank's control room, and not a moment later, Sabine stormed out, a datapad in her hand and her eyes narrowed in fury.

"The clones sold us out!" Sabine snapped, brandishing the datapad before her like it was a weapon and pointing it accusingly at Rex. "They sent a message to the Empire and told them we were here!"

"What?!" Rex said, drawing back slightly when the Spectres looked at him with betrayal in their eyes. "No, we wouldn't do that, none of us would do that!"

" _Everything_ is right here!" Sabine snapped back. "Binary transmissions to the Empire with coordinates and details of our current situation, including information about our disabled ship and Kenobi's weakness due to illness! There are even messages here from Ahsoka to you, _Rex_ , and you never answered her!"

"I _never_ got any messages from Commander Tano!" Rex said, genuine shock in his voice, and he quickly took the datapad out of the Mandalorian's hands, his eyes swiftly running over the information. "This is _impossible_ , there must be some sort of mistake!"

" _I knew it_!" Kanan snarled, swiftly stepping forward and pointing an accusing finger at Rex as he drew and ignited his lightsaber, the clones around them quickly raising their weapons as the Sith Lord chuckled menacingly. "I told you, they can't be trusted!"

"Kanan, _wait_!" Ahsoka said quickly, laying a hand on his chest and grabbing the lightsaber in his grasp, the Jedi's arm shaking in her grasp, and the Togruta quickly turned to face Rex. "Tell me this isn't true, Rex, tell me there's an explanation."

"Of course there's an explanation..." Rex muttered, his jaw tightly clenched as he drew his plasters and pointed them toward the group of clones. " _Someone_ here betrayed your people! So which one of you was it?!" The clones were still, shocked, their weapons lowering as they looked at their furious Captain. "We had a deal," Rex growled. "We promised these people safety while they were here, so which of you made a liar of me? Which one of you called the _kriffing Empire_ down on us all?!"

"And _there_ it is..." Lumis drawled, his piercing gaze directed at a clone near the edge of the rail, the man not just nervous, but ashamed, his eyes averted, his weapon tight in his hands, and a moment after the Sith Lord felt the ripples in the Force, Rex saw what he did.

"Wolffe..." Rex said in disbelief, shaking his head as he stepped forward. "Tell me you didn't do this thing." When the man didn't respond, the other clones slowly backed away, their weapons now trained on their comrade. " _Why_ ," Rex demanded, and Wolffe looked up, his one good eye only able to meet Rex's betrayed stare for a moment.

"I am protecting you, brother," Wolffe growled, looking up to meet Rex's gaze, his face hardened and determined, the shame gone from him. "I did it for _all_ of us! The Jedi are a death threat, just having one among us makes us guilty in the eyes of the Empire for harboring fugitives! They have people to hunt them, they know, they _always_ know, and we'd go down with them!"

"We're already guilty of harboring fugitives, Wolffe, we _saved_ Ahsoka Tano when the order was given instead of killing her!" Rex shouted, throwing the datapad at the isolated clone. "The war is _over_ , Wolffe!'The Jedi aren't our enemy, the Jedi have _never_ been our enemy!"

"I know!" Wolffe growled in a flash of anger before he sighed and hung his head. "I know...Ahsoka never did us any wrong, this other Jedi never did us any wrong." His gaze hardened, his eyes narrowing again with the resolve of his actions, and he pointed at Obi-Wan. "But _that_ is the Negotiator, brother, and he _is_ our enemy." When the other clones slowly lowered their weapons, looking between Rex and Wolffe and the Lord of the Sith, Wolffe scoffed with disgust, a bitter, angry sneer on his face. "You know what he does to clones, brothers. You all know the stories. He's a _mind controller_ , a man that can make anyone do anything he wants, he has taken our brothers right off their ships and _enslaved them_ , just as he has done with his commander there," he snarled, pointing at Cody as he casually drew his blaster and aimed it right at Wolffe's cybernetic eye. "And if he can make a battalion turn against millions of brothers, who's to say he hasn't enslaved these Jedi as well..."

"Are you _absolutely_ mad?!" Kanan snarled, pushing past Ahsoka, his lightsaber blazing dangerously in his hand. "Is this how your kind justified betraying the Jedi?! Is this the sort of delusions you came up with to excuse your betrayal?!"

"No, I do what I must do to protect my own!" Wolffe shouted back. "What do you suppose the Empire will do to us if they discovered that we had not just renegade Jedi, but the leader of the Separatists among us?! I was never a traitor to your kind, Jedi, none of us here were, but if we help _that man_ , we will be!"

"Wolff, _the war is over_!" Rex said again, this time stepping forward and grabbing the man's shoulders. "We are free men, but _this_...living in fear of the Empire isn't freedom, it's just another kind of slavery! We escaped the Republic's chains, don't you dare go shackling us to the Empire now!"

"It's too late, Rex," Wolffe said almost frantically when the clones once again raised their weapons and pointed them at him. "What's done is done, the Empire is on the way."

"...then _fix it_ ," Rex growled dangerously, pointing a finger on Wolffe's chest. "Contact your Masters, tell them you were _mistaken_." When Wolffe didn't move, only narrowed his eyes and glared at Obi-Wan, Rex grabbed his shirt and pulled him close, shaking him as if it could put some sense in him. "The Empire won't hesitate to kill us too, you fool! You think selling out the Jedi will save you?! You would give up _Ahsoka_ to the people trying to kill her, the people we _saved her_ from?!" At that, the clone's gaze fell, his cybernetic eye flicking up briefly to look at the betrayal on the Togruta's face.

"Y-yeah..." Wolffe muttered. "I thought they were lying about being sent by Ahsoka...to get us to drop our guard..."

"And _this_ is why we don't trust clones!" Kanan snapped, quickly grabbing hold of Sabine's arm. "Go to the _Phantom_ , warn Hera to keep an eye out for Imperial ships. When that's done, get those engines fixed. We need to leave."

"Kanan, those repairs will take time, I said a few hours, and I meant it," Sabine said quietly, and the Jedi pushed her toward the shuttle.

"Well find a way to do it faster," Kanan stressed. "There isn't enough room in Ahsoka's ship, and I don't want to risk the _Ghost_ or the _Umbra_ with the Empire on the way, and I don't trust these _clones_ not to shoot them out of the sky!" With a swift nod, Sabine ran off toward the ship, and the Togruta quickly took Kanan's arm, her hand sliding over his and coaxing him to relax.

"They wouldn't be able to find us anyway," Ahsoka whispered. "I took so long getting here because I was stuck in a sandstorm, and it's headed this way, and _very_ quickly. We'll be lost in the storm soon enough, and Hera won't be able to find us, but neither will the Empire. If we can't get away in time, we'll at least be hidden long enough to think of something."

"No..." Obi-Wan drawled absently, and Kanan and Ahsoka drew closer to each other and stepped closer to the Lord of the Sith. "The storm is of no consequence. We will not be hidden, not from them. They _see_ us." With a deep, shuddering breath, Obi-Wan looked at the pair, the blood red out of his eyes, his face relaxed and a familiar, cocky smirk on his lips, the man weary, but once again familiar to them. "The Empire is already here, and they brought _Inquisitors_."

" _Probe droid_!" Sabine's voice echoed across the deck, followed by the high, sharp sounds of blaster fire, and the Mandalorian came tearing around the corner, followed by red plasma bolts shot from a black, spherical droid. The clones immediately jumped to action, raising their own weapons and rushing at the droid as it began to flee the tank, hovering through the air quickly as it dove over the side and rushed down toward the sand. The clones were leaning over the rail soon after, the sharp shooters among them raising rifles and looking through the sights, and as the droid sped away, the sharp, consecutive pulse of several blasters firing sounded through the air, and the black sphere was penetrated by bolt after bolt, the remains of the Imperial droid falling into the sand.

"How long do you suppose that thing's been watching us?" Ezra asked, leaning over the rail and looking at the smoking scrap in the sand.

"Long enough,..." Kanan growled, glaring at Wolffe as he struggled and fought against the other clones as he was restrained, Rex standing menacingly over the man.

"Long enough to send a transmission to the Empire, certainly," Obi-Wan said, walking across the deck to stand beside Rex, his hands clasped behind his back as he looked at Wolffe and smiled pleasantly. "Long enough to see you boys aiding known rebels and Jedi fugitives. "I would like to congratulate you. In your misguided attempt to protect your brothers, you have not only drawn the Empire right to you, but have branded yourselves traitors in the process."

"Yeah, rub it in, why don't you!" Wolffe snapped, and Obi-Wan grinned even wider.

"Why, yes, thank you, I will." With a casual gesture of his hand, Obi-Wan lifted the clone into the air, them and struggling under the grip of the Force, his legs kicking to find contact with the ground that was just out of reach. The other clones slowly backed up, their weapon's pointed at the ground but at the ready, all their eyes on Rex, who stood tensely beside the Lord of the Sith. "In a moment, Imperial forces are going to be looking for us," Obi-Wan said softly. "Based on information from your message and the probe's last transmission, they will use our last known location to begin flying search patterns in an attempt to find us. And they _will_ find us."

"There's a sandstorm on the horizon," Rex said, pointing out toward the horizon and the dark, menacing cloud gathering there. "It'll scramble their scanners, and if we can get in there-"

"No, _no_ , it isn't going to matter," Obi-Wan quickly dismissed. "They won't need scanners to find us, we have Jedi, and they have Inquisitors. Understand? Force sensitive Jedi hunters, they will find us in an instant, and there will be no hesitation to kill the lot of you just to get you out of the way so they can focus on bringing the Jedi down." The Sith Lord stroked his beard, his expression thoughtful as his eyes closely examined Wolffe. "No, they will find us. We need not focus on how to avoid them, just on how to defeat them."

"O-or how to get them to leave!" Wolffe choked, and after a moment of examination, Obi-Wan slowly lowered him to the ground, the man coughing and sputtering as he caught his breath. "This is my fault..." the clone said slowly. "I didn't mean to betray my brothers. Please, I'll contact them, tell them I was wrong. Let me set this right."

" _Pathetic_ ," Kanan scoffed. " _This_ is why I don't trust clones! Fickle, unpredictable traitors! This does _not_ make this right!"

"Kanan, stop," Ahsoka said calmly. "What's done is done. All we can do now is deal with the situation thrust upon us."

"And just wait for another one to stab us in the back?!" Kanan said nervously, backing up closer to the Sith Lord as he looked at the clones around him. "No, I won't do it. Not again."

"What choice do we have?" Obi-Wan asked softly, laying a calming hand on the Jedi's shoulder. "These men have just been betrayed as well. For what it's worth, I believe they will stand with us. They don't have a choice either."

"You sure they're going to fly those search patterns, Negotiator?" Rex asked, holding the datapad up and looking _very_ cross. "They might just call to confirm." He gasped in mock surprised and thrust the datapad at Wolffe. "Oh, look at that. Incoming Imperial transmission. It's for you, Wolffe."

"They're calling back?" Wolffe asked nervously, holding the datapad up and looking at the Imperial insignia displayed on the screen. "They _never_ call back..."

"And you call _me_ traitor..." Cody casually drawled, a cruel, smug smirk on his lips as he eyed the furious Rex. "Sounds to me like you've had yourselves an Imperial informant in your midst for quite some time. No wonder they never found you, they already knew you were here."

"I was _protecting_ my brothers!" Wolffe snarled. "What were _you_ doing?!"

"Freeing them," Cody said in a cool, even voice devoid of any emotion at all. "Where we could, when we could, we broke the chains the Republic put on us. You simply chained your brothers to a new Master, _Imperial_ , so _fix this_." With a sneer of disgust at Cody, Wolffe held the Datapad up, waiting for Rex to finish waving the others off, the rest of their brothers rushing into the tank to prepare the vehicle for battle, leaving the deck clear for the communication, the Spectres standing well out of range, but close enough to listen in. With a heavy sigh of resolve, Wolffe answered the transmission, and the image of Agent Kallus appeared on the screen.

"CC-3636," the Agent said upon seeing the clone. "Commander Wolffe, is it?"

"Y-yes, that's me," Wolffe stammered. "What can I do for you, sir?"

"Please transmit your current coordinates so that I can investigate your reported Jedi sighting," Kallus said, and Wolffe laughed nervously and rubbed at the back of his neck, quickly looking up at Rex for guidance as the Captain crept closer.

"Right, about that..." Wolffe said, tapping the his cybernetic eye. "I was mistaken, this damn thing's acting up again. Never has been right since the war's been over, and what with all the reports out of Lothal about the rebel Jedi..." He shrugged casually. "Guess I'm getting paranoid, the boys always said I was."

"He always _has_ been jumpy," Rex said, quickly moving into frame, and Kallus frowned, his eyes narrowing as he looked at the new clone. "Sorry for wasting your time."

"Really..." Kallus drawled, his voice flat and disbelieving, and the screen flickered, displaying an image of the tank on the screen as it slowly zoomed in on a very clear image of the Spectres and the clones carrying boxes toward the _Phantom_. "This image was taken by one of our probe droids in the area," Kallus said in a cold, warning voice. "Harboring known rebels, are you? No wonder your kind were discontinued." The image flashed away, leaving them looking at the stern face of the ISB agent. "Now surrender them or be destroyed. There is no other option."

"I _really_ don't take well to people threatening _my_ men," Rex growled. "If it's a fight you want, I hope you brought a better class of soldier than those _stormtroopers_ ," he said with a smirk, and Kallus returned the clone's smugness with an arrogant grin of his own.

"They serve the Empire well and I have a _great_ many of them..." Kallus said dangerously, and Rex chuckled softly, meeting the agent with a challenging stare.

"You're going to need _all_ of them." Off to the side, Zeb chuckled deeply, a clawed finger pointing at the clone Captain.

"Oh, I _like_ this guy!" the Lasat said, and Kanan rolled his eyes, muttering soft curses under his breath which only made Zeb laugh harder.

"If need be, I will," Kallus said. "But it won't be necessary. Given the nature of the fugitives you are harboring, we are sending you Inquisitors," the agent said smugly, leaning forward and a wicked smile on his lips. " _Three_ of them. One would be more than a match for you, I doubt you've faced their like before. Now, surrender the rebels before I am forced to slaughter you all."

"Wait, wait, _wait_!" Obi-Wan said quickly, pushing his way between Rex and Wolffe and snatching the datapad out of the clone's hands, and the smug smirk on Kallus' face was instantly replaced with confusion, disbelief, and then horror.

"The _Negotiator_..." Kallus said breathlessly, his head slowly shaking. "Obi-Wan Kenobi, _the_ Negotiator..." Kallus laughed nervously, high pitched and tense and tugged at his collar. "I know the report _said_ the Negotiator was there, but I thought the clones were just giving a familiar name to the face of a new enemy when they saw the Jedi...but you're _actually_ him..." He quickly shook his head, his eyes narrowing, though he couldn't keep the fear and the confusion off his face. "No, this is _impossible_. You're supposed to be dead, I watched your execution!"

"Yes, yes, big surprise, I know," Obi-Wan said, dismissively waving his hand. "But please, Agent Kallus, you're being a touch narcissistic. Let's just stop talking about you for a moment so we can talk about _me_ ," he said, laying a hand on his chest. "I am deeply, _deeply_ offended. The report said I was here, you _knew_ I was here, and while you may have been out of this particular loop, I can assure you that _important_ people in the Empire are well aware of my survival." He scoffed in disgust and flicked his hand in the air as if warding away something distasteful. "And _this_ is all I get? Three Inquisitors and _you_." The Sith chuckled softly and shook his head, a cruel smirk on his lips when he looked at the agent and saw a man trying to put on a brave face over his mounting fear as his mind slowly began piecing together who it was he was dealing with, not just the old leader of the Separatists, but a threat he had faced before, however indirectly. "I know I may not be feeling well, but this is _insulting_."

"Y-you're the Shadow King..." Kallus choked, and Obi-Wan's face cracked into a broad smile and he began clapping, the datapad held up by the Force, though the clones beside him scrambled to catch the datapad that never fell when the Sith let go of it.

"Oh, _well done_!" Kenobi said sarcastically with a roll of his eyes. "It took you long enough. Not the sharpest one, are you? Kriffing hell, you are _slow_. There's a word for people like you in Mando'a. Would you like to hear it?" Kallus stuttered, but somehow couldn't find his words, and the Sith Lord laughed softly, his hand waving dismissively in the air as he leaned in toward the datapad. "Don't worry, I'll tell you. _Mir'osik_." Obi-Wan grinned, looking over his shoulder at Cody when the man snorted. "Shit for brains, in Basic."

"The Inquisitors are coming for you!" Kallus growled, truing to sound menacing, but it somehow fell flat, and Obi-Wan scoffed.

"Inquisitors, yes..." he drawled lazily. "And only three. I was hoping for Maul, my dear, _sweet_ pet. Or _Vader_ , have they finished repairing him yet? I don't suppose you'd know, you aren't important enough to know..." Obi-Wan bemoaned. "Three Inquisitors, _honestly_. You know I'm going to kill them, right?" the Sith Lord asked, and when Kallus only stared with his jaw clenched, he just rolled his eyes. "You bore me. Where's Thrawn? You all knew I would be here, so where is my lovely Chiss, hmm? Why hasn't he come for me?"

"Thrawn?" Kallus asked softly, the fear giving way to surprise. " _Admiral_ Thrawn, what do you want with him?"

"We have a _date_..." Obi-Wan softly moaned. "We've had _several_ dates, but that tease keeps standing me up!" he said with a lusty grin. "I think he's _shy_. Our flirtation has been going on for some time, but I am growing tired of foreplay. That little minx must know that or he wouldn't be so nervous to come play, because I am going to _ravish_ him when I see him." Chuckling softly, he winked at the suddenly appalled Kallus. "When you see him, dear, please do tell him not to be nervous. I don't bite. _Much_."

"There will be no need to deliver that message because I'm going to kill you _today_ , Shadow King!" Kallus snapped, finally managing to push past the fear he felt. "In a moment, there are going to be three Inquisitors hunting you, and I will send as many Stormtroopers as it takes to bring you down! Word in the report said you're not well," Kallus said smugly. "How hard can it be to kill one sick man?"

"Harder than you like," Obi-Wan growled dangerously, and the agent's eyes widened, his breath held when the carefree, playful man disappeared and something far more frightful stood in his place. "Being sick has made me irritable, and I'm greatly looking forward to returning home so I can take a nap, so let me tell you _exactly_ what's going to happen." He drew closer to the datapad, and Kallus slowly scooted back. "In fifteen minutes, I will leave this world. Send your Inquisitors, and I will kill them. Send your soldiers, and I will enslave them. Send your ships and I will tear them out of the sky, and so help me, if you believe you can have reenforcements here before I leave, I welcome you to bring them, but they had better be no less that Thrawn himself for you to have a fighting chance." With a swift smile, Obi-Wan shrugged. "Or, you can go about your business and forget we were here, and we can both put this whole mess behind us. The choice is yours, Kallus. Choose wisely."

With a swift swipe of his hand across the datapad, Obi-Wan ended the transmission, and he closed his eyes, his hands sliding into his hair as he breathed deeply. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think I like this guy," Rex said, nudging Wolffe in the ribs and pointing to the Sith Lord, and the other clone softly grumbled his agreement.

"Fifteen minutes..." Obi-Wan said absently as he looked at the horizon at the fast approaching sandstorm, and he reached out, grabbed hold of the railing, and vomited over the side of the tank.

"Obi-Wan, the Inquisitors are coming," Ahsoka said tightly, Kanan and Ezra looking at each other nervously as the Togruta moved to stand beside the heaving Sith Lord, her hand resting on his scarred back. "I didn't feel them before, but I feel them now. They're coming, and they're _close_."

"I will handle the Inquisitors," Obi-Wan said softly. "That storm is going to be on us soon, and while it won't impede the Inquisitors, it will be a major hindrance to any Imperial force they send, but we can use it to our advantage if we're smart. It doesn't need to be a disadvantage to us as well, because unlike them, _we_ have the Force to guide us. If you and Kanan and Ezra lead the clones-"

"Then we can take them out without the Empire even seeing what hit them," Ahsoka finished, turning to Rex with a smile on her face. "Well, Rex? Think you and the boys could follow the Jedi into battle one last time?"

"Anything for you, Commander Tano," Rex said, laying a hand on the girl's shoulder. "It would be my honor. And I can't say that I haven't missed this."

"It _is_ what we were made for, after all..." Wolffe said softly, sheepishly approaching the Togruta. "This is my fault. I want to make this right. I know I have no right to ask for your trust, but...damn it, we're soldiers, and we're just waiting around here to die. If I go down, I want to go down fighting like I was meant to do."

"With any luck, we won't be going down at all," Ahsoka said swiftly. "Not today. Get the men ready." With a swift salute, Wolffe ran into the tank, shouting for the men to prepare their weapons, and Kanan quickly moved to Ahsoka's side, opened his mouth to speak, and the Togruta quickly covered his mouth with her hand. "I _know_ , Kanan," she said softly, her face understanding, the Force in her touch warm and comforting, and Kanan couldn't help but shiver as he was forced to relax. "I know. But if we're going to get out of this, we're going to have to work together with them. I'm not asking you to forgive them Kanan, and I'm not even asking you to trust them. I'm asking you to give them a chance." She smiled at hm, a hand cupping his cheek when he looked away from her, and she pointed out to the nearby cloud of sand. "They're going to be blind in there, but a Jedi won't be. They need you to help lead them."

"And we're going to need all the help we can get..." Ezra said, pointing out across the sand at three hulking figures, the heat and wind distorting the image, but it was clear to the rebels what they were dealing with. "AT-AT walkers," Ezra whispered. "They're faster than this old piece of junk, Kanan, they're going to catch us. What are we going to do?" The Jedi looked around the deck at the clones that were running in and out of the tank, the two on surveillance whistling and impressed with the sheer size of the improved Imperial tank, Rex who was looking expectantly at the Jedi as he commanded one of his men to push full speed toward the storm, at Obi-Wan who sat cross-legged on the deck, his eyes closed in meditation and his twin sabers floating gently around him as he centered himself for battle.

"Alright, _alright_!" the Jedi growled, running his fingers through his hair and breathing deep with his resolve. "Zeb, you keep with the clones, help them man the weapons. You aren't going to be able to see in there, but you've dealt with AT-AT's before, and they haven't, and experience it invaluable. Show them what you've got."

"You got it, boss," Zeb said, mock saluting for a moment before running with some of the clones inside the tank to sit at the weapon stations.

"Sabine, I need you to keep working on the _Phantom_ and keep trying to reach Hera or the _Umbra_. We'll be able to hold against them for a while, but we need an exit strategy, and you're our best bet for that." He sighed heavily and closed his eyes. "It'll be a tight fit, but the _Phantom_ should be able to evacuate us all, and if we can get Hera flying down here to give us air support, we should be able to get away without being shot down."

"I'll get it done, Kanan," Sabine said with a cocky smirk, pulling her helmet on her head and rushing off to the shuttle.

"You're with me, Ezra," the Jedi said, laying his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Once we're in there, nobody's going to be able to see anything, but once we take that shot, they're going to know our position, which means we get one chance to do as much damage as possible. You're going to man the main cannon and take that shot when I give you the order. The clones can't see in there, but we can. Just trust in the Force and you'll shoot the way you need to."

"I'll do my best, Kanan," Ezra said confidently. "What about you?"

"I'll be guiding the whole operation," Kanan said with a sigh, looking over at Rex and Ahsoka and pushing away his nervousness and the tightness in his chest. "If you and your men can trust me, Rex, I can get us that shot and I can get us out of here."

"I _always_ trust my General," Rex said sincerely, and Kanan bit his lip and had to look away.

"...Cody," Kanan said, and the clone looked up from where he stood vigil over Obi-Wan and frowned, his entire posture going rigid. "You aren't going to be any help to Kenobi out here, so you're in with us. I need you working with Rex to make sure operations run smoothly, _commander_."

"Oh, _kriffing hell_!" Cody snapped, staring in disbelief at the smugly smiling Jedi. "You _must_ be joking."

"The clones know war, but they don't know the Empire," Kanan casually drawled, pointing a lazy finger at the outraged Cody. "But _you_ do. You've been fighting the Empire since it was called the Republic. There isn't anyone here save for Kenobi that knows the Empire so well as you, and as any good commander knows, a wealth of experience means more on the field of battle than anything else, or so my Master always said." He shrugged, the smirk on his face growing as he watched Cody's jaw clench and his fist tighten at his side, and through the Force, he could feel the clone silently, _bitterly_ agree with him. "And if that isn't enough, I need someone to watch my back in there in case something goes wrong. I'll be in the Force, and I'm going to need someone to be my eyes _here_."

That settled it for Cody, and with a heavy sigh, he gave his helmet to Obi-Wan, the Sith Lord smiling gratefully and whispering something to his clone in a language that Kanan couldn't understand. With a swift nod to the Sith, Cody turned from him and came to stand at Kanan's side. "So..." Cody said tightly, eying Rex suspiciously and very pointedly avoiding the relieved and grateful looks that Ahsoka was giving him. "Shall we begin?"

"Yeah, let's get this over with," Kanan muttered, stopping to look out at the Sith Lord, the man kneeling on the deck and breathing deep and even as he centered himself in the Force. "Obi-Wan." The gold eyes opened and flicked up to the Jedi, calm and weary, the toll taken on him obvious for just a moment on his face, and Kanan understood that this trial was in some ways just as difficult for Kenobi, the man forced to look at his own scars left by the war, and the Jedi knew there were many, far more than he would ever truly know. "May the Force be with you."

"And also with you, my brothers," Obi-Wan said, a soft smile on his lips when he watched a sudden surge of emotions flit across the Jedi's face, and with a grumble and a hand on Cody's shoulder, Kanan disappeared inside the tank with Cody and Rex, leaving the Sith Lord alone with Ahsoka. "You better go with them, my dear," Kenobi said, his voice raised as they drew closer to the storm, the wind in the air and the thunder in the black clouds above intensifying as they drew closer. "They will need you to keep the peace. As set as they are on getting along right now, there are too many clones in too close quarters for Cody and Kanan to feel safe. They need you."

"I know," she said, smiling gently at the Sith Lord and taking a few long strides to stand beside him when he got to his feet, Cody's helmet tucked under his arm. "You sure you want to deal with the Inquisitors on your own? You haven't been feeling well, and I would gladly stand beside you."

"I'll have an easier time if I don't need to worry about keeping you safe, dearest," he muttered, gently kissing the line of her montrails. "Besides, I have something special planned, and I need the Inquisitor's help with it."

"Oh, that doesn't sound good..." Ahsoka said, wrinkling her nose. "Do I dare ask?"

"Nothing _too_ sinister, just an idea I had to rid myself of this damnable illness, or at least to help set me on the path to healing."

"You know..." Ahsoka said, wrinkling her nose as she frowned. "Most people just put themselves to bed, have some soup and sleep it off. I've never heard of a cure for the flu that involves _murder_."

"I've never heard of a flu being caused by the Jedi, those creatures are _filthy_ ," Obi-Wan sneered. "Serves me right for being foolish enough to allow one to _touch me_. Honestly, if we can throw Yoda against Sidious, we may be able to debilitate him with migraines and vomiting. It just may be our best shot at killing him."

"Well, let's just hope your former Master is as susceptible to the light as you are," she said quietly, reaching up to stroke his cheek right before he slid Cody's helmet over his head. "You sure you don't want me to stay?"

"You're needed elsewhere, and I somehow doubt you'd approve of what I'm going to do." He gently nudged her toward the tank. "Go on then, Fulcrum, to arms. See us to safety." With a sigh, Ahsoka nodded, and Obi-Wan watched her as she walked away and disappeared into the tank, and left alone with the storm and the sound of ships overhead and the walkers quickly gaining ground behind them, Obi-Wan touched the Force, felt the chill of the currents in the river he waded into, felt the prowling of the beasts in the shadows only waiting to be called upon for the kill, could feel the Force tug and pull when others reached out to call upon it.

He could feel Kanan's quiet command, the almost beautiful way the Jedi so naturally drew power to himself, the waters calming and warming with his touch. He could feel the ripples caused by Ezra, his hand much more unsteady, his presence more unsure, but the warming comfort of the light was drawn to him anyway soothing and easing the boy's tension away into focus. He could feel Ahsoka, her very presence diverting the flow of the river, though she had yet to truly draw upon it, her fingers brushing the water but not yet bending to drink from it. But above all else, he could feel _them_ , the Inquisitors, powerful and brutish and stirring the beasts within the shadows, whipping them into a bloodthirsty frenzy when the savage Dark Side was tightly grasped and chained to their will, an unwilling slave to creatures without the skill or the experience to coax it into willing partnership.

He didn't need to wait long for the whine of ships to roar above the thunder and the wind and the sound of whipping sand striking against his helmet, the piercing sound of blaster fire from the three ships interrupted by the deep pulse beneath his feet and the roar of the tank's cannons as the clones within opened fire, their only chance to do so before vanishing in the cover of the storm. It was enough, and the three ships scattered, pulling off on their attack vector and circling out and around, reforming for a moment before diving in once again. With the threat of losing the tank in the storm and the additional difficulty of striking them with their scrambled sensors, the three ships dove in close before pulling up once again, and seconds later, three hard, hollow snaps could be heard as the Inquisitors landed upon the deck.

Obi-Wan immediately made his presence know, standing tall and tugging hard on the Force, and he could feel all three heads snap in his direction, six eyes burning in his direction behind the shielded visors of their helmets. Slowly, the three began to draw closer, separating from each other as they moved to flank him, their lightsabers drawn from holsters on their backs and ignited, their low thrum reverberating menacingly through the howl of the wind. Obi-Wan felt them through the Force as they forcibly reached deep into the well of anger and hate to draw more power, the tides of darkness thrashing around them in a fury, fueling their powers, but also making them easier for the Sith Lord to see.

Obi-Wan reached out to brush their consciousness, the small and incredibly slight female, the much larger male that towered head and shoulders over his companions, the lithe, athletically built second female, all of them covered head to foot in the dark, tight uniforms of their Order, all of them different species' warped and twisted by darkness. Through their pull on the Force, Obi-Wan felt the taller female to be the most dangerous of the three, the most powerful, and he began formulating his plan of attack, closing his eyes when he found the whipping sands to be little more than a distraction so he could focus simply on the feel of them, the churning of the memories he read, the command of the Force that they each exerted, their fear and apprehension, their animosity between each other. Each piece of information he gleaned was a weapon, just one more thing he could use against the trio.

"I thought the clones were mistaken," the taller of the two women drawled, her voice low and sultry. "They are obsolete and defective, we thought they mistook the Jedi for their old enemy. But _look_ at you..." she said breathlessly. "The scar across your chest, _just_ like our Master said you would have from the time Lord Vader nearly killed you. The way the Force pulls toward you, our inability to sense you. You _are_ the Negotiator, you're _Darth Lumis_."

"And _you_ are the Fourth Sister," Obi-Wan said, the three hissing and drawing back, and Obi-Wan slowly pointed to the other two. "Eleventh Sister. Ninth Brother. Tell me, did my former Master _finally_ send me a gift, after all these years? Is this because he wants me back after what I did to his little pet?" The Sith Lord chuckled softly and kicked lightly at the ground. "I'm usually the one doing the seducing, I confess I don't know what to do! Sweet Force, I feel like the prettiest girl at the club!"

"We are not a _gift_!" the towering man snarled, stepping aggressively forward, his lightsaber pointed menacingly at Obi-Wan, and Kenobi laughed softly and shook his head, his burning gaze settling down upon the man, and he quickly stopped, his confidence broken when he felt the Sith Lord's burning gaze upon him.

" _Really_..." Obi-Wan drawled, his voice lazy and affected, but there lay the undeniable current of danger just beneath the surface. "You had better hope you're a gift, or you're nothing at all, and if that were the case, I may be inclined to be insulted. You don't want me to be _insulted_ , do you?"

"Our Masters said the one that defeated you would be made _Sith_ ," the smaller female said in a soft, dangerous whisper, and Obi-Wan gasped in understanding, his eyes focused on the other female, the Forth Sister, as they slowly began circling him again, predators sizing up their intended prey.

"Quite a reward..." Obi-Wan drawled. "Are your Masters not moving to replace the Grand Inquisitor?" They visibly tensed, their shoulders tightening, their sabers rising and the Force chilling with the sudden rush of anger, and Obi-Wan chuckled wickedly. "He serves me now, of course, and serves me _very_ well. You will not have such a privilege."

"Don't listen to him, he's lying..." the Fourth Sister said, though her voice lacked the conviction and the certainty of before.

"Am I?" Obi-Wan asked. "When I told him that I would hunt and execute his Brothers and Sisters of the Inquisitorius, he was very quick to tell me that there are only twelve of you left, eleven after I destroyed the one that stood between me and your Lord Vader. I wonder what he's going to say after I tell him that I killed you three." With the Inquisitor's on guard and slowly beginning to band together, Obi-Wan took a threatening step toward them. "Tell me, did you ever stop and consider _why_ there is suddenly an opening for another Lord of the Sith? Is it, perhaps, because I _trashed_ Darth Vader when we recently met on Lothal?"

" _Liar_!" the Ninth Brother snarled defensively, but he and his two sisters took a cautious step back, their confidence becoming uncertainty and nervousness, and Obi-Wan seized upon the feeling when the Force trembled, a low, wicked laugh in his throat as he took a small step forward.

"You would think so, of course..." Obi-Wan said, light and amused with the sudden fear that began setting in. "You aren't important enough to know the truth behind your Master's sudden disappearance, and the Lords of the Sith certainly hold no value in your lives if they would send you to me with the promise of such a reward in the off-chance that you may get lucky enough to catch me off guard. Did you never consider _why_ such a fine thing was being offered?" he chirped softly, unable to see their faces through their shielded visors, but he could feel their fear none the less, Vader's absence suddenly explained in a way that effectively answered the questions they had. "Dear, sweet Vader fell before me, Inquisitors. _Twice_. What hope could you _possibly_ have?"

"The clone's report said you are terribly ill, Lumis," the Fourth Sister said firmly, the bravado returned to her voice as she drew up tall, her lightsaber pointing casually at the Sith Lord. "What chance have you against three of us when sickness diminishes you?"

"It's true I am unwell, yes..." Obi-Wan said softly with a heavy, weary sigh, his hand coming to touch the side of his helmeted head. "You catch me at a time when I am certainly not at my best, and of you lot were Vader or Maul or Sidious, that may have meant something. But for _you_..." he hissed, drawing up tall, his grip on the Force tightening, and the three Inquisitors stepped back again, their blades quickly moving to defensive stances. "All this means is that you stand between me and a nap, and the quicker I end this, the sooner I can get to it."

"If you think we will go down easily, you are _sorely_ mistaken!" the Fourth Sister snarled. "There are three of us, we won't be so easy to kill!"

"Oh, I sincerely hope that to be the case," Obi-Wan said as he drew his lightsaber, the red blade hissing as it extended and he shook out his other hand, small blue arcs of electricity dancing along his exposed skin as he drew the Force to him, and the Inquisitors gasped and stumbled forward, struggling to maintain their balance and their center as the Dark Side was drawn away from them and to the Sith. "I've always liked a challenge, but I fear you lot aren't up to the task." Blue electricity shot from his fingers and struck his blade, the arching blue surrounding the blazing red and crackling as it danced along the length, the electricity held suspended by the energy of the plasma. "Today is the day you die, Inquisitors. Are you ready?"

"Y-you don't frighten us..." the Eleventh Sister stammered, and Obi-Wan admonishingly hissed, his blade spinning in his hand and leaving a trail of the arching electricity sparking along the sand particles in the air.

"Search your feelings, Sister, and you'll know it to be true," Obi-Wan drawled. "Honestly, did your Masters teach you _nothing_ of the Force? You _have_ to die. I've seen the future, and you're not in it, but more than that, I have this... _apprentice_ , for lack of a better word. He's something of an avid collector of Imperial helmets. He has quite a variety, it's actually quite impressive." He laughed softly and shook his head when the Eleventh Sister and the Ninth Brother drew back, but the Fourth Sister held her ground, pulling back on the Force and reclaiming the strength that Obi-Wan had stolen. Just think how excited he will be when I round out his collection with an _Inquisitor's_ helmet!"

"You would kill us for a _helmet_?!" the Ninth Brother asked, stepping back again when he felt Kenobi looking right through him.

"Oh, my dear, I would kill you for less than that. This is why you will never be Sith, there is too much fear in you. Shall I show you how a true Lord of the Sith conducts themselves?"

He didn't wait for an answer, his hand extending and balling into a fist before him, and the Force lanced through the Eleventh Sister, the cold flow snapping frozen like a thousand knives piercing through her veins, sending the small woman screaming to her knees, dropping her lightsaber as she clawed at her chest and her helmet. With a howl of fury at seeing one of his Sisters down, the Ninth Brother held his lightsaber out and another blade extended out the other side of the hilt, the circular device beginning to spin rapidly as he charged the Sith Lord. With a fair distance between them, the Brother threw his saber, the rapidly spinning blade humming in the air as it flew toward the Sith.

Obi-Wan breathed deeply, watching as the saber as it sliced through the air toward him, the blades hissing and thrumming as the sand in the air struck the blazing plasma, and the Sith closed his eyes, standing as still as he could as he immersed himself deeply within the Force. Right before the thrumming blade struck him, Obi-Wan stepped forward, ducking under the spinning saber at the last moment, and as the weapon went spinning in the air behind him, he reached out and grabbed hold of the weapon with the Force, and as he spun around, he circled the spinning saber out around him and threw it back twice as fast as the Inquisitor.

The Brother gasped, his chest tightening as he watched his own spinning blade slice rapidly toward him, and he stood his ground, preparing to attempt to catch the blade instead of diving out of the way when the Sith Lord sprinted toward him, his electrically charged blade sparking behind him. The Fourth Sister ran around out of the trajectory of the blade, her own weapon in her hand as she attempted to intercept the Sith Lord, but Lumis extended his hand and let loose a blast with the Force that sent the woman slamming against the tank's steel wall, the impact denting the metal and making the dazed Sister drop her weapon.

Bracing himself, the Ninth Brother managed to catch his saber, the weapon pulling him off balance as he suddenly stopped it's rapid movement, and allowing the spinning blades to cut through the floor as he swung it around, the Inquisitor sliced up with the weapon in an uncontrolled slash to bring the weapon under his control. The hard strike came a moment too early, and just as the blades passed by his field of vision, he saw Darth Lumis place his hand on the ground and slide past him. A second later, the Inquisitor felt his entire body jolt with impact, his teeth knocking together with the hard drop, and after that was only blinding pain, an anguished scream torn from his throat when he realized his legs had been severed at the knee.

With two Inquisitors effectively disabled, the Fourth Sister quickly stood, her saber back in her hand as the Sith Lord turned his attention on her, his movements easy and fluid as he approached her at a languid stride, the Dark Side swelling and raging with the pain and suffering of her Brother and Sister, the power filtering directly toward Lumis and filling him with strength. He greedily drew it in, the Dark Side running simultaneously cold and hot with the fear and pain of the Inquisitors, and the elation of the Sith as he drank in the power he siphoned from them. The Fourth Sister slowly retreated, her hands tightening around her saber as she tried to center herself in the Force, struggling to maintain her hold over the Dark Side that swiftly slipped through her fingers to answer the beaconing call of the Sith Lord.

With a snarl of fury, she threw herself at Lumis, her blade moving as fast as she could manage, but the moment her blade collided with the Sith's electrified saber, she felt the shocking jolts of lightning with each strike, the excess arching dangerously across the grains of sand in the air, and she quickly disengaged when she felt her grip loosen in her tingling, convulsing hands. With each movement toward her, the Inquisitor stepped back, her breathing coming fast and afraid as the screams of agony intensified, and she chanced a glance toward her sister, the anguished sounds louder as she tore off her helmet, her long fingers clawing at her face and leaving long, bloody trails across it as she tried to tear the maddening feel out of her brain. The screams reached a crescendo when the Eleventh Sister raked her fingers across her face, her strong digits sinking into the softest point as she clawed her eyes out.

The Forth Sister looked on in abject horror as the other Inquisitor sobbed uncontrollably with pain, her voice hoarse with irreparable strain, and her moment of distraction was enough for the Force to close around her, a sharp, gasping choke in her throat as she was lifted from the ground, her legs kicking wildly in the hopes that the jerking motions would see her released. She froze when she felt gentle fingers hook under her helmet and take it off, squinting to keep the sand out of her eyes as she looked at Darth Lumis, the Sith Lord taking off his own helmet and letting both drop to the ground, the red and gold eyes clearly visible through the storm and glowing fiercely with a hunger and lust that made her heart race.

"Oh, you are _beautiful_..." Obi-Wan muttered, stroking the woman's cheek, her body stilled when the Force held her tighter, her limbs shaking with the effort to free herself. "Look..." he said, gesturing broadly to the deck where the two fallen Inquisitors writhed and out in the hazy distance toward the loud, thundering sound of the towering shapes of the AT-ATs, the three mammoth vehicles closing in on the tank they could not see. "Very soon, your Brother and your Sister will be dead, my Jedi and my clones will take action against your walkers, and all your efforts will be for _nothing_."

"Y-you said the Grand Inquisitor serves you," she choked when he loosened the grip on her neck, his fingers tracing down her throat and hooking beneath her chin. "I-I could serve you in ways he couldn't!"

"Mm, you're right, you could..." Lumis said, his attention diverting to the Inquisitors on the ground, and with the slightest gesture of his hand, the Eleventh Sister shuddered on the ground, pushed herself to her feet on shaking arms, and turned toward her Brother on the ground, the hollow pits of her eyes boring through him and sending the man scraping along the ground in fear when the woman lit her lightsaber and slowly advanced upon him. "You _will_ serve me..." Lumis continued, his attention turning back to the woman in his grasp, a deep, shuddering breath in his chest as he felt the fear and the pain in the air as she watched the Brother grasp for his own lightsaber in an attempt to defend himself. "All three of you will serve me. Empire Day is coming, and it would be _so_ rude not to return Sidious' gift with a gift of my own, but _you_ dearest, are going to be my favorite part of it..."

Her protests were silenced when Darth Lumis covered her mouth with his own, kissing her hard and hungry as he pinned her to the wall of the tank. Her whimpers of protect quickly became moans ripped from the very core of her being as the Dark Side flooded her with pleasure she hadn't known since the early days of her addiction to darkness, and though the screams of pain and terror tried to pull her to the grim reality around her, she was unable to resist the current of lust and need that rushed through her. When the Ninth's Brother's screams stopped with the hissing hum of a lightsaber as it pierced through his armor and his heart, she was far too gone to notice, oblivious to everything but her own need when the Sith Lord tightened his hand and the Eleventh Sister dropped to the ground, her hands at her throat as the life was choked out of her.

Each death sent the Dark Side howling in triumph, the surge of power rushing through the Sith Lord as he broke away from the last remaining Inquisitor, a wolfish grin on his lips as his hand closed gently around her slender neck. The heavy steps of the walkers sent tremors through the deck of the tank, their close proximity unnerving, but the Imperial vehicles slowly passed by them as they fanned out to cover the most ground. Soon, _soon_ , Kanan would order the shot that would destroy the nearest of the walkers, and with the other two past, the cumbersome AT-ATs would have to turn around before they could be engaged, which gave the clones in the tank a dangerous advantage. With the Force guiding their aim, all three walkers could be destroyed before there was even a chance for the Imperials to return fire.

With the plan quickly unfolding, Lumis pushed deep inside the Inquisitor with the Force, the woman shivering and groaning softly as he reached deep into the very heart of her, the shadowed claws of the Dark Side tightening around the pulsating life within her, and with his heart pounding with anticipation, he ripped the very Force from her as he had done so many times before. The woman's eyes widened, the Sith Lord's hand around her neck tightening and preventing her from screaming as the life was forcibly drained out of her, her own hands trying vainly to pry Lumis off, her movements becoming increasingly weak as he became stronger. It didn't take long for the woman's already pale skin to become ashen, her eyes dull and sightless, her presence in the Force non-existent as Lumis tried to drain any last hints of life from her lifeless body.

The feeling of intoxication hit him hard, the wash of mindless bliss pumping through his blood like a narcotic as the Dark Side roared in triumph and lust and hunger for more, and Lumis only just managed to maintain control, groaning softly as he managed to stagger toward the _Phantom_ , the bodies of the Inquisitors dragged with the Force behind him. The moment he entered the shuttle, he collapsed against the wall, sighing in satisfaction and staring off into nothing through hazy eyes as he lost himself in the high of the life he stole, the Force raging through him as it repaired damage and the wear caused by age.

"Are you feeling alright?" Sabine asked, the Sith only barely managing to turn his attention on the Mandalorian in the pilot's seat, and he slowly managed to nod before his head lolled to the side.

"What's our status?" he managed to ask, his voice heavy and thick, and he struggled to keep his eyes open, trying to stave off the high of the Dark Side, but his will was rapidly failing.

"Hera's on the way with the _Umbra_ to extract us, she says Imperial reenforcements are incoming, but they're not close enough to pin us if we can get out within ten minutes." The tank suddenly shuddered and a deafening roar filled the air, followed by the sound of an explosion and the groaning of metal as it bent and twisted, the familiar sound of destruction the reward for the true shot of the Jedi-guided cannon. The tank lurched with movement as the tank went in full reverse, keeping its forward cannons fixed on the AT-ATs as they retreated, taking well-placed shots on the walkers as they fled.

"Sounds like getting away won't be a problem..." Obi-Wan muttered, running his hand through his hair and closing his eyes. "Are the engines repaired?"

"All ready to go," Sabine said, a smirk on her face and terribly pleased with herself. "All we need is a chance to get away, and if we can take those walkers down or lose them in the storm, we'll have that chance."

"Please make certain that Ahsoka brings the clones with us, they're all going to die if they stay behind," Obi-Wan muttered. "If they don't want to join us, we can at least get them to safety. And when you see Cody..." He gestured carelessly out the open hatch at the gruesome bodies on the ground. "Tell him to bring them, I need them for Empire Day. And I left his helmet on the deck." Kenobi slid lower to the ground. "And there are Inquisitor helmets for Ezra, if he wants them."

"I'll be sure they know," Sabine said, getting up from her seat and walking over to kneel beside the Sith, the Mandalorian hissing when she laid her hand on the man's forehead. "Ka'ra, Kenobi, you're burning up," she muttered. "You sure you're alright?"

" _Absolutely_..." Obi-Wan said breathlessly. "I'm going to take a nap. Don't wake me up."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

With a heavy, pleasured sigh, Obi-Wan surrendered himself to the blissful rush of the Force and drifted away, the Dark Side curling around him, restful and sated with blood and death, calm with their assured victory.


	40. The Next Phase

**AN:** **Alright, my lovelies, it's late, but I got it done! There's a lot going on here, and if you were really paying attention, you should know exactly what's going to be happening in a few chapters. The next chapter will be up Sunday or Monday, if the writing is fast. Hopefully it will be. At the very least, I have the opening bit pretty clear in my brain. Enjoy, kids!**

 _Chapter 40: The Next Phase_

Agent Alexsandr Kallus squeezed his eyes tightly against the bright lights in the room in an attempt to stave off the pounding headache that grew worse with every passing second. His body felt sore and heavy, his throat raw and hoarse, his mouth unspeakably dry. He wasn't certain how long it had been since the rebels escaped him on Seelos with a small army of old Republic era clone soldiers by cleverly using a local sandstorm to scramble their sensors to cover their escape. Kallus hadn't arrived on the planet until after they had gone, leaving him with hundreds of reenforcements both on the ground and in the air to sweep through the scene of the first and only engagement with the rebels when the sandstorm had passed.

In their wake, the rebels left behind three completely destroyed AT-AT Walkers, each transport's crew of forty all killed in the destruction, and an abandoned, heavily modified AT-TE Republic tank. It was a worn vehicle, though clearly kept in fine working order by the crew of clones that had manned it. The entire tank had been stripped of valuable components, and by the time Kallus had set foot on the deck, the tank had stopped moving, though the engines still were hot from previous use. He had missed the rebels and the traitorous clones, but not by much, which wounded his pride even more than if they had been long gone.

But worse than all that was the evidence of the struggle on the deck of the ship. Long, black lines of burned and melted steel marred the deck and the walls of the tank, blood was smeared along the ground, and the three Inquisitors that were sent to apprehend the rebel Jedi were _gone_ , not a single trace of them or their lightsabers found anywhere. After a closer examination of the tank, the stormtroopers had found two severed legs and the squished, gelatinous remains of what could have once been eyes, and the morbid discovery was enough to send the Imperials running back to their ship. Over a hundred men were dead, including the three very valuable Inquisitor that were sent to find the Jedi and ran into something much, much worse.

 _The Shadow King_.

Kalus whimpered and shut his eyes tighter, shaking his head against the fearful thoughts that flooded his mind. No, it was far worse than merely the Shadow King, the rogue Mandalorian upstart that stood violently against the Empire. This was _Obi-Wan Kenobi_ , the Negotiator, the former Separatist leader that was said to have been executed _years_ ago. Not just said, Kallus had _seen it_ , he had been present at the execution, had watched the brutal affair, had seen the man suffer and scream as he was made a very public example of before succumbing to the pain and finally dying. Hell, he had seen the body and was certain at the time that it _was_ him. It had to be. But now _this_...

There was no doubt. The man he had spoken to _was_ the Negotiator, hiding in plain sight by taking up the mantle of Shadow King, as he certainly believed was his right, given his previous attachments to Mandalore. That, and his prodigious connection to the Force made him a dangerous opponent, even for an Inquisitor and marked him for the man that he claimed to be. Kallus wasn't sure how he hadn't seen it before, how _nobody_ had seen it before. It was _so obvious_ now that he knew. The man that had been executed was obviously a fake, a hapless doppelganger sent to die in place of Kenobi so that he may live, so that he may continue to plot against the Empire in secret. The Emperor _had_ to know. Everyone had to know.

Which was where the trouble started.

Kallus knew that his failure was catastrophic, both in terms of wasted lives and wasted resources, and he knew he could expect to be held accountable for the escape of not just the rebel forces, but for the deaths of the increasingly valuable Inquisitors. But still, regardless of his fallen esteem, they needed to know about the Negotiator, and the moment he returned to the Star Destroyer, he had spread the word, sent messages to Admiral Yularen at ISB headquarters, sent a missive to Darth Vader and the Inquisitorious, made certain that everyone on the ship knew that Obi-Wan Kenobi was alive and well and fighting with the rebels to destroy the Empire. He knew he sounded crazy, but he had proof, the Imperial communication protocols having saved a recording of his conversation with the Negotiator, which he was not shy about showing to the high command on the ship on their way back to Lothal.

The moment they arrived on Lothal Kallus hadn't just been reprimanded for his failure. He had been _arrested_ by two very, very cross members of the Inquisitorious, and despite his protests and pleas for them to listen to his warnings of the danger they were in, they would hear none of it, instead spiriting him away as quickly as possible to an isolated cell deep in the Imperial compound. He hadn't been there long before they strapped him to a table and began torturing him, not for information, not to question him, not even for his failures. The Inquisitors inflicted pain to make him change his story, to alter what he believed, to make him think that Obi-Wan Kenobi was _dead_. They had known. They _knew_ , and they were hiding the truth from those that went to fight this renegade, this...supposed Sith Lord, if the Jedi of old could be believed. Whatever that meant.

But Kallus clung to the truth, even through the pain and the forceful insistence that he was mistaken, that he leave and tell everyone that he was wrong, that he was paranoid and delusional, touched by the harsh climate and the blistering heat of Seelos. This wasn't some coverup on the part of the Negotiator, this was an _Imperial_ plot, though Kallus didn't understand why, couldn't grasp through his pain-addled, deprived mind why the Empire would hide such a vital piece of information from the people responsible for fighting him. Knowing that the Shadow King was the Negotiator changed _everything_ , not just the way the man was to be approached, but right down to his motivation. Understanding the enemy's motivation was a key component to defeating them, so _why_...

He felt...betrayed. He was being punished not just for his failure, which he understood, but for discovering the truth behind the dreaded Shadow King, and had he known before, his strategy would have been far, _far_ different. His complete failure was partially his own, yes, but his lack of information had set him up for failure. And the Inquisitors knew. _They knew_...

The cell door hissed open, the low hum of the energy wall shutting off, and Kallus wearily looked up at the sound of heavy footsteps clanging against the floor with the ringing clang of striking metal. Kallus' hazy eyes slowly focused on the black clad man before him, his disdainful red face looking down on him with eyes that glowed red and yellow. He knew this man from somewhere, but he simply couldn't place it, his thoughts running slow and thick and heavy, and Kallus briefly wondered if he had been drugged in the course of everything else inflicted upon him.

With a soft groan, the agent's head dropped to his chest, too weak and hazy to keep it up any longer, and a firm grip on his chin almost gently forced him to look up, the yellow eyes piercing right through him as they examined him. Kallus was certain he could feel everything in his mind shift and yield under the man's scrutiny, as if he had his hands in his head as he sifted through everything within. It felt much like the pain inflicted upon him by the Inquisitors, but this man had greater control, a finesse the others lacked that not only spared him from pain, but seemed to ease the dull throb as well. With a hiss of frustration and a bitter, angry sneer, his new interrogator let go of his chin and reeled around to face someone behind him, and with a grunt of effort, Kallus looked up to survey his surroundings, and he gasped in sudden fear when he saw his two Inquisitor torturers standing on the far side of the room, a towering man and a slight woman, their heads bowed in what almost looked like repentance.

"You _idiots_..." Maul hissed, his features contorting in rage, and the Inquisitors quickly dropped to their knees, by their own will or by the will of the Zabrak, Kallus couldn't tell. "What point was there in torturing this man?!"

"His orders saw three of our siblings to their deaths!" the woman said desperately, her frantic explanation cut short when the back of Maul's hand was brought hard across her face, sending the woman sprawling to the ground and spitting blood upon the floor.

"They are dead because they were _fools_!" Maul snapped, looming over the cowering Inquisitors. "They are dead because the looked a Lord of the Sith in the eye and _didn't_ run! They knew the present danger when they heard the name _Negotiator_ , a thing that the agent never knew!" he growled, pointing back at the restrained Kallus. "And yet, they _still_ chose to engage him. Why?" Maul shrugged. "Who cares, they are _dead_."

"We were promised to be Sith!" the imposing male snapped, his temper flaring as he looked up at the indifferent Zabrak. "For killing Darth Lumis, we'd have proven our worth to the Emperor and would be made true Sith apprentices!"

"And you _believed_ that?" Maul asked, laughing harshly when the man's jaw tightened in anger. "Oh, you poor, ambitious idiot, you are not Sith. _None of you_ are Sith. Do you truly believe that any of you stand a chance against Darth Lumis, a true Sith Master? If that is what your Brother and Sisters believed, they deserved to die." Maul shrugged indifferently, sighing heavily when he looked over the two Inquisitors before him. "The offer wasn't genuine, of course, it was a warning from my Master to me and Vader."

"So what would you have us do?" the woman asked, frowning as she gingerly rubbed her cheek, her hand slicking with blood from the split in her pale yellow skin.

"I would have you _run_ ," Maul hissed dangerously, the woman shrinking back slightly from the intensity of her Master. "My _precious_ students, you and your kind are becoming rare, _valuable_ resources!" the Zabrak said sweetly. "Since Vader and I had to purge the Temple on Dromund Kaas from Lumis' influence all those years ago, you and your surviving Brothers and Sisters are all we have left! My Fifth Brother and Seventh Sister, we need to _repopulate_."

" _So_..." the Fifth Brother said, leaning in toward the woman. "How do you suppose we should go about doing that?"

"In a way that doesn't involve _you_ ," she snapped, putting her hand on his face and pushing him away.

"We _could_ make our own acolytes," Maul hissed bitterly, his cybernetic foot tapping impatiently upon the ground. "But I believe it will be a better use of our time to simply locate and corrupt children born with a talent in the Force, as we have been doing. There is no shortage of Force sensitive children born into this galaxy, and I want you to find them. Redouble your efforts. We need to replace the Inquisitors we have lost and will continue to lose, and the children we do have are still too young to serve the Empire."

"We'll begin right away, Master..." the Fifth Brother said, standing and bowing to the man, and Maul rolled his eyes.

"Be warned, if you see Darth Lumis, you _run_. His defeat is already in motion, and I will not have you unnecessarily killed when my Master has already guaranteed his capture." A sly, cruel smirk pulled at the Zabrak's lips, his eyes running over the Seventh Sister, and she slowly took a step back, her chest tightening in apprehension. "When my Master has Lumis in his possession, you may very well be called upon to make a Force sensitive child of your own. Your Brothers are hardly worthy, but Darth Lumis himself would make that particular inconvenience _very_ worthwhile." When the woman drew back, disgust written upon her face, Maul laughed maliciously and swiftly grabbed her chin, his thumb running over the red tattoos on her cheeks. "That's a Sith Master we're talking about. You should be _honored_."

"A-as you say, Master..." she said, looking away from the Zabrak's hungry, _longing_ gaze, and before he had a chance to say a word more, she turned and left, followed closely behind by the jeering Fifth Brother. With a sigh of frustration, Maul moved his hand through the air and the restraints holding Kallus to the cold, steel table released, leaving the man to drop unceremoniously to the ground in a heap.

"You have caused me a fair bit of trouble, Agent Kallus," Maul growled softly, his hand gently tugging on his cranial horns. "The Emperor was _very_ unpleased by the size of your mouth, and when the Emperor is displeased, _I_ suffer for it."

"You knew!" Kallus spat. "The Shadow King-" He stopped himself quickly, his teeth clenched tightly in anger. " _Kenobi_ said that there were those in the Empire that knew, that I wasn't _important_ enough! I didn't want to believe that was true, I thought he was _lying_ to me!"

"He wasn't," Maul said, a sinister grin on his face as he watched disbelief and anger flew across Kallus' face.

"N-no..." Kallus said, shaking his head and biting back his fury as he stared at the Zabrak. "I am Admiral Yularen's most promising agent! I-I am leading the defense of Lothal, I am hunting the _kriffing Shadow King_! I needed to know this information! _Everyone_ needed to know!"

"Why's that?" Maul asked, and Kallus laughed in disbelief.

"Are you _serious_?! You... _pretend_ to kill Obi-Wan Kenobi and all you've done is give him a way to hide from the Empire! He is invisible when the entire galaxy should be hunting him instead of a handful of _assholes_ who think they're special because they can use the Force!" When Maul said nothing, only stared at him with a slight, amused look on his face, Kallus ground his teeth together and jumped to his feet, wincing as his leg buckled and he slammed hard to the floor. " _Why_! What is the point of hiding this?!"

"You short-sighted fool..." Maul drawled softly, slowly pacing back and forth before the injured man, his gait predatory and his eyes feral and hungry, enough to chase away Kallus' anger and fill him with apprehension. "There is power in a name, and Obi-Wan Kenobi carries a _great_ amount of weight..." the Zabrak growled, his tone strained with a rage that penetrated the deepest parts of him. "The _Sithkiller_ , the Jedi Martyr, the Lost One, the Negotiator, the Shadow King, _Darth Lumis_..." He laughed, deep and low, a hand swiftly reaching out to take hold of Kallus' copper hair. "One person with many names, and each one means something different to different people. Were the galaxy to know, the name could be used to _unite our enemies_."

"If that were true, Kenobi would have done exactly that by now! He would have revealed himself, he would have-"

"Would that he could," Maul interrupted with a soft, dismissive chuckle. "As you know, he is Force sensitive and has a particular talent that we are using to our advantage." Maul grinned wolfishly at the agent, his hand tightening in his hair. "You see, he can use the Force to steal the life out of a person. It makes him eternally young, but in a galaxy that ages, we have used that to our advantage. He cannot reveal himself because nobody would believe it, and if the Empire thinks Obi-Wan Kenobi is dead, he may as well be." He released his grip on Kallus, the man collapsing to the floor with a hiss of pain. "And it is done. In an instant, his old allies fall away, because nobody would believe him to be the legendary Negotiator when he looks to be younger than the Empire." Maul flashed Kallus a smile. "Understand?"

"H-he...makes himself younger?" Kallus muttered, shutting his eyes tight and trying to think back to the man he had seen on the holoprojector when he had spoken to him, but his thought still ran slowly and he couldn't remember any details about the man's face, only that he knew he was Obi-Wan Kenobi. "How is that possible..."

"Through the Force, all things are possible," Maul said with a roll of his eyes. "This is why _we_ , the children of the Force, will be the ones to put him down, we understand the..." He stopped, his eyes cast at the ground as he cleared his throat. "We understand the things he is capable of..." With a shaking breath, Maul ground his teeth together, his focus drifting from Lumis to the troubles before him. "Which is why now I must clean up _your_ mess, Kallus. Do you know how hard it is to convince an entire Star Destroyer filled with nervous Imperials that their ISB commander contracted Sand Fever on Seelos?" He hissed between his teeth, his foot tapping rapidly on the ground. "Forget about that, do you know how difficult it is to infect the commanders that had _seen_ your recording with Sand Fever? Quite difficult, if you must know."

"You... _infected_ the bridge crew?" Kallus asked incredulously, his eyes wide and his jaw slack as he watched the irritated man.

"I most certainly did, the entire ship is in quarantine," Maul muttered. "It makes it easier to scrub the datalogs clean so we can be rid of the recording you have of Lumis. Which is _another_ nightmare, since I need to track down every copy you sent to officers in the Imperial command. You see how much trouble you have caused, Kallus?" Maul asked, kneeling before him and hooking his fingers under the agent's chin. "By the time I am through, I may have to dirty my hands. It's simply easier to kill those that don't agree that you were _mistaken_."

"But I _wasn't_ ," Kallus growled, shaking his head away from Maul's grasp, and the Zabrak chuckled, a slight, cruel smile on his lips as he patted the Imperial's cheek.

"Agent Kallus, we can do this the easy way, and you can simply accept that you were wrong and tell all those who ask that you were delirious with fever, or we can do this the _hard way_." The Zabrak swiftly grabbed a handful of Kallus' hair, the agent hissing in pain as Maul yanked his head back, the yellow eyes seeming to bore through him in their intensity. "I learned a _great deal_ watching Darth Lumis work, and there has never, _ever_ been a man more skilled at mental manipulation than him. But I lack his finesse and his skill. I do not manipulate minds, I _break them_." He smiled again, letting go of the terrified agent's hair and smoothing it back. "Am I understood?"

"P-perfectly..."

"A wise choice..." Maul said, rising to his feet and clasping his hands behind his back as he looked down at Kallus, the man trying to hide his shaking hands. "I need to know what he told you," Maul said almost gently. "I haven't seen this recording because I _destroyed_ it before it could further infect the Imperial ranks, but I have to know."

"Why..." Kallus asked, swallowing hard as he looked up at the intimidating Zabrak. "Are you going to kill me if I know too much?"

"No," Maul responded quickly. "If I was going to kill you, I would have done so days ago when you returned to Lothal. Now, are you going to tell me, or must I pull what I need from your mind? You don't _need_ those memories, do you?" Maul asked sweetly. "You could be doomed to repeat all the same mistakes over and over again, and I don't think your record could take another failure, Agent Kallus..."

"He didn't say much..." Kallus muttered, swallowing hard as he gathered his thoughts. "He didn't see me as... _important_ enough," he growled, shutting his eyes tightly as he tried to bite back the swell of emotion, the Negotiator's words echoing in his mind. Obi-Wan wasn't the one that deemed him unimportant. The _Empire_ did. Kenobi simply pointed it out. "He was insulted we only sent three Inquisitors after him." Kallus looked up to evenly meet Maul's stare, the Zabrak drawing back slightly at the calm within this man that should have been afraid. "He said he was hoping for you."

Maul's chest tightened, his lungs burning as he found he couldn't breathe, the sudden trembling in his hand quickly spreading up his arm and through the rest of his body, his vision narrowing until black encroached upon the edge of his periphery, a dull ringing in his ears growing louder and louder until he could hear nothing save for the sweet, cruel sound of soft, amused laughter. Maul could feel himself shiver, a sudden cold chill running through him despite the flames that licked at him just under his skin, the very Force surrounding him becoming sharp and painful as it rapidly froze. He felt _sick_ , hot and cold all at once, intense nausea and searing pleasure raging through him, leaving his senses in confused disarray, and despite the fear making his heart race, he couldn't find it within himself to want it to stop.

" _Master_..." the Zabrak whimpered, swallowing hard as he began to hyperventilate, and he gave Kallus a weak, unsteady smile when he felt the agent's eyes on him. "Thank you, Kallus," Maul whispered, his shaking hands behind his back as he drew up tall, though his shoulders remained hunched. "You may go." Casting one final look at confusion at the man, Kallus didn't need to be told twice, and he slowly shuffled out of the cell, leaving Maul alone to drop to his knees, whimpering as his hands tightly grasped his cranial horns. With panic and longing quickly rising within him, Maul grasped for salvation from the burning fires of his Master's madness that had never, ever left the hapless man, and with comlink in hand, he put in the call to Thrawn.

The Admiral did not answer immediately, the time only to stretch longer and longer to restless man, and with a high, frantic laugh, Maul began pacing, his heavy steps sending a harsh, metallic ring through the air with each strike of his boot upon the ground. The Chiss did not usually answer right away, the business of the Empire keeping him almost consistently busy, which Maul knew was by design. Thrawn was, first and foremost, frighteningly good at his job, perhaps a touch too good at it, and keeping him busy not only served the Empire by keeping pirates and rebels at bay, but also kept the perceptive Chiss too busy to look further into information he determined to be suspicious. Sidious had a great many secrets, and given the proper time for study and analysis, there was little doubt that Thrawn would eventually piece together information he stumbled upon in order to form a more complete picture of things that the Emperor had no intention of becoming known to the Admiral.

More than that, however, was the openly intense interest that Lumis had taken in the Admiral, which was a dangerous thing even in the best of circumstances. In order to keep Thrawn as far away from the renegade Sith as possible, Sidious deemed it necessary to keep the Admiral as busy as he could, never giving him the chance to turn his interests on the openly flirtatious Obi-Wan. The more the Chiss moved across the galaxy, the harder it would be for Obi-Wan to find him, and the less likely it would be that the two would be given the opportunity to engage each other. An occupied Thrawn was what was best for the Empire, but at this moment, Maul was not a fan of the arrangement since the man _wasn't answering the call_.

He was uncertain of how much time had passed since he had begun pacing, but Thrawn eventually did answer, the Zabrak jumping at the burst of static and nearly dropping the comlink in the process, cursing loudly as he fumbled the device where the Admiral was projected, the man looking as amused as Maul had ever seen him. For the typical flat affect of the Chiss, it came across as almost giddy, and Maul felt his defenses fly up, his chest tightening as he became immediately guarded against the atypical behavior.

"Lord Maul," the Chiss said, his monotone just as unsettling as it always was. "How goes your investigation?" Stuttering for a moment, Maul started to answer, but stopped quickly when Thrawn raised a hand. "Wait, allow me to venture a guess. I suspect the Inquisitors are dead, as are the Imperial troops that were sent in pursuit of the rebels."

"Uh...y-yes," Maul muttered, looking curiously at the projected image. "How did you know?"

"As it so happens, I received a datafile from Agent Kallus containing a holorecording of a call between him and Obi-Wan Kenobi." With a soft groan, Maul shut his eyes and shivered. Of course Kallus would send Thrawn a copy. At least the Chiss already knew. "I found it terribly informative."

"It wasn't informative, sir!" a tense, youthful voice said from just out of frame, a voice Maul recognized as belonging to Lieutenant Commander Eli Vanto, Thrawn's personal aide. The strange, glowing red eyes flicked toward the other man, the slight smirk on his lips growing slightly.

"I disagree," Thrawn said softly, his even voice now carrying with it the undercurrent of excitement. "For the first time since my hunt for him began, I see him as he is. No showmanship, no need to impress. No...courtship, if you will. No, he made himself known to Agent Kallus because he was offended. _Insulted_. This was honest, emotional, a true picture of the man."

"And what does he do?" Eli asked in a voice laced with frustration. "Nothing much, sir, only threatens to _ravish you_ when you meet!"

"Yes..." Thrawn slowly drawled. "Tell me, Commander, do you suppose that was meant to be taken literally, or metaphorically? It is important to distinguish which, it will determine in what way I must prepare for our eventual meeting."

"I'm sure I don't know..." Eli muttered, and Maul cringed, his teeth grinding together as he focused on the image of the Chiss before him.

"Knowing my Master, it's both," Maul growled, the man swiftly shutting his eyes and whimpering wen he realized what he had unintentionally said, and when he looked back at the projection, he could see Eli Vanto gazing at him over the Chiss' shoulder with horrified interest, as if trying to discern if he had actually heard what he thought he did. Thrawn, predictably, looked unsurprised, almost as if he had expected this outcome, which was the most likely scenario, given how the Admiral was very often correct about...basically everything.

"Regardless of his intentions in regards to me, this message provides me with vital information about Obi-Wan Kenobi that I have been missing," Thrawn said after a moment, his eerie, glowing eyes never ceasing their examination of Maul's face, and the Zabrak found he couldn't meet the Chiss' exacting gaze. It felt... _invasive_. "Tell me, have we found the bodies of the Inquisitors? I suspect we have not." In the beat of silence, Maul's eyes quickly flicked up to find Thrawn waiting, the question he posed expected to be answered despite the fact he already knew the answer.

"We haven't found them," Maul said, his voice flat and defeated, and Thrawn nodded slightly, his eyes narrowing as he swiftly incorporated the confirmation into what he already predicted.

"And we will not find them," the Chiss said clinically. "Call off whatever search we are conducting, it is a waste of resources we could be allocating elsewhere. The bodies will turn up on their own very soon and _very_ publically, if my suspicions are correct. Judging by Kenobi's past pattern of behavior, we are far too close to Empire Day for there to be any other logical conclusion."

"Ooooh, the Emperor is _not_ going to like that..." Maul said with a shiver. Thrawn was right. _Of course_ he was right, and Maul felt foolish for not having thought of this himself.

"This presents us with a rare opportunity," Thrawn said, his hands folding behind his back as he stood up, tall and commanding. "By following his established pattern, we may be able to intercept him, and with the information I have gained from Agent Kallus' verbal confrontation with the man, I feel we have a fair chance to finally catch him. My trap is ready, and I will not even have to bait it." The excited anticipation in the Chiss' red eyes seemed to harden, his mouth pressing into a thin line in a muted approximation of irritation. "The Emperor has forbid me from engaging with Kenobi. I must have this rescinded."

"Admiral, we _can't_ go after the Shadow King..." Eli whispered to the Chiss. "What about Nightswan? We're getting so close to finding him, we can't divert our attention from him now, not when he'd disappear the moment we look away.

"The Emperor forbid you for a reason, Admiral," Maul said in a low growl, his chest tightening with each breath he took. "The matter of Obi-Wan Kenobi has already been resolved. My Master has seen it in the Force. Lumis _will_ be defeated. For all his strength in the Force, my Master is _still_ stronger."

"Yes, the Force..." Thrawn said, his monotone voice laced with the slightest hints of dismissal and disdain. "I feel you all put too much stock into the power of the Force."

"And you do not put _enough_ stock in it," Maul growled. "Your inability to understand the Force is exactly why the Emperor forbid you from confronting Darth Lumis! Without the power to command the Force, without the strength it can give you, you are as _nothing_ to him." He drew up tall, a sudden surge of confidence filling his chest.

"And for all that strength, it has done _you_ very little good against him," Thrawn said flatly, and Maul felt the surge of confidence swiftly sucked out of him, his face flushing with anger and embarrassment.

"I am...not so powerful as Mas-...a-as Darth Lumis," the Zabrak said between clenched teeth. "But my Master _is_. He can overpower Lumis, he can bring him to heel!"

"With all due respect to you and your Master, Lord Maul," Thrawn said softly, "but I have found that no weapon, no matter how powerful, cannot drive back a storm. Nothing can control a force of nature, but the clever man can protect himself against it and weather the storm."

"And you think Lumis is this storm?" Maul said, a nervous laugh escaping his throat which he tried to swallow back. "My Master is stronger than you know. He will endure, and he will come out triumphant. He _always_ does."

"Ask yourself this, Maul..." Thrawn said softly, leaning in slightly, and Maul's breath hitched and unintentionally drew back as the Chiss suddenly seemed to exude menace. "Exactly _who_ is your Master? You seem _very_ uncertain about that, and all it took was the mention of a name to undo you."

"There is no shelter from the Force, Thrawn..." Maul said in a shaking voice, pressing aside his swiftly rising panic and doing all he could to ignore the Chiss' pointed question. "It is not an advantage you can simply remove, you _cannot_ even this battleground in your favor!"

"We shall see about that..." Thrawn said in a soft, chilling voice, his flat monotone laced with menace, and the hologram flickered off, leaving Maul huddled alone in a darkened room to quietly whimper for his Master.

* * *

"Are you _sure_ Kenobi approved of this?" Kanan whispered to Cody as the two men walked at a pace that was far, _far_ too slow and meandering for the Jedi's taste. Hera's Phoenix Squadron was moving out of the Dantooine Base, and the moment they arrived from Seelos, they began their preparations to leave, the small rebel cell cut loose to find their own base of operations as part of Ahsoka's plan to keep the different factions separate in the event of Imperial discovery. With Admiral Thrawn actively hunting rebel cells, keeping the bulk of the fleet together simply was not possible. A bigger fleet meant greater activity and a greater chance of discovery, and such a thing could spell doom for the entire rebellion, over fifteen years of tireless work wiped out in an instant were they to be discovered. Smaller cells all across the galaxy not only made their presence seem larger than it was, thereby sparking other rebel movements, but kept the Imperials spread thin on the hunt for them.

"We've been over this, Jarrus..." Cody sighed, his eyes fixed on the datapad before him as he took stock of Phoenix Squadron's assets. "Kenobi was in favor of this from the beginning, and while he's having his nap, _I_ am the purveyor of his will."

"...it's been three days."

"It's a _very_ serious nap," Cody grumbled.

"...are you _sure_ he's still alive?" Kanan asked, peering over the clone's shoulder at the datapd and rolling his eyes when he found the inventory list minimized in favor of a game featuring a digital representation of an X-Wing shooting down rows and rows of TIE Fighters. "I mean, he was _really_ sick."

"Do you want to go in his room and find out?" Cody asked in a flat tone, his look challenging the Jedi to do exactly that. "His hot Chiss personal _sex assistant_ has been tending to him, and she occasionally resurfaces for food before she disappears again, so yes, it's a good assumption he's still alive. You couldn't pay me enough to go in there and check, though, not after yesterday. K2 is _still_ trying to work the dent out of the wall..." He growled in irritation when he failed to evade the TIE Fighters' lasers on his game, the tiny X-Wing exploding in a shower of tiny pixels, and with a swipe of his hand across the screen, he closed the game and brought up the inventory list once again. "And even if he objected, it wouldn't matter. He doesn't have final say in matters pertaining to the rebellion, and this happens to be Ahsoka's call."

"From the way he talks-"

"I know he wants you to believe that he controls everything, but he isn't Emperor yet," Cody quickly interrupted. "Kenobi trusts the clones, and more importantly, so does Ahsoka. The matter is done."

"I just don't like it..." Kanan muttered, his hand running through his hair. After they had escaped from the engagement on Seelos with the clones in tow, Rex and his men seemed to suddenly remember what it was they were made for, how much they missed the field of battle, how badly they craved a good fight. They were tired of sitting around and growing older, lost and forgotten on a world nobody cared about, their own purposes lost to them after the Republic betrayed them and fell. If they were going to die, and they were, faster than most men, then they were going to die doing what they were born to do. On the field of battle like soldiers, not of old age like some relic, and to fight beside Ahsoka Tano again was something worth dying for. The Togruta was quick to accept the help of the clones that had saved her life so long ago, and was even faster to assign them to rebel cells as combat specialists, both as acting commanders on the field of battle and as instructors to train the new recruits and forge them into skilled soldiers.

Kanan was uncomfortable with the arrangement from the beginning. He understood the rebellion was a military, but to him, it had never been, and he wasn't ready for another war. Even now, the things he and the Spectres did wasn't _war_ , it was helping people who could not help themselves, it was standing against the Empire because others couldn't, because it was the right thing to do. But now, with the clones involved, with them training young men and women to fight and die, it felt too much like a war that Kanan had already fought in, one he had already lost, one that _everyone_ lost, even their Sith ally, a man poised to win no matter what.

Hera had helped ease him into the idea, had very gently soothed his frayed nerves when he had returned panic-stricken and in the frightful claws of his past, had calmly and patiently understood everything he was going through when nobody else could. It was a simple thing for her to care for her lover, and though it took some time for the Twl'lek to wear the Jedi down, she eventually had him laying in bed next to her, more himself then he had been since the mission to Seelos began. He never liked the idea, but as with most things, Hera got her way with Kanan, and though the Jedi refused to commit to a war, he _did_ commit to her, which was enough until he was able to face his demons. Whenever he was ready, Kanan and Hera would face them together.

And then Ahsoka assigned a clone to the Phoenix Squadron.

"I just don't understand why we need _another_ clone!" Kanan continued, following Cody as the man examined one of the A-Wing fighters that made up Phoenix Squadron. "We already have you!"

"I don't belong to Phoenix Squadron, I belong to Obi-Wan Kenobi," Cody said with a roll of his eyes. "He doesn't like sharing."

"But you two are a part of Phoenix Squadron, aren't you?" Kanan asked desperately, and Cody sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"No, the _Umbra_ isn't part of your little rebel cell, Jarrus..." Cody muttered, tucking his datapad away and crossing his arms over his chest. "Don't mistake Kenobi's fondness for you as being a part of your little club. Phoenix Squadron is a very small part of a very big picture, and Obi-Wan's...always been part of the big picture."

"...but you're taking inventory," Kanan said, pointing to the datapad on Cody's hip. "K2 said you guys are preparing to leave, and when Ahsoka and Hera were making the plans, they figured Obi-Wan into them!"

"Well, _yeah_ , we're going with you guys," Cody said with a roll of his eyes. "That wasn't the issue at hand, the issue was if we belong to Phoenix Squadron so you don't need to learn to deal with another kriffing clone. We're still going to be working with you. Kenobi's work going forward is rooted heavily in the Force, and you are an important part of that." The clone walked toward one of the re-purposed freighters on the other side of the hangar, the repair crew surrounding it finishing up on the final repairs from the damages sustained in the fighting over Lothal. "I'm none too happy about the arrangement either, Jarrus, but these are Kenobi's orders. He doesn't need me to like it, he just needs me to obey."

"Well Obi-Wan isn't _my_ Master..." Kanan muttered. "With all that happened after the Jedi were betrayed, it just isn't easy to overcome, and now that I know what happened to General Skywalker...to have _his clone_ serving with us..."

"Ahsoka vouched for Rex, which is good enough for me," Cody grumbled, his finger quickly swiping over the datapad to download the repair report from the freighter. "And that dumb bastard has already agreed to work with us, despite our history, and I'll be damned if that Republic slave outdoes me in _anything_..."

"Rex isn't a slave, Cody," Ahsoka said from behind them, the pair quickly spinning to meet the Togruta as she approached, Hera walking by her side with her arms crossed over her chest and a look that bordered on disappointed. Kanan quickly averted his eyes, his lip caught between his teeth as he tried to bite back the reluctance he felt to work with the clone that helped them escape Seelos. Reason told him that Rex hadn't done anything to him or any other Jedi, but his past experience kept him guarded and cautious. It was a difficult issue, one with no easy resolution, and thankfully, the people around him understood and had been more than patient, but he knew his lover wouldn't tolerate something like this getting in the way of the rebellion, of what she saw as her duty, the thing she had always been aiming for and now suddenly had.

"I am... _aware_ that CT-7567 and the others we recovered all had their biochips removed," Cody grumbled between clenched teeth. "But that doesn't mean we can _trust_ them."

"I agree," Kanan said quickly. "Let's not forget that one of them already betrayed us down on Seelos"

"A mistake he is now working to atone for," Ahsoka said with a small smile. "I believe we can trust them. They _did_ help save me when the clones were ordered to execute the Jedi. Even Wolffe."

"Y-yeah, but-" Kanan began, and was quickly silenced when Hera gently took his hand in hers and gave it a loving squeeze."

"I remember that night as well, Kanan," Ahsoka said quietly. "I can _never_ forget it. I watched the Jedi Temple Guards be slaughtered by Darth Vader when he still wore the face of Anakin Skywalker. I saw clones sweeping the streets of Coruscant as they hunted and executed any Jedi they found escaping the Temple. I was chased down around every turn, through every alleyway knowing that there was no escape and that I was going to die. And I remember running into Rex and his company, soldiers I knew well, and when I thought the end had come, they surrounded me and took me to safety." When Ahsoka saw the corner of Kanan's lip tremble, she gently took his other hand. "I can't imagine what it was like for you, Kanan. But not everyone that night betrayed the Jedi."

"...I-I know..." Kanan whispered, squeezing the two hands he held to hide the fact he was trembling. "You're right, I know. I'm...trying. I am."

"We know you are, love..." Hera said, standing up on her toes and pressing a swift, chaste kiss to the Jedi's lips, and she glared at Cody when the clone gagged. "If it helps at all, Rex never killed any Jedi like _Cody_ has..."

"That just makes me a superior warrior!" Cody said defensively. "Do you know how hard it is to kill a Jedi?"

"Not terribly difficult, it would seem, or they'd still be around..." Kanan said bitterly, his eyes fixed on the clone and eyeing him, more curious than suspicious. "Have you killed many Jedi, Cody?"

"More than my share..." the clone muttered, taking a step back and his hand unconsciously drifting to the lightsaber at his belt. "Not so many as I'm certain little Miss Fulcrum believes." He started saying something and then quickly stopped himself and pointed a questioning finger at the Jedi. "When you ask if _I_ have killed Jedi, do you mean me personally? Because personally, I have only killed one Jedi, but the Shadow Legion as a team has killed several."

"Alright, _alright_ , I get your point..." Kanan mumbled when Hera looked at him pointedly. "I'll...give Rex a chance."

"It'll help you too, love," Hera said with a sigh of relief, smiling and kissing the Jedi's palm when he cupped her cheek. "And we need Rex. Ahsoka thinks he can help us find a base for Phoenix Squadron to operate out of so we can help Lothal."

"...I didn't _just_ kill Jedi, you know," Cody said quietly before Kanan could answer, his lightsaber in hand and his fingers lovingly running over the golden rings near where the blade extended. "Obi-Wan helped save a great many of them at the end, and I...Shaak Ti, we..." He snarled in frustration, his hand running through his graying hair and swiftly looking away when he felt the eyes on him soften. "Just forget it..."

"Your loyalty was never being called into question, Cody," Hera said, taking a small step toward the sullen man. "I apologize if it came across that way. If the rebellion were made only of people without a past, we wouldn't have anyone."

"I certainly wouldn't be here," Kanan said with a sigh, and Cody scoffed, though a slight smile tugged at the edge of his lips.

"Kriffing hell, you bastards, I told you to forget it. I don't want or need your pity, you Jedi filth." Clearing his throat and looking away when Kanan began grinning like an idiot, Cody swiftly replaced the lightsaber on his belt and took the datapad in his hand again. "We're ready to leave. Do you have a plan? The supplies we are taking with us won't last us long, and we need a way to restock."

"We have a plan for that," Ahsoka said swiftly. "Some leads on old abandoned military bases and Imperial shipment schedules we can intercept for fuel and medical supplies we will need while we search for a base." She pointed at the datapad. "Why are you managing our fleet? Does Obi-Wan have plans for Phoenix Squadron that I'm unaware of?"

"Not at all," Cody muttered, drawing up taller as he faced the Togruta. "As you know, Kenobi plans to go after the Inquisitors, and the best way to do that is to stay very, _very_ close to the only known active Jedi in the galaxy," he said as he looked at Kanan, and Hera defensively stepped in front of him, her arms crossed in front of her chest. "After Seelos, they're going to be much more cautious, but there _will_ be more after us, and my brother means to slay them all."

"So let him slay them," Hera said firmly. "Kenobi doesn't need Kanan for that."

"Hera, dear, Obi-Wan's a part of our team..." Kanan said gently, slowly dragging the Twi'lek back against him and running his hands over her tense shoulders.

"No," she said, her voice trembling slightly as she turned in his grasp. "No, Kanan, I can't allow you to be used as bait! I came so close to losing you on Lothal. I won't allow it to happen again."

"The Inquisitors aren't after him, Hera, they're _afraid_ of him. They're after me, and they're after Ezra, and if they knew Ahsoka was alive, they'd be after her too." When the woman looked down at the floor, Kanan very gently slid his fingers under her chin and tilted her head back. "He's not using me as bait, we're targets already, and when he calls on me to help him trap the Inquisitors, I will be there for him." Kanan hesitated for a moment, his eyes locked with hers as he leaned down, and carefully kissed the top of her head. "None of us are safe until the Empire is gone, you have always said that, and if we can clear out the Inquisitors, it's just one less thing hunting us. We have to do this. We're the only ones who can."

"I know," Hera whispered, letting out a long, slow breath as she gently pulled out of Kanan's embrace, quickly shedding her face as his lover and donning the face of their leader once again. You're right, I know. Just don't forget that Obi-Wan Kenobi isn't the only one that needs you. You were Spectre One before you were ever training with Darth Lumis."

"Oh, I could never forget that, babe," Kanan said, winking at the Twi'lek and flashing her a wolfish grin, which she met with a sigh and a shake of her head. "So what's the plan? We're out of here today and then what? Looking for a base? Securing those resources?"

"With any luck, we'll be doing all the above," Ahsoka said, her shoulders drawing back as she looked immensely pleased with herself. Before she could elaborate, the Togruta's head quickly whipped around to look behind her, her breath catching and her chest tight as her senses sharpened, and less than a second later, Kanan staggered backwards with a gasp of pain and dropped to his knees, his eyes wide and wild and staring intently in the direction that Ahsoka was looking. As fast as he was able, Cody grabbed Hera's arm and pulled her behind him as he pushed forward, lightsaber in hand and hissing to life as he stood defensively before the group. He was silent, daring not to breathe lest he miss what the other two had heard, but there was nothing. No unusual movement, no out of place sounds, no danger to be seen at all.

"It's the Force, Cody," Ahsoka explained, her voice tense and tight, her own hand upon the weapon at her hip, Kanan gasping in relief when her hand brushed his shoulder, her own presence strengthening his own.

"Is it the Inquisitors?" Hera whispered, sidling up beside the Togruta and helping Kanan to his feet when he reached for her hand. "Did the Empire find us?"

"No..." Kanan said, his eyes closed as he reached out through the Force and shivered. "It's not a person, it's just the Force, it's _cold_." The Jedi lightly punched Cody's arm. "Feels like your boyfriend's up, you clone idiot. Nobody pulls on the Force like he does."

"He's not my boyfriend..." Cody said with a roll of his eyes. "I feel like it's called something else when the bastard won't kiss me while he's inside me."

"Really?" Kanan asked, a sly, devious smirk on his face as he patted the clone on the back. "He kisses me _all_ the time." Spinning the hilt of his lightsaber in his hand, he sauntered past the glaring, quietly cursing Cody. "Come on, let's go see him. Make sure he's not doing something stupid like having sex on the _Umbra_."

"We have _one rule_ that keeps our lives together, if he broke it, so help me, I'll kill him..." Cody growled, pushing past the laughing Jedi and stomping ahead toward the hangar partition where the _Umbra_ sat isolated and safely tucked away, repaired and ready for the next mission. They walked one after the other through the door and into the private space, the Force sensitives keeping their hands on their sabers and their attention rooted in the Force. When they drew closer to the sleek, black ship, their guards slowly relaxed when they saw a single figure outside standing at a repair station, long, thick cables running out from the monitor and connecting to an open panel underneath one of the wings.

When they drew closer, Kanan could make out the thin, lithe form of a blue skinned woman, her long, black hair draped over her shoulder in a loose braid, her glowing red eyes noticeable the second she looked up from her work and spotted them. She quickly moved away from the workstation and jogged up the ship's open ramp and emerged a moment later holding something in her hands as she swiftly moved to meet them. When the woman stopped, the group slowed their pace and casually walked to meet the woman, the Chiss bowing respectfully when they drew close enough, and Kanan recognized the black item in her hands as an Inquisitor helmet.

"Tocu'ren'mur Jarrus," the Chiss said, looking up at the Jedi with eyes that glowed with intelligence, and Kanan couldn't help but feel a tug of sympathy for this creature that he knew to be a slave of the Sith she served, even if she were past the point of believing she ever wanted anything else. "Ch'ittoci'ren'musi ect'asearcsi wishes for you to have this." A slight, enigmatic smile danced across the Chiss' lips when Kanan, Hera, and Ahsoka stared at her with wide, surprised eyes. "Apologies, my understanding of Basic is incomplete. Ch'ittoci'ren'musi ect'asearcsi has yet to complete my instruction."

"Chi..what?" Kanan asked with a nervous laugh. "That Kenobi?" The Chiss nodded and extended the helmet out toward him, and Kanan delicately took it from her hands. "I...don't know that we've ever really spoken before. Kenobi is awfully greedy when it comes to you."

"Yes..." she said with a small smile, her head tilting as she observed the Jedi, and she almost cautiously extended a hand to him. "I am called Seg'rotth'uruodo."

"Oh, that's a mouthful..." Kanan muttered, taking her hand and smiling when he felt how strong her grip was. "Is there something... _shorter_ we could call you? A nick name or something?" She stared at him for a moment, her gaze drifting periodically as she thought, and after a moment, she shook her head.

"No."

"Ah..." Kanan said awkwardly, shooting Hera a quick glare when he heard the Twi'lek snickering behind him. "And Kenobi wanted me to have this?"

"No," she said swiftly, reaching out and touching the visor on the sleek black helmet. "I had spoken wrongly. It is a gift for Bazehn rcoban't Bridger. My instructions were to give it to you so that you might see it taken safely to him."

"Well, Ezra's certainly going to be thrilled about this..." Kanan muttered, holding the helmet up and examining it.

"Speaking of Kenobi, how's the bastard doing?" Cody drawled, his hand resting on the woman's thin shoulder. "He awake? Doing alright?"

"My examination of him showed him to be in good health," she said, folding her hands behind her back and standing up straight. "He was awake for a moment, but he has since..." She stopped, her eyes narrowing in thought for a moment before she looked almost pleadingly at Cody. "I have not learned the word in Basic. Tah ch'islah ch'at Bazehn. Bazehn. His...power."

"The Force," Ahsoka said quietly, and the Chiss nodded, her eyes lighting up.

"Yes, thank you. He sleeps in the Force. He says he has...felt something."

"Something?" Ahsoka asked, taking a small step toward the woman, and Kanan could feel her defenses rise as she reached out through the Force to touch the chill that ran through it. "Or someone?"

"I do not know, but it seemed _very_ important," the Chiss said as she glanced over her shoulder back toward the _Umbra_. "He said he is not to be disturbed, and until the time he returns, command has been given to you, Cody."

"Of course it has," the clone said, reaching up and patting Kanan's cheek as he passed. "That's how we know he loves me best."

"Say what you need to convince yourself of that, you clone bastard," Kanan said with a roll of his eyes, and Cody unceremoniously shoved him to the side as he passed.

"Be ready to leave within the hour, Spectres. Until Obi-Wan has a mission for us, the _Umbra_ and her assets are yours." Cody grinned broadly at the group, his arm sliding casually over the Chiss' shoulders. "War is coming, and we're going to be ready for it."

"We certainly will," Ahsoka said, inclining her head toward Cody. "I'll send the rendevous coordinates to K2, along with the information I have on the Nightswan and all the information we've collected on the Empire's secret project. All I have are dead ends, maybe Kenobi can see something I don't."

"I'll be sure to pass it along when he surfaces for food," Cody said, saluting briefly to the Togruta before shaking his head and rolling his eyes. "I'll see you and the Phoenix Squadron soon. May the Force be with you...or whatever." With a roll of his eyes, Cody and the Chiss turned toward the _Umbra_ , leaving Hera and the Jedi to quietly speculate about the path laid out before them. Things were falling into place, and when the war was upon them, they would be ready.


	41. History

**AN:** **Alright, this chapter is way, WAY different from what I intended, but I really like it. As a result, I'll be getting another chapter of this out before I drift on back to Blood of Mandalore. For those of you familiar with Star Wars Rebels, I'll be mentioning episodes that happen concurrent with what's going on, but a lot of Season 2 is going to be passed over in favor of following other shit. For those of you unfamiliar, don't worry! You won't be missing anything. I have a plan.**

 **Alright, that's it! Enjoy, lovelies, and let me know what you think!**

 _Chapter 41: History_

"Relax, Ezra..." Kanan said softly, standing behind his student as the boy sat cross-legged on the ground, his eyes closed in focus and his hand held out before him toward Hera's droid. He was tense, and it wasn't helping his training. "Use the Force, lift Chopper. You can do it, you've done more difficult things than this before."

"Yeah, I don't think so..." Ezra grunted through clenched teeth, his voice strained with the effort of lifting something he couldn't touch. "Deflecting shots and waiting to feel for the right moment to shoot are _very_ different from lifting that heap of scraps..." Short, sharp bursts of angry whirs from Chopper showed exactly what the droid thought of this exercise, and Ezra's hand closed into a tight fist when he heard Sabine laughing, his ears burning with embarrassment at looking like a fool in front of the Mandalorian. If that wasn't bad enough, he could feel Zeb and Rex looking at him as well, the clone and the Lasat putting aside their work on the weapons they had been inspecting in order to observe the two Jedi. Kanan hadn't been too keen about letting Rex watch them train, but he had promised to give working together a shot and pushed aside his own tension in order to teach. The practice with focus was good for him as well as for his student.

"It isn't any different at all, Ezra, it's _all_ the Force," Kanan sighed, laying his hand on the boy's shoulder when he saw him tense. "Obi-Wan told you the same thing, nothing is impossible if you put your faith in the Force. Feel it, focus, and move the droid."

"How am I supposed to focus with all these distractions!?" Ezra snapped, glaring up at his Master and gesturing to the laughing Sabine.

"There will _always_ be distractions, Ezra. It's part of your training to clear your mind of everything around you and focus on what you must do," Kanan calmly explained. "Now, clear your mind, calm yourself, _focus_ , and nothing can stop you."

"Kenobi says to grab hold of anger or frustration or fear, any strong emotion and turn it into power," Ezra drawled as he closed his eyes and settled down to focus again. "He says that's the quickest way to grow powerful."

"W-well, he's not _wrong_..." Kanan stammered, groaning in frustration as he ran his hand through his hair. "But power that comes quick and easy always comes at a cost. There's a right way to do things, Ezra, and the way of the Sith isn't it. Now _focus_ ," he said, moving behind Ezra to watch him work. "Move Chopper."

With a swift, curt nod, Ezra extended his hand before him once again, exhaling as he sunk into his concentration and focused on the droid, felt him through the Force, and slowly imagined himself grabbing hold and lifting the grumpy mechanical high into the air. He felt his arm strain once again, his hand shaking as he tried to life the droid, and even without touching Chopper, he felt as thought he were using his arms, not the Force, to hoist him up, which made it impossibly difficult. The longer he tried, the more frustrated he got, his complete inability to lift the droid shaking both his focus and his confidence, and when a final burst of effort, Ezra let go, his hand falling to his side with a frustrated grown.

"I can't, it's impossible!" the boy sighed, exasperated by his failure, and with a soft chuckle, Rex rose from his seat, and Kanan felt himself tense as he eyed the man suspiciously. A few days of being together on the _Ghost_ had gone by without incident, but both the Jedi and the clone were cautious around each other, always watching the other like they were a rabid animal that could strike at any moment. They worked together on a few tasks without incident, but there was no trust between them. Not yet, in any case.

"Hey, kid!" Rex said casually as he leaned against the wall. "While you're looking through the Force, don't forget to look at your surroundings with your eyes as well." With a slight smirk, he pointed toward the droid and the Mandalorian. "The droid's magnetized itself to the ground." Ezra's gaze shot to Chopper, his jaw slack in disbelief, and Sabine erupted in laughter, her hand affectionately patting the droid's flat domed head as it waved its utility arms around in triumph.

"T-that's not fair!" Ezra cried, trying to swallow the flush he felt spreading across his face as humiliation heat his blood.

"Battles usually aren't," Kanan sighed, calmly patting the boy's shoulder. "If you're going to use the Force to fight, you're going to need to be able to focus and use it under pressure. Don't forget, our enemies won't care that they aren't fighting fair, they're going to do everything they can to win, but you can even the odds by learning to trust in the Force."

"The Force isn't enough," Rex said, and Kanan felt himself bristle, his chest tightening with the first signs of anger as he glared at the clone. "The Jedi General I served combined the Force with his wits and it made him a great warrior."

"Sorry, would that General of yours happen to be Anakin Skywalker?" Kanan asked sweetly. "Because from what I hear, he didn't end up so great." It was exactly the reaction he had hoped for, the clone's jaw tightening and his broad chest expanding as he stood up to his full heigh. "I don't know if you know what happened to your General, Rex, but _I_ do," Kanan said, his voice low and firm as he made his point. "All that skill as a warrior and he _still_ found his way down the path of evil"

"What he became doesn't diminish what he _was_ ," Rex said, evenly meeting Kanan's gaze. "He was the best that the Jedi had to offer for a reason, and if your student's going to be good, he could learn a thing or two from the way General Skywalker applied himself."

"Excuse me, but Ezra _has_ wits," Kanan said, leaning in toward Rex, and behind him, Ezra rolled his eyes. Two days together and this had to have been just one of _fifty_ spats the two regularly had as they attempted to navigate cohabitation with each other. Even the attempts to find common ground ended in bickering, and the young Padawan was quickly growing tired of it, as was nearly everyone else on the ship. Ezra had tried before to take refuge on the _Umbra_ since the two ships were currently docked together, but with Kenobi lost in the tides of the Force, Cody was having none of it and would throw Ezra back on the _Ghost_ the moment he found him, and somehow, he _always_ quickly found him.

"What he needs," Kanan continued, "is _discipline_." The Jedi's eyes narrowed when Rex scoffed softly and leaned in, thrusting his thumb at his chest.

"Then you better have a _soldier_ handle that," Rex drawled, a smirk on his lips as he watched anger flash in the Jedi's teal eyes.

" _Excuse me_?! A soldier's discipline can't compare to a Jedi's!"

"Is that so?" Rex asked calmly, his eyebrow arched as he looked the Jedi over. "In my experience, an undisciplined student is the direct result of an undisciplined Master."

"Are you saying that I lack discipline?!" Kanan gawked, and Rex crossed his arms over his chest.

"That is _exactly_ what I am saying."

"Here we go again..." Ezra mumbled with a roll of his eyes as he quietly slipped away to join Sabine at her workstation where she was quietly painting new designs on her helmet. The quickly escalating argument between Rex and Kanan came to an abrupt halt when the door slid open and Hera stepped through, a datapad in her hands and shooting a swift, warning look at her lover when she saw how tense the Jedi was.

"Got a mission, if you two boys are done comparing the size of your penises," Hera said flatly as she swiped her fingers across the datapad and ignored Rex's quietly muttered apology and the prideful swell of Kanan's chest. "Thanks to the information that Rex provided us, we were able to isolate a warehouse where we might be able to get hold of medical supplies that we badly need, and, as an added bonus, there's a possibility that it can be used as a base."

"Good thing, Captain Wits here is going to be in need of those supplies _very_ soon," Kanan said sweetly through a sarcastic smile, which Rex returned with a soft chuckle and an arch of his eyebrow.

"Sabine," Hera said, rolling her eyes and thrusting the datapad hard against Kanan's chest, the Jedi grunting in pain as he caught the device. "I'm giving this mission to you. Scout the facility, report back what you find, and retrieve anything you think may be of use to us."

"You got it," Sabine said as she got to her feet, blowing on the paint on her helmet to make it dry. "At this rate, we'll have everything we need by the time the Shadow King gets up from his nap.

"We should only be so lucky..." Hera said with a slight smile as the Mandalorian took the datapad out of Kanan's hands and quickly looked it over. "Zeb." The Lasat sat up straight in his seat, his ears perked up and his attention on the Twi'lek. "You go with her."

"Right..." Zeb grunted as he stood, picking up his bo-rifle from the table and slinging it over his back and following the Mandalorian up the ladder to enter the _Phantom_.

"So..." Rex said, a clever smirk on his face as he eyed the Jedi. "Think the Captain didn't send you because you're more childish than the children?"

"Right, _that's it_!" Kanan snapped, stepping close to the clone and looking down on him from his considerable height, and with a roll of his eyes, Ezra followed Zeb up the ladder, inviting himself along on Sabine's mission. "You and me, right now, are going to fight this out!"

"If there is any violence at all on my ship, Kanan Jarrus, so help me, you will never, _ever_ set foot in my room again!" Hera said in a sharp, commanding voice, her finger pointed at the Jedi's chest.

"...over a game of dejarik!" Kanan announced, pointing dramatically at the game board in the corner, laughing nervously and rubbing the back of his neck when Hera looked skeptically at him. "Come on, Hera, Rex is an _ally_!" Kanan scoffed. "I'd never hurt an ally, even if I don't necessarily... _agree_ with his existence. We've allied ourselves with a Lord of the Sith, for Force's sake, I can certainly handle a clone. Even if he _is_ an arrogant asshole..."

"I accept your challenge," Rex said evenly, a slight smile on his lips as he sat back down on the couch and began working once again on the disassembled blasters. "Are you sure you're up for it? Dejarik is a game that requires a sharp mind and a keen sense of strategy. It takes _discipline_ to win."

"Then I shouldn't have any trouble at all!" Kanan said proudly, and with a roll of her eyes, Hera left the room, muttering under her breath about the stupidity of the men on her ship as she disappeared. Kanan started to follow her until the door closed in his face, and with a sigh, he rubbed his temples, staving off the headache that was quickly beginning to pound at the base of his skull.

"Doesn't do you any good to make the missus mad..." Rex softly chided, ignoring the glare that Kanan sent his way. "Listen, I don't want to come between...whatever it is that you and the Captain have, so-"

"It's not you..." Kanan muttered, sighing as he turned and slowly crossed the room toward the docking port, the _Umbra_ laying just beyond. "I know you never betrayed the Jedi, but when _my_ clones did...w-when they executed my Master and hunted me like some animal for _months_." Kanan growled softly and pulled on the hair he had pulled back at the base of his neck. "I just don't know how to trust you."

"...how did you come to trust the Negotiator?" Rex asked quietly, his fingers absently and expertly reassembling the blaster in his hands, his eyes focused on the Jedi as his brow drew together in thought. "He's the most dangerous enemy the Republic has ever seen. The Jedi said he committed atrocities using the Force like they had never seen before, he killed _countless_ Jedi in his time, he enslaved entire battalions of my clone brothers, he stole ships, he _taunted_ the Jedi Order because no matter how hard we tried, we could _never_ catch him." Rex shook his head slowly, his attention focused on the array of emotions that flitted quickly over the Jedi's face. "But he's your ally now. _How_. How did you come to trust the Negotiator enough to allow him so close to your family?"

"I...learned some things about him," Kanan said quietly, his hands fidgeting as he tried to decide what to do with them. "Very early on, the first time I met him. He saved me from Inquisitors when I thought we could save..." He stopped and cleared his throat for a moment, shaking his head to clear away the ghastly corpse that haunted his sleep from time to time. "He loved a Jedi," he explained quietly. "Don't get me wrong, he does _awful_ things that can't be excused. He's a monster, but he's...not _just_ that, I suppose. Someone I respect thinks there's good in him, and I've seen it. That's worth something, I guess. We all deserve a shot at redemption..."

"Even me?" Rex asked, and the Jedi chuckled softly and shook his head.

"Don't be absurd, you haven't done anything wrong," Kanan said lightly, a wicked smirk on his face. "And who the hell can trust someone without a past, hmm?"

"Got me there..." Rex said with a smirk, laying the blaster to the side and picking up another. "I need to finish this weapon inspection, but I'll be ready for that game of dejarik as soon as I'm done. Give me an hour?"

"Prepare yourself for an ass kicking, old man," Kanan drawled, laying his hand on the console on the wall and the door hissed as the airlock disengaged, opening to reveal the docking hall between the two ships, the lights flickering red and ominous in the corridor. "I wouldn't miss this game for anything." Kanan stepped into the hallway, followed by the echo of Rex's easy laughter as the door slid closed behind him, and with a deep breath, he slowly walked toward the _Umbra_. He wasn't sure _why_ he had a sudden need to see Obi-Wan, but he did, his chest tightening with each step he took toward the ship. It was reluctance, warning, maybe, his instincts silently urging him away, though he pressed forward. His talk with Rex had dragged a great deal of the past to the forefront of his mind and only served to highlight the horrors, both past and present, that Darth Lumis had inflicted.

It was an easy thing to overlook in the heat of conflict. A great deal about Obi-Wan was rotten and corrupted, forever blackened by the Dark Side he held so dear, and getting a chance to actually _talk_ with the Chiss woman he had so throughly enslaved stood as a grim reminder of what Kenobi was. But still, even with all the evil he helped to perpetuate, Kanan couldn't help but feel sympathy for the man. Not _all_ the suffering inflicted upon him had been his own doing. Even for a Lord of the Sith, there were things that lay outside his control, and the Force had dealt him a hard hand. In a galaxy filled with monsters, there was something to be said for having a terrifying creature of their own to fight beside them, and Kenobi had never shied away from being the bad man that other bad men feared.

He stood outside the door, his eyes closed and his fingers lightly brushing the cold, black steel as he reached through the Force, calm and serene in the inky darkness. The Dark Side wasn't like the Jedi said it was, turbulent and disturbed and filled with pain. It was that also, was always cold, sometimes bitingly so, and made Kanan feel like he was alone, isolated from everything else that lived, disconnected to the life that the Jedi once revered. But it wasn't always like that. For as often as it made Kanan blind and made him feel anxious and unsettled, it could also be peaceful, quiet and serene in a way that he hadn't known the Force could be.

Now, it was like night, starless and peaceful in its silence,, the darker tides slow and sluggish as it swirled disinterested around him. It was a stark contrast to the peace of the light, the warm, easy breeze and the gentle flow of its temperate river, but it was peace none the less. The cold chill of the starless sky reflected in the mirror-still lakes of black water, and while Kanan knew that a storm was always brewing here, that lightning charged the very molecules in the air around him, that gruesome, horrifying things lay shrouded in the dark, that predatory beasts lurked just beneath the surface of the water,, there was still a strange serenity to it all. It was like being in the eye of a storm, like the anticipatory silence of the forest when a predator prowled nearby, like the darkest moment just before the dawn broke, and it was _beautiful_.

Kenobi often spoke of exacting the will of the Force, of granting it the peace and the balance that it always sought. Kanan hadn't understood it before, but now, standing in the center of the Dark Side and accepting its presence, it was easy to see how balance could be attained in the Dark Side, how peace could be attained in the dead of night, how light or dark, it was all the Force. With the Dark Side serene like that, it was easy to imagine a future where the Light and the Dark could strike a balance, where the successors of the Jedi and the Sith could maintain a tenuous harmony. He wasn't sure if this was the future that Kenobi coveted, and he was _certain_ this wasn't what the leaders of the rebellion desired, but it was a nice idea. The repression of one aspect of the Force had eventually led to the destruction of the Jedi. Balance was simply safer.

With a deep breath, Kanan opened the door and shivered when a blast of cold air hit him, and gripping his arms, he stepped inside the _Umbra_ , the door quickly sliding closed behind him, and Kanan slowly meandered through the ship, the dark of the halls making it seem unfamiliar though he had walked through these corridors many times. It wasn't long before he stepped into the spacious living area, and almost as soon as he did, he could hear the swift pounding of feet upon the floor and the low grown of curses in Mando'a, and the Jedi couldn't help but grin.

"How many times do I have to tell you, Bridger?!" Cody snapped as he stormed into the room. "Get your sorry ass off my ship! Obi-Wan isn't...oh." He stopped when he saw the smirking Jedi standing relaxed and easy in the room, and Cody's tense shoulders straightened, quickly looking over the man before his eyes narrowed in anger once again, his momentary peace gone in a flash. "You need to get your shit together, Jarrus!" Cody snapped, thrusting his finger against Kanan's chest. "All your conflict with Skywalker's _kriffing clone slave_ is sending your scoundrel student over here! Do you have _any_ idea how many times I've had to chase him off the ship in the past few days?!"

"Sheesh, what is it with you clones today?" Kanan muttered with a roll of his eyes. "You know, if you're going to ride my ass this hard, you better have cooked me a five course gourmet meal."

"What do you want, Jarrus..." Cody groaned, his irritation dropping away into mild annoyance as he walked tiredly past the Jedi, Kanan following close on his heels with long, slow strides. "As I've told your brat student _many_ times, Obi-Wan isn't available."

"Maybe I just came to see you, princess..." Kanan drawled, lazily running a finger down the clone's cheek, and with a low, dangerous growl, Cody quickly slapped his hand away. "...seriously though, where's Kenobi?"

"As of this morning, he was taking a break from his meditations and was in bed with the female..." Cody grumbled. "They _say_ they aren't breaking the most sacred rule of the _Umbra_ , but I can't see how he _isn't_ sinking inside her every chance he gets because she's _beautiful_." Cody crossed his arms over his chest indignantly when they entered the kitchen, and he leaned against the counter, shooting the Jedi a pleading look. "I mean, do you know how much easier it is to pick up women when I can flaunt a sexy ship?!"

"Actually, I do," Kanan said, pointing back toward the _Ghost_. "The _Ghost_ stole my heart before I even _saw_ Hera. When I found out Hera was the pilot, I was finished."

"Yes, well, you just spread your legs for _anyone_ with a nice ship, you stupid slut..." Cody muttered, reaching under the counter and producing two small glasses and a bottle of what looked to be _very_ expensive liquor. Kanan threw his hands in the air and grinned wickedly when Cody poured the deep red liquid into the glasses and slid one across the counter to him.

"Guilty as charged," he drawled, his voice lowered seductively as he brought the glass to his lips, quickly drained it, and immediately regretted it as his body objected to the burning, stinging feel of the thick liquid draining down his throat, coughing haplessly as the smug Cody casually swirled the liquor in his own glass. " _Ancient Gods of the Sith_ , _what is that_?!" Kanan choked as the clone softly laughed and sipped from his own glass with no trouble at all.

"Tihaar. Mandalorian, of course." Kanan sputtered and coughed, laying his head on the table and groaning, and Cody reached over and took the bottle to fill both glasses. "Honestly, it would be good for Kenobi if he _was_ pounding that girl into the mattress," Cody muttered when the Jedi sat up and rubbed his watering eyes. "Satine haunts him...the only reason he doesn't is because he can still feel her presence clinging to everything in the ship."

"Is that possible?" Kanan choked, picking up the glass and examining the liquid suspiciously. "I don't know if she was Force sensitive, but her child was, right? Could their spirits still be hanging on to him?"

"I don't know!" Cody scoffed, taking a sip from his glass and grimacing as it went down. "You're the one with a connection to the Force, you tell me."

"I wouldn't ask if I knew, Cody!" Kanan retorted, picking up his glass, his nose wrinkling as he smelled the contents. "Really though, I need to see him."

"Be my guest, idiot..." Cody muttered, draining the remainder of his glass and filling it up once again. "But be warned, the last time interrupted his nap, he threw me against the wall. He wasn't even asleep, he was just cuddling with the female!"

"Never interrupt a man's cuddle time, Cody, you should know that," Kanan gently chided, taking a small sip from his glass and grimacing at the burning sting. Kanan tried to stop Cody from filling up his glass again, but failed when his attention was diverted briefly by the sound of the door opening, and Kanan nearly fell off the stool when the Chiss walked in completely nude, followed by a flustered K-2SO as the droid tried unsuccessfully to get the woman to understand modesty and put some clothing on. Kanan quickly averted his eyes, his face burning fiercely when he heard her bare feet pattering close behind him as she opened the fridge and began sifting through it. Cody hardly seemed to notice.

"Oh, _look_ ," K2 said drolly when he spotted the two men drinking at the counter. "We have guests. Your lack of decorum is making Jedi Jarrus uncomfortable. _Please_ ," the droid begged, thrusting a towel toward the woman which she pointedly ignored. "For the sake of _my_ sensibilities, cover yourself up!"

"Hah carcir ch'eo en'catavci csei ch'af'in'ev vez k'ir nah var ran'cah ch'ubarcasi," the woman said in a soft, melodic voice, and Kanan couldn't help but shiver despite how hot it was beginning to feel.

"That is hardly the point!" K2 said, his mechanical drawl affected with irritation. "This is not about _my_ modestly, it is about _yours_ , or your lack thereof!"

"You do what you like, you sexy thing," Cody said with a roll of his eyes. "Obi-Wan said you can do as you wish."

"I thank you for your understanding," the Chiss said, sending a sultry, triumphant look at the droid as she sidled up to the clone, her hand running over his shoulder, and she delicately perched herself counter, setting a box of cereal down and kissing Cody's cheek when he reached under the counter and produced a bowl. Kanan did what he could to avert his eyes, but the proximity of the bare, exotic non-human forced his eyes to wander, the royal blue skin smooth and hairless and in the low lighting of the room made her look like the starlit sky. She was beautiful, that could not be denied, but Kanan's chest tightened with almost painful sympathy for the woman, and he couldn't help but wonder what she had been like before she crossed paths with Darth Lumis.

"How's Kenobi?" Cody asked, his hand resting on the woman's thigh and gently petting as she poured the cereal in the bowl. Her nose wrinkled in thought as she took a bite, slowly chewing, and her eyes followed K2 as the droid lumbered over and held the towel out to her, which she slowly took and promptly dropped it on the floor with a superior, defiant smile.

"He is restless," she finally decided, tapping the clone on the nose. "You have a unique talent for bad timing. You always seem to come to him when I manage to convince him to rest."

"Sex _isn't_ rest, Grotthu," Cody said as he patted the woman's thing and reached over to take a handful of food from her bowl, and she swiftly slapped his hand away.

"Such activities are forbidden aboard the ship," she chided, picking through the food in her bowl. "And even if Master were to permit it, he has been far too busy. He meditates. He prepares the corpses for their final destination. He breaks the Inquisitor to his will. He..." She stopped, her red eyes drifting to the ceiling and her hands placed behind her as she leaned back, her back arching as she thoughtlessly exposed the small breasts on her lithe, lean body, and Kanan, silent until now, squirmed in his seat, trying to maintain his silence. "I try to get him to rest or to lay with me, but he watches the recordings of his queen and there is nothing else. He is..." She stopped, pursed her lips, and looked up at K-2SO. "Bah in'a rt'eseci."

"Obsessed," the droid quietly translated, and the Chiss nodded.

"Thank you. Obsessed."

"You don't have to do this..." Kanan said between clenched teeth, finally unable to help himself, his eyes meeting the Chiss' eerie, glowing red, the look on her face quizzical and confused. " _This_!" he said, gesturing to the woman's naked body. "Kenobi doesn't own you, you don't need to...w-whatever he's done to you, it can end _now_. I can help you, just tell me where you want to go, and I'll take you there."

"What is it that he's done to me exactly?" she asked softly, her eyes clever and clear as she leaned in toward him, and Kanan laughed in nervous disbelief.

"You're his slave, he _enslaved_ you," Kanan said, feeling like a fool for having to explain it. "You call him _Master_ , certainly you know it, you must remember what you were before he came to you."

"Rvtiz..." she said under her breath. "Slave. I am not this thing you say. I can leave any time I want. Master released me long ago. I stay because I wish it." She smiled softly and leaned in toward the horrified Jedi and dragged a light, seductive touch down his cheek, a slight smile tugging at her lips when Kanan recoiled. "I give him my body because I wish it, and I am without clothes because I just finished bathing, this ship is my home, and modesty has _never_ been my affliction."

"B-but you call him _Master_ ," Kanan weakly insisted, and the woman drew back, her hand running through her wet black hair.

"Your student calls you Master," she said quickly. "Is he your slave?"

" _What_?! No!" Kanan said defensively. "That is _totally_ different. I'm his teacher!"

"And Obi-Wan is my Emperor," she said softly, and Kanan took a sharp breath in and held it. "He took me to bring Mitth'raw'nuruodo closer to him, so he could deprive our enemies of a genius tactician, so he could help _save_ my people from the dangers in the Navun'ici'et Csaheun'i." The expression in the Chiss' strange red eyes was difficult for Kanan to interpret, but he finally recognized it as sympathy. For _him_. Like he were a child that couldn't understand. "His Empire will be powerful allies of my people. The current Empire will not be. I wish to serve him in this. It's only right I call him Master."

"But it wasn't _always_ this way!" Kanan persisted, growing ever more desperate as he continued to try and champion a woman who didn't seem to want a champion. "You said it yourself, he spent time bending the Inquisitor to his will. He did the same with you, you must see that!" For a long moment, the Chiss was silent, her mouth in a thin line as she stared at the counter, her hand covering Cody's on her thigh. Slowly, she nodded to herself and looked up, her red eyes locking with Kanan and smiling softly.

"Yes..." she whispered slowly, almost thoughtful in the way the word dripped off her tongue. "I once lived in the comfort of ignorance. We are children stumbling blind through the dark. The Sith Emperor has taken my hand and guided me to the light, and by his grace, I now see."

Kanan stared at her, his jaw slack, his eyes wide and disbelieving. Was this it? She was a slave, there was no question about it, but if she believed this was her will, if she felt compelled to serve a man that had enslaved her, what right did he have to tell her different? It may be more cruel to force her to understand what Kenobi had taken from her, especially if she was safe and treated well. She _was_ free to leave, that much was true, and the woman's skin was flawless, her body healthy and free of signs of mistreatment. Kanan wasn't sure if she was under Kenobi's thrall or if she was free from it and permanently altered, but willing servitude may have been kinder than unwilling freedom.

"I need to see him..." Kanan muttered, grabbing the bottle off the counter to Cody's protests as he pushed away from the counter and quickly strode out of the kitchen and into the dark halls beyond toward Kenobi's room. He had wanted to see Kenobi before, but now he _needed_ to see him. His head was swimming, and while he knew that the cruel Sith would delight in his moral conflict, the part of him that was his friend would do what he could to clarify the muddled confusion he felt himself wallowing in.

Kenobi's door predictably wouldn't open, and closing his eyes, Kanan reached through the thick veil of cold in the Force and willed the door to open and quietly slipped inside, the Jedi's grip on the door slipping the moment he stepped in the room when the Dark Side closed around him, and helpless to stop it, the door slammed closed behind him. With a strained gasp, Kanan fell to his knees, his eyes shut tight and gripping his chest as he struggled to breathe. He quickly covered his ears when he heard soft, breathless chanting flitting through the very air around him, the language foreign and unknown to him, though he somehow understood the _feeling_. It was seductive, laden with the promise of pleasure and power in exchange for surrender, and Kanan pressed his hands against his ears tighter to drown it out, only to find that the voices remained clear, heard in his mind, not with his ears.

Taking a deep breath and steeling himself against it, he slowly opened his eyes to find Obi-Wan sitting on the ground deep in meditation, twelve triangular holocrons open and floating around him and bathing the room in a dim, eerie red light. He could hear the voices clearer now, the ancient words of the Sith Masters of old hissing their secrets to those hungry enough to listen, and while Kanan did all he could to tune them out, he could see how such a thing could lead someone into darkness. The voices alone felt _good_ , the seductive purr of the women, the smooth, inviting drawl of the men made his very being lean toward them and crave what they offered even without understanding what it was, and Kanan quickly found himself fighting to resist the pull to the dark.

"You are troubled," Obi-Wan said, the soft accent of his voice cutting through the ethereal ancient Sith, and Kanan felt himself sigh in relief when the grip upon him lifted, his body feeling instantly lighter, as if the Sith Lord had reeled in the forces that worked to corrupt all those it touched.

"The more time I spend with you, the more my life becomes one big, muddled gray area," Kanan grumbled. "The Jedi always said that you Sith only deal in absolutes! What ever happened to that?!"

"A misnomer, I can assure you..." Obi-Wan whispered, his impassive voice cracking with a slight smile as his golden eyes opened, fiercely blazing with the power of the Dark Side. "And that is a bit of an absolutist statement, is it not?" When Kanan balked, stumbling over himself to try and form some kind of a defense, Obi-Wan chuckled softly and raised his hand to silence the man. "Let us not forget, my friend, that it was the Jedi's narrow, dogmatic viewpoint that ultimately aided in their destruction. Absolute good and evil, their rigid declarations on the matter of the Jedi Code, their frankly ridiculous assertion the Jedi are forbidden from emotions and attachments...tell me, are you not stronger for the love you feel for Hera?"

"W-well, yes, but..." Kanan growled, his teeth grinding together as the slight smirk on the Sith's face shifted from amusement to superiority. "Look, the Jedi were wrong about a lot of things, but that doesn't make the Sith _right_! There is good and evil in this galaxy, unquestionable, absolute good and evil! Some things are _just wrong_!"

"I disagree..." Obi-Wan said softly, his accented voice amused and intrigued, not defensive or aggressive like Kanan anticipated. This was, to the Sith Lord, an intellectual debate, not a justification of his beliefs. "As you said earlier, the gray area in your black and white view of life is expanding. You and your rebels murder Imperial soldiers with impunity, all in the name of freedom from an Empire you know to be oppressive and evil, but these men and women in the service of the Navy are simply fighting for the security of a government that provides for and protects their families. Are your actions not evil then, even when done in the name of a greater good?"

"...see, this is what I'm talking about..." Kanan muttered, and Obi-Wan laughed softly, reaching out and plucking a holocron out of the air and holding it lightly in his hand as the others slowly closed and floated to the ground.

"Nothing is ever simple, Kanan. You would do well to remember that." He turned the holocron over in his hand, the little pyramid different from the others surrounding him, the glowing center on this one an eerie black instead of the blood red of the rest of them. "What is troubling you?"

"Oh, I don't know..." Kanan drawled sarcastically, watching the pyramid in Kenobi's hand float into the air before the Sith Lord. "How about the fact that _you keep a sex slave_!?"

"Don't be absurd, I don't keep sex slaves anymore."

"I beg to differ," the Jedi said firmly. "That Chiss woman of yours-"

"May leave any time she wants," Obi-Wan interrupted, his fingers steepling together as he watched the Jedi grow more and more frustrated. "She chose to stay and serve me, and I treat her well for it. She never does anything she doesn't want to do, as I am certain she told you."

"Y-you must have changed her," Kanan growled through grit teeth. "You used your mind powers and made her think and believe _exactly_ what you want her too! She doesn't have a will of her own, it's all your will! That's even _worse_ than slavery!"

"I released my hold on her long ago," Obi-Wan calmly explained, sitting back on his heels and closing his eyes as he slipped one foot back into the waters of the Force. "The sort of slave you are describing is one that I can and _have_ created, but it is at the cost of their mental faculties. Their intelligence degenerates the longer I keep them slaved to my will, and in the case of Seg'rotth'uruodo, that would be a tragic waste of a brilliant mind. She is far too intelligent for mind tricks to work for long, and whatever influence I once exerted upon her has long since vanished." Kenobi scoffed slightly as he reached out and gently spun the holocron. "That, or my mere presence indoctrinates people to y whims, in which case I am far stronger than I previously believed."

"...t-that's not actually-"

"No," Kenobi snorted, a faint smile tugging on his lips at the feel of the sudden surge of worry from the Jedi. "I'm no Darth Vitiate, despite my continuous efforts. My Chiss may have come into my possession as a slave, but she has since chosen the chains she wears." Kenobi smirked wickedly, delighting in the conflict on Kanan's face. "There's that pesky gray area you spoke of, yes?"

"But what happened was still _wrong_ ," Kanan growled. "It might be complicated now, but once, it came down to a matter of you taking _everything_ from a free woman so you could make her yours." When the Sith Lord simply shrugged, Kanan leaned in and pointed a menacing finger at his chest. "No more slaves, Kenobi. I mean it. That is part of the reason we are fighting against the Empire now, and if we topple this regime only to instill more of the same, what's the point?!"

For a long moment, the Sith Lord was still, the edges of blood red slowly encroaching upon the burning gold eyes, but Kanan never looked away, remained unmoving in his resolve even when he felt the Dark Side clawing at the walls of his mind. "I am a Master of the Sith," Kenobi hissed, a dark undercurrent in his voice making a shiver run up Kanan's spine. "I will take anything I wish, so long as I have the power to grasp it. If my enemies stand before me, who are you to demand I not make them kneel in subservience to me? If my enemies are not made to serve me, they must be destroyed, and I have always _loathed_ the waste of those that may yet be useful."

"Join you or die..." Kanan said softly, a clever smirk on his lips as he pointed an accusing finger at the menacing man. "The absolute of the Sith."

There was silence, the heavy sound of the moving Force suddenly stilling, the soft whisper of the holocron ceasing as the pyramid closed and floated back to Kenobi's hand. His eyes glowed dangerously, the bleeding red overtaking the gold for a moment before it swiftly receded, the menace in the predatory eyes fading into something almost soft and affectionate, and Kenobi's shoulders relaxed, the tension leaving him as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Your point it well made, Kanan," Obi-Wan said, the holocron flitting over his fingers. "When Sidious is dead, it will be up to me to remake the Sith, and we must change, lest we face extinction as the Jedi did."

"Change and adaption is the way of the Sith, right?" Kanan asked, finally allowing himself to relax, and he passed the bottle he brought from the kitchen to Kenobi.

"Change and adaption is the way of life, Kanan," Obi-Wan said as he drank from the bottle. "We progress, or we stagnate and die. It's what happened to the Jedi and the Republic when they became trapped in the mire of their own complacency."

"Maybe the new Jedi will be different," Kanan said, taking the bottle from Obi-Wan when he handed it back, and the Jedi wrinkled his nose as he took a small sip of the burning liquid, the Sith Lord chuckling in amusement as he watched Kanan struggle with the drunk that he was well accustomed to. "How goes your meditation?"

"...not well," Obi-Wan muttered, using the Force to bring the bottle back to him and he quickly drained the remaining half of the bottle. "All my visions lead to my defeat and enslavement to Sidious. It's becoming more frequent. Clearer. Soon it will be upon me, and the more I see it, the more inevitable it seems." Obi-Wan took a deep, shuddering breath and cast his eyes down to the holocron in his hands, the silence deafening as Kanan patiently waited for him to continue. "What's worse is I can't see past it," he whispered, grabbing the holocron and grasping it so tightly the edges dug into his palm. "I have always been far-sighted, but now, the Force will not allow me to see beyond it..."

"That can't be good..." Kanan said, his chest tightening as he looked at the Sith Lord, a man that looked far younger than his years. "Is there any way to interpret that beyond the obvious?"

"What, beyond the idea that the Force may very soon have no further use for me?" Obi-Wan laughed bitterly, levitating the holocron before him and watching as blood dripped off the edges and fell heavy to the floor. Kanan quickly slid over to his side and took his hand in his own, his fingers running over the bleeding gashes in the Sith's palm with the warm touch of the Force as he began to heal. He wasn't proficient in the skill, but Kanan understood the basics of it.

"Beyond that, yes..."

"...I don't know," Obi-Wan muttered. "Visions are often difficult to interpret. It could be that Sidious is somehow using it to cloud my ability to see further, but...I don't know, Yoda believes the vision to be genuine."

"So we'll take steps to avoid it," Kanan said, sounding more confident than he felt, and he frowned when he looked at Obi-Wan's bleeding hand, his attempts to heal not nearly so effective as he hoped. "It's clearer now, right? We can use this to avoid the entire situation."

"It's not so simple..." Obi-Wan said, flexing his hand when Kanan redoubled his healing efforts. "It may be more clear, but that doesn't mean it makes sense. It isn't the Emperor's throne room like I originally thought, it's..." He growled in frustration, his eyes closed as he plunged into the Force and glanced at the vision before him as it swiftly took shape around him. "It's...some large enclosed chamber, a shrine of some kind. It looks a bit like the ancient Sith Temples I have been to, but..." He slowly shook his head, taking in very detail of the room around him, from the smooth, black walls, the large, spear shaped alter in the center of the room as electricity arched around it, the deep, glowing red engravings on the floor and the walls. It was all so familiar, though entirely foreign to him. He had never been here before, but he somehow knew this place.

"So...we're looking for a Sith Temple?" Kanan asked, laughing easily when the Sith Lord opened his eyes. "No problem there, we'll just _avoid_ Sith Temples. Done, we already avoid those."

"No, no, this one is different, this one is... _active_ , and all the ones I know of are long drained of the power they once possessed." Obi-Wan casually gestured with his hand, the holocrons gently rising in the air, though they remained closed, a courtesy to the Jedi as he cautiously eyed them. "This one felt like...like a weapon."

"...could that be what the Empire is building?"

"That very well may be." Obi-Wan cleared his throat when Kanan's hand tensed around his and began to shake, and he could feel how out of his depth, how afraid the Jedi was of the gravity of the situation. "That is why I have a plan. We must assume that this vision _will_ come to pass, so I have been studying in order to see if I can avert the fate the Force has shown me. I have so far been unsuccessful with the study of the holocrons I possess, so I must turn to knowledge I have yet to have obtained." Obi-Wan stopped and carefully observed the uneasy Jedi before him. "What do you know of the history of the Sith?"

"Very little," Kanan said quietly. "That stuff wasn't for younglings and Padawans."

"Those stories aren't for anyone, not even the Sith to which it belongs," Kenobi scoffed. "Much of our history was lost to us when our Order was destroyed. The Jedi did what they could to erase their ancient enemies from history and destroy the records of their feats with the Force, and they were largely successful. What the Sith know now of what we once were is a mere shadow of our former greatness."

"But you do know some," Kana carefully ventured, and Obi-Wan leaned back with a pleasured, wistful sigh.

" _Oh yes_. You Jedi know nothing, but the Sith have passed down stories of those that came before us, even if their knowledge is lost. There are legends of the Sith Lords of old, beings so powerful that their names were enough to instill terror in the hearts of all that spoke of them. Sith like Nihilus and Vitiate, Sion and Bane, Exar Kun and Traya, Revan and Malak." He gestured to the holocrons that floated around them, the glowing red cores dim as they waited to be opened. "I have the holocrons of some of them and several others, but Sidious has more. He _knows_ more, and if I'm going to avoid this fate, I need to learn things he does not know. Most of these holocrons came from him, and that isn't good enough. I need new information, holocrons that he hasn't recovered, power I can use against him that he hasn't seen before."

"This knowledge has been lost for thousands of years, hasn't it?" Kanan asked. "And you said that the Jedi destroyed most of it. What do you suppose are your chances of actually finding something?"

" _Very_ high..." Obi-Wan whispered, excitement straining his voice as he tapped one of the holocrons, the little pyramid spinning rapidly in the air. "I... _felt_ something the other day. A pulse in the Force that could be felt in the very heart of the Dark Side."

"Wait, I felt that..." Kanan said quietly, leaning in as if it was some great secret. "Ahsoka did too, we thought it was you waking up."

"No..." Obi-Wan muttered. "That wasn't me."

"Kenobi, this sounds like a trap," Kanan said cautiously. "We already know that the Emperor is out to get you, and with that vision of yours drawing closer, it could very well be that your search for the power to avoid your fate could very well lead you right to it."

"That may be..." Obi-Wan quietly agreed. "And if the Force leads me to Darth Sidious, then so be it, but if I sit and do _nothing_ , I will certainly fall when the Emperor comes, but if I do this, I may have a chance. I'm not going down without a fight, Kanan," Obi-Wan said quietly, his hand tightening around the Jedi's. "I can promise you that."

"...alright," Kanan said after a moment as he patted the Sith Lord's shoulder and stood up. "I'm with you, Kenobi, in this and in your hunt for the Inquisitors."

"If I play my cards right, we may be able to lure the Inquisitors to these places and take care of both things at once."

"Ambitious idiot..." Kanan muttered with a roll of his eyes, and Obi-Wan chuckled softly, his hand waving in the air and a drawer on his desk opened.

"Thank you, Kanan," Obi-Wan said, three blue cubes floating from the desk drawer to his extended palm, a small smirk on his face when Kanan's eyes widened. "For a Jedi, you're not so bad." With a flick of his hand, the three cubes drifted up to float before Kanan, and with his breath held, Kanan hesitantly reached out and touched the nearest one, a soft gasp on his lips when he felt the warm trembling of the Force, a breath of fresh air in the oppression of the Dark Side. "Jedi holocrons," Kenobi quietly explained to the dumbfounded man. "I've no use for them anymore. I've learned all I could from them, and I can't open the stupid things anyway. They're yours, if you'd like them."

"I-I would..." Kanan said breathlessly, almost reverently taking them into his hands, and he laughed softly when he looked at the three gently glowing cubes. "I suppose the Jedi are quite a lot like the Sith now. I can't imagine the Emperor kept the holocrons we kept in the Vaults. Our...history is gone, it's..." He choked, his eyes quickly flicking to the ground as he bit back a sudden surge of emotion for the past he thought he had left behind him. "Thank you, Obi-Wan. For a Sith, you're not so bad yourself."

"Right, time for you to go, Kanan," Obi-Wan said, jumping to his feet, the Sith holocrons clattering to the ground with a sharp ring as he put his hand on Kanan's back and led him to the door. "If this gets any more sentimental, we're going to end up making sweet, sweet love on every surface of the ship, and Cody will _never_ let me live that down."

"And we can't afford to upset that clone..." Kanan said with a roll of his eyes. "Unlike Rex, Cody _has_ killed a Jedi."

"Yes, but he's out of practice," Obi-Wan said as he led him out into the hall and leaned in the doorway, willing to go no further from the confines of his room. "Empire Day's coming up soon, and by the time it's over, my preparations should be complete."

"I'll be ready," Kanan said, clutching the holocrons tightly. "Don't worry, Obi-Wan. Whatever this vision of yours is, we'll find a way to save you from it."

"That is the desired outcome, yes..." the Sith Lord said, his eyes sliding out of focus as he slipped back into the Force. "I'm not finished yet, I can't be, not yet...there is so much I have yet to do..." He didn't feel Kanan's hand slip from his shoulder, didn't hear the Jedi's gentle reassurance, didn't see the man leave down the hallway. All he could see before him was Darth Sidious, his pale yellow eyes alight with cruelty and hunger and triumph, his mocking laughter echoing in his ears.


	42. Always Two There Are

**AN:** **Alright, done it! This would have been up yesterday, but I had some really, really bad computer problems and was totally unable to write. But, it's done now! Writing another chapter for Blood of Mandalore before I update this one again. I should have that done Wednesday or so, so new chapter of this baby up next weekend. I think. I hope. Fingers crossed, kids! The next...four chapters or so are really moving away from the show, so I need a little time to craft those anyway.**

 **Enjoy, lovelies! Let me know what you think! There will be some absolute madness happening next chapter, so look forward to that!**

 _Chapter 42: Always Two There Are_

Something felt off to Ezra the moment they arrived on the abandoned outpost. The _Phantom_ 's scans of the area turned up nothing they weren't expecting, only the low surge of power through the thick power cables running through the compound, a common occurrence for systems still attached to a draining power source, even long after the main facility had been abandoned. At first, Ezra thought he was simply being paranoid because of the recent, frightening brush with the Empire they had on Seelos, a thing that had touched him much more than he was willing to admit. Even the bold and brash Zeb was jumpy, and Sabine was treading much more cautiously than was her norm. There was nothing wrong with due caution, and as they slowly picked their way through the compound, Ezra decided that their precautions would be looked on favorably by both Hera and Kanan, and the young Padawan was always looking to impress his parental figures.

But the further they ventured in, the more Ezra became convinced that he wasn't just uneasy in the dark, abandoned building, that he wasn't simply jumping at shadows. This was one of his hunches, one of his intuitions that he relied on to survive when he was a child living alone on the streets of Lothal. This was _instinct_ , and like Kanan and Obi-Wan had taught him, his instincts were based in the Force. He didn't just feel like something was there, something _actually_ was. He couldn't place what it was, or where in the dark it was lurking, but he could feel the agitation gnawing deep in his mind, bringing his attention back to the uneasy feeling every time his thoughts drifted away from it. The usually impulsive Ezra's caution was enough for Sabine to decide that whatever the reason for his sudden change in demeanor, it was good enough for her to decide that they three of them should stick together. Splitting up would only make them easier targets for whatever it was that prowled the darkened corridors.

They were silent as they made their way through the compound, their feet making barely a sound as they slunk down the halls and scanned each room before venturing further in, the Mandalorian taking point while the Lasat covered their backs, leaving Ezra between them to monitor the strange unease he felt. When they stopped to allow Sabine to scan a room for signs of life, Ezra would close his eyes and breathe deep, Kanan and Kenobi's lessons at the forefront of his mind as he touched the Force and tried to navigate the choppy, disturbed flow. It was not unlike the feeling he had on the asteroid when he had first reached out and touched the Dark Side. It was a cold, frightening thing to him then, one that left him weak and freezing the moment he had let go, but close exposure to a Lord of the Sith and his brief, intense lessons with him made this darkness feel less oppressive.

Before, there had been beasts, wild and feral creatures of the dark that responded to him when he had calmed his mind and connected with them. There was fear, a great deal of it, not just a creation of the dangerous situation they found themselves in, but fear from deep within himself, a fear of losing everyone he cared about, a fear of being alone again, but he and Kanan had pushed through that together. There was the Empire and the soldiers and the machines of war they had brought to bear upon them, knocking the Force out of balance and disturbing it in a way that Ezra had never felt before in his limited understanding of the mystical power that filled him. And there was the Grand Inquisitor, his very presence turning the warmth of the Force into bitter cold, the stormy waters snapping frozen into long, sharp blades of ice that cut deep and threatened to end any life that did not exercise caution.

This felt _exactly_ like that.

"Sabine..." Ezra whispered, creeping close to the Mandalorian as she pried a console off the wall and diligently set to work cutting and connecting wires to make the large, thick blast doors open. "Sabine, I think there are Inquisitors here."

She immediately stopped, her helmeted head turning up to look at the boy. "Are you sure?"

"N-no..." Ezra quietly confessed, his eyes roving around the large, dark room and trying to see with more than just his eyes like his Masters had taught him. "Honestly, I'm not really sure of anything. But what I'm feeling now feels a lot like it does when we've faced the Inquisitors in the past."

"Every time we've fought the Inquisitors, Kenobi's been there, and Kanan says his presence does some really weird things to the Force," Sabine whispered, her fingers swiftly connecting wires even though her attention was on Ezra. "Are you sure what you felt before wasn't Kenobi?"

"I'm not sure of anything, Sabine, but Obi-Wan's _not here_ and I still feel it," Ezra said through grit teeth, his rising agitation swiftly stopped when Sabine reached up and laid a calming hand on his arm.

"I'm not saying nothing's here," she calmly explained. "I'm wondering if what you're feeling could be something even worse than an Inquisitor."

"...o-oh." Ezra bit down on his lip, his eyes closed as he tried to push past his rising fear and focus, a thing that became more difficult as the cold intensified with his own feelings of dread. Sifting through it all was _impossible_ , especially since his own rising emotions were effecting the chill. He felt colder than it probably was, and with a deep growl of irritation, he reached out into the Force and grabbed hold of his anxiety and his fear, the very pit of him chilling as he welcomed the Dark Side to feed on his emotions, just as his Sith Master had taught him. Immediately, the air began to clear, the frigid haze vanishing into clarity as his own temperature dropped.

This wasn't like the terrifying feel of the Sith Lord Vader on Lothal, nor was this at all like the dread and helplessness he felt in Obi-Wan's presence when he allowed himself to be felt through the Force. It _was_ cold, yes, much colder than Ezra liked and certainly much colder than he was willing to reach for, but it _wasn't_ the frozen, bladed waters of the Force that sliced and cut the moment he touched it like it was with Kenobi. This was no Sith Lord. But there _was_ something here, something steeped in the Dark Side. He could feel it.

"Inquisitors," Ezra finally whispered, opening his eyes and looking around the room, the dark lighting considerably to him as he felt his eyes burn with the Dark Side as it stalked through him. "I'm sure of it. But nothing more than that."

"Got any idea how many?" Zeb softly growled, his bo-rifle ready in his hands as he stepped closer to the two teenagers, and he tensed further when Ezra slowly shook his head. "Well, one Inquisitor is more than enough for me. We should get out of here, write this off as a bust. If they're here, it won't make for a good base anyway."

"Which is too bad, Hera was so hopeful about this one..." Sabine muttered, the door she was working on hissing as the locks disengaged, and with a groan, they slowly began to open, rough and erratic movements as the doors stuck on its tracks indicative of just how long the place had been abandoned. Looking cautiously in to the room beyond, Sabine sighed in satisfaction as she drew up, her hand on her hip and looking pleased as could be. "At least it's not a total loss, there's the medical supplies Rex told us about."

"Would you look at that..." Zeb said as he leaned in to look inside the newly opened room, his feline green eyes easily able to see in the low light, whistling at the high stacks of crates within. "There's more here than we can take back on the _Phantom_."

"Let's take back what we can carry now and tell Hera about what we found here when we return," Sabine said, sliding the tools she had used to take the console off the wall back into its place on her belt. "I don't want to risk sending her a transmission in case there really is something here that's monitoring us. Maybe we can send a team back here later to pick up the rest of it."

"If it's safe..." Ezra muttered. "Why would the Inquisitors even be here?"

"Looking for you, I bet..." Zeb grumbled, stepping into the room and examining the crates and quickly checking to be sure the anti-grav systems worked. "You should have stayed on the _Ghost_ , you weren't even assigned this mission."

"What, and listen to Kanan and Rex take shots at each other all day?" Ezra scoffed. "No thanks. I'd rather be out here facing down Inquisitors than back there dealing with their spats."

"A good thing you came, then," a smooth, dangerous female voice drawled, the sound seeming to come from everywhere as it echoed around the room, and the trio immediately drew together, their backs to each other and facing outwards, their weapons drawn and readied in their hands. The crackling of the electricity on Zeb's bo-rifle and the thrum of Ezra's lightsaber filled the air, almost deafening in the otherwise still silence, and for a moment, they began to question whether they had heard the voice at all.

"Shut your weapons off, you idiots," Sabine hissed, hitting the two males behind her. "They make too much noise and the light is drawing attention to us!" They quickly complied, the glowing green light that the saber bathed the area in shutting off and plunging them back into darkness and silence, and it took a moment for their eyes to adjust once again to the dim lighting. Slowly, they crouched down, their eyes darting around the room as they made themselves as small as possible, their muscles trembling and at the ready for swift action should running or fighting become necessary. Whatever it was that had spoken was nowhere in sight, and despite the sudden movement of the Force, Ezra couldn't see past the haze of the Dark Side to locate them.

"We need to leave..." Zeb quietly growled, his green eyes emitting a soft glow as they looked about the room and his sharp ears flat against his head, his superior senses sharp as he tried to detect the presence of the unseen intruder. "Call the entire mission a loss, no amount of medical supplies are worth our lives." When it looked like the teenagers would protest, Zeb quickly rapped the side of Sabine's helmet and covered Ezra's mouth with a clawed, padded hand. "Hera sent me here to look after you, and that is _exactly_ what I'm going to do. Now get a move on," he hissed, gently nudging the two forward and grasping his bo-rifle tight in his hands.

They didn't argue again. This time, Ezra moved to the point position, his lightsaber in his grasp as he reached out through the Force, his senses attuned to the Dark Side and his blue eyes glowing softly in the dark with the power that ran through him. Behind him, Sabine's scanner was pulled down in front of her visor, the helmet's infrared scanners searching for anomalies and for the heat of bodies beside their own, though something in the air was jamming the scanner and making the readings rough, erratic and inaccurate. Zeb brought up the rear, his hand on the Mandalorian's shoulder and his sharp nose sniffing the air for unfamiliar scents, though he as well found something odd and undefined in the air that confused his senses.

But something _was_ there, something that prowled the shadows and remained unseen to their vastly differing senses, something that continued to confound and confuse as they slowly made their way empty handed back to the _Phantom_. Occasionally, they would swiftly stop and defensively draw together when they heard a rustling behind them, a loud bang down a branching corridor, a soft, cruel laugh that seemed to echo all around them from no direction at all. Whatever it was that was hunting them wanted them to know it. They were being allowed whatever progress they were making, being toyed with for the amusement of the cruel predator that tracked them. There would be no escape, and they all knew it.

"What chance do you suppose we have of fighting and winning against an Inquisitor?" Zeb asked quietly when they swiftly drew back to back when they heard soft, light footsteps receding down the corridor before them.

"Not good..." Ezra whispered, shaking his head and turning the lightsaber over in his hands. "I've only just started my training with lightsaber combat."

"Kanan beat one," Sabine said under her breath. "And Kenobi beat _three_ at once just the other day. How good can they really be?"

"A hell of a lot better than me," Ezra grumbled. "Let's not forget that Kanan's an actual Jedi, and the last time I trained against Kenobi, he beat me in under two seconds because he _waved his hand_. The Inquisitors might be nothing to them, but they're more than I can handle. If we see them, we run."

"Do you have an idea of how many there are?" Zeb asked, and Ezra slowly shook his head.

"I'm trying, Zeb. I can _feel_ them, but I can't _see_ them. I don't know how many there are, I'm sorry."

"Can you at least tell if there's more than one?" Sabine asked, slowly creeping forward when the echo of footsteps stopped.

"Maybe..." Ezra said with a sigh, his eyes closed as he tried once again to part the obscuring veil of the Dark Side. "Without knowing how powerful one is, it's hard to decide if what I feel is the pull of one or of many. And if they know how to hide their presence..." He flicked his hand dismissively in the air. "Then forget it. There's no telling at all."

"It doesn't matter anyway..." the smooth, even voice said again, this time clear and coming from right in front of them, and the trio brought their weapons up and aimed them at a lithe, black clad figure in the hallway. She slowly advanced toward them, her features hidden by a visor on a black helmet, and her low, almost seductive chuckle slightly reverberated in her throat, giving the impression of two sets of vocal chords working in perfect unison in her slender neck to create her chilling two-toned voice. "Even if there were a hundred of us, just one is more than a match for the likes of you."

"Keep together!" Zeb snapped, his hands quickly grabbing the two teens' shoulders and shoving them down one of the branching hallways, and without looking back, they took off running down the corridor, Sabine turning to fire at the Inquisitor when she stepped around the corner. The sound of a lightsaber igniting chased them down the darkened halls as the fired bolts were easily deflected, and the three skid to a halt when before them, the corridor was bathed in red light from another lightsaber. They didn't wait to see what lay before them, instead quickly backtracking toward the slowly approaching woman and ducking back into another hallway. They didn't have the time to check and see where they were going, and in their haste to lose the Inquisitors, they became turned around in the dark halls, stopping only when they ran into a large, sealed blast door, which Sabine quickly set to work opening.

"How many of them are there?!" Zeb panted, his lungs burning as he caught his breath and his bo-rifle held at the ready as he paced.

"At least two..." Ezra muttered, standing still as he tried to calm his nerves and keep his hand from trembling. He was afraid, and there was no getting around that. He grabbed the feeling and held it close, shivered as he felt the cold spread through his veins, and he very quickly felt that fear turn to boldness when he focused not on what he was afraid of, but _why_ he was afraid. He looked to the quietly cursing Mandalorian as she fiddled with the uncooperative door and the pacing Lasat ready to defend his charges and felt the swell of protection within him, a feeling that only grew as he watched the end of the corridor turn red with the light from the Inquisitors' sabers as they came around the corner.

"I've been searching for you, boy..." the woman said sweetly, the saber held before her suddenly extending into a double-bladed creation, and Zeb and Ezra responded by igniting their own weapons. "You know what happens next. Don't fight it."

Hearing the triumphant hiss from Sabine behind him, Ezra held his saber in both his hands and rushed forward to meet the Inquisitor, fury pumping through his veins as his green weapon struck against red in his attempt to buy the girl the few extra seconds she needed to get those door open. Zeb roared behind him, the buzzing drone of the electric ends of the bo-rifle humming in the air as the Lasat rushed forward to join Ezra in stopping the Inquisitors, only to be thrown aside with a casual wave of the second Inquisitor, a tall, powerfully built male that dwarfed his female companion by a considerable amount.

Ezra's strikes were effortlessly parried by the Inquisitor, the woman's movements smooth and elegant, the arching blade more than once slicing far too close to Ezra for comfort as he ducked and dodged out of the way, doing all he could to keep the attention focused on him while Zeb struggled to his feet. Through the sound of the clashing sabers and the menacing thrum of the red blades as they sliced through the air, Ezra could hear the blast doors behind him slide open, followed by Sabine's quick command to follow. He didn't need to be told twice, and when the Inquisitor's foot slammed into his stomach, knocking him back and down to the floor to gasp for breath, Ezra wasted no time in scrambling to his feet and running after Sabine and Zeb as they run into the hallway beyond, the Mandalorian standing ready and waiting to shoot the console on the wall to slam the door shut behind them.

Just as Ezra crossed the threshold, he felt his legs grow heavy, the boy pushing off the ground to run as fast as he was able, but found that he was going nowhere. Before he recognized that he was being held by the Force, the Inquisitor flicked her hand in the air, and Ezra's feet were pulled out from under him, his hand clawing against the ground and trying to find something to grab on to as he felt himself being pulled back. When he saw Sabine and Zeb both rushing in to help, Ezra felt calm sweep over him, the Force stilling as his fear vanished, and with clarity he had never felt before, he drew back his lightsaber and threw it, the green plasma blade sinking into the console on the wall, and the blast doors slammed closed, separating him from the Mandalorian and the Lasat. He was trapped, alone with two Inquisitors, but his friends were safe for now, and that was all that mattered to Ezra.

"Such nobility!" the Inquisitor mocked, her hand held out before her and Ezra found himself lifted into the air and slammed against the blast door, his saber embedded in the wall switching off and flying to her grasp. "So like a Jedi, young one."

"I'm learning..." Ezra said through clenched teeth, and the woman simply laughed as she drew closer, clipping his lightsaber to her belt.

"Such a shame it was for nothing. Did you truly believe that sacrificing yourself would save them?" she asked, the black visor covering her face tilting as she watched the other Inquisitor quickly cut into another hallway to give chase to the two escaped rebels. When Ezra didn't respond, only looked coldly at the black visor, the Inquisitor growled softly in irritation, a gesture of her hand sending Ezra pitching face first to the ground. He quickly moved to rise to his feet, only to have a sharp heel slam into his back and pin him to the ground, his entire body immobilized by the power of the Force as his captor restrained his hands behind his back. When Ezra felt the pressure release, he sat up with a groan, testing the restraints, and finding them secure. He leaned back against the blast door and glared at the woman. There would be no escape from her, not here.

"I can sense your fear, boy," the Inquisitor said, her visor retracting to reveal a woman with yellow skin marked by small red tattoos and eyes marked by the glowing yellow of the Dark Side. "You are _seeped_ in it, almost as if you are calling it to you. Are you so afraid to die?" she asked lightly, her head tilted to the side as she looked at the stoic Ezra when he shrugged, almost bored in his demeanor, his acceptance of his situation a thing he learned from Kanan.

"If you were going to kill me, you'd have done so already," Ezra drawled, meeting the woman's eyes as she examined him, and slowly, her thin lips cracked into a cruel smile.

"I've no intention to kill you, boy," she said slowly, drawing near and moving the length of her lightsaber to pose menacingly above Ezra's exposed throat. "Not yet. You're far too valuable as bait. We may finally be able to draw that Jedi out of hiding." She laughed softly when Ezra glared defiantly up at her, taking the boy's lightsaber from her belt and igniting it, casually spinning the blade around her hand. "You have potential, apprentice, but you're wasting your time with him. Your skills with a lightsaber are _seriously_ lacking, as expected, I suppose, since your Master never achieved the rank of Jedi Knight."

"Maybe not..." Ezra muttered, taking in a deep breath as he evenly met the woman's gaze. "But he _did_ beat your Grand Inquisitor, so I think I'll stick with him."

"A lot of good that has done you," she scoffed, rolling her eyes at the teenager's petulance. "Perhaps you should be considering an apprenticeship with me. There's a great deal you could learn from the Dark Side, you only need someone to show you the way."

"What, and you think _you_ could teach me?" Ezra drawled, the mocking amusement in his voice making the Inquisitor draw back. "I've already got a Dark Side Master, and he says you Inquisitors are a pale imitation of _real_ power." He grinned broadly when those yellow eyes widened with something that lay far beyond terror, but quickly hardened into disbelief as she quickly looked over her shoulder down the corridor, checking to be certain that there was nobody behind her. "I believe him," Ezra mocked. "He kills your kind for _fun_."

"No..." the Inquisitor hissed under her breath. "No, Darth Lumis doesn't take students, and he certainly wouldn't take one that was anything less than exceptional. And if he had been training you like you said, you would certainly be stronger than you are." She smirked when Ezra's lips curled up into a sneer, her confidence returning as she drew up tall and looked down on him. "You are _lying_."

"Do you _really_ think it's a good idea to try and use me as bait?" Ezra asked, smirking slightly when he felt that confidence waver in the presence of her fear for the Sith Lord. "The funny thing about bait is that you don't get to decide who takes it. You might end up catching a predator far too big for the trap you set. You sure this is a good idea?"

"Lumis wouldn't come for you, _rebel_!" she hissed, her fear vanishing in favor of overwhelming anger as she extended her hand and brought the Dark Side crashing down upon him, the teen gasping and groaning in pain as he felt the Force tear at the core of his being and light his every nerve on fire. "But your Master will come because we know him to be a noble _fool_ , and when he comes, he will die. We have nothing to fear from him because the Jedi of old are _dead_."

"And all that's left is the Lord of the Sith that not even your Master could contain," Ezra said in a tight, pained voice, his lips curled up in a cruel, amused smirk when he grabbed hold of the savage pain that rushed through him and held it close, embracing it to turn it into power, just as Kenobi had taught him. "That, and a Jedi strong enough to stand against the darkness. And doesn't that just scare you to death."

"You don't-"

"Don't lie..." Ezra interrupted, his breathing heavy as he felt the cruel delight of power pulsing within him as the Force grew turbulent with fear. "I can _feel it_."

" _You are nothing_!" the Inquisitor snapped, her hand extended before her and Ezra's head slammed against the blast door as the Dark Side gripped him, the power he felt wavering and quickly turning into pain once again as the woman exerted her dominant control over the Force. "You are _bait_ , a tool to be used to lure in your bigger, more important friends. Your little rebel cell will die because of your capture here, your Jedi Master will be tortured and slaughtered, we will make you watch as we execute your friends and Darth Lumis will hardly notice you're gone!"

"That's a dangerous assumption you're making..." Ezra gasped, his eyes shut tight against the suffering the Inquisitor was inflicting upon him. "Given what happened to the other Inquisitors, is that a chance you're really willing to take?"

The roar of the Force in Ezra's ears kept him from hearing the heavy footsteps coming down the hall, but he did notice when the heavy thud of Sabine's body was dropped beside him, the Mandalorian limp and unconscious, her helmet gone and a bleeding wound under her colored blue hair. With a frantic cry strangled out of Ezra's throat, the teen quickly wriggled his way beside her, his eyes frantically running over her prone form, her armor scored with burns from the fight he didn't see that resulted in her capture. Her chest rose and fell slightly with her slow, shallow breathing, wounded but alive, but Ezra could feel his stomach tighten with fear when he looked up at the towering Inquisitor, a smug, triumphant look upon his face, and realized that Zeb wasn't there.

"Now..." the woman whispered, pleased as could be as she drew closer to the young Padawan, her lightsaber drawn and pointed at Sabine. "Tell me where your rebel friends are, and we won't kill your little girlfriend. Contact them, bring them here, and I'll let the Mandalorian go."

"Where's Zeb?" Ezra asked, raising up to his knees and gritting his teeth when the Inquisitor tightened her grasp on him. "The other that was with us, where is he?!"

"He's dead..." the woman drawled, a heavy sigh in her chest when she felt the dread in the Force as the boy's will began to waver. She raised her hand, and Sabine's body rose from the ground, and spinning her lightsaber in her hand, she held the blade at the girl's neck. "I will not ask you again. Contact the rebels. Bring them here."

"That isn't a good idea, Sister," the other Inquisitor growled, earning a glare from the woman. "Darth Lumis is linked to this rebel cell, contacting them may bring the Sith upon us."

"If he cares enough to come save a young fool that made the mistake of getting caught!" she snapped, her yellow eyes narrowing as she threw Sabine to the ground. "Allowing him to avoid the consequence of his failure is not the way of the Sith!"

"No, but ruthlessly hunting their enemies _is_ the way of the Sith, and Darth Lumis seems to be hunting Inquisitors." When the woman rolled her eyes, the towering man snarled viciously and shot his hand out and wrapped his fingers around her slender neck. "Learning there are two of us here could call Lumis down upon us. The presence of this boy is irrelevant when we are _prey_."

The woman pried his fingers from her throat, rubbing her neck when she felt tender bruises forming on her pale flesh, and just as she drew up, her eyes narrowed in anger, the comlink on Sabine's wrist began to chime. The room fell deathly still, nobody even daring to breathe as Sabine began to softly groan, shifting slightly as the incessant ringing drew her back to reality. When she tried to sit up and failed, her head falling back and striking the ground and causing the girl to whimper pathetically, Ezra shuffled on his knees beside her, his arms straining against his bindings when he tried to reach out and hold her. Both red lightsabers were immediately pointed at the teens, but Ezra wasn't intimidated, only irritated by what he knew was an empty threat. Until they were united, they were a greater threat to each other than to him and Sabine.

"Answer it," the woman hissed, and Ezra looked up at the man, his visor retracted to reveal gray skin and pale, almost white eyes that offered no objection to the woman's demands. Ezra shifted and wriggled his arms, an eyebrow arched as he met the Inquisitor's gaze.

"Can't answer it if I can't move my arms," the teen drawled, a smirk on his lips when the woman sneered and gripped him with the Force, holding him in place as she disappeared behind him, and a moment later, the pressure in his shoulder blades released as she undid the restraints and swiftly secured them once again, his arms now in front of him instead of uncomfortably behind. Instead of answering the comlink, he reached out and brushed back Sabine's hair, the back of his knuckles running through blood and she winced, her wide, afraid eyes quickly darting to look up at the reassuring smile on Ezra's face before her attention turned once again to the menacing saber held less than a foot from her.

" _Answer it_ ," the woman snapped, and when Ezra only glared defiantly at her, a swift flick of her wrist sent the tip of her lightsaber whipping across his face, the boy crying out in shock and pain as a thin line on his cheek blistered and burned from the touch of the saber. "I only need you alive..." the Inquisitor hissed, leaning down and putting herself face to face with the stunned teenager as he grasped his cheek. "I never said anything about you being in one piece, now _answer it_."

"This is Spectre Five," Sabine said into the comlink when Ezra gasped, uncertain of what to do. A deep, growling sigh if relief sounded over the com, and both Sabine and Ezra felt their pulse jump, life suddenly infused back inside them. It was Zeb, their missing friend not nearly so dead as the Inquisitor tried to make them believe.

"Spectre Five, glad to hear you're well," Zeb said, relief at the edge of his voice. "Is the rest of your team safe? We lost contact with your ship a while ago."

"Spectre Six is with me," Sabine said, eyeing the Inquisitors as she slowly sat up, her hand rubbing her head as she leaned against the blast doors. "We don't have contact with Spectre Four, local communications here are...quite bad."

"Typical," Zeb scoffed. "Is it safe to assume that you need a team to help investigate the warehouse and transport the supplies we find?"

"No, that won't be necessary, Commander, we can handle it. There's no need for you or the others," Sabine said, defiantly looking up at the Inquisitor, and her expression dropped into one of fear when the red blade of one of the lightsabers was held to her throat, the heat of the burning saber leaving a red line upon her skin.

"On second though," Ezra quickly cut in, "we might need a little help. You better..." He took a deep breath, his hand off the comlink as he sighed and shook his head, his jaw clenched tight as he looked at the two Inquisitors.

"Your Master, _boy_ ," the gray-skinned male growled. "Keep Darth Lumis out of this."

"You better send Kanan. This task seems suited for him," Ezra said warily, his heart pounding in his chest and hoping the Zeb had the good sense not to send for help. Where there were Inquisitors, the Empire was always close behind, and it seemed very likely that outgoing communications were being monitored and tracked. It was a quick and easy way to find the entirely of the drifting and vulnerable Phoenix Squadron. They needed a base.

"Copy that, Spectre Six," Zeb said smoothly. "We'll see you soon." The moment the call dropped, the male Inquisitor grabbed Sabine by the forearm and tightened his grasp, the comlink beneath sparking as the crushing grip shattered it. Sabine grit her teeth to keep from screaming when jagged shards of sharp metal sliced into her skin and cut through muscle, blood falling in thick, heavy drops to splatter on the floor. With their connection to their rebel friends severed, the Inquisitor unceremoniously threw Sabine to the ground, leaving her and Ezra to scramble awkwardly to their feet when red sabers pointed at their chests and the Inquisitors demanded they rise.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Seventh Sister," the Inquisitor grumbled, his pale eyes narrowing at the smug woman. "If Darth Lumis comes, we will die."

"You question me, Fifth Brother?" the woman cooed, teasingly stroking the man's cheek and smirking when he hissed and drew away revolted from her touch. "Lumis has no reason to come, nothing _sounded_ wrong. More than that, even a Lord of the Sith cannot traverse the galaxy instantaneously. It will take time to get here, and by the time any of the rebels get here, we will be long gone." She grinned wolfishly when the Fifth Brother's eyes widened in understanding, his hand tightening on Sabine's shoulder as the two teens felt fear pool in the pit of their stomachs. "The boy is bait, Brother, but this is _not_ the trap. We shall make a better one on our own terms. Our Master has been searching for a way to draw Lumis to him, and this may very well be it."

"And if we're lucky, we'll catch that Jedi as well," the Fifth Brother growled in sinister delight, shoving Sabine into line with Ezra and slashing his saber in the air to get the teens to begin walking after the Sister. "Get moving. You're coming with us back to our ship."

"W-wait!" Ezra cried frantically, his heart rate suddenly spiking with fear and desperation as his window of escape was rapidly closing. "What was the point of calling Kanan here if you've no intention of catching him now?!"

"As you said, your Master defeated the Grand Inquisitor. He's not a man to be taken lightly. And desperate people make mistakes, apprentice," the Sister smoothly drawled, grabbing Ezra's chin as she spoke to him and holding him in place despite his momentary thrashing. "When your Master arrives to find his precious student gone, I am _certain_ that he will come out of hiding to find you."

" _If_ he comes," the Brother growled, pushing the teens down the hall as the Sister led them through the dark corridors. "We are not fool enough to believe that you haven't devised _something_ to save yourselves. You rebels have been known to be slippery."

"We aren't slippery," Ezra said, hissing when the man roughly pushed him forward. "You're just _stupid_."

"We'll see if you are still saying such when you are sitting in a cell at the heart of a fleet of Imperial Star Destroyers," the Sister hissed, a pleased look on her face as she glanced over her shoulder, and Ezra fell silent, the sinking dread in his stomach growing heavier with each passing moment. The Inquisitors were right. Phoenix Squadron was too far away to get here before he and Sabine were taken away to an Imperial prison where they would be bait for their friends. Even Kenobi in the sickeningly fast _Umbra_ wouldn't be able to arrive in time. All that was left was the hope that Zeb had a damn good plan. Being prisoners of Dark Siders was a terrifying prospect, if Kenobi's many playmates were any indication.

The rest of their dreaded march through the dark halls of the abandoned facility was in silence, their steps echoing off the walls and the groaning creaking of metal the only sounds in the air. Even though their mad rush through the building, the ensuing fight and the oppressive dark had them disoriented, Ezra knew exactly where they were headed. He wasn't sure if there was more than one hangar in the facility, though he suspected that there was, and they were headed toward one of them. That gave them very little time to find a way out before they reached the Inquisitors' ships, and their chances of actually escaping their imprisonment were dismal at best. The Inquisitors may have been nothing when measured up against Obi-Wan, and Kanan may prove to be a challenge for them, but Ezra was a student and no match at all for them. An escape attempt would very likely end in Sabine's death, and nothing was worth that.

When they passed through the large doors of the primary hangar, Ezra felt his heart drop as he looked out through the environmental shield to the open sky beyond and at the two TIE Fighters that sat in the center of the otherwise empty bay, seeming much larger than they were in the excess of space. The _Phantom_ was nowhere to be seen, and for the briefest moment, Ezra felt relief wash over him when he thought that at least Zeb had escaped. That relief quickly faded, the thought too good to be true because Zeb would _never_ abandon them. Even if he had temporarily fled, the emotional Lasat would be back, just as they had returned to rescue Kanan when he had sacrificed himself to ensure their escape from Lothal. They were family, and they were a family that would die together. All of them had lost too much for it to have been any other way.

As the Fifth Brother slowed to contact the Imperial fleet, Ezra felt the tug of _something_ , strong and insistent in the Force that immediately drew his attention and staved off his encroaching hopelessness. Slowly, he looked around the room, drawing closer to Sabine and nudging her when the Inquisitor's soft growl rumbled in the air. With a small, sharp gesture of his head and a swift flick of his eyes to the now empty space where the _Phantom_ had previously been docked, Ezra's silent communication was picked up by Sabine in an instant, and she quickly began scanning the room, the two teens working together to covertly look for any sign of the escaped Lasat.

A moment later, Sabine drove her elbow into Ezra's side, the beginnings of a bright, excited smile peeking through her attempts to hide her elation, and she slowly looked up, the Padawan following her gaze and feeling his heart skip when they saw the _Phantom_ hanging upside down and magnetized to the ceiling. Through the transparisteel window of the cockpit, they could see their Lasat teammate, the man sighing in relief when the teens spotted him before his eyes narrowed in anger and focused on the black-clad Inquisitors, his sharp teeth bared in a predatory snarl as his clawed hands tightly grasped the ship's controls.

The Inquisitors stopped when they felt the sudden change in the Force, the chill vanishing as the fear of the teens was replaced with determination. The red sabers hissed as the Inquisitors activated them and they reeled on the teens a moment too late, the full weight of the Force slamming into them and throwing them backwards as Ezra extended his hands before him. Feeling the Force move through him, the Padawan tightened his hands, his fingers shaking with effort as he narrowed his focus, and pulling back hard, his lightsaber ripped away from the Inquisitor's belt and flew to his hands, the green blade hissing to life and slicing through his bindings. Quickly cutting Sabine free, they took one look up at the ceiling where the _Phantom_ was fixed and flashed a quick grin to Zeb as they began running.

The two Inquisitors caught themselves in the air, flipping around and landing gracefully on their feet, the Fifth Brother's double-bladed saber spinning in the man's hand as he drew back and threw the weapon, the red blades spinning like a buzz saw as it sliced through the air toward the teens as they sprinted across the hangar. Feeling the vibrations in the Force, Ezra sped up and rushed toward Sabine, tackling the Mandalorian to the ground just as the saber shrieked over their heads, only narrowly missing them.

They were on their feet again quickly, Ezra keeping his eye on the saber and trying to direct it away from the Inquisitor with the Force while Sabine shot at the now unarmed Fifth Brother. The Sister quickly intercepted the plasma shots, her face contorted in rage as her blade gracefully arched through the air as the Fifth Brother used the Force to call his weapon back, the hapless Ezra stumbling to keep his footing as he was dragged behind the weapon he wanted desperately to keep away from his enemy. He only let go when he heard the loud, piercing whine of engines and the popping sound of metal separating as the _Phantom_ disengaged from the ceiling and dropped through the air, its forward cannons aimed at the Inquisitors and rapidly opening fire.

Finding the tables suddenly turned, the Inquisitors quickly banded together, working in tandem to deflect the powerful bolts away from them and keeping moving to make themselves a harder target. With their enemy distracted, Ezra and Sabine ran for the open back hatch of the _Phantom_ , their hearts pounding as they jumped inside the transport, their safety now within reach when it had only a few minutes ago been a distant, unattainable dream. The moment they were inside, Zeb pulled back on the accelerator, the whine of the engines rising in pitch as the ship lurched forward toward the open hangar door.

The three of them quickly found themselves thrown forward against the viewport when the ship came to a sudden stop, the engines straining against whatever it was that held it, and Ezra ran to the open back hatch, cold fear gripping his chest when he saw both Inquisitors, their hands extended before them as they grabbed the ship with the Force and were slowly but surely pulling the straining ship backwards. Before Ezra had a chance to act, Sabine fired her blaster at the Inquisitors, and a red bolt of plasma flew past his head and struck the Seventh Sister in the shoulder, the woman falling with a gasp of pain to the floor.

With her hold released, the Fifth Brother could not hold the ship alone, and the _Phantom_ lurched forward, dragging the Inquisitor behind it as he tried to maintain his hold. It was far from enough. It was far from enough, and in moments, the _Phantom_ was rocketing out of the abandoned facility and toward the safety of space. They didn't say much when they entered hyperspace, the three collapsing to the floors in weariness and tending their wounds as they allowed the relief to wash over them, grateful to have their lives when it seemed so likely they would lose them.

* * *

"Kanan!" Ezra shouted when he was back safe inside the _Ghost_ , his quick stride taking him to the living area where Rex and Hera sat together going over all the information the clone had contributed to the rebellion. The moment Hera set eyes on the boy, she was out of her seat, her green eyes wide with worry as she cupped his cheeks and ran her thumb gently over the long burn on Ezra's face.

"What happened?" the woman gasped, her eyes darting to the ladder in the corner and sighing in relief when Zeb and Sabine climbed down.

"The mission was a bust," Sabine snapped, throwing her helmet on the couch and dropping into a seat around the table. "We found the medical supplies, but we couldn't get any of it. There were Inquisitors waiting for us, Hera. Two of them. We only managed to escape because Zeb was there to save us."

"Inquisitors?" Hera muttered, her eyes wide for a moment before she looked back at the shocked, speechless Rex. "How could the Inquisitors have known we would be there?"

"I-I don't know..." Rex mumbled, shaking his head as he pulled up the information on the abandoned facility. "I could have sworn it was off the Empire's radar, how could...I-it's impossible! They must have tracked you, or somehow..." With a growl of frustration, the clone dropped the datapad and ran his hand over his face. "I'm sorry. This looks really bad, I know, but I swear to you, I didn't-"

"I know, Rex," Hera said softly, grabbing a medkit and smearing bacta on Ezra's burned cheek. "There's no such thing as a safe lead. It's not your fault that the Inquisitors are watching us. That mess on Seelos must have caught their attention, I'd be surprised if every Inquisitor in the Empire isn't hunting us now."

"I'd be surprised if they were," Ezra scoffed. "Kenobi _slaughtered_ the last three."

"And has yet to leave the bodies," Hera said flatly. "Presumed dead and confirmed dead are _very_ different." Hera sighed heavily and shook her head, her lekku seeming to droop as she looked at Zeb and Sabine. "I'm so sorry. I may have rushed the mission, I should have cased it better."

"All missions are dangerous, Hera," Zeb growled, his voice warm and kindly as he laid his hand upon the Twi'lek's shoulder. "It wasn't your fault that those Inquisitor assholes were there. Who knows, they might have someone on their side that can see the future like our creepy friend Kenobi."

"...just get some rest," Hera sighed as she took Ezra's hand. "I'm sorry the mission was a failure. We'll have more luck next time." After the tired mumbles of her crew and with Rex armed with the medpack and quietly promising to care for the Lasat and the Mandalorian, Hera gently pulled Ezra after her down the hall to Kanan's room and walked inside without knocking. The room was bathed in gentle blue light, and Ezra found himself sighing as the warmth of the Force rushed over him, only just realizing how cold he had been when he stared at the open holocron floating before the kneeling Kanan. They stood and watched him for a moment, the Jedi seeming not to notice that they were even there, his eyes closed in deep meditation as he focused on the holocron.

"Kanan," Hera began gently, frowning when he didn't move, and she stepped beside him, her fingers brushing his shoulder. "Love, Ezra's back. He ran in to _Inquisitors_." The gently spinning holocron wavered on its axis and the Jedi's eyes flew open, concern filling him as he looked at his lover and his student, and he jumped to his feet, the glowing cube dropping to the ground when Kanan placed his hands on the Padawan's shoulders and looked him over. Swallowing hard and nodding when he saw the scar across his cheek was the worst injury he sustained, Kanan pulled Ezra into a tight embrace.

"You alright, kid?" Kanan asked even though he knew the answer, and Ezra tightly nodded against Kanan's chest, his hands balling into tight fists in the Jedi's shirt and allowing himself to feel how afraid he had been in the Inquisitors' grasp. He was afraid then, but he hadn't really _felt_ it, not like he did now, and he found his hands to be shaking at the memory. "How many Inquisitors, Ezra?"

"T-two," Ezra stuttered, swallowing hard when he pulled away from his Master. "They called themselves the Seventh Sister and the Fifth Brother. Kanan, they were looking for you, they were going to use me to lure you to them, they-"

"Hush now, it's alright," Kanan said, laying a soothing, reassuring hand on Ezra's shoulder. "We'll talk to Kenobi about this. He's been talking about killing the Inquisitors anyway, I'll see if I can't get him to fast track that. Alright? Everything's fine, Ezra, we'll sort this out."

"...isn't killing the Inquisitors going to get the attention of the Sith Master?" Ezra asked quietly, his chest tightening when he felt the slight shift in Kanan's presence, his fingers digging ever so slightly into his shoulders. "I haven't forgotten the vision I had in the Jedi Temple on Lothal. Won't this sort of...make that happen?"

"It very well may..." Kanan mused, a gesture of his hand causing the holocron on the ground to rise into his hand. He gave Ezra and Hera a small, tight smile, his hand tightly clutching the cube he had been learning from. "I confess, I am out of my comfort zone. I'm much more accustomed to hiding from this sort of thing than going out and hunting for it. It's...not exactly the Jedi way to stalk someone with an intent to kill."

"They started it, Kanan," Ezra whispered. "They aren't going to stop, they'll hunt us forever if we don't do something about it."

"I'm sure Obi-Wan will echo your sentiments..." Kanan muttered. "I'm just not comfortable with murder, and you shouldn't be either. You may have a foot in the Dark Side, Ezra, but that doesn't mean you have to lose sight of who you are, and you aren't _evil_."

"R-right..." Ezra said, his eyes cast to the floor and his face burning with embarrassment. "T-that isn't what I meant, I just-"

"I know, Ezra, I understand," Kanan interrupted. "We'll speak to Obi-Wan about it. Considering dead Inquisitors might turn the Sith Master on him, as you said, he may find an alternative solution to our problem." Kanan patted Ezra on the back and gently nudged him out of the room, kissing Hera quickly on the cheek and running his fingers down her lekku before he turned to leave, walking down the halls toward the docking port where the _Umbra_ lay just beyond, Ezra walking right beside him.

Things were moving quickly now, so quickly that even Kanan could feel the cold closing in, rushing closer with every breath toward an inevitable conclusion. It was only a fraction of the sinking dread he knew Kenobi felt, but even the Jedi was beginning to hear the chilling, sinister laughter when he was deep in the Force, accompanied by pale yellow eyes brimming with a darkness that his friend Darth Lumis lacked. It felt unavoidable, and no matter how much they slowed it down, Kanan didn't think they'd ever be truly ready for it.


	43. The Wreck of the Nashuaga

_Chapter 43: The Wreck of the Nashuaga_

"I _really_ don't like this..." Hera muttered, her arms crossed over her chest as she sat on Kanan's bed, watching her lover go through his drawers as he packed for the mission. "I should be here with Phoenix Squadron, we've suffered enough losses as it is!"

"Which is _exactly_ why you need to go," Kanan said, swiftly kissing the Twi'lek on the cheek before he snapped his lightsaber together and examined the completed hilt, a thing he was still too afraid to wear fully assembled in the event of discovery, though at this point, it was more out of habit than anything else. The entire galaxy seemed to know who he was, and more importantly, _what_ he was. "We need a better ship with better firepower and the absolute best pilot at the controls, and _that_ , my dear, is you." Kanan flashed the woman a charming smile when she pouted, clearly displeased with his logic, but her shoulders slumped in acceptance. "That blockade isn't going to break itself."

It was a big problem. Their last mission to deliver much needed aid to the suffering people of Ibaar ended with the Imperials waiting for them, and after an unsuccessful attempt to push past the blockade, the rebels were forced to retreat, but not before losing several fighter pilots in the process. Ibaar was suffering under harsh Imperial sanctions for their suspected rebel sympathies, and they were committed to helping the repressed people before they began to starve. They needed a stronger ship, a _better_ ship, one built with enough speed and firepower to break a hole in the Imperial defenses long enough to get the supplies down to the surface.

Rex had a plan, a contact with no love for the Empire that was said to have built a ship that sounded like it suited their needs. The caveat was that this engineer was down on Shantipole, a planet renowned for its violent atmosphere that made most pilots consider the journey a one-way trip. Flying down to Shantipole was a death sentence, and there was no pilot in the fleet willing to embark on a suicide mission. Which was where Kanan had been quick to volunteer Hera for the job. Ibaar could not be abandoned, and the Twi'lek pilot was good enough to successfully make it down to meet with the eccentric engineer and pick up this new ship.

"You should be here," Hera said when Kanan clipped his full saber to his belt. "If I'm going, Spectre One should be in the _Ghost_. Who else is going to watch my ship!"

"Isn't that what we have Phoenix Squadron for?" Kanan asked dryly, earning himself a glare from the protective pilot. "We need to _Ghost_ to aid in retrieving the supplies for the Ibaarans, and Chopper is perfectly capable of entering the coordinates."

"I want someone _on the ship_ ," Hera stressed, standing from the bed and snatching Kanan's pack away when he slung it over his shoulder. "You need to stay here, sending you out when we are in the middle of this mission is _foolish_. Kenobi doesn't even need you!"

"You'd send him out there alone?" Kanan asked, and the glare from the woman was all he needed for an answer. With a heavy sigh, Kanan gently took his tense lover into his arms, her agitation a product of her concern, her insistence he stay her desperate attempt to keep him safe. "Hera, I'm going to be _fine_. Obi-Wan won't let anything happen."

"What if you run into Inquisitors?!"

"Oh, we're counting on it." The Jedi winced, the confident smirk dropping from his face when the Twi'lek's eyes narrowed, her lekku twisting in agitation. He wasn't doing anything to ease her fears. He tightened his arms around her, his hand lazily running over her sensitive lekku and making her wriggle in his grasp. "You know what Obi-Wan does to Inquisitors, Hera," Kanan muttered softly. "And if that's not enough for you, _I_ beat the Grand Inquisitor. I've been training with Kenobi, I can hold my own."

"...I-I know," Hera sighed, reaching up to stroke her lover's cheek, and he swiftly kissed her palm as he released her. "We just really need the help, and my own worries aside, we could use you. Our losses over Ibaar were significant."

"I know, and I've arranged for that!" Kanan chirped, a smirk on his lips showing just how pleased with himself he was. "Kenobi's going to leave the HK so you can take him down to Shantipole! You know, just in case Rex's intel is bad _again_ and there are Inquisitors waiting..."

" _Kanan_!"

"I'm just saying that it's _really_ convenient that they _happened_ to be there on the last mission!" Kanan said, his hands raised in an effort to placate the frustrated woman. "I know you trust him, Hera, but clones have a history of betrayal!"

"Not Rex!"

"So he says," Kanan scoffed, and Hera swiftly punched him in the arm.

"So _Ahsoka_ says!"

"I'm just saying, it doesn't hurt to be careful!" Kanan said with a sigh. "I'm willing to give him a chance, but until he proves himself to be trustworthy to _my_ satisfaction, it would me make me feel better about your safety if we took extra precautions!"

"This, by the way, is _exactly_ why I wanted you to stay on the _Ghost_ and escort the supplies down to Ibaar after we break through the blockade," Hera said, resigned to the fact that things would not happen the way she wished. " _You_ are my extra precaution, Kanan. I know Ezra is becoming a fair pilot, but I'd feel much better with you there."

"Zeb will be with him, so will Chopper and the entirety of Phoenix Squadron, including Ahsoka." Kanan ran his fingers down the woman's arm and gently took her hand and kissed her forehead when she tightly squeezed his hand. "It's not like you to doubt your crew, Hera..."

"There isn't a crew in this galaxy better than mine, of course I trust them," the pilot scoffed, gripping the Jedi's hand tightly in her own and laying her head against his chest, sighing deeply as she listened to the strong, steady beat of his heart. "This loss shook me, that's all. We lost a lot of men trying to get through, and I don't want to lose anyone else..." She frowned, her brow furrowed as she thought, completely oblivious to the feel of Kanan's arm as he snaked it around her waist and drew her closer. "And you know how I hate to lose."

"Oh, I know..." Kanan muttered, planting a swift kiss to her forehead. "This is why you're _Captain_ Syndulla, you're going to make the right call, your decisions are going to save lives, and this time, we'll succeed because you're going to come back with a ship that will tear the Imperials apart."

"I hope you're right..."

"I know I am," the Jedi whispered, tilting her chin up to kiss her, and with an easy sigh, Hera leaned into it, allowing the man to soothe her fears away, if only for a moment. As usual, loud crashing and shouts from the hallway saw them parted, and the Jedi groaned, running his hand through his hair and glancing toward the door. "Never a second of peace, is there? It's like they _know_ we're trying to have a moment..."

"You know how kids are, love," the Twi'lek said with a smirk on her face, patting her lover's cheek and handing him his pack. "Where is it you're headed anyway?"

"Volik," Kanan said slowly. "It's on the edge of the Unknown Regions, Kenobi's Chiss tipped him off about it's location and the really, _really_ weird things that have been happening there." The commotion in the hallway increased, and a moment later, the door slid open and Obi-Wan stepped in, look a quick look at the couple, and bitterly crossed his arms over his chest.

"I _knew it_!" the Sith Lord hissed, pointing an accusing finger at Hera and fixing his sharp gaze on the confused Jedi. "I knew you were seeing someone else, and you told me _I_ was the only one!"

"Sorry, babe..." Kanan said with an indifferent shrug. "You just don't satisfy me like you used to. And so long as we're being honest, that whole...Sith Lord, morally bankrupt, corrupted by the Dark Side thing you have going on is sort of a turn off for me."

"It's the eyes, isn't it?" Obi-Wan said with a sigh. "This is _discrimination_ , and I'll have you know, I am _very_ offended."

"Oh, discrimination, like how you and your people targeted the Jedi for _mass execution_?!"

"...no, no, nothing like that!" Obi-Wan said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I _love_ Jedi, they're...they're _great_...so great that they _haunt me incessantly, Qui-Gon_!" the Sith snapped, reeling on the empty corner and for a moment, stood in silence, waiting for the spirit to appear, only to sigh and hang his head when the ghost didn't make his presence known. "Stupid kriffing Force ghost, making me look like an idiot..."

"You do that well enough on your own, Hera said with a roll of her eyes, and Obi-Wan bowed to her, conceding the point. "You're taking Kanan to the Unknown Regions?"

"Volik!" Obi-Wan chirped, a bright smile on his face. "The beautiful home of some very, _very_ nasty rumors of something dark crawling around in the caves beneath their mountainous waterfalls." He grinned devilishly when the Twi'lek tensed. "Story time! Would you like to hear the tale of Darth Nihilus, the Lord of Hunger?"

"Never heard of him..." Kanan muttered, his hand tightening around the strap of his pack and his fingers intertwining with Hera's. "But it doesn't sound good..."

"It isn't, not for the Jedi..." Obi-Wan said, lowering his voice and touching the control panel to close the door behind him. "A Sith Lord so powerful that his very presence was enough to render his enemies powerless by consuming the very Force within them. He had a hunger for the Force so strong that he was drawn to people and places strong in the Force so he could consume them."

"Kenobi, _please_ tell me we aren't going out to Volik because you found this creature..." Kanan groaned, his hand affectionately squeezing Hera's when he felt her tense beside him.

"Don't be ridiculous, Darth Nihilus was killed thousands of years ago," Obi-Wan said with a roll of his eyes.

"Right, _how_ ," Kanan asked tensely. "If this _monster_ consumes the Force, how could anyone even get near him long enough to defeat him?!"

"I don't know..." Obi-Wan muttered, reaching into his robes and pulling out one of his red holocrons, his hand clenched tightly around it. "As I've said, much of our history has been lost. Everything I know about the Sith Lords of old comes from ancient texts and holocrons that the Jedi failed to destroy. _But_!" he said swiftly, brightening as he levitated the holocron and set it spinning when he tapped on one of the pointed corners. "I _believe_ we may have found Nihilus' holocron on Volik. The things that have been reported out there sound _very_ much like the passive influence of Dark Side corruption. Something's there, and that something is _Sith_ , and my lovely Chiss friend reports whispers from travelers out of Volik that sound an _awful_ lot like the Lord of Hunger." Obi-Wan snatched the holocron out of the air. "Seems to me like it's a good chance I'll find his holocron there."

"And do we _really_ want you learning how to do what this Sith Lord could?" Hera asked cautiously, her lekku squirming nervously, and Kanan drew her closer to him.

"Hera's right, Kenobi, what could be gained by learning this stuff? Maybe it's just me, but _Lord of Hunger_ doesn't sound like a title someone would want. Ten to one says you'll find that this Sith Lord was ruled by his desire to consume the Force. That goes against _everything_ I know you to stand for. That isn't power, that's _slavery_."

"You're right," Obi-Wan whispered, his eyes fixed on the ground. "The hunger of the Dark Side is insatiable, and I know very well that the craving for power is an addiction. But I have the same power Nihilus once possessed, I can consume the Force out of the living. I know well the dangers of doing so, I have _felt it_."

"Then _why_ ," Kanan asked again. "Why learn from a creature that was lost to his desires when you already can control it?"

"Because of _Sidious_ ," Obi-Wan hissed, his hand tightening around the holocron, and Kanan slowly put himself between the Sith Lord and Hera. "If I can learn what Nihilus did, if I could learn _how_ to drain the Force from someone during combat, if being in my presence can _weaken_ my enemies, then _maybe_ I have a chance at defeating Sidious, _maybe_ I can avoid the fate that the Force so stubbornly insists is mine!" He was breathing harder than he thought, his heart racing in his chest, and as he began to calm himself, Obi-Wan saw Kanan's hand resting on his lightsaber, the Jedi ready to draw it at a moment's notice. "You'd kill me, Kanan?" Obi-Wan asked breathlessly, his eyes lingering on the Jedi's weapon, and Kanan closed his hand around the hilt, his finger on the ignition.

"If I must..." the Jedi growled softly. "I don't know if I could, and I certainly wouldn't want to, but I'd try my damndest if I had to..."

"I'd expect nothing less from you..." the Sith said softly, a slight smile on his lips. "If I were to lose myself, I would expect you to do me the favor of putting me down." When the Jedi looked at him confused and uncertain, Obi-Wan closed his eyes and softly chuckled. "I joined the Sith to bring peace and order to a galaxy in chaos. That hasn't changed, and if I become an agent of chaos and destruction myself...well, there are worse ways to finally die than being slain by you."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that..." Kanan muttered, patting Hera's hand as he let go. "I _really_ don't want to be forced to kill one of my friends." Obi-Wan flashed him a small grateful smile before he drew up and slipped the holocron inside his robes.

"If you object so much to the acquisition of this holocron, you don't need to go," Obi-Wan said firmly. "I'm perfectly capable of handling this myself."

"Yeah, but what if _this_ is the moment your visions were warning you about?" Kanan asked, putting his arm through the other strap of his pack. "Someone should be there with you, and regardless of how strong you are, it's a bad idea to go out alone. I'm going."

"This isn't it," Obi-Wan insisted. "What I saw in the vision was a Sith Temple, but you and I are going to be exploring a wrecked ship. To my knowledge, there is no Sith Temple on Volik." Immediately, Hera relaxed, the Twi'lek sighing in relief as her nagging fears were set to rest. "I wouldn't allow anything to happen to your lover regardless, Syndulla," Obi-Wan quietly promised. " _Now_ , I'm leaving you with my droid in the event that something should happen on your mission. Is there anything else I can do for you before I leave?"

"Just promise me you'll keep him safe and you'll return soon," Hera said, kissing Kanan on the cheek before she shoved him forward, and Obi-Wan bowed his head, a playful smirk on his lips as he eyed the Twi'lek.

"You have my word, beautiful. We should be back within a few days." Without another word, the Jedi and the Sith left the room to head for the _Umbra_ to prepare for their departure, leaving Hera to ready the remainder of her crew for their own task. There were lives to save, and now that she focused on her mission, she felt as certain as Kanan that they would succeed.

* * *

"Too slow!" Obi-Wan growled between clenched teeth as the blade of his saber effortlessly slipped between Kanan's ribs, the Jedi gasping in pain and shuddering at the feel of the burning plasma turning the air in his lungs to fire. When the blade swiftly withdrew, the Jedi dropped to the ground, clutching the blistering red welt on his side where the saber had pierced, his eyes narrowed defiantly at the amused Sith Lord, his red blade twirling around his hand as he paced and waited for him to rise. They had been at it for _hours_ , and pain and exhaustion were finally beginning to take their toll on the Jedi. Obi-Wan was, predictably, unaffected, but he had yet to feel the touch of Kanan's lightsaber. And even if he did, the pain would have only made him stronger.

It was _dreadfully_ unfair.

"Your movements are becoming inefficient," Obi-Wan lectured as he circled his fallen opponent. "I can feel your frustration, your pain, and your exhaustion. A Jedi would harness the Force to push past this. Immerse yourself in the Force, allow it to flow freely through you. Keep your mind in the moment, and you won't be struck." He flashed the Jedi a cruel smirk, the blade spinning in his hand before the tip came to point at Kanan's chest just over his heart. "You are tired, and it's making you _slow_."

"Well _maybe_ it's because I'm in pain. It's making it _very_ difficult to move right!"

"Don't get hit and you won't be in pain," Kenobi said, flicking his saber upwards and allowing the tip to graze Kanan's chest, the Jedi hissing as a long, red welt formed where the saber touched, adding yet another mark to the myriad of crossing lines on his bare torso. "If you do not wish to harness pain for power as the Sith do, then you must do as the Jedi do and use the Force to banish pain from your body. There is no other option if you wish to survive."

"I can't just _not_ feel pain..." Kanan groaned as he rose to his feet, and he quickly whipped his saber around to block three fast, hard slashed from the Sith Lord.

"Of course you can," Obi-Wan drawled, his saber held ready before him as he allowed Kanan to slip into his natural defensive Soresu, modified from his original style to better match his Sith teacher's more efficient practice of the form. For as good as Depa Billaba had been, Kanan recognized that Kenobi _was_ better, widely regarded as _the_ master of the style, even by the Jedi that opposed him. "Pain, hunger, exhaustion, all meaningless manifestations of our physical bodies, but we are _so_ much more. We are of the Force, ethereal beings born from everything that ever was and ever will be. Become one with it, and the pain of the body, the pull of your desires and needs, all that which is fleeting will become as nothing."

"You know, you could have made a halfway decent Jedi Master," Kanan drawled, a smirk on his face that the Sith Lord quickly returned. "Do you actually believe any of that?" Kenobi scoffed, lunging forward and striking fast at the Jedi, high and low with stabs and slashes, and he backed off, the blades nearly touching as he appraised his student.

"It's Jedi garbage, but it works," Obi-Wan said, his blade slowly circling as he decided on where to strike. "Time consuming and difficult to master, but if you can, pain and exhaustion won't slow you down." From off to the side, a dismissive scoff could be heard, and with a tired, frustrated sigh, Obi-Wan lowered his saber and looked toward the long, transparisteel wall, the blue and white of hyperspace passing by outside, toward the large, massive figure of Yoda, the rancor's flank expanding and deflating with each deep, even breath. On his head lay Cody, the clone draped lazily between the sweeping horns as he lounged.

"Not being in pain won't make you any harder to kill, Jedi," the clone yawned, shifting to make himself comfortable and letting his arms dangle in front of the Rancor's face, the beast huffing and sniffing and extending its long tongue to lazily lap at the clone's hand. Trapped beneath one of Yoda's claws, the Grand Inquisitor lay still, his eyes partially open as he looked at the dueling pair, his presence calm and contented despite the many weeping cuts along his bare torso, products of accidental scrapes by the rancor's teeth or claws.

"Pain and exhaustion wear on the body, Cody," Obi-Wan said through grit teeth. "If he is tired or hurting, his technique will suffer and it will become easier to kill him."

"His enemies won't be using _powered down sabers_ ," Cody emphasized with a roll of his eyes, his sharp tone making the rancor groan and growl and lazily lick at the Inquisitor in his grasp as he became restless. "Were your sabers made to kill, Jarrus would have been dead in minutes. Pain doesn't even figure into it when the first strike is _fatal_."

"Alright, _Cody_ , since you know so much about the Force and lightsaber combat, why don't _you_ come teach the Jedi?" Kenobi hissed, holding out his saber toward the clone, and Cody chuckled softly, raising his hands to refuse the offered weapon.

"Pain may wear on the body, but so does age. I'm getting too old for lightsaber combat."

" _Don't you dare say that shit, you bastard_!" Obi-Wan shouted, much louder and more frantic than he realized, and with a tense, nervous laugh, he ran his hand through his hair. "We're going to pick up a holocron that may have the answers we're looking for. If I can just learn how to drain life and give it to _you_..."

"Your experiments haven't been successful," Cody said with a yawn.

" _Yet_ ," the Sith Lord snarled. "I'm getting closer, you _know_ I am. Look how much younger you look than Rex, _something_ I'm doing is working, just not fast enough..." Kenobi suddenly hissed in pain, his eyes shooting to Kanan, the Jedi calm and confident, his saber in his hand, and Obi-Wan looked down to his arm, a small, blistering spot from where Kanan had tapped him.

"You're obsessing again," Kanan said with a cocky smirk. "Can we return to our training?" With a tight, tense grin, Obi-Wan extended his hand and blasted Kanan back, the Jedi striking the opposite wall with a loud impact, and with a groan, he fell to the floor.

" _Focus_ , Jedi!" the Sith Lord snarled, stalking toward his fallen opponent and striking on the red blade once again. "Cast the pain from your body, rid yourself of weakness!" Kanan scrambled to his feet, his hand extended to call his fallen saber to him, only to be lifted into the air by the neck with the Force. "Your guard is down, Kanan, this is _unacceptable_!" Kenobi growled, stalking closer to the struggling Jedi and slowly slipping his blade into his stomach, watching with a mix of gleeful fascination and disgust as Kanan's eyes widened with pain. "Focus, keep your guard up, never allow it to waver, and the Dark Side can _never touch you_." With a disdainful flick of his wrist, he cast Kanan aside, the Jedi tumbling to the ground and skidding to a stop just in front of Yoda, left to cough and gasp as he curled up, his hands covering the new welt on his body. The rancor craned his neck forward and curiously sniffed at the man.

Taking deep, calming breaths, Obi-Wan slowly reached out to tame the Dark Side, calming the raging in his blood caused by the burst of pain in his arm. Kanan's blade had been set on a higher setting than Kenobi's, just below the point where it could begin to do some actual damage, and it still stung. It had been a very long time since he had been struck. He had almost forgotten how it set his nerves on fire. Switching off his saber and returning it to his belt, Obi-Wan sauntered over to a table along the wall, grabbed a wet towel off of it, and made his way over to the Jedi, his eyes fixed on the viewport as he draped the cool cloth over Kanan's shoulders, the blue and white of hyperspace snapping back into the pinpoints of stars as they reverted to sublight.

Not far in the distance, he could see their destination, vibrant green and blue glowing in the black of space. It was hard to imagine that such a beautiful planet contained something so dark, so _corrupted_ as the holocron of Darth Nihilus, but Serenno had been beautiful as well. His beloved Mustafar had also been beautiful, but not in the same way. Serenno was temperate, covered in lush forests and misty rivers that flowed into a beautiful, crystal clear ocean, a mild climate and crisp, clear air that almost seemed to infuse each breath with th Force itself. Mustafar was stark and harsh, blistering hot and glowing with the power of rew nature that flowed in red rivers from cracked mountains and deep crevices. Each breath was blistering, searing with hot air and burning ash and the acidic taste of toxic vapors. The Force itself was blackened by the fires that burned on the planet, invigorating and raw and primal, and while it may have killed a lesser being, to Obi-Wan, it had been home.

Sidious took that away from him as well, kept his stark, harsh palace and gave it to his new pet, no doubt to serve as a reminder to Vader of the place where he was truly born. It was...fitting, somehow, but as soon as Sidious was dead, Obi-Wan would kindly thank Vader for keeping his castle warm for him while he was away and then take it from him. Along with his head, provided the apprentice was foolish enough not to submit to his new Sith Master. It made no difference to Obi-Wan. One day, if she wished it, Leia would serve as his Sith apprentice, and he couldn't think of anything more fitting for her first act as a Sith to be the murder of the old Sith Apprentice and the biological father that helped create her. If he was even still alive by then. If he could somehow beat the fate that Sidious had in store for him...

"We're done for today, Kanan..." Obi-Wan said gently, kneeling beside the man and laying a hand on his sweat-slicked hair. "I pushed you too hard, and for that, I apologize. It's...difficult for me to remember what it was like to be trained as a Jedi. So much of my life has been Sith."

"It's fine..." Kanan groaned, sitting up and wiping his face with the damp cloth. "I figure the best one to teach me to stand against the Dark Side is a Lord of the Sith."

"Well, you're not wrong about that..." Obi-Wan chuckled softly, helping the Jedi to his feet. With a few, deep breaths, Kanan was standing without his aid, frowning as he observed the red lines and welts covering him.

"Could the Jedi really keep themselves from feeling pain?" Kanan asked, draping the cloth over his neck and standing by Kenobi as he looked out the viewport at the beautiful planet in the distance.

"Pain is a physical ailment, like any other than may plague the body," Obi-Wan whispered. "In the same way we can expel toxins from our blood, we may dispel the effects of pain upon us. The physical is nothing before the might of the Force."

"...I'll keep practicing," Kanan quietly promised. "I won't stop until I can hold my own against you."

"You may be at it for a _very_ long time..." Obi-Wan said, looking at the Jedi out of the corner of his eye. "But I believe that if anyone can do it, it's you."

"Master?" a soft, sultry voice said behind them, the light, delicate footsteps sounding against the floor, and both men turned to see the Chiss sauntering toward them, a pleasured, desirous smirk on the Sith Lord's face and his golden eyes glowing with increased intensity as he watched the woman approach. "Master," she said again, running her fingers across Kenobi's cheek and smiling when a deep, possessive growl reverberated in his chest. "We will arrive at our destination within the next hour, my Lord."

"One hour..." Obi-Wan drawled, his hands grabbing her hips and drawing her against him, the woman's breathing quickening as she slid her hands over his chest, her fingers brushing the deep scar cut into the muscle over his heart. "Just _think_ of all the things we could do with an hour..."

"No sex on the _Umbra_..." Kanan said in a sing-song voice, and Obi-Wan rolled his eyes and glared at the Jedi.

"I _know_ the rules of my own ship, _thank you_ , Kanan," Obi-Wan said, hooking his fingers under the woman's chin and sighing as she pressed her lips to his neck. "Honestly, you're _so_ simple. There's more one can do with their time than sex, you beautiful man." The Sith wrinkled his nose as he looked the Jedi over. "But right now, you're a mess, and you _smell_. Get yourself cleaned up, I don't want my partner on this mission stinking worse than the Dark Side creatures I'm hoping to meet."

"You don't smell so great yourself, Kenobi," Kanan drawled, watching as the Sith smiled slightly in agreement. "You might want to make time to clean yourself up as well."

"I will," Obi-Wan said, his gaze slowly drifting to the Inquisitor, his muted yellow eyes widening when he felt the Sith's focus on him. "After we play with our little friend here..."

"Kenobi, _please_ , don't-"

"I'm not going to harm him, Kanan, not today," Obi-Wan quickly dismissed, laying his hand on the Chiss' lower back and gently nudging her toward the frightened Inquisitor. "Like I said, we're going to _play_. My friend the Inquisitor happened to serve me very well as of late, so we're going to have some _fun_..."

"Oh, I feel filthy being in the same ship as you, you deranges son of a bitch," Kanan said as he made his way out of the room. "You promise you won't hurt him or torture him?"

"Oh, please, why would I do that, Kanan, he hasn't done anything!" Obi-Wan said indignantly. "He only murdered Luminara Unduli and used her corpse to lure Jedi to him so they could be slaughtered..." Obi-Wan flashed Kanan a bright, malicious grin, and the Inquisitor behind him began shaking, staring wide-eyed at the Sith and daring not to breathe. "But other than that, he hasn't done anything!"

"I don't know why I bother..." Kanan muttered, leaving the room quickly and heading for the shower, the sound of Kenobi's crazed laughter following him into the halls.

* * *

The _Shadow_ was a UT-60D U-wing starfighter that Obi-Wan had appropriated from the rebel base without permission from the people that mattered, though the hapless hangar guard he had influenced gave him all the permission he believed he needed. He took it because of an escalating rivalry between himself and Hera over who had the best ship, and then the Twi'lek pilot smugly pointed out that the _Ghost_ was more versatile because of the _Phantom_ , Kenobi set out to right this great injustice. He named it the _Shadow_ because he was out of ideas, and Cody's suggestion to name it _The Sex Shuttle_ was shot down after three days of careful consideration.

Painted in the same black and red as its parent ship, the _Shadow_ was sleek and stylish enough to attract the Sith Lord's attention, the retractable strike foils giving the ship a versatility that most other transports lacked. It was big enough to fit his entire crew, the rancor included, though it was not nearly as fast as he would have liked, its top speeds falling beneath the much smaller X-wings, the infamously fast TIE Fighters, and worst of all, the Imperial Star Destroyers. The ship needed to be upgraded, and the ship's innards had been rearranged to make room for the desired changes and modifications, but the changes had yet to be made. For now, it was good enough.

The ship cut easily through Volik's atmosphere, the Sith Lord in the pilot's seat half immersed in the Force as he felt for what he was looking for, Kanan sitting beside him in the copilot's seat looking out the sloped viewport at the beautiful terrain they flew above, white snow-capped mountains rising out of a verdant forest that ran along winding canyons cut by numerous rivers and waterfalls. Kanan had never seen such a beautiful planet in his life and found himself staring awestruck out the viewport, often having to remind himself to breathe when he realized he was holding his breath. The striking beauty of Volik made it all the more startling that even so far above the surface, the Jedi could feel the unmistakable pull of something profoundly _wrong_ , the chill in the Force that only came from something powerful in the Dark Side.

"The last time I went on a mission like this, I was a Jedi," Obi-Wan said softly, breaking the silence and making the startled Jedi jump slightly. "The Sith never sent me to recover our history. We were too preoccupied with moving forward, with seeing our plans fulfilled, or revenge enacted, and it left us no time to look behind us."

"...why would the Jedi send you to recover Sith history?" Kanan asked when the reminiscing Kenobi fell silent, and the Sith Lord tensed in surprised, his eyes confused as he searched the Jedi, almost as if he didn't understand why Kanan had spoken, or how he had known what he was thinking. Resignation settled over Obi-Wan, pained and almost defeated, and he looked out the viewport, his gaze on some distant thing he had lost long ago.

"To learn about the Sith. To find the Sith Master, the Jedi had no chance but to look to the past. We thought the Sith were gone, so our only point of reference were the Sith Lords of old. We had _some_ knowledge of the Sith, but not enough, so at my suggestion, the Council sent me on a mission to Sith Space." A soft, sad smile touched Obi-Wan's lips, the gold of his eyes dull and tarnished, and Kanan could feel the heartbreak within the Sith Lord, an old would that never properly healed. "Quinlan Vos was my partner for the mission. You would have liked him. He was too wild for the Jedi, too carefree and free-spirited to be held by their strict rules. Quinlan followed a path of his own making. Not unlike you, actually."

"I met him once when I was young," Kanan said softly, and the SIth's hands tightened around the controls, his gaze seeming to waver with emotion. "And Ahsoka speaks about him often. He sounds like a great man."

"He was..." Obi-Wan sighed heavily, his grip on the controls easing as he leaned back in the seat. "We traveled together for over a year to search for the Sith Master. We found ourselves on Sith worlds, we delved into ancient Dark Side temples, we found Dromund Kaas, the ancient capital of the Sith Empire, which the Jedi Masters insisted didn't actually exist. We felt the Sith out there, found evidence of their presence, drew closer and closer to Darth Sidious and his new apprentice with each thing we found on the trail..." He sighed, sat up straighter in the pilot's seat, the pain faded from his face and replaced with focus as his attention returned to the present. "But it wasn't enough for the Jedi. They said we were jumping at shadows, but we knew better. The shadow we were said to be jumping at was cast by Darth SIdious himself."

"Is that where it happened?" Kanan asked, and the Sith looked at him pout of the corner of his eye, waiting for him to elaborate. "Your...fall, seduction, turn, I don't know..."

"You ask if that mission is what turned me toward darkness?" The Jedi nodded, and Obi-Wan chuckled under his breath, his hand on the yoke bringing the ship lower to fly closer to the mountainous forests. "It is not. My fall was triggered long before, though it was on this mission where I learned to embrace it. If ever there was a chance for me to return to the light, it was lost to me to me on my journey into Sith Space."

"So the Jedi sent you out to hunt the Sith, only to have you return Sith yourself."

"Funny how things work, isn't it?" The ship banked hard left, turned up toward the sky, and Obi-Wan looped them around and dove toward one of the winding canyons. "Found it..." Kenobi muttered, leaning forward in his seat excitedly as he looked out the viewport, his hands relaxed and effortlessly guiding the ship down into the winding canyons and under cascading waterfalls that thudded against the hull of the ship. He flew lower and lower until the ship was skimming the surface of the clear river in the ravine, the water fanning up behind the engines as they sped by, and Kanan leaned back in his seat, relaxed and at ease with the close calls and the quick turns, the man having grown accustomed to flying with an expert pilot.

"For as much as I complain about her speed, she handles like an absolute _dream_..." Obi-Wan drawled, pulling the ship out of the canyon to fly just over the ravine, scanning the scenery below as he searched for something he didn't know he was looking for.

"I really hope you tested this ship out before you decided to fly through a canyon where the slightest wrong move would mean our deaths..." Kanan said, and groaned loudly when Kenobi flashed him a grin that made it clear he did no such thing. "Are the Inquisitors here?"

"I'm uncertain..." Obi-Wan said, frowning as his eyes scanned the terrain beneath him. "Whatever's down there is corrupting _everything_ , it's absolutely saturated with the Dark Side. If they are even here, the Inquisitors' meager presence would drown in such darkness. They are ultimately insignificant next to the power here."

"But they'd be able to sense me here, right?" Kanan asked, and the Sith Lord chuckled, deep and menacing.

" _Oh yes_...the blacker the darkness, the brighter the light shines, and _you_ , my Jedi friend, shine like a beacon here. Although...we are quite a ways out from what the Empire considers theirs. It may have been overly optimistic to believe the Inquisitors would follow us here." Obi-Wan frowned, his hand pushing the accelerator forward and the whine of the engines dulled as the ship slowed, the Sith's eyes carefully scanning the scene in the viewport, searching for the origin of the dark pull in the Force. "When I modify this ship, the first thing I'm going to change are the engines, I want them to _hum_ , this...starfighter whine isn't doing it for me..."

"I'm sure Hera would be happy to help you with the modifications when we return..." Kanan said, folding his hands before him and closing his eyes as he sunk into the Force. "If the Emperor could sense us here, he wouldn't be sending Inquisitors for us."

"If the Emperor could sense us here, we'd have a much bigger problem on our hands, because he wouldn't be looking at us, he'd be looking at whatever's down there," Obi-Wan quietly corrected. "For whatever's down there, he'd come himself, which I suppose is where the vision comes in. This may very well be how he finds me." He took a deep breath, felt the way the Dark Side lapped at him, pulled at the very center of his being, almost seemed to call to him. It was _power_ , but a subtle one, corrupting for certain, but not a thing that caused a far-reaching disturbance. "But not here, not today. Darth Sidious is not all-powerful, at least not yet. There are things that even he cannot sense. If he knew something was here, he would have been here long ago."

"So it's possible that the thing we're looking for isn't even down there."

"...a distinct possibility, yes..." Obi-Wan growled, his hand gently nudging the yoke to the side to circle the ship around for another pass over where he felt the pull of the Dark Side. "I hope not. If Sidious could feel _artifacts_ in the Unknown Regions from his seat on Coruscant...I'm not sure we can defeat him. But I feel something down there. Maybe it's just the touch of the Dark Side on whatever it is that lives in those caves, but I don't think so."

"There," Kanan said swiftly, his hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder as he pointed out the viewport toward a waterfall that flowed off a cliff and down into the river below, the splashing water striking worn boulders and jagged rocks on the way down, and...something else far below. Obi-Wan leaned forward, squinting to see what Kanan's sharp eyes had caught, the ragged protrusion the water fell against worn and decayed and distinctly unnatural in the way it rose from the rocks and the river. There was something behind the waterfall, but more than that, the unusual formation the waterfall beat against appeared to be the rusted, decayed remains of a crashed ship.

"Good eye, Kanan..." Obi-Wan muttered, angling the ship to dive toward the waterfall and the wreckage. "What I am sensing is far below, further back..."

"Yeah, well, while you're looking through the Force, don't forget to look with your eyes as well." Obi-Wan looked sidelong at the smirking Jedi, his eyebrow raised and rolling his eyes when Kanan flashed him a cocky grin.

"You fancy yourself a teacher, boy? Don't make me put you over my knee and spank you with my lightsaber."

"What, all that and you aren't even going to take me out for drinks first?" Kanan drawled, and he laughed when Kenobi scowled, an unsuccessful effort to hide the smile that pulled at his lips. "I, uh...heard that from Rex while I was training Ezra."

"Oh, _what's this_?!" Obi-Wan gasped mockingly, his eyes wide and a teasing smirk on his lips. "Kanan Jarrus, the Last Padawan, learning from a _clone_? Truly, the galaxy is ending. We may as well surrender to the Empire now and embrace our Sith Masters."

"Ha, ha, you're an _ass_ , Kenobi," Kanan drawled, punching the Sith Lord on the arm, the sudden hit jolting the hand that held the yoke and the ship wavered for a second before Kenobi resumed the smooth descent. "I might not trust Rex, but the man's got experience, which I respect, and he...I don't know, he says some shit that makes a lot of sense." Kanan rolled his eyes when an arrogant smirk touched Obi-Wan's lips. "You know...for a _clone_."

"Mm, sounds like love..." Kenobi teased, earning himself another punch from the Jedi.

"Focus on where you're flying, idiot, this place is treacherous enough without you getting turned on."

"Kanan, I am a Lord of the Sith," Obi-Wan scoffed. "I do my best work when I'm turned on." Grinning at his companion, Kanan patted the Sith's shoulder before he let him go and sat back in his seat, watching out the viewport as the focused Sith slowed their descent and flew them toward the wreckage under the waterfall. Up close, they could see how the falling water struck the jagged, rusty metal, old and brittle and made hard by time and calcified minerals from the mountain's runoff that made it look almost like the stone that formed the mountains. The water parted around the wreckage, breaking on the impact into fine mist and parted, heavy streams that fell like a curtain around the broken shape of the hull embedded in the side of the mountain, the hard echo indicating that something lay beyond the watery barrier.

As slowly and carefully as he was able, Obi-Wan piloted the _Shadow_ toward the space underneath the jagged outcropping of the broken ship's hull. The closer they drew to the wreckage, the more they could imagine the nature of the ship that had crashed, not a small shuttle, but an enormous, half circle shaped freighter, based on the outline of the cavern that lay beneath the water and the impressive build of what remained of the ship after so many years. Water thundered off the hull of the _Shadow_ , running thick down the viewport and obscuring their view as they passed underneath, the cabin falling into darkness punctuated only by the soft glow of the lights on the control console as they flew inside the cavern.

With the landing lights flicked on and the water clearing from the viewport, the Jedi and the Sith looked out upon a wide, massive cavern, an almost surreal blending of rock and metal as nature slowly encroached upon the ship's wreckage. Obi-Wan landed the ship on top of a metal shelf that may have once been the heavy blast doors of a cargo bay, bent away from the hull by the impact and now embedded within the cavern wall, the stalactites above leaking a slow, steady drip of water that landed in a puddle and ran off the far end to fall into a shallow lake below. As soon as the ship was secured and prepped for a quick take off if necessary, the Jedi and the Sith checked to make certain their sabers were secure, and together, they left the safety of the shuttle for the dark, echoing cavern of the wreckage and the caverns beyond.

They didn't need to go far for the meager light filtering in through the veil of water to go out completely, and both men struck on their lightsabers to help light the way, the Sith selecting his blue blade for the better light it provided. The further in they ventured, the better preserved the wreck of the ship was, the cavern walls reflecting the light of the sabers off tarnished panels, the dark, insular caves helping to protect the crashed ships from the elements that quickened its degradation. The caverns alternatively widened and narrowed as their trek through the natural caves and the wrecked ship led them through broken corridors and cargo holds and spaces carved out by subterranean lakes and water that slowly trickled in from the mountains above them.

Occasionally the pair would catch sight of small creatures scurrying away when the light touched the edges of their home, panicked squeaking or soft hisses echoing in the caverns from all manner of creatures offended by the light that they were unaccustomed to. The sounds of distant running water echoed around the far walls and high ceilings of the cavernous space they stood within, the damp chill in the air only made worse by the pervasive feel of the Dark Side that lazily lapped at them, a slow current pulling the deeper into the network of caves and the continuous wreckage of the crashed, ancient ship. It was no wonder that the Sith hadn't found this place before, the darkness here was almost completely still, its mirror surface hiding a slow, enduring current that sank endlessly deep. Unless one stepped within, it was impossible to know that this river had no bottom.

Through it all, beyond the frightened nocturnal creatures that scurried away at the first sign of light, Obi-Wan could feel _something_ , could sometimes catch sight of movement just out of the corner of his eye that escaped the moment he turned to look, something that sent ripples across the Dark Side. Something was there, and whatever it was, it was following them.

"Kenobi, check this out," Kanan whispered, his voice echoing and carrying clear through the cavern and drawing the Sith Lord out of his daze, his attention shifting away from finding the unseen stalker and toward the Jedi that was cautiously exploring the ship's wreckage. When he reached Kanan's side, the Jedi held up his saber to illuminate one of the rusted, decaying sheets of thick steel, a blast door or a part of the hull, by the look of it. The blue light cast high up the metal wall and sunk into ordered indentations crossing diagonally up the sheet, sending shadows across the dull metal. Obi-Wan squinted, his sharp eyes accustomed to seeing in the dark, and was quickly able to make sense of the engraving. Writing, the letters in Galactic Basic, though the language was not.

"Nashuaga..." Obi-Wan slowly said, sounding out the foreign word written on the wall.

"Any idea what it means?"

"None at all, but I'll wager it's the name of our crashed freighter..." the Sith mumbled, producing a small datapad from a pouch on his belt and quickly recording an image of the wall to later show to K-2SO. The droid was terribly resourceful, and given a name, it was very likely that he would be able to find records of the ship through his back channels into the Imperial networks. For as old as the ship appeared, the state of decay indicative of hundreds, possibly thousands of years since its crash, it seemed likely that any record of the freighter wouldn't be behind any significant Imperial security. If they found nothing here on Voltik, it may be worth it to find out what _was_ here.

"How long do you suppose this ship has been here?" Kanan whispered, this time close enough to the Sith that his voice only stirred the air instead of carrying across the distance.

"That depends on a lot of factors, none of which I have any expertise in," Obi-Wan replied, his thrumming saber held before him as he slowly made his way across the cavern and toward the continuing cave network, the Jedi keeping close beside him as he followed the tug of the Dark Side, his glowing eyes slowly scanning the area in hopes of catching sight of the creature or creatures that followed them. "Were I to venture a guess, however, we are looking at a ship that has been here well over a thousand years."

"Because of how badly decayed the ship is?" Kanan asked, pointing to one of the jagged, fractured spines of metal protruding from the ground, blackened with mineral deposits and the decay of rust and the slow, creeping stain of subterranean vegetation.

"No..." Obi-Wan whispered, his eyes narrowing and his hand held out before him, a sharp, shrill screech echoing through the cavern as the shadows seemed to come alive, roiling and writhing with life as thousands of life forms scattered to deeper parts of the cave to be out of range of the predator in their midst. Slowly, a winged creature came into the light of the sabers, its clawed wings digging into the rock as its jerky motions saw it draw closer to the pair at the Sith's bidding.

It was large, much larger than Kanan had been expecting from the fluttering wings of the flying creatures they had been hearing rustling in the dark since they entered the caves. The spines of its wings were tipped in sharp claws. Long, flexible quills ran the length of its back, rising and hardening with each twitch of its lean, powerful muscles, all of it ending in a barbed tail that leaked thick, black ichor that dripped on to the stones it crawled upon. The spasmodic twitching of its sleek, black body as its every instinct tried to tear itself away from the predator before it revealed long, sharp fangs lining a wide mouth, its eyes a deep and glowing red that peeked through the clear film of a translucent eyelid. Kanan had never seen anything like it, but decided that the creature looked vaguely like a mynock if it were over triple the size and flew out of the deepest pits of the very worst of the Sith Hells.

"What _is_ that..." Kanan asked, leaning in toward the screeching creature, his hand extended before him to soothe the beast with the Force, only to have it begin to thrash violently under his gentle coaxing, and the Jedi swiftly withdrew.

"It very well may have once been a mynock, as you seem to believe," Obi-Wan whispered, kneeling down to get closer to the now fearfully whimpering beast, and Kanan followed his lead, frowning and looking at the Sith Lord after a moment of inspecting the creature.

"Kenobi, I didn't _say_ anything about mynocks...are you in my head again?"

"I'm always in your head, we have a Force bond, _Apprentice_..." the Sith dismissed with a casual wave of his hand. "The Dark Side is infused in the very stones around us. This place has been throughly corrupted, right down to the creatures within it. This creature may very well once have been a mynock, or a creature like it, only to have the Dark Side change it. The corruption here is...slow. Subtle. They're changing to suit their environment, and the Dark Side is influencing the change." He reached out and laid a hand on the beast's head, and the twitching creature fell still and silent, its chest rapidly expanding and contracting with swift, panicked breaths. "This is the result of...thousands of years of exposure to the Dark Side. This is evolution influenced by the Force."

"The Dark Side can do such a thing?" Kanan asked softly, and Obi-Wan slowly nodded.

"I've done it myself, though the results of my own experiments to alter life and corrupt it on a genetic level were not nearly so... _complete_ as this." Obi-Wan quickly looked at the Jedi when he felt Kanan recoil with revulsion, and scoffing, the Sith rolled his eyes. "Oh, _please_ , the changes I made were superficial at best. There was no evidence of corruption in their offspring. As far as genetic experiments go, it was a complete failure, you cannot corrupt a creature on a genetic level without _time_ , which I did not have. Which _these_ creatures clearly _did_ have..."

"The levels of your depravity never cease to amaze me..." Kanan muttered. "You experimented on _children_?"

"I really don't think holding me responsible for that is entirely fair," Kenobi said defensively. "I _was_ insane at the time."

"And you're not insane now?"

"Oh, _Kanan_ , my poor, sweet, beautiful idiot..." Obi-Wan drawled, patting the Jedi's cheek affectionately. "You have _no_ idea." He stood, slowly circling around the held creature, trembling in submission under the power of darkness that pressed down upon it. "We're being followed."

"...what, by that thing?" Kanan asked, pointing to the winged creature, and Obi-Wan slowly shook his head.

"No, by something else, have you not sensed it?" Kanan shook his head, and with a flick of his wrist, Obi-Wan released the creature, the beast scrambling awkwardly and screeching as it clawed its way into the air and took flight after the swarm of others into the depths of the caves. Gesturing for the Jedi to follow, Obi-Wan slowly followed the flying creature further in, the screeching of the swarm echoing deeper in and keeping far, far away from the slowly approaching pair. Slowly, the wreckage of the ship began to fade, overtaken by the natural rock formations of the caves, the dripping and trickling of subterranean streams echoing in the small, enclosed caverns. Keeping their lightsabers held before them, the Jedi and the Sith paid extra care to the darkness, to the ways the shadows moves, to every glint of light from luminescent insects as they ventured carefully through the air, the caves absent of their natural predators in the wake of the two intruders.

"Our first destination was the planet Athiss," Obi-Wan whispered, startling the Jedi beside him enough for the man to jump and reel around, his lightsaber pointed behind them. When Kanan realized how jumpy he was and how much the Sith was amused by it, he grumbled and turned his attention to his companion, a questioning look on his face that alerted Obi-Wan that he had been speaking out of context, that the Jedi was not in his mind the way he was always within the Jedi. "Quinlan and I. Our mission to Sith Space led us to visit Athiss, the location of an ancient Sith Temple and a tomb to the Sith Lord that reigned in the area."

"And that place reminds you of here?" Kanan asked softly, and Obi-Wan slowly nodded, his eyes closing as he reached out and felt the pull of the Dark Side, the current growing swifter, stronger the further in they went, his hand laying upon the cold, slick stone of the narrow passage, the feel of water and slippery, rotted algae beneath his fingers. Like the creatures that inhabited the caves here, the vegetation had been altered by the Dark Side's corrupting touch, the slick, black sludge between his fingers stinging and making his hand throb with the feel of venom in his blood. Toxic, perhaps, but not fatal to a creature of his size, though he only allowed it to set fire to his blood for a moment before he used the Force to clear his blood of the venom. Kanan, thankfully, was too nervous or too smart to do anything but keep his hands to himself.

"In many ways, yes..." Obi-Wan whispered. "The site of the ancient Sith, a temple infused with the Dark Side down to its very foundations..."

"Sounds like a dream..." Kanan said with a roll of his eyes, and Obi-Wan chuckled softly, a faint smile playing at the edge of his lips.

"Not at the time, of course, but I have always meant to return and explore more throughly, now that I am accustomed to the feel of darkness." He bit down on his lip, his eyes narrowing in concentration as he sifted through his memory. "More important was what we found there," the Sith Lord whispered, just barely audible over the thrum of the lightsabers. "Humans, or something very close to them. Beings altered by the Dark Side, made feral and monestrous, reduced to nothing more than beasts trapped in the dark of a Sith Temple."

"Like the creatures we found," Kanan said, a statement, not a question, and Obi-Wan quietly agreed. "...you believe the thing following us is sentient?"

"This freighter had a crew," Obi-Wan said slowly. "I can't help but wonder what happened to them."

"They could have died in the crash."

"They could have survived," the Sith whispered. "Trapped in a cave on a remote world with a _Sith holocron_. Such a thing alone would be enough to change a man. I can't imagine what the voice of Darth Nihilus could do."

"Provided that's what's actually here," Kanan cautioned, and the Sith nodded in agreement. "Could they even open it?"

"They wouldn't need to. It's presence should be enough to seduce a creature and slave a lesser being to it. Come on, Kanan, how do you think the Dark Side corrupts? It wouldn't do if there was nothing for the Dark Side to feed upon." Obi-Wan frowned, his eyes darting about a new cavern that they stepped inside. "Though...I confess, the things that have happened here are extreme, even with thousands of years for the corruption to take hold. Were the holocron to be opened, perhaps, but if not..." He shook his head. "Even if someone happened to stumble upon it and been Force sensitive enough to open it, I'm not certain a holocron could do this."

"Maybe what you're sensing isn't a holocron."

"...I'm beginning to think that may be the case. Keep your guard up, Kanan, there's something dangerous here."

They were silent after that, the two men drawing closer together as they pressed deeper into the caves, the light from their sabers seeming to have less effect on the area around them than when they began. The darkness was oppressive, almost as though not even light could penetrate the veil, as if the shadows were somehow offended by the clear blue blades that tried to cut through. Beside him, Obi-Wan could feel Kanan shudder, the Jedi sucking in a hard breath as his hands tightened around his saber. The Jedi's very presence was unwittingly pulling the Dark Side to him, the swirling currents drawn toward the offending light that broke up the stillness of the perfect dark around him, the sharp claws of the Dark Side raking against his defenses in an attempt to break through and douse it.

Through the chill in the air, Obi-Wan could almost hear the faint, sweet whispers of the Dark Side, the seductive, coaxing voice that urged submission in exchange for pleasure and power, the same addictive deal that he himself had taken so long ago. He had been so susceptible, so easy to seduce, so willing to embrace the cold when he had felt so alone among the Jedi, but Kanan was stronger, and though he trembled under the weight, he did not break. His spirit was stronger than a young Padawan Kenobi's had been, more secure in who he was, more at peace with his place, already accustomed to the pleasure that the Dark Side was offering, though he craved it from no place than where he already had it.

With a growl of irritation, Obi-Wan stepped out of hiding, his concealed presence in the Force shattering to reveal exactly what he was, and demanded that the Dark Side recognize him and obey. The currents of the Force immediately shifted in response, the swift river diverting to flow quickly toward the nexus, circling around him like a cyclone and drawing the attention of the beasts that had been stalking them. It was slow at first, a cascade of soft, almost curious growls coming from the points of pale and yellow light that suddenly filled the darkness, hundreds of eyes belonging to whatever it was that kept to the shadows. The sudden shift in the Dark Side that they instinctively felt seemed to keep them wary and away, the calm waters instantly disrupted and more frighteningly, controlled by this newcomer.

Slowly, one became brave enough, curious enough to creep forward, the creature's skin a pale, nearly translucent gray, its eyes wide and tinted with the touch of the Dark Side, its mouth filled with sharp, jagged teeth. It was hopelessly thin, revealing a skeletal structure that was identical to humans or a species very near human, though from the way it moved, sniffed at the air, trembled with instinctual anticipation as it drew closer to the predator made it seem as though it was only barely sentient. By the time it was in the full light of the lightsabers, it was crawling with its belly scraping the ground, the growls becoming soft panting from its state of high anxiety, its eyes averted, though it's small, flat nose twitched as it sniffed the air, it's muscles trembling under thin skin in fear, though it was hopelessly drawn forward toward the powerful command of the Sith.

"Is that like the creature you saw on your mission with Master Vos?" Kanan whispered beside him, his eyes darting around the cavern as dozens of more just like it slowly crept into the light, hissing in pain as the comfort of the darkness was parted by the sabers.

"Just like it..." Obi-Wan replied, his attention leaving the creatures and looking further back into the darker shadows of the cavern. "Do not fear them, Kanan. I could control them then, at least for a time, and I can certainly control them now."

"I'm not afraid..." Kanan muttered almost defensively. "Do you suppose this is what happened to the ship's crew? Trapped here and transformed by the Dark Side into...that?"

"The ship's crew, smugglers, pirates, travelers, anyone who ventured into these caves, yes..." the Sith Lord drawled, taking a slow step forward to venture further back into the caves, the creatures screeching and scurrying to clear the way for the predator among them. "Whatever is here is strong enough to seduce them to stay."

"And it changed them into that," Kanan finished. "So...are they dangerous? Are you certain you can control them? Are they what's been following us?"

"Forget about them," Obi-Wan swiftly commanded. "These creatures are nothing, beasts of minimal intelligence, so negligible that their presence is swallowed by the Dark Side. No, what's been following us is something different and something _far_ more dangerous, strong enough to influence the current of the Dark Side here."

"...you can feel it."

"I can," Kenobi nodded in agreement, the lightsaber on his belt flying to his hand and igniting as he put the other one away, the light of blue replaced with the sinister glow of red. "And whatever it is, _now_ we have its attention..."

Kanan felt it before he saw it, the Force that swirled around Obi-Wan suddenly wrenched away, the current struggling to break free of its pull as an unseen power fought with the Sith for control. The damp cold in the air froze deeper, an arctic chill permeating right through clothing and skin and muscle straight to the bones, and Kanan crept closer to Obi-Wan, his teeth chattering as he sought the warmth of another body, though proximity to the Sith only made the chill worse. Despite the struggle, Obi-Wan seemed almost... _delighted_ , the golden eyes blazing with fury and amusement and sinister glee, a challenge that he so rarely faced, something new and interesting to a man that had already seen so much.

The storm hit a crescendo, the roaring of the Force causing the wind to whip around them, casting stones and water and detritus swirling into the air around them, the Sith Lord finally regaining the upper hand when he suddenly faltered, the amusement in his eyes turning to confusion, his arrogant smirk fading into disbelief. Whatever it was that had disturbed Kenobi had yet to be seen by Kanan, the Sith's sharp eyes more accustomed to darkness and shadows than the Jedi's, but it didn't take long for the light of the sabers to cast an eerie glow on what slowly emerged from the darkness. A thin figure in black almost seemed to be made out of the shadows that surrounded him, the red and blue of the plasma reflected off a white, skull-like mask, blood red lines painted above empty eyes and a silver, ornamental line running from the hollow nose to the crest of the mask.

"Darth Nihilus..." Obi-Wan muttered, his voice breathless, awestruck, and his hand nearly dropped the saber he held, his eyes wide and searching as he looked upon a figure that should have been long dead.

" _Nihilus_?!" Kanan gasped, raising his saber and swiftly taking the other from Obi-Wan's belt and striking it on, the twin blue blades thrumming in his hands. "You told me Nihilus was dead! Is _that_ what was causing all of this?! A kriffing _undead Sith Lord_?!"

"No..." Obi-Wan muttered quietly, distant for a moment before he snarled, shaking his head and refocusing, his saber raised once again and drawing the Darksaber from the back of his belt. " _No_ ," he snapped, strong and commanding once again, and Kanan could feel the Sith Lord grab hold of the darkness and pull _hard_ , the figure before them stopping with the sudden fury of the Sith. "Not Darth Nihilus. His _mask_."

"His _mask_ did all of this?!" Kanan gasped his eyes never leaving the ghostly visage before them, his lightsabers held out and ready not toward the man, but out toward the creatures that snarled and hissed at the edge of the cyclone that surrounded them.

"His mask, _all_ of it!" Obi-Wan said excitedly, the glow of his eyes intensifying as they seemed to catch fire. "That mask is a Sith artifact, an object imbued with the power of the Dark Side!"

"Kriffing hell, who _is_ this guy?!" Kanan asked, swallowing hard as he swiped his saber across the air to keep the snarling creatures at bay, many of them looking rabid as they foamed at the mouth and snapped the air with jagged teeth that dripped saliva on to the ground.

"A _pretender_ ," Obi-Wan hissed, taking a step forward and running the Dark saber along the length of his red blade, the hissing sound of the clashing blades echoing off the cavern walls and showering the air before him with sparks. "Unworthy, _filthy_ creature, unfit to even _touch_ such a thing!" For just a moment, the storm around them calmed, the winds dying down as the masked man held out his hands, and a moment later, a deep, savage growl echoed through the cavern, grating and chilling, its cadence dissonant and unnerving, and Kanan cringed, would have covered his ears were his sabers not keeping the feral former humans at bay. But the Sith Lord beside him simply _smiled_ , a sigh of satisfaction on his lips as the sabers lowered. It was language, and Kenobi knew it.

"I was wrong, that creature isn't like the others. They are barely sentient, but _that_ just spoke _Sith_ ," he muttered in awe, and Kanan shot him an almost frantic glare.

"What, so you have a new friend now? Not so sure he's going to just come with us."

"Don't be stupid, Kanan, he needs to die, but this is _fascinating_..." Obi-Wan muttered, taking a step forward and breathing deep the sudden swell of the Dark Side as the masked man drew up, responding to the Sith's movement with clear threat. "Klazje, tu yunoks asilas. Kam status'isar tu'aveti tave maskuoti'iv Urvaz Nihilus?" _Listen, you little shit, by what right do you wear the mask of Darth Nihilus_?

"Nuyak maskuoti," the man hissed, deep and guttural, the Force once again rising to whip that the Jedi and the Sith, though the wind failed to touch them, the two standing in the eye of the storm created by the calm Sith Lord. "Nu'zin tave midwan kia'vykti zhol." _My mask. Because I had the power to take it_.

" _Power_..." Obi-Wan scoffed with a roll of his eyes. "Tu'zenoti nenx'kam midwan kash." _You know not what power is_.

There was a moment of building tension between the two as the Sith and the creature stared each other down, the snarling beasts hissing and sputtering and pacing, but never drawing closer, as if they were waiting for a command to fight or to flee. Kanan stood still, his breathing deep and even, reaching out for the Force despite the cold and found his current of warmth, temperate and soothing and always available to him no matter how cold it became if only he just reached out for it. For just a moment, all was still.

It broke with the crackle of static and the acidic, burning smell of electricity as blue lightning flared around Kenobi's hands, his sabers held loosely between his thumbs and forefingers as the arching blue plasma shot from his fingertips, stray energized bolts traveling down the length of his sabers and branching off to strike at water and debris in the air and any of the creatures unlucky enough to draw too close. The hissing electricity missed its target when the masked man slid underneath the crackling bolts and shot out of the way before it could connect, a savage, commanding howl sending the feral creatures into a frenzy and with a sharp point of his finger toward the Jedi and the Sith, the beasts attacked.

They came like a swarm, a thousand minds moving as one and obeying a single command, a gray wave rushing toward the Jedi and the Sith in a mindless frenzy for blood and the pressing, overwhelming need to follow the order they were given. The first wave stopped only when they rushed headlong into the Force, a violent shove outward by the combined efforts of Jedi and Sith sending them crashing backwards into their fellows behind them, their thin, lanky limbs hopelessly tangling together as they snarled and bit and fought each other as they tried to right themselves. They were swiftly crushed by those that came behind them, climbing over the heap of bodies and careless of the damage their scrambling did to the thin, fallen bodies beneath their feet. Again, the Force slammed into them, pressing the fallen back further and sending more skidding to the ground, only to have more vault over the bodies and rush toward them.

With the Jedi and the Sith occupied keeping the swarm off of them, the masked man rushed forward, the beasts parting to make way for him, though the man stayed out of range of the glowing, dangerous weapons. With his hand extended before him, he reached out with the Force, his fingers splayed for just a moment before his fist clenched, and with a strangled gasp, Kanan staggered, nearly dropped his weapons before Kenobi stepped before him, his eyes blazing and his face contorted with fury as he threw another volley at the swift masked man. The momentary respite was enough for Kanan to recover, and he brought up his sabers in a wide arch, slicing upwards at one of the beasts that pounced at the engaged Obi-Wan, the blue blade severing the creature in half, the pieces falling to the ground with a wet, heavy thud.

"I thought you could control these beasts!" Kanan growled through clenched teeth, his blades spinning and slicing through another creature and another one still as they continued to attack.

"Turns out they already serve a Master," Obi-Wan said, his voice level and even despite the battle around him, his eyes following the creature as he dodged lightning, rushed with ease through the gray ocean of clambering bodies, moved impossibly fast with the aid of the Dark Side which refused to leave him despite the presence of a Sith Master. It was almost as if the Force bent around him, his shielding perfect, his instincts correct for every move, almost as though the creature somehow had years of training and the knowledge to stand beside the Sith as an apprentice. He was, without question, more powerful than the Inquisitors that the Empire employed, but the matter of where this being got his training was a mystery the Obi-Wan _very_ much wanted solved.

His sabers spinning in his hands, Obi-Wan powered the weapons off and returned them to his belt and reached out for the Force, felt the life teeming around them, uncontrolled and furious and violent. With Kanan moving expertly around the Sith Lord to cover him his sabers slashing at creatures as they pounced and using the Force to slam the tide back when he had the chance, Obi-Wan had the opportunity to focus his attention, grab the Dark Side flowing through the tainted creatures, and sent his cold, focused rage through them. The swiftly moving creatures came to a dead stop as they dropped to the ground, the air around them echoing with high pitched, agonized screeches as a hundred gray bodies writhed in pain and suffering, leaving the masked creature standing alone and looking at his fallen thrall.

Panic and fear and desperation ripped through the Force as the man tried in vain to hold the Sith Lord, his own power simply not enough now that his opponents' full attention was focused on him. When the beasts on the ground were no longer debilitated under the wrath of the Sith, they swiftly scrambled for the shadows to hide, pained whimpers and screeching continuing to echo off the walls. A few managed to overcome their base instincts and their fear of the pain that the newcomer could inflict, throwing themselves nervously at the pair, only to have the touch of Kanan's saber scare them off

With no allies and the Force shifting as the Sith Lord exerted his command over the Dark Side, Kanan and Kenobi moved toward the masked man, circling around to make certain he would have no way to escape further into the caves. As they swiftly moved forward, Kanan saw a brief flash of blue light, his saber reflected in the smooth, polished sheen of a long, dagger the masked man pulled from the loose, ill-fitting cloth he wore, and before either of them could move, he brought the sharp knife across his own arm, a strangled, pained howl echoing throughout the cavern that sent both Kanan and Obi-Wan sliding backwards with the sudden surge of the Dark Side. The swell of pain and fear and anger fueled the masked man's power, the sudden flare making him stronger and far, far more dangerous than before, a deep, hollow laugh sounding not in the air around them, but inside Kanan's head.

It had to end, and one look at Obi-Wan told Kanan everything he needed to know. Golden eyes narrowed in concentration disappeared like a mirage as the Sith Lord silently melted into the shadows. With a deep, guttural shout, both to draw the attention of the target and to help dispel his own mounting anxiety, Kanan rushed at the masked man, his sabers spinning around his hands and slicing through the air. Though the knife he held tightly in his hand was nothing next to the glowing plasma blades of his opponents, the masked man was far from unarmed, despite wielding no lightsaber of his own. No Force sensitive was ever truly unarmed, and the masked man expertly dodged and evaded Kanan's swings, almost as though he could sense the blades, like the Force itself served as a shield to protect him.

Still, Kanan was relentless, each swing coming closer and closer despite the raging in the Force and the wicked flashing of the long, sharp knife in the wiry man's hand cutting closer and closer to him with each movement. When the tip of his lightsaber finally slipped past the man's guard and grazed the man's side, a sharp, vicious howl was ripped from his opponent, savage and horrifying and filled with pain and hate and power as the Dark Side lashed out. The dagger flashed outwards, slicing up toward Kanan's arm and narrowly missing a fatal slice across the Jedi's neck, and at the last moment, the masked man violently twisted sideways, the sharp weapon slicing across Kanan's armored shoulder, leaving a deep gouge in the hard metal and causing blood to leak freely from the small slice on the Jedi's chest where the tip of the knife had managed to catch flesh.

The moment of grim satisfaction at the thick, metallic smell of blood lasted for only a moment before the masked man realized his mistake, and though he tried his best to swiftly withdraw from the Jedi's already long reach, he was too slow to evade the Jedi's twin sabers as one arched upwards, knocking th man off-balance just enough for the second blade to descend neatly across his wrist, severing his hand and disarming him of his knife. That split moment of sudden shock was enough time for Kanan to kick the knife away from the man's reach and quickly spin out of the way of the retaliatory blast of the Force, the pain and rage enough to see the masked man's power spike to dangerous levels.

Before he could make a move toward the Jedi, strong hands fell upon his shoulder, fingers digging hard into flesh as his legs suddenly buckled when a foot stomped into the back of his knees. Pain exploded behind his eyes as his knees struck the ground, the hard, uncompromising grip on his shoulder moving to grab hold of a shock of black hair at the back of his head, and the masked man was forced to look up into the cruel, blazing eyes of the Sith Lord he had let out of his sight, left forgotten to the shadows only now to emerge. His hand tightening around the man's hair, Obi-Wan pulled back hard, his knee pressing into the man's back and forcing his thin chest to arch outwards as he raked his hand across the howling man's face, his fingers catching the mask at the edge of its hollow sockets, his fingers digging beneath into the now screaming man's eyes.

With a deep, shuddering breath of satisfaction and triumph, Obi-Wan tore the mask from the man's face, the screaming, writhing creature left to be discarded upon the floor as shaking hands covered his now empty eyes and the pale, raw skin of his face that had been hidden beneath the mask for who knows how long. Obi-Wan held the mask in his hand, his eyes running over every feature, every detail, taking in how the Dark Side rolled off the artifact in waves, making it seem as though it was a living, breathing thing, the Force within it pulsing in time with each rapid beat of the Sith Lord's heart. It was beautiful, _powerful_ , frightening and awe-inspiring in a way that he couldn't describe, and Obi-Wan felt almost unworthy to even be in the presence of such a thing. That feeling was quickly replaced with disgust when he thought of how many of these filthy creatures had their hands upon such a thing, the mask of one of the greatest, most powerful, most _terrifying_ Sith Lord of all time. It was... _pitiful_ , almost, to think that this was what was left of Darth Nihilus, Lord of Hunger. A mask in a cave, lost and forgotten and in the hands of savage, feral beasts who knew not what they touched.

For all of Sidious' mighty collection of Sith artifacts, there wasn't _anything_ in his possession that could compare to that which Obi-Wan now held in his hands.

"Kenobi..." Kanan said, his hushed voice carrying easily in the silence, and Obi-Wan was drawn out of his thoughts to look at the Jedi as he stood over the now maskless man. "Kenobi, he...isn't Force sensitive," Kanan muttered in disbelief, and with a frown, Obi-Wan made his way to stand beside the Jedi, frowning as he looked down upon the writhing creature. He was right. This wretched beast had no connection to the Force.

"Impossible..." Obi-Wan muttered under his breath, his gaze drifting down to look at the mask in his hands, his thumbs running along the edge and feeling the way the Force pulled at him, and he slowly understood what had happened. "The mask gave him abilities he did not possess. Wearing it gave him a bridge to the Force he otherwise lacked."

"...is that even possible?"

"I see no other explanation for the powers he possessed, nor for his understanding of the Sith language," Obi-Wan slowly replied. "The power inherent in the mask must have given him knowledge far beyond his reach" Nodding slowly and accepting the explanation as one as good as any he was likely to receive, Kanan spun Kenobi's blue saber in his hand and slid it into the suffering creature's chest, the body going limp as his suffering was ended. Switching the blade off, he handed it back to Obi-Wan, the Sith Lord absently taking it from him and returning it to his belt, his attention quickly drifting back to the mask in his hands.

"So...it's not a holocron," Kanan said, pointing to the bone white, eerie creation Obi-Wan held. "You can't learn from that, so what are you going to do with that?"

"In the right hands, Kanan Jarrus, _quite_ a bit of information may be gleaned from such a thing..." Obi-Wan muttered, gingerly running his fingers over the mask. "In this matter, I fear you are inferior to Quinlan."

" _Well_ , sorry to disappoint, _Master_ ," Kanan said with a roll of his eyes.

"Well, I've yet to find anyone who is equal to Quinlan Vos..." Obi-Wan said softly, a faint smile on his lips. "But in this matter, I have someone who's close enough, provided I can bring myself to allow it..." With a heavy Sigh, Obi-Wan held the mask protectively to his chest. "Come. I find that I have had enough of this wretched cave. Let's get out of here."

With a silent nod, the Jedi and the Sith Lord slowly made their way toward the surface, the cave silent in a way it hadn't been when they had descended, like the life within could feel the shift in the Force, the quiet buzz of corruption deep in their minds silenced, and for the first time in an eternity, they were allowed to rest.


	44. The Muunilinst Heist

**AN:** **Guys, I didn't MEEEEEEAAAAN for this chapter to get so long! I'm sorry!**

 **But I'm not sorry.**

 **If you haven't noticed, we've entered the part of Rebels Season 2 I like to call "The Episodes That Happen Between The Stuff We Care About." AKA, the Filler Episodes. Some great character development, but not much in terms of plot. So this week, we're tackling the episode Blood Sisters, a good episode for Sabine, a bad episode for the plot, and quite frankly, there's no way that Kenobi be putting up with that shit. He's got bigger things to worry about. Like Empire Day.**

 **Happy reading, my lovelies! Don't forget to let me know what you think, I sink a lot of time into this shit, and the chapters just seem to get longer. Sent love to your faithful writer, and go read my new thing, The Road Not Taken if you haven't already. I'm only two chapters in, but I'm really proud of what I've got so far, and others seem to really enjoy it.**

 _Chapter 44: The Muunilinst Heist_

"The _one time_ I actually want to be in the Senate!" Leia bemoaned, pacing back and forth before the couch where her brother and her father sat, the two men gleefully taking notes over a hologram of the _Shadow_ of all the modifications they were going to make to the transport during their weekend together. The seat on the other side of Obi-Wan was still warm, the cushions and pillows still bearing the imprint of Leia's body from where she had been sitting only moments before. "I usually can't _wait_ to get out of here!" Leia continued. "And the moment I leave, what happens?" She gestured to the projection of the holonet news upon the wall, as they always had playing on Empire Day. " _Bodies on Palpatine's throne in the Senate Building_!"

"They are _just_ bodies, sweetheart," Obi-Wan drawled drolly as he leaned back in the couch, his eyes flicking between the broadcast and his son as he excitedly took over the planning process. "If you want to see bodies, we'll go out and kill some fools after dinner tonight."

"It isn't the same!" Leia cried in exasperation, flicking her braid over her shoulder and standing with her arms crossed and her hip cocked, the posture she always assumed when she felt like conveying that she had an attitude, and she didn't care who knew. " _Nothing_ happens in that puppet government! I was supposed to be there with Bail today for the aid proposal. _I could have been there_! Inquisitors! _In pieces_! The only exciting thing to _ever_ happen in the Galactic Senate!"

"Oh, I don't know about _that_..." Obi-Wan drawled, his finger lazily writing beside one of Luke's notes, not a correction, but an addition that the boy quickly began to incorporate into the rest of the design. "I never saw anything exciting during my time observing the Senate, but I bet it was _exhilarating_ to be there the night the Republic died."

"Well I wasn't there, _father_ ," Leia said with a roll of her eyes, her foot tapping rapidly on the ground. "All I get is a bunch of vapid idiots fighting over their place in line to have a chance to suck on the Emperor's...Sith Hells, are they _interviewing Bail_?!"

All three stopped what they were doing to look at the projection, the Prince of Alderaan explaining in horrified, disgusted tones to the reporter the scene that had greeted the Senators when they arrived at the building during the Empire Day festivities to begin the long parade of speeches from the members of the delegation. How the Emperor himself had been with them, had looked upon the scene shocked - _shocked_! - at what was before him, his face expressionless, the man mute as he simply _stared_ , then turned and quietly walked away. He had yet to be made available for further comment, but Bail had assured the reporter that the Emperor was grieving the loss of such fine Imperial agents.

"Bail Organa does some _fine_ work, I will give him that..." Obi-Wan muttered when the cameras cut away from him and back to the reporter, leaning back in the couch and yawning. "I wonder if dear old Sidious ever regrets crawling out of bed on Empire Day. I bet he does."

"And I could have _been there_!" Leia bemoaned once again. "You knew, Father, you could have picked me up late!"

"And have me miss my daughter's birthday?!" Obi-Wan asked with mock offense. "I think not! Besides, Luke would be lonely."

"I would," the boy quietly agreed, a small smile on his face as his restless sister's irritation only grew.

"You aren't being helpful, _Luke_!" Leia snapped, her hands planted firmly on her hips as she glared at her brother, who was very pointedly not looking at her. "We talked about this! You're bored too, you want to help with the rebellion!"

"We've discussed this, Leia..." Obi-Wan said softly, his voice low and dangerous, but Leia ignored the warning in her father's voice and pushed forward.

"Why even give us ships if you didn't want us fighting!? Father, instead of just picking me up, you could have brought Luke and I with you to kill those Inquisitors and leave the bodies!" Leia cried, pleading and almost desperate as she stepped closer to the Sith Lord. Kenobi looked unimpressed.

"You wanted me to bring you and your brother into the heart of the Empire, _right under_ Sidious' nose so you could leave body parts for him to find?" The Sith scoffed and sent the girl a disparaging glare that withered the teenager. "You and your brother are the galaxy's greatest secret and I am not going to risk your discovery to indulge your need for pointless danger." Obi-Wan scoffed softly, his hands resting behind his head as he leaned back against the sofa, keenly aware that Luke's eyes were on him as well, though the boy was trying hard to make sure that his father didn't notice.

"We are old enough to fight!" Leia said and Obi-Wan groaned and slowly rose to his feet. It was an argument they had before, and one that was becoming more frequent as they grew older. "Father, even Luke is getting bored out in that stupid desert!" The teenager in question quickly looked up, his eyes wide and nervously glancing between his sister and his father, and he hunched down over his work, trying to make himself as small as possible as he thought of a way to please them both.

"Father said we will fight when we're ready," Luke ventured timidly, wincing when Leia scoffed and glared at him. "Don't get me wrong, I _do_ want to fight. And we will. When the time is right."

"And when is _that_?!" the girl snapped, reeling on her father and storming up to him, her fury only growing when she looked up into his cold, composed face. "We are _seventeen_ , Father! At our age, you were fighting a war on Mandalore!"

"A war where I spent most of my time running and hiding, as my Master commanded," Obi-Wan said, his voice even and emotionless, almost flat as he spoke, and Luke shrank back when he felt the Force snap cold, his eyes quickly drifting to his sister who didn't seem to care.

"Well _we_ are ready," Leia snarled. " _I_ am ready! Maybe Luke doesn't have the balls to disobey you, but I will fight you for it!" She drew her lightsaber, the blue blade thrumming in the air as she took a step away from the Sith, her muscles tense with nerves and excitement and impatience.

"You don't have the right to draw your blade against me, _girl_ ," the Sith Lord hissed, low and dangerous, and the boldness left Leia like a punch in the gut when she realized that she was no longer dealing with her father, but with Darth Lumis. Pushing the man to get what she wanted was a balancing act, one she usually did quite well, but today, she had pressed the man too far. "Only when you are Sith will I ever accept that you raise your saber against me, and only then, it had _better_ be with the intention of slaying me."

"Father, I-"

"Do you fancy yourself ready to be _Sith_ , Leia?" Obi-Wan whispered, but for how the girl started trembling, he may as well have shouted. "You think you are ready to be my apprentice? _Good_. Come then, girl, it is the duty of every Sith Apprentice to kill their Master, so _do it_ ," he snarled, taking a step closer, the tip of the blue blade in the girl's grasp floating mere inches above the Sith's heart. "Kill me, Leia. Steel your heart and _do it_."

For a long moment, neither of them moved, the blade in her hand wavering as she shook, drawing so close to the Sith's chest that a thin tendril of smoke rose as the plasma singed the Sith's robes. Even Luke remained still, his eyes locked on the two Dark Siders and too afraid to move, lest the slightest shift in the Force, the smallest movement might make the jumpy girl accidentally slay their father. It was Leia who moved first, the girl taking a swift, shuddering gasp of breath as the saber hissed, the weapon switching off, and she let go of it like it was burning, the elegant hilt dropping to the ground and the trembling girl taking a step backwards, her eyes wide and wet with tears.

"I'm sorry..." she whispered, holding herself together only until Obi-Wan wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, and she came undone, grasping tightly to the Sith's black robes and sobbing against his chest. "I'm _so_ sorry, Father..."

"You are passionate, eager and powerful," Obi-Wan whispered. "Like your mother." He tilted the girl's chin up, his golden eyes squinting as he looked her over. "...like Skywalker once was." Both twins froze, their breaths held as they focused on the Sith Lord. He _rarely_ spoke about their biological father as anything other than the monster he had become. There was evil in the galaxy, real and tangible in the form of the Emperor and his enforcers, and while they knew this to be true, they also knew that sometimes, the predators and the beasts that the Dark Side created were once men. It was just difficult to imagine that Darth Vader had once been Anakin Skywalker, a Jedi Knight and a good man.

"I-I don't want to be like him..." Leia whispered, and with a small, sad smile, Obi-Wan gently kissed the girl's cheek.

"You wish to be Sith, Leia. He is Sith."

" _You_ are Sith!" she snapped. "I want to be like _you_ , not him!"

"I understand that, but you cannot deny the truth that is your family," Obi-Wan growled softly. "You walk a fine line, my daughter. I know what it is to embrace the Dark Side, I know how it is to fall, and I am trying to _help you_. Reaching too far too fast can destroy you, as it destroyed Anakin Skywalker, and you and I have this argument more and more frequently. It is impulsive, and it is _reckless_ , which is exactly how it was that Skywalker came to lose to me on Mustafar. It's how he came to lose _everything_ , including his wife and his children." He sighed heavily, his hand running through his hair as he looked at the crestfallen girl. "Leia..." he said, much more gently than before, "I know I cannot hold you back forever. Just...a little while longer. _Please_..."

"Father..." Luke said, gently inserting himself into the conversation, the quiet, reserved boy projecting what calm he could. "We're not saying we want to fight on our own. We want to fight with _you_. Like you said we could."

"I haven't forgotten..." Obi-Wan, said, swiftly pulling on Leia's braid. "As I promised you _last time_ , every time I have you, we will be doing work against the Empire, but your dear sister lacks _patience_."

"You are a _fine one_ to be lecturing me about patience, Father!" the girl snapped, but Luke swiftly clapped his hand over her mouth and held the squirming girl tightly against him.

"Are we going today, Father?!" Luke asked excitedly. "Are we going to be working with Phoenix Squadron? The Spectres?! _Your Jedi friend_?!"

"I'm afraid not," Obi-Wan drawled, smirking when Leia finally wrestled herself away from her brother and kicked him in the shin in retaliation. "The Spectres are on another mission for Ahsoka. Delivering a courier with secret information to one of their bases. Or something."

"Can't we help with that?" Luke asked, smiling brightly at the Sith when the golden eyes regarded him skeptically. "Father, Kanan Jarrus is a _Jedi_! I want to get to know him, he could teach me so much!"

"You already have the best teachers available to you, Luke," Obi-Wan said with a roll of his eyes. "You have _me_ , for starters, and you have been under the instruction of Ahsoka, a Jedi _Grandmaster,_ and a _Force spirit_ since you were old enough to know what the Force was. You cannot _have_ better instruction than that."

"...but _Kanan_ -"

" _Kanan Jarrus_ ," Obi-Wan stressed, "was a _Padawan_. A student. He was younger than you when the Jedi were slaughtered, and he has only recently recommitted himself to his training. With _me_ , by the way."

"I just...I feel I have so much I can learn from him," Luke said softly. "Like...like he's going to be a vital part of what the Jedi will be in the future."

"...you aren't wrong about that," Obi-Wan said with a sigh. "I'd love for us all to fight together, but now...isn't a good time for it. Too many people are watching the Spectres. The Inquisitors, Sidious, _Thrawn_...when I deal with them, when that Chiss isn't hunting me any longer, we'll see."

"...alright." Luke said with a smile, the boy clasping his hands and rocking back on his heels. "So if we aren't helping the Spectres, what _are_ we doing? Hunting Inquisitors? Looking for Jedi and Sith artifacts?"

"Speaking of..." Leia said, a sly smirk on her face as she looked at the Sith. "That _thing_ you found..."

"It's a mission for the rebellion, actually," Obi-Wan said quickly, ignoring the now indignant Leia, a swift wave of his hand shutting off the holonews broadcast. "Rebellions are expensive. We're in need of credits. I'm the best one for the job."

"...we're going to do _mercenary_ work?" Leia asked in a bored, disaffected drawl, and the Sith rolled his eyes.

" _No_ , don't be daft. We're going to rob a bank." Both twins stood up straight, their eyes wide and their breath held with excitement, scarcely able to believe what they just heard.

"Now _that_ is more like it!" Leia finally said, all her previous anger gone, the mysterious Sith artifact her father had mentioned in passing to her days before completely forgotten. Luke was more uncertain.

"Father, I don't know if being part of a heist is the best way to stay hidden..." the boy mumbled. "That's going to attract an awful lot of attention, isn't it?"

"On any day but today," Obi-Wan said, a sly, devious smirk on his lips. "You will stay by me, follow my every instruction, and we will pass unnoticed through the Empire Day festivities."

"...the bodies of the Inquisitors wasn't the only thing you had planned for Empire Day, was it?" Leia asked, and Obi-Wan flashed the pair a bright smile.

"My children, it's your _birthday_. You should be a part of the festivities."

* * *

"Come on, Kenobi!" Sabine said over the com, the Mandalorian clearly unhappy with the Sith's stubborn refusal to give her what she wanted. Obi-Wan had been arguing with a teenage girl for the majority of the day. He wasn't about to take shit from the Wren. He _never_ took shit from the Wrens. "She's an old friend, I was a bounty hunter with her before I joined the _Ghost_!"

"And if she was worth my time, she would have joined the rebellion with you," Obi-Wan said with a roll of his eyes.

"It wasn't _that_ simple, Kenobi, she left me for dead."

"Then she's _really_ not worth my time," Obi-Wan growled, glaring at the image of Sabine while Luke and Leia laughed in the background, fully armored and ready for the mission. "Honestly, I don't understand why you didn't kill her on sight if you left on those terms. What is _wrong_ with you Mandalorians..."

"Uh, what's wrong with _us_?! _You're_ our King!" Sabine sighed, turning her helmet over in her hands. "Come on, Kenobi, she ran from the Empire with me when I left Mandalore. She wants to meet you, she doesn't believe me when I say the Shadow King exists. How can you expect your Mandalorians to rally behind you if they don't believe you're real?"

"Everyone _knows_ I'm real, she's an idiot if she thinks otherwise," Obi-Wan mumbled. "How did you even run into this... _thing_."

"Ketsu Onyo," Sabine said with a roll of her eyes, her hand running through her blue dyed hair as she bit her lower lip. "She...intercepted our mission, actually. Black Sun sent her to-"

" _Black Sun_?!" Obi-Wan shouted, his hands tightly clenched into fists and the twins dropping to their knees behind him, too afraid to even breathe as arching blue electricity surrounded his arms and licked at the black and gold armor he wore, the simpler set he used when he needed to go unnoticed, when he wasn't the Shadow King. The touch of blood red sank into the brightly glowing gold of his eyes, and with a bitter, angry sneer, the Sith Lord spit on the ground. "That _creature_ is not Mandalorian if she is with Black Sun! Black Sun helped _destroy_ Mandalore, they aided in burning my Satine's Empire to the ground! Without them, my Duchess and my son would _still be alive_!"

"...I-I'm sorry..." Sabine whispered, her eyes wide and suddenly aware of her mistake as pieces she was missing were found and fell into place. She knew Mandalore burned, or course, she knew it was at the behest of the man called Maul and his Shadow Collective. Beyond that...it was all stories and rumors, none of with she had dared discuss with the Sith before. Black Sun was involved in the fall of Mandalore, but it seemed irrelevant when their own Mand'alor served the Empire that repressed her people. "I mean, I _heard_ that Black Sun was involved, but-"

"I wonder what possessed those idiots to be foolish enough to start up again..." the Sith Lord mused. "It would seem that my extermination of their filthy organization was not complete. I shall have to correct that mistake..." His eyes shot up to Sabine, the girl refusing to meet the furious gaze. "Sabine Wren, that _creature_ you call friend is _dar'manda_. As a true Mandalorian, it is your duty to execute this stain upon the galaxy. Your King commands it."

"Obi-Wan, _please_ ," Sabine said desperately. "We were alone in the galaxy, we were running from the Empire! You know what that's like! And for two girls on our own...we couldn't make it, nowhere was safe! The only way for us to survive was to try and join one of the crime families. If Ketsu hadn't gotten greedy and left me for dead, we'd _both_ be Black Sun!"

"Then that was the best thing she ever did for you..." Obi-Was said brightly, his tone light and friendly, but the grin on his face and the fire in his eyes screamed of cruelty. "For breaking away with you, for driving you away from Black Sun _scum_ , for sending you into the arms of the Spectres and by extension, to me, she has my sincerest gratitude." The smile dropped off his face, his expression blank and so cold it sent a shiver up Sabine's spine. "Kill her, Sabine. If you don't, _I will_. A swift death is the greatest kindness I can extend to dar'manda filth."

"I won't kill her, Obi-Wan," Sabine snapped, her tone disrespectful and leaving no room for argument. "You can't make me do it, and I won't allow you to either! I've never taken orders from anyone, and you're no different, not when the thing you ask me to do it _wrong_."

"The fact the Black Sun was reformed without my knowledge shows how distracted I've been," Obi-Wan growled. "Between Thrawn, the Empire, the Visions, the Inquisitors, _Sidious_ , the work for the rebellion, my... _other_ business..." he said, his eyes drifting back to the twins, the two children whispering to the protective Cody. "I _will_ destroy Black Sun, Sabine. All of them. If your friend is among them when I come to call, she will die as well."

"I'll be sure she isn't," Sabine said, putting her helmet back on her head. "There's something better she can be doing. I'll make her see it."

"See that you do. Make her understand what it means to stand with the Black Sun. They name themselves after a star and I'll make them burn like one." He cut the com, his hand slamming far harder than intended on the console, his jaw clenched so tightly he could feel a headache begin to pulse in his temples and his eyes begin to burn as the Dark Side slowly reached within him, its sharp claws sinking deep within him as it tried to coax him to give in and surrender to its will. He had half a mind to do it, to allow the ashes and embers to kick up within him to stoke the flames that had long since burned out, to turn the ship away from his destination and bring the twins with him on his murder spree. They wished for action, and before him lay the _perfect_ opportunity to bathe his children in blood...

"Brother," Cody said gently, and the Sith Lord reeled around, fury and fire and darkness blazing in eyes stained red, but the calm, unafraid face of the soldier quickly soothed him, familiarity allowing him to hiss and silently throw chains around the Dark Side that reached for control. "Black Sun isn't going anywhere. Focus on the task at hand. We'll deal with them soon enough."

"Was burning their planet not enough?" Obi-Wan hissed, and the clone simply shrugged.

"Black Sun used to mean something. An infestation is difficult to root out when the place where the pests are nesting is rotten to the core." Cody laid his hand on Kenobi's tense shoulder, the black armor immaculately cared for and the gold trimming shining brightly under the ship's lighting. "It will take more than one scorching to destroy them all. But we will. For Mandalore."

"Ni partayli, gar darasuum, Satine. Ni Kelir haa'taylir gar ru'gra'tuar." Obi-Wan took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and forced the Dark Side to yield, the snarling beast only putting up a meager resistance before submitting ti the will of the Sith and crawling back to lay coiled up inside him. "The way I see it, the Black Sun could only have evaded my notice if Jabba is keeping silent about them. No doubt he knows, he had his hands involved in every criminal enterprise in the galaxy. I'd have thought he'd be glad to do away with a rival, but that slug has always been ambitious and is likely keeping his options open. If he means to betray me, I'd like to know about it."

"I'll look into it while you're out," Cody promised quietly, handing the Sith his helmet and quickly nodding to the twins. "Be safe. Call me if things don't go as planned."

"Oh, _please_ ," Obi-Wan said with a roll of his eyes. "When do things _ever_ not go according to plan?"

"Before you go saying shit like that, you Sith bastard, remember that we're in the heart of one of the most important arms of the Empire, and you're taking the _kriffing twins_ with you."

"I got it, _dad_ , don't worry, we'll be safe," Obi-Wan said with a roll of his eyes as he pushed Luke and Leia toward the waiting, open port to the _Shadow_. "Come on, kids, we have a heist to pull off." Leia ran excitedly on to the ship, with Obi-Wan following behind at a relaxed, easy stroll, but Luke stayed behind, hesitating for a moment before he ran to the clone and stood rocking on his heels before him.

"Don't worry, Cody," Luke said with a soft, easy smile. "I'll be sure Father doesn't do anything reckless."

"You're a blessing, Luke," Cody sighed, giving the teenager a quick pat on the shoulder. "I believe your Father always needs to keep a Jedi around to temper him. He's unchecked otherwise, and he so easily loses himself in the dark."

"I'll strive to someday be that man," Luke whispered gratefully, bowing to the clone as he backed toward the _Shadow_. "In the meantime, I hope being his son is good enough."

"That has _always_ been good enough, boy," Cody said, quickly saluting the retreating young Jedi. "Try to have fun out there." Flashing Cody a bright smile, Luke turned and ran on to the ship, the door closing behind him and the airlock hissing as it sealed. It only took a minute to walk to the cockpit, but by the time he got there, the _Shadow_ was already cutting through space away from the _Umbra_ toward a planet far in the distance, a hazy gray world that somehow felt out of place and wrong. The Sith Lord sat silently in the pilot's seat, swiftly making adjustments to their flight path and running the necessary post-flight checks. Leia hung on his seat, looking over the man's shoulder as he worked. In the copilot's seat sat K-2SO, the droid plugged into the ship's central computer and silent, it's visual receptors flickering as he uploaded the Imperial security protocols into the identifiers and navigation.

"Have you ever been to Muunilinst?" Obi-Wan asked, the question aimed mostly at Leia, and the young princess shook her head. "It used to be beautiful here," he muttered softly. "Wealthy. The Muuns took great pride in their world. Forests and plains and mountains with skies said to be the most beautiful in the entire galaxy..." Obi-Wan sighed wistfully, his eyes fixed on the planet as he flew them near. "I was there several times during the Clone Wars, it was a vital world to the Separatists, and as one of its leaders, I found myself there often on business. There were volcanoes there rising out of the oceans that continuously spewed precious metals from deep in the core of the planet. The wealth was _endless_ , and the Muuns went to great lengths to care for their world."

"Was and were..." Luke said softly, unable to shake the feeling of wrongness as he stared at the planet. "All past tense."

"Their capital city was ravaged during the Clone War," Obi-Wan whispered. "And when the Empire took over, they mined this world's wealth until there was nothing left. The Muuns may still run the Intergalactic Banks, but they are far from loyal Imperials. They are greedy and self-serving because they _know_ the galaxy needs them to keep the economy from collapsing. Beyond that..." Obi-Wan shrugged. "They're a proud people, children, and while their leaders continue to do business with the Empire, the _people_ did not take well to the rape of the home world they took such pride in."

"Sounds like a world ripe for rebel sympathies," Leia said softly, leaning toward the viewport to look at the planet.

"That has yet to be seen..." Obi-Wan muttered. "The Muuns are too greedy to be trusted, but it is not an avenue I want to discount. They are close to the Empire, and they like playing both sides. It could be a way to get good intel on the Empire. I'll get Ahsoka on it."

"So, who exactly are we stealing from?" Luke asked, and a slow, pleased smirk spread across the Sith Lord's face.

"We will be seizing the entirety of the wealth belonging to Damask Holdings," he whispered, the twins leaning in to hear him better. "Back when I served as apprentice to Darth Sidious, he set up an account for me with the company. It has been dissolved, of course, but the accounts still remain. He owned and operated it from the shadows, but it once belonged to _his_ Master, Darth Plagueis." Kenobi smirked. "A _Muun_. Go figure."

"Hold it, we're stealing from _Darth Sidious_?!" Luke gasped, his eyes wide as he stared at his maliciously grinning sister and father. "Like, _directly_ from him?!"

"It's just his personal accounts, Luke, he doesn't even need it since the wealth of the Empire is his," Obi-Wan said, his fingers flying over the console, priming the Imperial entry codes that K2 provided when he could see Star Destroyers slowly materialize in the distance. "No, this is a personal slight more than anything. An _insult_. And besides, he owes me. Months of visions of him standing over me, sleepless nights dreaming of my defeat at his hands...I feel I'm owed at least _some_ compensation for this shit, especially if it's going to come to pass..."

" _Don't_..." Luke snapped, his pulse suddenly jumping as he gripped his father's arm. "D-don't... _say_ those things, Father, it's going to be fine. You'll find your way out of it. I know you will." Luke smacked Leia lightly on the arm. "Tell him, sister."

"You're taking steps to counter it, aren't you?" Leia asked softly, her hand resting on the Sith's shoulder. "That's why you went and got that Sith artifact you were telling me about, right?" When her father was silent, she slowly threaded her fingers through his hair. "You never said _what_ it was."

"I have been called Darth Nihilus reborn..." the Sith whispered, his eyes fixed out the viewport as the Imperial ships slowly came into view. "They are wrong, of course. I possess a similar power, but I lack the hunger that once defined him. But it left me with a... _fascination_ , I suppose. I possess a power I only barely understand and I yearn to learn more. I thought going to the Lord of Hunger himself would be the best place to start."

"Oh, _oh_!" Leia gasped excitedly, flicking her braid over her shoulder. "You found his holocron, right Father?! Please, _tell me you found it_!"

"No..." Obi-Wan said, still and impassive and distant as he felt the Force, his focus on the ships outside, looking for any sign of the _Chimera_ and the engravings she possessed on her hull. "I found his mask."

"Oh, good," Luke said with a slight, knowing nod. "You can look _really_ scary now."

"Shut up, Luke..." Leia said breathlessly, her eyes wide as she looked at her father, the Sith Lord refusing to look back at her. "...Father, if Darth Nihilus created a holocron, I can use that mask to find it! Any of the deeds he did, the powers he commanded, I can find _all of it_!"

"I know," Obi-Wan said, finally taking his eyes away from the ships and looking at the girl, gently taking her hand in his own. "But I do not know what looking into the history of such a thing will do to you. I am... _reluctant_ to use you in such a way."

"Father..." Leia admonished, wedging herself between the Sith and the console and casually flicking the autopilot on, the droid in the copilot's seat looking at her for a moment before he slowly assumed the controls. "It could _save you_. There's knowledge there that could give you the edge over Sidious, why are you hesitating!?"

"Because when forced to weight my life against yours, Leia, there is no contest!" Obi-Wan shouted, a deep, menacing growl in his chest as he took her hands in his, the tension in the Sith Lord palpable in the air, and Luke laid his hands on his father's shoulders, the touch of the Force running through his fingers and laying his head against the man's strong chest. With a shivering sigh, Obi-Wan pulled the twins into a tight embrace. "You two," he whispered between them, "are worth more than my life has ever been worth. I will not put you at risk at my expense. Not now. Not _ever_. If I must die so that you may be safe, so be it, but I will not endanger you or use you so that I may glean an advantage."

They were silent for a long while, none of the members of the small family moving as the Star Destroyers hailed them, K-2SO respectfully dealing with the Imperial commander and transferring the necessary codes for their authentication and clearance, and after a moment, they were given permission to pass. For just a moment, it was still in the Force, all three hearts beating as one with each other, their chests rising and falling at the same slow pace, the same bittersweet strain running through them and making their chests ache with love and longing and loss, and not one of them could bring themselves to let go.

"What will you do with the mask?" Leia asked softly, and with a sigh, Obi-Wan released the twins, his hands mindlessly drifting over the console as he assumed manual control from K2 and brought them down into Muunilinst's atmosphere.

"I'll see what I can glean from it myself," the Sith Lord muttered. "I've worn it, and it's..." He paused, his eyes flicking upwards as he thought for a moment. "It's _seductive_. Compelling. It makes me feel like I'm drowning." He took a deep breath, his eyes closed as he ran his hand over his face, imagining the burning feel of Nihilus' mask upon his flushed skin. "It _speaks_ to me. Not like it would for you, Leia, but by the time Darth Nihilus wore this mask, he _was_ the mask. He didn't have a physical form, his spirit was bound to the mask and armor he wore. He may be long gone, but a piece of his spirit is bound to the artifact." Obi-Wan sighed deeply, his hands covering his eyes. "It compels me to destroy myself for greater power, just as Nihilus' hunger did to him."

"Sith Hells, Father..." Luke gasped. "C-can you resist it?"

"Yes..." Obi-Wan whispered. "It is not easy, but I can."

"No wonder you want to keep me away from it..." Leia muttered. "Can you learn anything from it?"

"Perhaps..." he muttered. "I've reason to believe that wearing it may give a person without the gift the ability to touch the Force. The cave where I found it, it was being worn by a creature altered by the Dark Side, and he wielded the Force like a Sith Apprentice. Such a creature has no cause to have powers like that. The mask taught him, I am certain, and if a barely sentient cave dweller could learn from it, a Sith Master certainly can."

"If that fails, Father..." Leia said softly, and Obi-Wan stopped her with a quick squeeze of her hand.

"I know, Leia. If I find a way to make it safe for you, I won't hesitate to tell you. I promise."

* * *

"Father," Luke said sweetly, drawing closer to the Sith Lord. "You said we were going to the bank." He gestured wildly at the building before them. "You said _nothing_ about a fortress!"

"Come now, Luke..." Leia teasingly reprimanded, her finger tapping against the side of his helmet. "This is the financial center of the Galactic Empire! What did you think this was going to be? A little shack like the one at the Oasis with a single safe and the cute girl working the counter?"

" _No_..." Luke hissed, smacking the chortling girl's hand away. "I'm just saying-"

"She's _never_ going to give you the time of day, you know," Leia chirped, and though the helmet concealed his face, she knew her brother was flushed with anger.

" _Shut up_! She will so! I just...it's just never a good time to talk to her, alright?!"

"Focus, children..." Obi-Wan said quietly. "We came here to make a withdrawal, not discuss your brother's inability to talk to the opposite sex."

"Sith Hells, Father, I talk to girls _all the time_!"

" _When_?" Leia asked with a harsh laugh. "And honestly, brother, you're wasting time. _I'm_ not afraid of the bank, Father..." the girl drawled, running her hand down the Sith's arm. "Do we need a distraction?" she whispered, eying the armed Imperial guards at the entrance. "That guard over there is _really_ cute, if you need me to get his attention, I'm _sure_ I can hold it..."

"He's not your type, Sister..." Luke drawled, moving toward the girl and tapping her on her shoulder. "He's too upstanding for you, it was my understanding you only like scoundrels and ruffians..."

"Oh, _please_!" Leia said with a roll of her eyes. "I like a bad boy, it's true, and these days, there is _nobody_ more bad than the soldiers of our great and glorious Empire..."

"I don't know..." Luke said skeptically. "Imperial are upstanding, law abiding citizens! They throw the sort of men you like into prison. And look! He's not even drunk yet because he's _working_."

" _Children_..." Obi-Wan said tightly, his fist clenching at his side, and the twins fell silent and still, their hands slowing coming up to pull at their collars to help relieve the tightness in their throats. "I asked you to focus. I meant it. When we get inside, you are to be silent while I conduct my business, and watch carefully so that you might _learn_. Am I understood?" The twins nodded swiftly, sucking in sharp breaths of air as they were released, and sticking close to their father's side, the walked up the steps and entered the building.

As Luke had observed, the Banking Clan's headquarters was more fortress than building, an enormous creation of air tight security, blast doors ready to be slammed shut and sealed at a moment's notice in complete lock down, and an entire battalion of the Empire's finest, most dangerous soldiers in the form of the imposing, black armored Death Troopers. Despite Leia's earlier ease, as they followed their guide through the bank past lines of Death Troopers and heavy doors that were ready to seal closed at a moment's notice, the girl drew closer to her father, her heart racing with fear as she understood that they walked into a trap that could slam closed at the slightest provocation. The threat of being discovered, her identity revealed, the disastrous implications it would have for Bail Organa and Alderaan hit her hard, and though she hid it well, the Force trembled with her fear.

They followed a Muun guide, a tall, pale, sniveling pathetic creature through the halls in silence, the presence of the Empire's fearsome Mandalorian warriors making the usually talkative guide hold his tongue for fear of biting it in his trembling. They didn't wear the armor of Mandalore's Death Watch, the most fearsome, deadly warriors the galaxy had to offer, but all of them wore armor trimmed in gold, worn only by those who held positions of high esteem beside the ruthless Moff Bo-Katan. It was enough to force the Muun into silence, the trembling alien leading the way through the bank as quickly as he could so that he may be rid of the intimidating trio.

The room they were led to was long and rectangular, the far wall lined with counters behind which a hundred tellers stood in secure booths where they conducted their business with long lines of distinguished looking clientele. Heavily armed guards lined the walls and patrolled the area, though the tellers behind the counter appeared to be more nervous of the Imperials than the people milling about in the lobby or standing patiently in line. Obi-Wan slipped into the end of the line, long but swiftly moving, and he allowed his eyes to drift around the room, observing the people, the guards, the tellers, the locations of the security cameras, the multiple doors behind the counter that led out of the room. Important business with important people within the Empire were brought elsewhere to private rooms where meetings with bank officials took place, which was where transactions like the one Obi-Wan was going to make typically ended up. For the heist to work, he was counting on it.

When it was his turn, the twins drew closer to him as he strode up to the available teller, a stutter in his step when he saw the girl behind the counter, young and beautiful with long, blond hair and light green eyes, and the twins groaned when Obi-Wan's gait shifted to an arrogant swagger, the Sith leaning against the counter and drawing as close to the teller as the divide allowed.

"Hello there..." the Sith Lord drawled, his voice smooth and inviting, and the pale woman couldn't keep the flush from her face.

"G-good evening, sir," she lightly stammered. "Happy Empire Day."

"And to you as well, my sweet thing," Kenobi drawled. "Long live our glorious Empire." He tapped his finger on the counter. "My comrades and I are going out celebrating. We're in need of funds for that."

"Well, you've come to the right place," the woman said, absently twirling her hair around her finger, and Luke groaned, cut off quickly by a swift elbow to the ribs from Leia. The woman didn't seem to notice, which the twins found _highly_ unusual, and they both stopped and paid rapt attention. They couldn't feel their father move the Force, but that didn't mean he wasn't exerting influence over the woman. "If I may have your account codes, we can get started."

"Actually, I was hoping you could help me with that matter..." Obi-Wan said, leaning in and laying his hand flat on the counter. "I'm the sole proprietor of Damask Holdings. I was hoping that you may look up my company's accounts and give me access that way."

"Um..." the woman said uncomfortably, setting to work on bringing the information up, and she frowned, eying the Mandalorians cautiously. "I...have the business account right here, sir, but I need your codes to allow you access."

"Mm, you're mistaken," the Sith Lord said, his fingers rhythmically tapping on the counter. "I don't need the codes. Override it." The woman smiled at him, a distant thing that felt slightly off, made only more odd by the vacant expression in her eyes.

"Of course, sir. One moment." The woman silently worked for a moment, her fingers moving swiftly over the small console before her, and the twins leaned around their father to look at the enthralled woman. They saw the results of his influence on the woman, knew exactly when it happened, but they didn't feel the Force move at all to make it happen. It was of particular interest to Leia, who had been struggling to make her own powerful influence a mild suggestion instead of a strong command. "What can I help you with, Magister?" the woman asked sweetly, and the Sith Lord reached out over the counter and lightly grabbed her chin between his thumb and forefinger.

"I need a summery of the accounts," the Sith said, his voice still smooth and even, flat in affect and devoid of emotion, and the twins leaned in, paying rapt attention to the Force, not sensing the usual pull of influence, but the slightest ripple across the otherwise calm waters. The waters became still a moment later, the ripples not traveling far and proving to be short lived, an imperceptible thing unless a Force sensitive was very close and paying attention.

"Sir, Damask Holdings is no longer classified as a business account, but a personal one, dissolved over forty years ago," she said, her eyes squinting as she looked at the readout. "Your balance sits at nine hundred million credits."

"Oh, is that it?" the Sith Lord asked, disappointment in his voice that made the woman appear desperately unhappy, the willingness to please the man pulsing strong within her. "It's senseless to keep such a paltry amount in the bank," he said smoothly, his fingers drumming slowly against the counter again. "Withdraw it all and close the accounts."

"Sir..." she said softly, fidgeting uncomfortably. "We can absolutely do as you wish, but because of the sum, I'm afraid you're going to have to come with me to sign papers with the bank administrators to confirm the transfer of funds and the closing of the account."

"Lead the way, my dear," the Sith drawled, releasing the girl's chin and walking the length of the counter toward a vaulted door at the other end of the room. "Son, contact K2," Obi-Wan said softly. "There's a private dock at the top of the bank, have him bring the ship there. He has all the appropriate codes." Nodding swiftly, Luke slowed his pace, his hand to his helmet as he activated the comlink and did as he was told, and with her brother hanging back, Leia drew closer to the Sith Lord.

"I could hardly feel you touch the Force," she whispered, her modulator switched off and her voice muffled under the helmet. "How did you do it? She's not unintelligent or weak-willed."

"I've been playing with people's minds for a long time," he whispered in return. "Time, practice, experience and mastery. Like all things, the longer you work to perfect a skill, the better you will become."

"K2 is on the way," Luke said as he jogged back up to rejoin the pair, their eyes on the teller as she made her way toward them, her pace suddenly slowing and confusion on her face for just a moment before Obi-Wan's fingers wriggled at his side, his piercing gaze focused on her. With a sharp intake of breath, the woman sped up again, her hand laying on the bioscan of the door, and the heavy locks disengaged. Bowing slightly and beaconing for the Mandalorians to follow her, they disappeared through the door into the halls beyond.

The moment they were alone in the halls and walking deep into the depths of the bank, Obi-Wan gently grabbed hold of the back of the woman's neck, their pace slowing immediately as she softly groaned, her eyes fluttering as the Sith invaded her mind, establishing a tighter hold on her and slowly draining her will to bind it to his own. It was silent in the halls, save for the sound of their footfalls echoing off the ground and the distant, hushed discussions of businessmen and bankers in sequestered rooms. Like out in the lobby, guards stood vigil along the walls, but they went largely ignored, attracting only a few glances from troopers when the teller drew closer to the Sith Lord, the touches on her neck mistaken for affection when the woman eagerly leaned into his touch.

'I'm telling you, I _feel_ something..." a light, feminine voice hissed quietly from an adjoining room, and Obi-Wan slowed, turned his head as he passed by to look within the small security station to see a Death Trooper, his helmet on the desk and his dark hair ruffled as he stood, arms crossed and staring blankly at a pacing woman. The Sith swiftly released the woman's neck and placed his hand at her lower back, gently pushing her along and urging the twins to move faster. A few minutes later, and they had arrived in the meeting room, a file on the desk but otherwise empty, and when the door closed behind them, the Sith reached up and clenched his hand, the four security monitors sparking as they were shorted, and with a swift touch to the teller's forehead, the woman's body grew limp and she collapsed, Kenobi catching her and depositing her into a chair.

"Change of plans, children," the Sith said, quickly taking off his helmet and running his hand through his ruffled hair. "We get the money,and you two wait in the _Shadow_ with K2 and _protect_ it for...twenty minutes or so while you wait for me."

"Oh, _no_!" Luke gasped, his hands grasping the top of his helmet and staring in disbelief at his father. "Father, I promised Uncle Cody that you wouldn't do anything crazy! This is crazy!"

"There's an Inquisitor here," Obi-Wan hissed. "I can't pass up the opportunity."

"Father, that isn't fair!" Leia said indignantly. "I want to fight! If you're going to fight a kriffing Inquisitor, _I want to be there_!"

"Do you hear yourself?!" Obi-Wan hissed, his hand tightening around the girl's arm. "I brought you here for a _heist_. In and out like _ghosts_ , no fighting, no attention!"

"But you said-"

"Did I say _anything_ about fighting the Inquisitor?" he growled, thrusting his helmet back on to his head and touching the teller on the head as he sat beside her, the woman waking with a start and stared with vacant, hazy eyes at the documents that Obi-Wan was writing on. "I will be taking the Inquisitor. There will be no fight, not here. Not today. Not when you two are at risk."

With a heavy, defeated sigh, Leia grabbed a chair and dragged it to the wall where she petulantly plunked down into it. Luke took the seat beside his father, leaned over to look at the legal documents, which the Sith ignored, and the note that Kenobi was scratching out in his elegant scrawl. Luke reached over and laid his hand on his father's arm, the touch carrying the weight of his gratitude through the Force, and with a heavy, relaxed sigh, the Sith gently pat the boy on the back, pushing the documents closer to him so he could read them easier.

The door hissed open and a tall, gaunt Muun and a small, red-haired human stepped into the room, hands extended in greeting toward the Sith, but Obi-Wan did not rise, and before they had a chance to introduce themselves, the Sith Lord moved his hand through the air, the door closing and sealing behind the two bank officials.

"Have a seat, gentlemen," Kenobi said in a soft, almost gently voice, and the Muun and the human moved in an awkward, shuffling gait to the seats opposite him. He turned the documents around and pushed them toward the two men, his hands folded on the table as he waited for the men to finish going over it.

"Sir," the Muun said in a thin, wispy voice. "We are having trouble authenticating-"

"There is no trouble," Obi-Wan said evenly, his gaze fixed on the men opposite him, and the twins could feel the pressure in the room increase, the human groaning as his shoulders slumped and his head dropped to his chest. The Muun's breath hitched, his elongated fingers trembling as a violent shudder ran through him, a show of resistance before the tense muscles in his elongated head relaxed.

"There is no trouble..." the Muun repeated, and Obi-Wan passed the man the pen he was using.

"That's good to hear." He tapped the packets of paper. "I need you to sign these." Mindlessly, the two men flipped through the documents, signing on every line indicated. When they were done, the Muun handed the pen back to the Sith Lord, and Obi-Wan continued writing.

"Magister, the funds have officially been moved into a holding account, and Damask Holdings has been closed." The Muun flashed him a tight smile. "If you provide us with your credit chip, we can make the transfer immediately."

"Mm, no, that's not going to work for me," Obi-Wan drawled, laying down his pen and reading the letter over before he laid it neatly on top of the packet of documents and carefully lined up the edges. "I'm afraid I can only take payment in Imperial Credit ingots." He smirked slightly when their faces dropped, their jaws slack, and Obi-Wan closed his eyes to keep the men from seeing the brightly glowing gold of his eyes through his visor. "I'd like to hang on to this _very_ legal document until my ship is loaded with the full amount of my funds, if you don't mind," he drawled, laying his hand upon the packet of documents. The two men were still gaping, too stunned to object.

"S-sir..." the human gasped. "Even in our greatest denomination, that would be nearly two hundred thousand ingots! That's...an _absurd_ amount!"

" _Well_..." Obi-Wan drawled, his hands clasped together on the table as he leaned in toward them. "We better get some help carrying it all up to my ship, hmm?"

* * *

"This _sucks_!" Leia snapped, kicking one of the several crates packed full with thousands of golden Imperial Credits in the form of the small, flat, rectangular ingots, and when the heavy, metallic thud stopped ringing, she resumed her pacing. "Father is down there dealing with an _Inquisitor_ , and we have to stay here! _With the ship_! Like... _like children_ _with a droid babysitter_!"

"Perhaps if you didn't act like a child, the Master wouldn't feel the need have someone babysit you..." K-2SO droned. "It's just a thought, of course, but I'd love it if you took it to heart. My programming doesn't cover childcare. _That_ is HK-45's area of expertise, and I am _quite_ fond of his policy on the matter." The droid looked over his hunched shoulder from his place in the copilot's seat. "His policy, by the way, is incineration."

"K2, HK wouldn't burn us..." Luke muttered lazily, the boy sitting with his back against the bulkhead as he tended to Obi-Wan's armor, which the Sith Lord had quickly taken off and left behind before he returned to the bank cloaked in the shadows he walked in. "Being his Master's kids sort of gives us immunity from his rampages."

"...incineration from the _inside out_ , I'll have you know," the droid stressed, and Leia howled in frustration, flicking her braid over her shoulder.

"It isn't fair! He just...drops us off at the ship on a mission that _we're_ supposed to be part of!" She stood up tall, her head held up high and her fists firmly on her hips, defiant as she ever was. "If he's going to go running off and changing the plans, we should be a part of those changes!"

"We _are_ a part of those changes, Leia..." Luke sighed, neatly stacking the black and gold armor on one of the ship's storage shelves and placing the helmet beside it, the intricate golden inlays and designs seeming to glow against the jet black. "Our part in all of this is to watch the ship because there's nearly a _billion Imperial Credits onboard_!" Leia scoffed dismissively as she rolled her eyes and continued her furious pacing. "Leia..." Luke groaned, running his hand over his face as he watched his impatient sister. "You must understand that this job is important. If we were with father, not only would we be discovered, but we'd just slow him down. He doesn't want a fight, and it's easier to sneak around undetected in smaller numbers."

"... _but we should be with him_!" Luke groaned loudly, finally fed up with trying to reason with a madwoman, but Leia finally stopped pacing and sat on top of one of the crates. "You know things never go according to plan! There's going to be a fight, the bank will be locked down, he's going to attract all sorts of attention..."

"No he won't, you _know_ he won't..."

"He's going to need our help," Leia continued as if Luke hadn't even spoken. "He's in there with a thousand armed guards and an Inquisitor. _Half naked_."

"I'm personally offended that you think the Master needs you in this matter," K2 drawled, and Leia shot the droid a glare vicious enough to kill. "He's approaching the situation shirtless. This isn't a battle, or even a cause for concern, it's the set up for a bad pornography." The droid turned and faced the console, his fingers slowly tapping the buttons as he ran through the system checks, his lowered head making it appear as though his shoulders were hunched. "Which, by the way, I told him I was distinctly uncomfortable the last time he did something like this."

"See?" Luke said with a tight, uncomfortable smile. "Father's fine. We should just stay here and guard the credits, like we're supposed to."

"... _or_..." Leia said slyly, a devious grin on her face as she eyed her brother. "Father's in there drawing attention to himself probably! Which means... _maybe_ eyes won't be on _us_."

"...oh no..." Luke muttered, a pit dropping in his stomach and quickly rising to his feet to stand at the back hatch when Leia grabbed her helmet and put it on her head. "Leia, _no_! Do you remember the _last time_ we went out on our own? Father had to come save us and we were grounded for a _month_!"

"Oh, _please_ , Luke, we were twelve years old!" Leia scoffed, rolling her eyes as she started to walk past her brother, only to have the boy stand in her way. "This isn't the same thing! We aren't going into a battleground like before, it's a _bank_!"

"A _fortress bank_ , right in the heart of the Empire!" Luke cried. "Father has a plan, and that plan involves being _undetected_. Eyes aren't going to be on him, they're going to be _everywhere_!"

"Oh, _please_ , when have Father's plans _ever_ gone the way he envisioned?"

"Maybe they don't go the way he plans because people like _you_ mess them up!"

" _This_ is why Father likes me best," Leia said, her nose turned up in the air and looking as regal as any princess could. "Now, I'm going to rob one of the vaults. Are you coming or not?"

"You can't just... _rob a vault_ , Leia!" Luke said desperately, and his sister responded by laying a comforting hand on her brother's shoulder.

" _Luke_ , Father just walked out of here with almost a billion credits that he stole directly from the Emperor himself. How hard can it be?"

"Right, see, we haven't left yet, so we really haven't stolen _anything_..."

"Exactly!" Luke groaned loudly, his hand running over his face, and Leia casually draped her arm over his shoulder. "Come on, brother...think of how proud Father will be of us if we can increase our payload. All of it's going to help the rebellion, it's for an important cause! And if he can see what we can do on our own, he'd _have_ to let us help more often instead of being hidden away in the desert, or in some stuffy palace with supervision at every hour of the day." She took off her helmet and looked up at the boy with wide, pleading eyes. "Come on, Luke...it's what we've always wanted. Fighting beside father against the evil of the Empire..."

"...a-alright," Luke stammered, biting down on his lip and looking away from his sister so she couldn't see how excited he was by the prospect, his heart beating so fast he thought it may burst from his chest, and he quickly grabbed his helmet and thrust it on his head to hide his expressive face. He had never been so good as Leia at hiding how he felt. "B-but I'm just going because I promised Uncle Cody that things wouldn't get too crazy, and without me, there wouldn't be anyone to keep you in check."

"You are, as always, my favorite person, Luke," she said, patting her brother on his armored chest and putting her helmet back on. "Come on, K2, we're going to need your help."

"Oh no, absolutely not," the droid said swiftly, spinning in his chair and focusing his visual receptors on the twins. "Master said to stay here and guard the ship, and that is _exactly_ what we are going to do."

"Uh, _no_ , Father told _Luke_ and I to watch the credits," Leia drawled. "And we _are_ watching the credits!" She paused for a breath. "...that are in the vaults in the bank!" A loud, electronic groan emitted from K2's vocal modulator. "Oh, _stop that_ , Father wasn't being very specific! And if I remember correctly, he asked _you_ to watch _us_. So if you're going to do what Father asked, I _guess_ you're just going to have to come with us."

"Or, we could do the reasonable thing and do exactly as Master asked and stay _right here_ ," the droid said with a sigh, his head drooping when Luke and Leia opened the back hatch. "Do you even have a plan beyond, well, _Father_ made it look easy?"

"Of course I have a plan, K2..." Leia scoffed with a derisive roll of her eyes, and though the helmet concealed her face, her body language conveyed the sentiment well enough. "We just walked out of here with _crates_ of credits. All we need to do is find the bank administrators, thank them for their business, tell them we're still missing some, a little push with the Force and off we go to the vault! Easy!"

"You do realize that perhaps it isn't as easy as the Master makes it look, don't you?" K2 asked in a flat, expressionless tone, and Leia dismissed the idea with a wave of her hand.

"Oh, _please_ , I've been manipulating nobles at parties since I was a child!" Leia said with a light, easy laugh. "How hard can it possibly be to get a couple elevated accountants to show us to the vault?"

* * *

The Inquisitor paced restlessly through the halls of the bank, back and forth through the same halls, the same path she had been on for the past hour, occasionally making her way back to the security room to growl and hiss at the many monitors, looking for something, _anything_ to justify her paranoia, but she consistently turned up with nothing. She felt _something_ , something in the Force that she couldn't quite put her finger on, something unspeakable that she had no name for. The Force was calm, cold, still, far _too_ still, unnaturally so, the waters so unmoving they reflected like a mirror. That was strange enough, but meditating on it, drawing closer to the natural ebb and flow of the waters of the Force showed it to be frozen, the stillness a result of a crystal clear sheet of ice born from the snapping chill. It was calm, and it was peaceful, but it felt _wrong_ , like the stillness of the lake only served to hide a creature that swam just below the surface, the ice only serving to hide its movements.

Something was here. She _knew it_.

She entered the security room once again and tore her helmet off and violently cast it against the wall with a frustrated snarl, her blood red skin flushed darker in anger and her long, black patterned lekku squirming in agitation. She slammed her hands on the console, her yellow eyes darting over the monitors and looking for something, _anything_ at all. One room earlier turned up with a camera malfunction, leaving a time frame of approximately half an hour where the room was off the security grid before the problem had been identified and fixed. The Inquisitor was on it immediately, demanding to know who was in there, but nobody seemed to know, or care. The bank had been especially busy because of Empire Day, flooded with more highly respected and wealthy Imperials than any other time of the year, and employee apathy was at an all-time high since they were at work instead of taking part in the festivities.

Her demands to lock the bank down until she discovered the source of her agitation was met with scorn and dismissal, the Chief of Security insisting that such a closure was not only impossible, but would cause major problems with the media should they act so rashly on a mere hunch. It showed weakness when the Empire needed to be strong, and he insisted that the woman was being paranoid, jumping at shadows because of the grisly scene in the Senate that morning. The Inquisitor was _weak_ , he had said, afraid because three more of her rank had been slaughtered like animals by the Shadow King. He had reassured her that the annual display was over, that the Shadow King had his fun, and now it was back to business as usual. There would be no more attacks that day. Everything was _fine_. And he left her, leaving the woman to pace and snarl and hiss because of the incessant irritation scratching at her mind.

Something different pulled through the air, the Force rippling with movement, and her eyes shot to the monitors, her hand on the switch as she quickly flipped through the different views of the numerous hallways and rooms until she stopped on a camera displaying a view of the central vault, the reenforced, heavy door wide open, the hallway filled with soldiers aiding the bank's Chairman in pushing repulsor carts filled with gold out into the hall. Out of the vault came two Mandalorians, one in red and gold, the other in blue and gold, each holding a crate piled high with gold ingots and followed my an Imperial security droid. The scene itself wasn't unusual. She had seen them in the security footage at the vaults before loading up an obscene amount of credits, and a quick check through the bank's systems confirmed the transaction as legitimate. But something was off, something...not quite right about it. There was a third Mandalorian, a man in black and gold, and he was _missing_.

The gnawing irritation in her mind erupted into a frenzied clawing, a painful throbbing in her head as she watched the girl order the guards and the bank administrators accompanying her around like she was born to it. Again, a common enough thing when dealing with the wealthy, entitled assholes that frequented the bank's most secure areas, and that would have been the end of it had the Inquisitor not felt the distinctive, unmistakable pull of the Force pulse in time with each of her movements. This Mandalorian was _Force sensitive_. There was no mistaking it.

The Inquisitor turned quickly to run from the room and found herself faced with a splayed hand, the irritation in her mind exploding in pain as her vision lit up with fire and fear as she looked into the blazing, golden eyes of a Sith Lord. With a gasp of fear, she stumbled backwards in an attempt to put distance between herself and her sudden assailant, but she quickly found herself backed up against the security console with nowhere to go, forced to look in fear into the blazing eyes of the man she recognized as Darth Lumis.

"Oh, you are _beautiful..._ " Obi-Wan drawled, his arms boxing the woman against the console, the cruel smirk on his lips growing as she began to squirm under the worming feel of his presence clawing at her mind. "I was beginning to think all you Inquisitors were pale, _drab_ creatures, but you are a _sight_..." He smiled wolfishly, leaning in toward the woman, her hand placed firmly on his chest to push him away, only to have her fingers lightly drag down his body with a defeated groan.

"Y-you killed them..." she whispered, averting her eyes to look away from the Sith Lord, as she was taught to do with her own Sith Masters. "You killed my brothers and sisters today, the ones in the Senate..."

"I haven't killed _any_ Inquisitors today, my dear..." Obi-Wan softly admonished, his fingers touching her chin and forcing her to meet his eyes. "And I only killed them because they fought me. You aren't going to fight me, are you, dearest?"

"N-no..." she whispered, her eyes fluttering shut when the pain of resistance suddenly fled her mind with a rush of soothing pleasure, and before she could stop herself, she gratefully submitted herself to it, opening her mind to the Sith's touch and allowing fire and lust to cleanse herself of pain and fear.

"There's a good girl..." the Sith muttered, swiftly kissing her cheek and running a hand over her sensitive lekku as he released her and allowed the moaning Twi'lek to slide to the ground. Obi-Wan sat in one of the swiveling seats at the security desk and opened up the console, his hands rummaging through wires and circuit boards until he felt a smooth, thin, rectangular box. Whistling softly, he pulled the device up, his eyes drifting to the Inquisitor on the ground as she lazily fought against the commanding hands in her mind, but the struggle was half-hearted at best.

"Would it be easier to wipe today's security footage, or simply remove the device the surveillance is saved to?" he asked the Twi'lek, the woman obediently looking at him for only a moment before she shut her eyes tight and curled up, a vain attempt to hide the lust she felt that she knew was not her own. "Mm, you're right..." he said casually, disconnecting the thin device and taking hold of the wires. "It would be safest to do both. There's no telling if its saved to a backup somewhere! Let me short out the system real quick and we'll be on our way." He flashed a wolfish grin at the woman, her lekku twisting wildly and her jaw clenched tightly as she tried to block the soft, seductive whispers of the Dark Side echoing within her. "Give in to it, dear. You'll find me a more enjoyable Master than the half-men that own you now."

Smirking as he turned back to his work, Obi-Wan's eyes roved briefly over the monitors as he reached his hands inside the console and grabbed hold of the central processor, and stopped suddenly, his hands going slack and dropping what he held as he focused on one of the monitors. There, on the screen, were Luke and Leia, accompanied by K-2SO and a procession of Death Troopers, guards as bank personnel pushed carts filled with gold ingots and crates stacked high with credits through the halls. He couldn't understand what he was seeing, didn't understand if somehow the bank administration grew wise to his deception, if they had gone to the ship and detained his children and his droid and brought them along to return the credits to the vaults.

It took him a moment to banish the thought, to realize that these were not the same crates he had loaded on the ship, not even the same currency, as he had accepted only the small credit ingots, and these carts were stacked with the much larger gold ingot, no yet run through the treasury to be melted down for currency. No, these people were going _away_ from the vaults, and Luke and Leia were _leading them_.

The fear that had very nearly gripped him turned to swift and furious rage, the edge of his mouth twitching as his eyes began to burn, and when his gaze darted to look at the Inquisitor and found her _gone_ , his momentary shock enough for his hold on her to be released, allowing the Inquisitor to make her escape, the Lord of the Sith just about lost his mind.

The room erupted in a blaze of blue light as Force lightning lashed out from the Sith's body, the harsh crackling of electricity snapping through the air as sharp, arching bolts tore through the security room. The consoles cracked open and the monitors shattered as the electronics and wires and processors shorted out and melted together under the assault of the burning plasma, the loss of power to the entire building causing the heavy vaulted blast doors to slam shut all over the building, the bank effectively turned into the fortress that had so frightened Luke when they first arrived. When the lightning stopped, the Sith Lord stood still within the room, his breathing hard and heavy and his eyes blazing red in the dark, the area lit only by the dying sparks of broken electronics and the meager emergency lighting along the junction between the wall and the ceiling. The lock down was in effect, the Inquisitor our of his grasp, his perfectly executed plan of silent infiltration ruined in a flash of temper because of his disobedient teenagers.

When he got them out of this mess, they would be hopelessly, irreparably _grounded forever_.

* * *

They stopped when the lights went out, the Death Troopers and the additional security the bank provided all drawing their weapons and priming the charges, the unsettling, scrambled speech of the Troopers echoing in the dark hallway as the bank personnel and administrators drew closer to the carts they pushed to make it easier for the security to protect them. Luke and Leia drew their blasters as well, mostly to blend in with the others, though their free hands slowly drifted to the long pouch on their belts, the secure ammunition pouch where their lightsabers were concealed. They drew closer together, their hearts racing as fear ran cold and unrestrained through them, and in that moment, surrounded by twenty of the Empire's most ruthless soldiers, they silently wished that they had obeyed their father.

"What's happening?" Luke asked one of the administrators quietly when he touched his comlink, a frown on his face as he quickly put that away and looked at his datapad.

"I don't know," the Muun said quietly. "Communications are down, and the power is offline. The celebrations in the city may have overloaded the power grid. This lock down is a formality," he said in a thin, shaking voice, trying to sound authoritative and failing spectacularly. "Once the power is back on, it will be lifted. Don't worry."

"Are you _sure_ your payment was not received?" the human administrator asked, a confused frown on his face, and Leia quickly turned toward him, her hand splayed at her side as she grabbed hold of the Force, her control slipping in the face of her fear, and try as she might, she couldn't stop her racing heart.

" _I'm sure_..." she said, her attempts to keep her voice flat and even not entirely successful as the slightest tremble snuck its way in. It was enough to bring the man back under her sway, but only just barely, and before where he had easily submitted, now he struggled against the control and the confusion.

"I just...can't shake the feeling that I've done this before..." Before Leia could respond and tighten her grasp on the man, a long, low hiss echoed through the hall, followed by a loud, metallic crash and swift, light footsteps. The Death Troopers pointed their blasters toward the noise, and before they saw the cause of it, the end of the hallway was bathed in red light, and the twins felt their fear fade, the Force snapping cold with the untempered fury of their Father, and while they were in no hurry to face his wrath, they were happy to have them come to rescue them from a situation that was swiftly slipping out of their control. The fear returned to them quickly when it wasn't their father, but a red-skinned Twi'lek dressed in black with the angular helmet of the Inquisitors on her head, the blast shield up to expose furious yellow eyes. A second blade extended from the hilt of her saber, and she pointed the double sided weapon at the two Mandalorians.

" _Rebels_!" she shouted, her tone edged with a feral, savage growl, and at once, the Death Troopers turned their masked heads to look at Luke and Leia. " _Kill them_!"

Their lightsabers were in their hands and ignited just as the Death Troopers opened fire, the blades spinning rapidly to deflect the absolute wave of green plasma bolts that were shot at them, their attention continuously drawn to the Inquisitor that was quickly rushing toward them. They got a moment to regroup when K-2SO brought his heavy hands down upon one of the trooper's heads and stolen their blaster, the droid shooting rapidly at the assailants, but the twins reached out and grabbed hold of him with the Force and pulled him behind them when the frightening soldiers turned their weapons on him and peppered the droid with green fire. No shot was debilitating, but several holes had been burned into the droid's body, missing the central processors, but his movements had become jerky and disjointed.

Now with the droid to protect and the Inquisitor fast approaching, it became clear to the twins that there was no winning. The continuous fire from the slowly advancing Death Troopers kept them pinned down, unable to move at all from the wave that was coming toward them. They steeled themselves to engage the Inquisitor, but knew that the moment their sabers were engaged with the blazing red blade, they would be unguarded to the Death Trooper's fire, and it would be the end. They crouched down to make themselves smaller, their blades in continuous movement, and braced themselves as the Inquisitor vaulted over the carts and the Imperial soldiers, her yellow eyes blazing and her saber held high above her head as she readied herself to strike down at the Mandalorians.

Just before she struck down at Luke and Leia, the Twi'lek froze, her limbs twitching as she was held in the air, and she suddenly went flying backwards, slamming to the ground and skidding along the floor, the friction wearing holes in the tight black suit she wore and leaving her exposed red skin with long, raw lacerations. Her body came to a stop halfway down the hall, and the Death Troopers shifted their attention to the new threat in the room, the Sith Lord's bare chest rising and falling rapidly with barely contained rage, the gold of his eyes given way to glowing blood red and his arms surrounded with the arching blue of static that his clenched fists struggled to control.

Before any of the Death Troopers could open fire, the Sith Lord reached out, the Force slicing through the air in a vicious, cutting wind, and the Mandalorians rose into the air, the two teens pulled rapidly toward him to hang struggling in the air behind him, clutching at their throats as they fought to breathe. The momentary confusion as to why the supposed rebels were being attacked made the Troopers hesitate for just a moment, their fire held as the Inquisitor rose groaning to her feet, and with a flick of the Sith's hands, the Mandalorians were thrown hard against the ground, the two bodies laying still upon the ground.

After that, there was chaos.

The Sith didn't wait another moment to spring into action, his fury unleashed in a storm of sharp, cutting wind and arching, burning electricity, the Force pushing and pulling everyone before him and keeping them from working together to shoot their target down. The moment the Sith reached the line of soldiers, his red lightsaber and the darksaber flew to his hands, the blades slicing through limbs and necks and heads, screaming echoing through the hall and the stench of burning flesh and blood filling the air. Bodies flung against the walls split open in a shower of viscera, splattering the walls and the floor in blood and thick, crushed organs, the Sith Lord's purpose singular and clear. Everyone in the room needed to die. With the security systems down and no way to conduct surveillance in the halls, these were the only people who had seen his twins, had _seen_ the lightsabers in their hands, and there could be no witnesses. Not if he was going to keep them safe.

Death Troopers at the end of the hall managed to regroup long enough to begin a counter-offense, the air filling with green suppressing fire in an attempt to bring the Sith Lord down when the Inquisitor managed to rise and attack the fearsome man, the final attempt of a woman that knew she was going to die to try and kill her executioner. The Sith held her off with the darksaber, his red blade moving to deflect the fire from the Death Troopers, his divided attention allowing occasional shots to get through. Green plasma struck his arm, his leg, grazed his side, struck his shoulder, and not for a second did he even seem to register the pain, reacting only with violent, explosive anger when he grabbed the Twi'lek by the lekku as she spun to strike him and threw her into the line of troopers. Lightning arched from his fingertips, all his enemies lined up before him, and as they convulsed from the shock, he rushed forward, his slicing sabers bringing a swift end to the remainder of the Death Troopers.

With the smell of death and blood thick in the air, the Sith Lord closed his eyes and breathed deep, felt the death in the Force of the nearly thirty men he had killed, the small, frightened presence of his unconscious children, heard only the pained gasps of the defeated Inquisitor and the erratic sparking and the scrape of metal on metal as a damaged K-2SO limped toward him, the droid's head bowed in reticence. Obi-Wan arched an eyebrow at the droid when he stood before him and only managed an inquisitive, "Well?"

"...I fear I am a poor babysitter, Master," K2 said mournfully. "Your daughter is...difficult to argue with. She is willful, Master. And...persuasive."

"I ought to deactivate you for allowing that _child_ to countermand my direct orders," Obi-Wan hissed, his gaze quickly shooting to the Inquisitor as she began to rise and with a snarl of fury, he extended his hand and brutally entered her mind, the woman gasping and shuddering as she was violated and choked back a scream before she collapsed on the ground, her eyes hazy and blank and her face expressionless, and with a gesture, she wordlessly rose to stand behind the Sith, her head bowed subserviently. He looked down at himself and scowled when he saw he was splattered in blood and with a disgusted flick of his wrist, he gestured to the bodies that lay strewn across the carts and the floor.

"Clean up this mess," Obi-Wan commanded, turning away from the droid and quickly striding to the twins, the Twi'lek close on his heels. K2's visual receptors looked about the room, casually observing the blood and the bodies and the carts stacked with bloody gold.

"...all of it, Master?" the droid asked, and the Sith shot him a vicious glare as he scooped the unconscious twins in his arms.

"Yes, you mechanical idiot, _all of it_!" Obi-Wan snapped. "My _stupid children_ went through the trouble to empty a kriffing vault, and I will not have it be for nothing!" He menacingly stepped closer to the droid. "Put the bodies on the carts and take them to the ship. _Am I understood_."

"...perfectly, Master."

The droid immediately set to work, and when Obi-Wan saw how slow his movements were, how jerking and uneven his arms moved, how his feet dragged on the ground, the Sith Lord sighed, commanded the Twi'lek to put the bodies on the carts, and after gently laying Luke and Leia on one of the crates of credits, the Sith Lord quietly helped the droid in his task.

* * *

Luke and Leia awoke to the sound of a youthful voice over the com excitedly talking to a quietly amused Obi-Wan. They were back in the _Shadow_ , the two laid upon a long seat made into a make-shift bed and had been lovingly wrapped in blankets, warm despite the cold that rushed in through the open back hatch. They sat up and focused their bleary eyes to see their Father stripping the black armor off a dead Death Trooper, the body casually thrown out the open hatch before he moved to begin stripping the next one in a line of about ten. As he worked, bits and pieces of the armor were thrown into an open crate, already overflowing with the black Imperial armor. On a high shelf sat his comlink and a small holoprojector, a small blue image of a teenager gesticulating wildly as he spoke.

"We only barely got away!" the teenager said, running a hand through unkept hair and standing on his toes to look down at the Sith Lord. "So...what exactly are you doing?"

"Oh, you know..." Obi-Wan said lightly, wincing slightly as he put too much weight down on his wounded leg. "The usual." He threw the last of the armor into the crate and pushed the body out with his foot. "I got a gift for you. For your birthday."

"Y-you did?!" the teen asked excitedly, and Obi-Wan rolled his eyes.

"Or for Empire Day. Or whatever. Look, don't make a big deal out of nothing, Bridger!" Obi-Wan snapped, shaking an admonishing finger at the grinning teen. "I just _happened_ to be in the area and came across something you might like. _That's all_."

"Uh huh..." the boy said, a cocky grin on his face as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Sure, Kenobi."

"Sure yourself, brat, I'll shove it up your ass if you don't watch yourself." Obi-Wan glowered when the teenager laughed, and he snapped his fingers, pointing to the bodies on the ground, and the Twi'lek stirred from her place at the floor by the pilot's chair, crawling along the ground and coming to sit beside the bodies, the woman slowly undoing the straps to strip the armor from the Imperials. Obi-Wan turned his full attention to the hologram, the boy again standing on his toes and craning his neck to try and see what was happening at the Sith's feet. "Your mission was a success, then?"

"Oh, yeah!" Ezra said swiftly. "The courier delivered, with Fulcrum's thanks. We even got Sabine's friend to stop trying to kill us and help us fight the Empire. We do good work."

"That you do..." Obi-Wan said softly, looking over his shoulder when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye as Luke and Leia slowly sat up, groaning and rubbing their heads. "I need to go, Ezra, I'll see you in a few days."

"You bet!" the boy chirped, snapping to attention and saluting. "Empire Day! Long live our _glorious_ Empire!" Obi-Wan cut the com, a small smile on his lips as he sighed, and he cast his gaze over his shoulder, watching the twins as they slowly rose to their feet.

"I hope you know you are grounded forever..." Obi-Wan growled, and Luke and Leia bowed their heads and nodded, their eyes averted to the ground.

"Father..." Leia said softly, laying her hand on her brother's shoulder. "...it was Luke's idea."

" _What_?!" Luke gasped, pulling away from his sister and looking at her in disbelief. "Oh, that is _rich_! Of all the fools in this galaxy, not a single one of them would _ever_ believe that! You're supposed to be a better liar than that, Leia!"

" _Be silent_!" Obi-Wan hissed, the Force snapping frozen around them, and the twins quickly obeyed. "What were you thinking?! I gave you a _direct order_! Stay in the ship, watch the credits! _How hard is it to obey me?!_ "

"We are _not_ your servants, _Father_!" Leia shouted, bristling at the harshness of the Sith's tone. "We thought we could _help_! We thought we could do something to help the rebellion, _and we did_!" She gestured around her to the crates of gold and credits that were packed tightly against the wall and up toward the ceiling. "We _doubled_ the amount you secured all by ourselves, and if you had dealt with _that bitch_ ," she snarled, pointing to the Inquisitor on the ground, "like you said you would, we would have executed it _perfectly_!"

"Don't you _dare_ blame me for what happened, _girl_ ," Obi-Wan snarled, his hand squeezing together as he used the Force to close around Leia's throat, the girl dropping to her knees and clutching at her neck, the defiant look still in her eyes. "You wish to be Sith one day, which means you will be _my apprentice_ , and I will demand complete obedience from you, and I will expect nothing but until the _day you kill me_!"

"Father!" Luke said swiftly, standing between Obi-Wan and the coughing Leia. "We just want to help! You let..." He cleared his throat and gestured to the shelf where the holoprojector sat. "You let Ezra Bridger fight with you, and he's _exactly_ the same age as us! All we ever wanted was to fight beside you so we can all be safe, now more than ever since you're having those _visions_!"

"You and your sister are impulsive and reckless and clearly not ready!" Obi-Wan said firmly. "I expect this kind of defiant teenage idiocy from your sister, but from _you_ , Luke, I expect better."

"Father, _we hardly ever see you_!" Luke shouted, Obi-Wan and Leia both taken aback by the harsh tone that they had never heard from the mild mannered boy before. "Are you... _replacing_ us with Bridger, is that it?!"

"Don't be absurd! He-"

"He's our age!" Luke snapped, counting off on his fingers. "He's Force sensitive, though not as strong as us, he isn't as smart as us, he's also impulsive and reckless, and _still you let him fight beside you_!"

" _Ezra Bridger isn't my son_!" Obi-Wan shouted, his face flushing with anger, though the Force grew tense and trembling, not with anger, but with deep, wounded fear, the waters stained red from the open wound in their father that they knew always bled. "I don't think you appreciate how close I came to losing you two today! Do you have _any idea_ what I..." He ground his teeth together, his finger pointed menacingly at the two children. "I will _not_ endure the loss of another child! I-I _can't_..." With a frustrated growl, he shoved another body out of the ship with a swift kick and stormed into the cockpit, threw himself in the pilot's seat and turned toward the viewport. He swiftly smacked K2 upside the head when the droid looked at him. " _Get the kriffing bodies out of my ship_!"

With an electronic sigh, the droid rose from his seat and shuffled to the back, his leg periodically dragging against the floor as he shuffled to push the stripped bodies out of the ship. Guilt washed over the twins, the two of them laying apologetic hands on the damaged K-2SO as they passed by on the way to the cockpit. They silently stood behind the Sith Lord, watching him for a moment while they got the nerve to draw closer, and they slowly reached out, his muscles tensing when their fingers touched the scarred skin. The flash of anger passed quickly, his tense muscles relaxing as he slumped wearily in the seat, and Luke and Leia gently wrapped their arms around him, the both of them feeling their throats tighten with emotion when Obi-Wan tightly embraced them.

"I thought I lost you..." Obi-Wan whispered, clutching the twins tighter to him, and for just a moment, Luke and Leia thought they felt the dampness of tears on their father's cheeks. "And it was my fault. _I_ deviated from the mission by going after the Inquisitor, and if I had kept my wits about me, she wouldn't have escaped me, the lock down wouldn't have been activated, she wouldn't have found you, and you wouldn't have been in that mess..." He sighed heavily, his breath trembling slightly as he exhaled, and the twins clung to him tighter, their hands slowly touching the new blistering burns and charred indentations on his skin, the surrounding muscles tensing at the feel of the Force that they pushed to heal him. "Your plan...was a good one, and it could have been executed perfectly if it was part of the plan."

"I'm sorry, Father..." Leia whimpered, laying her head against his chest, silent, unwanted tears slipping down her cheek as she ran her fingers over the raw, burned skin on his side. "I just...w-we're seventeen years old, and I have always, _always_ hated being away from you."

"...I know, princess," Obi-Wan whispered, his hands threading through their hair and lightly kissing their foreheads. "You do know I keep you away so you will be safe, yes? I...disabled and destroyed the security recordings, I killed every witness, I attacked _you_ in case something was still recording somewhere. If the Emperor knew about you, if he knew what you meant to me..."

"We know you just want to protect us, Father..." Luke whispered, laying his hand over the charred skin on his chest and channeling the Force to heal him. "I'm...sorry you were hurt because of us."

"I'd rather be hurt than have you harmed, son..." Obi-Wan said absently, looking up at K2 as the droid returned to his seat, and he quickly sealed the rear hatch and pulled the lever that sent the shuttle shuddering into hyperspace. "...I lost my family once. I would do _anything_ to see it doesn't happen again."

"You won't, Father," Luke said softly. "I promise."

"I want to fight..." Leia said with a sigh. "But I'll wait until I'm ready. And..." A sly smirk crossed her face. "Robbing that bank was the most fun I've ever had. Thank you for taking us." With a small, sad smile, Obi-Wan placed a quick kiss on their foreheads.

"I do love you both. You are damned frustrating, but I love you." He reached over and tapped K-2SO on the head. "You're still grounded forever, and you're going to start your indentured servitude by repairing the droid." Obi-Wan grinned brightly. "After you're done with that, I have a list of things Ahsoka needs done around the base. General maintenance, pipe repair, the water purification system is broken, there is _dust_ in the ventilation ducts..."

"Father..." Leia said, her eyes wide and her voice flat and emotionless. "That's _janitor stuff_." With a sly grin, Obi-Wan rose from the seat and patted the twins on the shoulder as he sauntered to the back to lay down.

"Welcome to the rebellion, kids."


	45. Stealth Strike

**AN:** **I was going to get this out sooner, but my time's being eaten by my dog, who I'm going to have to put down within the next few days. I don't think the quality here has suffered, but if it has, try to forgive it. I think it's pretty good, but I'm a bit biased.**

 **Next chapter of this thing by the weekend, next chapter of The Road Not Taken later this week, Blood of Mandalore will be updated...I don't know, when people want to read it. If you haven't read Negotiator and want something dark, bloody, with no redeeming qualities, you can check that out too. Probably. All this is very tentative, since writing has been pretty tough this week because of dog.**

 **Enjoy, kids.**

 _Chapter 45: Stealth Strike_

They were arguing. _Again_.

It started as it usually did. A snide remark, a roll of the eyes, a disdainful scoff, and it escalated from there into a snarking, bitter fight between Rex and Kanan, the traumatized Jedi and the veteran clone unable to put aside a very difficult past history and effectively work together. This fight, however, was compounded and made even worse by Cody, who happened to be in the room making adjustments to weapons and armor when they had started, and the adversarial, barely functioning relationship he had with the other clone only served to set Rex on edge. In a matter of moments, Cody's mere presence had transformed the usual bickering of Rex and Kanan into a small scale, volatile representation of the Clone Wars, each of the men trapped in their own minds in a war that they couldn't quite seem to put behind them.

A dig at Kanan in a particularly sensitive spot sent the Jedi right back to his firm insistence that no clone could _ever_ be trusted, which dragged an insulted Cody into the fight, and before long, the three Clone War veterans were all fighting each other, past resentments and hatred of their former enemies for their former allegiances driving them right to the edge of physically attacking each other, their hands floating dangerously close to lightsabers and blasters. The scars left by the Clone Wars ran deep within all of them, and despite their promise to work together for their now common cause, some wounds did not heal so easily, and their mistrust was only made worse by fights such as these.

It was like this, the clone, the Jedi, and the Mandalorian standing as far from the other as they could in the _Ghost_ 's hold, their weapons threateningly in hand, that a hapless Obi-Wan stumbled upon them, his new Inquisitor pet close on his heels and the mask of Darth Nihilus in his hands as he silently contemplated it. He froze, looked around the room at the wild eyes staring intently at the newcomer, and he groaned, running his hand over his face and through his hair.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me..." the Sith Lord growled, his vast irritation clear in the sneer that curled his lips and dangerous flash in his eyes, the mask in his hands pointing at Cody. "Stand down, you big idiot. Nothing good can come from fighting here."

"Nothing but the eradication of this Republic _filth_ ," Cody said cooly with a sharp edge in his voice that made Kanan grind his teeth together, his eyes wide and wild as he looked at the blasters in the clones' hands, his breath coming in fast, tight gasps, his mind clearly elsewhere, and Obi-Wan understood, his hand raised to calm the frantic man.

"This is why clones can _never be trusted_!" the Jedi said, his voice tense as his hands tightened around his lightsaber.

"You can't lump me in with _him_!" Cody snapped, his blaster pointing at Rex. "I didn't submit when the Republic demanded it of me!"

"Neither did I!" Rex snapped back. "And the way I see it, the only enemy in the room is the _Separatist_!"

"Oh, _Sith Hells_ , the war is _over_!" Obi-Wan shouted, the weight of his anger immediately causing both Kanan and Rex to train their weapons on him and the Twi'lek behind him to drop quickly to her knees in submission, cowering in fear of his wrath. "There are no Separatists, no Republic, only the Empire, and _us_! Now you will do as I command and _stand down_!"

Neither Rex nor Kanan moved, but Cody slowly lowered his blasters and sunk to one knee, his breathing fast and ragged as he attempted to calm himself, and with the Separatist threat neutralized, reason began to return to assert itself, and Rex holstered his blasters, his eyes cast at the ground and feeling _terribly_ foolish. Even as the clones disarmed themselves, Kanan remained tense in his corner, switching off his saber, but keeping the hilt tight in his hands.

"I'm sorry..." Rex muttered, his hand sweeping over his bare head and looking sheepishly at the ground. "We're...all on the same side, I know that. I don't know what came over me..."

" _I_ do..." Kanan growled, but Rex dismissed the biting comment.

"The war touched us all," Obi-Wan said almost gently. "It's part of the reason this rebellion has taken so long to form, and why we are still struggling to unite. Old habits are difficult to break."

"Speaking of old habits..." Kanan said, pointing to the scantily clad red Twi'lek at the Sith Lord's feet. "Is that a _slave_ , Kenobi?"

"Tch, _no_ ," Obi-Wan scoffed with a roll of his eyes. "This isn't a slave, she's an _Inquisitor_! Or _was_ one." He grinned broadly when Kanan's eyes widened, his saber hilt twisting in his hands, and Rex scooted closer to him protectively, the barrel of his blaster slowly rising to aim at the woman. "I picked her up on Empire Day! She isn't a _slave_..." he drawled, his eyes drifting down to look at the subservient woman. "Isn't that right, dearest?"

"Whatever you say, Master..." the woman said in a flat, mindless drawl, and Obi-Wan looked slowly back to the distinctly unamused Jedi.

"Alright, admittedly, she isn't helping my case very much..."

"Kriffing Hell, Kenobi, we _talked_ about this!" Kanan snapped, his hands fidgeting nervously with the lightsaber in his hands and his entire being stressed like Obi-Wan hadn't seen him in a while. The unfortunate explosion of the time bomb that was the duo of Rex and Cody, until this day never previously in a room together unsupervised, had put the Jedi on an edge he was having difficulty coming down from. " _No more slaves_! We agreed that there would be _no more slaves_!"

"In my defense, Kanan, the Twi'lek are a _slave race_ , they can't help it!" Obi-Wan threw his hands up when Kanan looked at him with angry outrage. "I have... _subdued her_ , yes, but what other option did I have?!"

"I don't know, you could have killed her!" Kanan yelled at the Sith. "I don't know why you didn't, you've made it _very_ clear you were out to destroy them!"

"What's this?" Obi-Wan said, laying his hand over his chest in mock surprise. "The _Jedi_ suggests I execute this woman? She is _defenseless_! I...seem to remember that the Jedi policy was to value all life forms, wasn't it? Does that only extend to life forms that you approve of?"

"N-no, of course not..." Kanan stammered, his gaze shifting away from Obi-Wan when he grinned wickedly, commanded the Twi'lek to rise, and pushed her forward into the middle of the room.

"I will not end her life, Kanan, because I find her pleasing and she can be of use to me, but if you object to the way in which I keep her..." Obi-Wan casually gestured to her with a dismissive flick of his wrist. "Go ahead and kill her." There is a moment of silence between them as Kanan looks at the woman, her yellow eyes fixed on the floor and her head bowed as she trembled, her lekku quivering just enough to be seen, the telltale sign of extreme fear that he had only ever seen once before in Hera. "We cannot let her go, Kanan," Obi-Wan said in a soft, smooth hiss. "Death or imprisonment are the only two options. And as a Force sensitive trained user of the Dark Side, she is _far_ too dangerous for normal means of captivity. My way is not only the best way, but the safest. So what's it going to be?"

"W-we can help her," Kanan said almost desperately as he snapped his lightsaber back on to his belt, and with a soft, mewling whimper, the woman's legs ceased to support her and she dropped to her knees, only there for a moment before Cody stepped forward, helped her to her feet, and led her back to his side of the room s she gratefully, _desperately_ clung to him. "She's been...corrupted by the Emperor, by the Dark Side, we can help bring her back to the light."

"So you'd bring her to your side, make her do things _your_ way..." Obi-Wan said with sharp amusement in his voice as he leaned forward. "How is that _any_ different from what I do?"

Before Kanan could finish stammering and respond with _exactly_ how help was different from _slavery_ , Hera came storming into the room, a datapad in her hand and ignoring everyone as she passed them on her way to the holotable, where she quickly plugged in her datapad and activated the holodisplay. In the presence of their captain, the conflict between them all was quickly forgotten, and Kanan and Rex drew closer looking at the partial recording of the distress call they had received from one of the commanders of Phoenix Squadron.

"The mission Ezra was on has failed," Hera said somberly, gently squeezing Kanan's hand when she heard him suck in a sharp breath beside her. Obi-Wan was beside them a moment later, his shoulders just as tight as the Jedi's and faint, concerned anger in his eyes as he watched the recording play back again, only a few seconds long when they were interrupted, the frantic commander only able to get out that the Empire had pulled their ship out of hyperspace before the message stopped.

"Interdictor cruisers..." Obi-Wan growled. "We encountered them over Bandomeer when we were there. I was under the impression that they were still testing them."

"That may not be the case any longer..." Hera said as she shut off the projection. "But that is ultimately irrelevant. What matters right now is that our people were captured, and they need our help. _Ezra_ needs our help, and if we move quickly, we're likely to find them not too far from where we lost contact with the ship."

"Well, we know what we need to do then," Kanan said, turning from the table and heading toward the ladder. "Suit up, everyone, we're going after them."

"Not everyone," Hera said softly, touching the Jedi on the shoulder and stopping him. "The nature of this mission is _very_ sensitive, and the force that the Empire likely has on hand to protect a valuable, experimental ship like an Interdictor is going to be massive. We don't have the resources or the fire power to put up a fight against that kind of a fleet when they have a ship that can prevent us from escaping."

"So..." Kanan drawled slowly, his eyes searching his lover's face. "You want us to infiltrate."

"As swiftly and as silently as possible, yes," Hera said quietly. "No incidents, just in, rescue our people, and out. I've sent Zeb and Sabine out to secure Stormtrooper armor to help you blend in and an Imperial shuttle so you can actually get there. You'll have a better chance of evading detection that way." She pointed back into the room. "Take Rex with you."

"... _what_?" Kanan gasped, laughing almost manically for a moment until Hera shot him a pointed, irritated glare. "You have _got_ to be kidding."

"I'm not," she droned, she arms crossed over her chest, her face cold as she assumed her role of his commander, not her lover, a switch that she had always made easily.

"Not _Rex_..." Kanan groaned, ignoring the look that the said clone trooper looked at him with.. "Let me take Zeb, or Sabine. Ooh, or _Kenobi_! There's nobody better at sneaking about than him!"

"There isn't anyone in that galaxy that causes a bigger scene!" Hera said, pointing to the widely grinning Obi-Wan. "Everywhere he goes, he makes a _mess_."

"Everywhere he goes, he _wins_ ," Kanan drawled smugly, bit he dropped the attitude quickly when Hera shot him a withering glare.

"Maybe so, but he _isn't_ invincible, or we would have already liberated Lothal, Ryloth, _Coruscant_ , any other world under Imperial lock down. And _furthermore_..." she said, soft and menacing as she looked at Obi-Wan. "You may have been the Empire's most wanted before, but Empire Day came and went, and now it's _much_ worse. It's an _active manhunt_. Even Fulcrum is worried!"

"See, that's actually a funny story..." Obi-Wan began to explain, but the Twi'lek quickly held up her hand to silence him, completely uninterested in what he had to say.

"The galaxy's _biggest_ heist in the Empire's most secure bank, over thirty people killed, dead Inquisitors on the _Emperor_ 's throne in the Galactic Senate, and reports of bodies, _bodies_ falling from the sky over a small farming community that provides food for the Imperials." Hera placed a hand on a tilted him and sent the Sith Lord a look that demanded an explanation.

"To be fair..." Obi-Wan began in a small voice made timid under the mothering gaze. "Not _all_ of that is really my fault." Hera sighed, shooting Kenobi a look that in no uncertain terms expressed her displeasure with the man, and she reached up to stroke Kanan's cheek, and the man quickly covered her hand with his own.

"Hera...if things go wrong, and they almost always do, there are very few people I'd rather have at my side than Obi-Wan."

"I know, Kanan..." Hera said with a sigh. "Maybe he could get in and out without anyone noticing. Maybe if things went wrong, he could hijack the ship and fight his way out. But with a force of unknown size and the presence of a ship that can not only keep us from escaping, but rip us out of hyperspace in the event that we do...with _Ezra's_ life on the line...do you really want to risk it?"

There was a brief, tense moment of silence, the Jedi biting down on his lip as he glanced between his lover and the Sith Lord, his hand clenched by his side. "...no," he said softly. "We'll do things your way. But I need a team I can _trust_ ," he said firmly. "Let me bring Sabine or Zeb."

"Zeb doesn't fit in the armor, and Sabine is _way_ too small to be a Stormtrooper," Hera said quietly, her gaze shifting momentarily toward Kenobi as he quietly stroked his beard, a thing he only did when lost in thought or plotting something. " _Rex_ is ex-military, he has a familiarity with Imperial codes and procedure that will be _absolutely_ useful, and he can impersonate a Stormtrooper."

"Because he _is_ a Stormtrooper!" Kanan snapped, so harsh that he surprised himself, hie gaze shifting to the ground before he looked apologetically at Rex. "S-sorry..."

"Kanan..." Hera said gently, drawing closer to the Jedi. "I know you don't trust clones. I know and I understand. But right now, all that needs to be put aside because _Ezra_ needs you." She took in a shaking breath and laid her hand on his chest as she averted her eyes. "I sent him on this mission, Kanan..if it made any sense at all, I'd be running in there right next to you to get him back. We'd _all_ be running in if I thought it was our best chance, but it isn't. The Empire knows all of our faces. They know Ezra, and they know we'll be coming for him. I just...don't want him dead because of a mission _I_ sent him on, and I trust nobody more than you."

"Alright..." Kanan said softly, stroking the guilty, worried woman's cheek. "Rex and I will get him back. I promise you."

"Kanan," Obi-Wan called from his place seated at the holotable. "I'll be on standby in the next system over, ready to make a mess of things in case you need a distraction." He pointed at his clone from across the room. "Take Cody."

" _Uh_..."

"What, are you kidding me?" Cody scoffed, releasing the Twi'lek and stepping toward the Sith Lord. "You want me to work together with that Republic slave?" he asked incredulously, pointing toward the equally appalled Rex. "No, I don't think so."

"You will do as I say because I _command it_ ," Obi-Wan snarled, the room suddenly growing colder and the Inquisitor swiftly kneeling on the ground, Kenobi appearing every bit the Lord of the Sith that he was, the man that Kanan so often forgot that he could be. "Kanan isn't Ezra's only Master. You will go with them, you will lend them your talents, you will work together to bring back my student, or there will be _hell to pay_. I want you _all_ back alive. Do I make myself _absolutely_ clear?"

"...perfectly, sir," Cody grumbles, none too pleased, but it's clear from his defeated posture that he won't disobey his directive. Obi-Wan takes a quick glance around the room before grabbing the Inquisitor and storming out, far more upset than he was letting on, and with a sigh, Kanan looked between the two clones he was going to be working with, neither of them happy about this arrangement, and he couldn't help but wonder what he did to deserve this.

* * *

"You know..." Cody drawled lazily, leaning far back in the co-pilot's seat, his hands clasped behind his head and his body covered in the pure white of Stormtrooper armor. "One of the nicest things about working with a Lord of the Sith is that he works me _constantly_ to keep me fit." The comment was pointed, intentionally so, the rogue clone grinning devilishly, and from the back of the shuttle, Rex stopped putting on his own armor to glare at him.

"And just _what_ are you implying?" Rex growled at the smiling man, and beside him, Kanan rolled his eyes as he finished snapping on the last of his own armor.

"He means, _Rex_ , that your armor doesn't fit because you're _out of shape_ ," the Jedi said with a mocking smirk as the clone adjusted the admittedly tight, ill-fitting armor.

"Oh yeah?" Rex sneered, drawing up to his full height, which was still considerably shorter than the very tall Kanan. "At least I know how to _wear it_ ," he said, smacking the Jedi's shoulder, and the out of place guards snapped into place. Both men glared at Cody as he devolved into riotous laughter, and with a sneer of distaste, Rex walked to the back of the shuttle to put some distance between himself and the other men.

"You know, for the record," Kanan said as he sat down in the pilot's chair, "this _wasn't_ my idea."

"Oh, I that," Rex said with a roll of his eyes. "Just _try_ and act like a professional."

"Are you _kidding me_?!" the Jedi gasped. "What happens if you get in there and forget what side you're on?!"

"I would _never_ betray the people I'm fighting for!" Rex said sharply, leaning forward in his seat and pointing at Cody. "But _traitor_ over there sure would."

"Sure would..." Cody drawled lazily. "War's complicated and things change. Only a slave blindly follows the side they're on. Although..." he drawled, his hand drifting to stroke his chin. "The Republic became the _Empire_ , so I guess, _technically_..." He flashed Rex a bright, cheerful smile. "You're a traitor too."

"This conversation _really_ isn't helping my confidence in this mission..." Kanan muttered, casting nervous glances at the two clones.

"Yeah, well, this junk armor isn't helping _my_ confidence," Rex growled, tearing off the chest piece and trying to adjust it to make it fit comfortably.

"It isn't helping your confidence because it makes you look _fat_ ," Cody drawled, earning himself a frustrated groan from the other clone.

"I suppose it fits _you_ fine because you're used to the garbage armor the Separatist provided," Rex said, finally wiping the smirk off of Cody's face. "This is _nothing_ compared to clone armor. Not that you'd remember."

"Clone armor was as good as it was because it was based on Mandalorian armor," Cody said smugly, his momentary irritation quickly faded. "I kept the armor I wore while I was fighting for the Republic until Kenobi upgraded me to _actual_ Mandalorian armor." He shrugged slightly. "I still have my clone armor."

"...you kept it?" Rex asked, slightly surprised and eying the other clone suspiciously. Cody slowly nodded.

"I never forgot where I came from, _slave_ ," Cody said, though his tone was softer than it had been, the sharp look in his eyes dulled considerably. "I never forgot what it was like to grow up among thousands of brothers. You were my family once."

"And _still_ you betrayed us."

"...yes." Cody closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and turned his chair around to face the viewport and the blue and white of hyperspace as it raced by, gazing blankly out into nothingness. "After Kenobi freed me, after I learned the truth of what we were to the Republic...how could I go back?"

"You _knew_?" Rex asked, slowly creeping closer. "You knew and you never returned to warn us?"

"I was the commander of the Lost Legion," Cody said blankly, as if he were in a distant place, a distant time. "We were branded a bad batch, ordered to be killed on sight as traitors to the Republic. Would any of you have even listened anyway?" he asked, looking over his shoulder at the other clone, his eyes drifting to the scar on the side of his bald head where he had the biochip removed. "There was a time when I wished to save you," Cody said softly. "I asked Kenobi to help me free all my other brothers enslaved by the Republic. But the war went on, the fighting grew worse, and capturing you became... _difficult_."

"...we weren't trained to surrender," Rex said softly, and Cody chuckled and shook his head.

"No, we were trained to follow our commander's orders without question. We were born to die. _Like slaves_."

"Sort of how like _you_ follow Kenobi's orders?" Rex asked pointedly, and Cody sneered and turned back to face the viewport.

"It's not the same..." he muttered under his breath. "Obi-Wan is _different_."

"I said the same thing about General Skywalker," Rex said morosely, and Cody's shoulders tensed. "And look where he ended up."

" _Nothing_ like Obi-Wan!"

" _Exactly_ like him, _traitor_."

"Alright, _enough_!" Kanan snapped at the two clones, both of them bitterly folding their arms over their chests, both with the same expression on their identical faces. "I am so _not_ happy about this mission!"

"Really..." Rex drawled with a roll of his eyes at the Jedi's petulance. "That wasn't clear..."

"I honestly don't know what Kenobi was thinking, having _both_ of you in one place..." Kanan muttered. "I don't know what _Hera_ was thinking, I could have handled this mission myself!"

"The last Jedi she sent on a mission alone was captured," Cody drawled. "You Jedi don't do well on your own, you _never_ have."

"She's worried about you, obviously..." Rex added. "And going in with backup is always a good idea."

"Backup from a clone?" Kanan asked, scoffing. "Are you _serious_?" He didn't wait for an answer as his hands raced over the console and dropped them out of hyperspace, the blue ans white streaks reverting to pinpoint stars on the blanket of space, and the trio's bickering was immediately forgotten as they stared out the viewport at not one ship, but _six_ , five massive Star Destroyers and the smaller though no less intimidating Interdictor. But what _really_ caught Cody's attention particularly was the commanding Star Destroyer, bigger than the rest, the belly of the ship sporting an intricate engraving that was as beautiful as it was intimidating.

"The _Chimera_..." Cody whispered, his hands planted on the console as he stood up and leaned as close to the viewport as he was able. "I can't believe it..."

" _Thrawn's ship_?!" Kanan hissed, leaning in for a better look and swallowing hard. "You have _got_ to be kidding me..."

"We have to tell Kenobi..." Rex muttered, reaching for his wrist com, but was quickly stopped when Cody reached out and grabbed his hand.

"We _can't_ tell Kenobi..." Cody growled, and for just a moment, Rex stared at the other clone in disbelief before he growled and snatched his hand away.

"Isn't this the guy he's looking for?" Rex scoffed, shaking his head. "Unbelievable. You'd betray your own commander? We can expect nothing less from a traitor, I suppose..."

"Spoken like a slave..." Cody said wryly and pointing out the window. "What do you suppose will happen if Kenobi finds out that Thrawn's ship is here? He'll be here in a moment and _everything_ will go to shit."

"Ahsoka makes this guy sound like bad news," Rex said firmly. "If we have a chance to catch him off-guard, we need to take it."

"There _is_ no catching Thrawn off-guard!" Cody hissed. "Look, I get it, you're still pretty new to this rebellion so you don't know, but he has been hunting Kenobi relentlessly for _years_. This is no chance encounter." He took a deep, calming breath, though his hand was balled into a tight fist. "Hera said it herself. Our faces are known to the Empire, they will _know_ who Ezra is, and they will know we are coming for him. This is a trap."

"Damn it..." Kanan muttered, his eyes running nervously over the ship. "Would Thrawn think Kenobi would come for Ezra?"

"Oh yeah..." Cody said absently. "It's Thrawn. He knows."

"You're right, we can't call Kenobi in..." Kanan groaned, running his hand over his face. "This whole rescue is pointless if we lose one member of our team to save another." He was silent for a moment, his finger tapping against his chin as he thought, and slowly, he placed his hand on the yoke and pressed them closer to the Imperial line. "We stick to the plan. Even if this is an obvious trap, we can't leave Ezra behind. If we're lucky, this plan is baited for Kenobi, not us, and they won't look twice at a couple of Stormtroopers."

"It might be targeted toward Kenobi, but mark my word, this trap is here to catch _rebels_ ," Cody said, his eyes running over the six ships. "Thrawn may not even be here, we've been misdirected several times before. Just because the ship is sailing doesn't mean the Admiral's on board."

"Will that make much of a difference?" Kanan asked, and Cody slowly shook his head.

"Hey..." Rex said, speaking up after silently listening as he got a feel for the man that commanded the ship the other two were so concerned about. "If this trap is set for _Kenobi_ , what the hell did this guy bring to trap him?"

"And on which ship are they keeping Bridger?" Cody asked, and the Jedi shut his eyes tightly.

"Both good questions..." Kanan muttered, reaching into the Force and feeling for his student, and he felt the Force run cold, not just with fear, but with restless, predatory anger. He tried to push past it, to isolate the feel of Ezra in the Force, and found it, though it seemed small, faint, distinctly _wrong,_ and not on the ship he was expecting. "He's on the Interdictor," Kanan said, frowning as he looked at the much smaller ship. "Why? Why would they keep him there and not bring him aboard the _Chimera_?"

"Because Obi-Wan would see that ship and run right toward it..." Cody droned. "The _Chimera_ is bait for him. Ezra's bait for _us_."

"I'm starting to hate this man..." Rex grumbled, and the other two quickly muttered in agreement.

"There's something else here," Kanan said quietly, his eyes closed in concentration as he tried to puzzle out exactly what it was. "I can't get a good feel on it, but it ain't good."

"Sounds like a problem we'll have to deal with as it arises," Cody said quietly. "Our more pressing problem is how we're supposed to get on the Interdictor."

"You just leave that to me," Rex said as he muscled his way beside Cody, invading the quietly cursing clone's personal space as he leaned over his shoulder to get a good look at the console, his eyes on the ships before him and a smug smirk on his lips when the shipboard com picked up a transmission to them over the Imperial line.

"Shuttle S257," the stiff voice of an Imperial officer said tersely over the com. "This is a restricted area. You do not have clearance."

"Copy that, sir," Rex said in an almost bored tone of voice. "We have a 157 aboard and are in need of assistance."

"I repeat, Shuttle S257," the officer said, more irritated than before, "you are not cleared. This is a 675 testing zone, and it is off-limits. Acknowledge or be destroyed."

"This isn't working..." Cody said through clenched teeth, holding down the mute, and Rex shot him a disdainful glare.

"Big talk from a _com officer_ , he's a nobody," he growled, smacking the other clone's hand away from the console. "With all due respect, sir," he said once again into the com, "if we are not rendered immediate assistance, we're going to have a 3376 on our hands." There was silence for a moment, tense for Cody and Kanan, who both shifted uncomfortably in their seats beside the calm, collected Rex.

"Shuttle S257," a different voice over the com said, and Rex grinned broadly. "Requesting your emergency access codes."

"Copy that, sir," Rex said smugly. "Priority Protocol 7-"

"Ugh, this is the stuff I can't stand..." Kanan whispered to Cody as he leaned toward the clone as Rex continued to rattle off an impressively long and complex sequence of numbers and letters. Cody scoffed and nodded in agreement. "All this...protocol nonsense..."

"Not much of a military man, are you?" Cody whispered, and Kanan merely shrugged.

"I guess not. Hard to be after how my last stint in the military ended."

"Standby for code check," the man on the com said when Rex had finished, and the clone leaned back, his hand gripping the back of Cody's chair as the clone was given back a touch of his space.

"My squad and I practically invented these emergency protocols during the Clone Wars," Rex said proudly, a large grin spreading across his face as he began to laugh. "These idiots are still using them!"

"Shuttle S257," the com chimed with the same, deep voice from before. "You are clear to proceed on heading 1599 vector 11. Do not deviate from this course."

"Thank you, sir!" Rex chirped, cutting off the com and grinning at Cody as the clone rolled his eyes.

"We didn't need protocols with Kenobi..." Cody muttered, his arms crossing over his chest and refusing to meet the other clone's eyes, knowing full well the superior look that was within them. "Kenobi talked to us like _people_."

"Oh, stop it..." Kanan grumbled, frowning at his navicomputer display as he entered the heading and vector into the system. "Well done, Rex, but I don't think you'll like where we're headed. They're sending us to the Interdictor."

"Good, because Ezra's there," Cody grumbled, as displeased as Kanan looked.

"Bad, because they probably know it's us," Rex said with a sigh. "We have no business on a ship they're testing when there are five Star Destroyers here. They're guiding us into a trap."

"My thoughts exactly..." Kanan muttered, groaning as he rubbed his face. "That's alright, we can work with this. As soon as we get out of the hangar they put us in, we can disappear. One Stormtrooper is like any other. We'll have to change our exit strategy, but this is manageable. We'll just have to deal with everything else as it comes."

"You sure you don't want to contact Kenobi?" Rex asked, and Cody tersely nodded his head.

"I'm sure. He can almost not help walking right into traps when he sees them. When he engages Thrawn, it _has_ to be on his terms."

"Let's just make sure we get out of here so we can tell him," Kanan muttered, and the two clones nodded their agreement.

They spent the rest of their time in the shuttle in silence, their eyes fixed on the mighty _Chimera_ , which somehow was able to be seen from the viewport from every moment on their approach to the Interdictor. It wasn't far to the ship, but the cold dread that settled over them made the short journey seem infinitely long, the slow creeping of the nearby _Chimera_ across the viewport making it feel as though they were moving immeasurably slow. Even worse than all of that was the feeling that Kanan felt through the Force, disturbed, not disrupted, but restless and uneasy, the feeling of something unmistakably _there_ that set his nerves on edge. It wasn't the cold, oppressive dread that he had felt in the presence of the Sith Lord Vader, or even the mortified, horrific awe when Kenobi opened himself up and revealed what was just underneath. It was wilder, less controlled, unpredictable and all the more dangerous for it.

When their little shuttle passed under the shadow of the Interdictor's starboard, secondary repair bay, Kanan surrendered the controls to the Imperial control and got out of his seat, walking to the back of the shuttle and grabbing his helmet, the clones quickly following his lead, sliding their helmets on their heads and gripping their blasters tightly.

"Well..." Kanan said as he pressed the hatch controls, the airlock hissing as it disengaged as he looked at the two clones. "This must be like old times for the two of you."

"Oh, _please_ ," Cody scoffed, his head lolling to the side as Kanan imagined his eyes exaggeratedly rolling. "If this were old times, slave here and I would be trying to kill each other."

"It's a wonder you haven't tried yet, traitor," Rex quipped, and the other clone simply shrugged his shoulders.

"I made a promise to Kenobi. Don't you worry, as soon as this mission's over, his protection over you is over and we can get right back to it."

"Oh, I am _greatly_ looking forward to that..." Rex drawled, straightening up when the boarding ramp extended. "Just follow my lead and we'll be just fine."

"Uh, _no_..." Kanan hissed, his longer stride bringing him to the front of the group. "You follow _my_ lead. Hera put me in charge of this mission, and it's going to stay that way. And I can't trust either of you to be leading."

"Ugh, not this again..." Cody groaned. "You know, not _all_ -"

"Not because of that, idiot!" Kanan snapped quietly. "You two won't listen to each other because you're too busy arguing like an old married couple!"

"He started it," Cody said with a shrug, and the only thing that kept Rex from responding was the proximity to the guard posted bu the door in the otherwise sparsely populated hangar. The sentry and his partner stepped out away from the door, their blasters clutched tightly in their grasps and holding up a hand for the trio to halt when they drew closer.

"The command deck says you need to make your repairs and depart," the trooper said in a strong, commanding voice, and Kanan took a step to stand before him, his hand making a small, subtle motion in the air before him.

"We need to get to maintenance..." Kanan said in a flat, expressionless voice, and both of the guards stood up straighter, their weapons in hand lowering.

"You need to get to maintenance," the guard mindlessly repeated, the two clones looking at each other as Kanan gestured slightly with his hand again.

"We can go on our way."

"You can go on your way, the guard chanted, standing to the side and putting in the security code for the door, which slid open without complaint, and the trio stepped through, a confident, easy stride taking them into the corridors beyond.

"Not bad..." Rex said in a tone of voice that was clearly unimpressed. "I've seen better."

"So have I," Cody quickly agreed. "Kenobi's basically the authority on that trick."

"Well, I've been _training_ with Kenobi, and I'm sure he'd agree I'm lacking..." Kanan grumbled. "Maybe I'll practice on _you two_ when we get back." The two clones behind him snickered quietly before they abruptly stopped and defiantly turned their heads away from each other. They were silent after that, slowly making their way through the halls until they found a security terminal, and with Rex stepping forward to input a string of codes to grant them access, they soon had a wealth of information at their fingertips.

"Alright, see if you can find where they're keeping Ezra and the rest of the crew," Kanan whispered to Rex, occasionally looking over his shoulder at Cody, who stood guard at the corridor's junction.

"You don't _need_ to look that up," Cody hissed from his post, looking behind him at the pair when the coast was clear. "We already know where he is. In a secure cell, and if we go on up there, I'm willing to bet he's going to be in the one with tripled security."

"Traitor's right," Rex said a moment later. "The kid's been transferred to a secure cell. The rest of the crew is in the brig."

Kanan groaned in irritation as he stood up straight and crossed his arms over his chest. "That's not good. I don't want to split up, but the moment we make our move, they're going to know we're here. I can't see how we can get everyone to safety."

"Then we don't," Cody said firmly. "My directive was to get Bridger out of here. Kenobi never said anything to me about crew."

"We leave no man behind, _traitor_ ," Rex growled, and Cody defiantly stepped up to him.

"If we don't, _none_ of us will escape, _slave_."

"And _this_ is why I'm in charge!" Kanan snapped, smacking the two upside their helmeted heads. "Ezra first. If it looks like we can get the rest of them out after, we'll go for it, but otherwise, we need to go. We'll deal with it when we get there." He pushed both men forward as he strode out into the hallway toward the elevators, and both clones fell into step behind him. They cut an impressive little squad, the two clones easily falling into perfect step with each other and the Jedi that led them, their uniformity and rigid, military posture allowing them to pass unnoticed through the lines of a hundred other soldiers marching to the exact same, monotonous beat.

It didn't take long before they made it to the secure cells, Rex quickly speaking to the officers at the desk in a series of codes and protocols that the young men had to covertly look at an Imperial manual under the desk to understand, and when it all checked out, they were allowed to go on their way. As they made their way slowly down the dimly lit corridors, the three men drew closer together, the same, uneasy feeling settling over them as they all came to the silent conclusion that this had all been far too easy.

"You know, slave," Cody whispered, leaning in slightly toward Rex. "After today, these codes will _never_ work."

"Maybe not, but they're working now..." Rex growled back.

"Or have been allowed to work..." Kanan muttered grimly. "Maybe they know you're working with us and they you and your crew _made_ these codes. Maybe they _have_ moved on and have kept these protocols on file to use specifically for identifying rebel elements." He paused, his step faltering for a moment as he slowed down. "...exactly how smart _is_ this Thrawn?"

"Smarter than you," Cody scoffed. "Maybe smarter than Kenobi, and I can't even begin to tell you how scared that makes me. That's exactly the sort of thing he'd use to trap us and-"

"Don't say it, don't you _dare_ ," Rex growled, the other clone looking at him in silence for a moment.

"...and this has been _way_ too easy," Cody finished, and Rex groaned loudly.

"Saying that shit aloud is how you make bad things happen!" Rex snapped. "You should know that by now!"

"Oh please, they don't happen _because_ I say them, I say these things because they're _obviously going to happen_!"

"Shh, _shut up_!" Kanan hissed, his arm extended and catching both clones in the chest before they rounded the corner, and the Jedi flattened both himself and the two men against the wall. "Ezra's cell is just up ahead. You were right, Cody. The guard presence is... _substantial_." Slowly, Rex and Cody crept forward, leaning their heads to peek around the corner, and with a uniformed whistle in perfect unison, both men pressed themselves back against the wall.

"Ten troopers and an officer," Rex said softly. "That _is_ a lot."

"Now would be a _great_ time to show off what Kenobi's taught you," Cody says as he leaned in closer to the Jedi. "A wave of your hand and _all_ our problems just walk out the door."

"It's not _that_ simple..." Kanan growled.

"Yes it is," Cody swiftly insisted. "I've seen Kenobi do it. Entire rooms of people, forced to obey his every command."

"Yeah, well, I'm _not_ Kenobi..." the Jedi grumbled, peeking around the corner once again and groaning when he looked upon the guard presence. "Eleven people...maybe _Kenobi_ can exert perfect control over eleven people and bend them to his will like it was nothing, but I doubt I could do more than..." He peeked around the corner again for a second before flattening himself to the wall once again. "Five. Maybe. If I _really_ focus."

"You know..." Cody drawled lazily. "If Kenobi were here-"

"If Kenobi were here, he wouldn't be _here_!" Kanan hissed. "He'd be over on the _Chimera_! Don't forget you're the one who said we shouldn't contact him for _exactly_ that reason."

"So we're just going to have to be smarter," Rex said nonchalantly with a carefree, easy shrug.

"Rex, I don't think you can protocol your way out of this one..." Kanan said, and a moment later, his shoulder erupted in dull pain because the clone had _punched him_.

"Not me, idiot!" Rex hissed, pointing toward the soldiers around the corner and swiftly sweeping his hand through the air. It took a moment for him to understand, but when he did, the Jedi softly gasped in realization, a chuckle of amusement in his voice.

"Oh, I can _absolutely_ do that," Kanan drawled, motioning for the clones to step out in the hall, and with a swift nod, Rex and Cody rounded the corner, walking with purpose toward the group of guards. The Stormtroopers watched the men as they drew near, their weapons charging and rising to the ready, but neither Rex nor Cody paid them any mind, casually walking past part of the line and coming to stand at the door opposite the ones the Imperials were guarding. Rex turned to fiddle with the console by the door, punching in codes into the device while Cody stood facing the line of wary Stormtroopers and their tense, uncertain commander.

Cody inclines his head in their direction. "Long day?" he asks in a light, friendly voice, and a few of the troopers in the line eagerly nod in response, only to be elbowed by their stoic fellows beside them. "Must be a hell of a prisoner to need such a large guard detail."

"A teenager, actually," the officer said, clearly irritated by the conversation, or the assignment, Cody wasn't sure, though he suspected standing guard over a child had wounded the man's pride. "A rebel. We're only here until they return to finish interrogating him, but it seems he is difficult to break. So..." He gestured to the troopers behind him with a disdainful sneer. "The elevated guard presence."

"Ah..." Cody said, thrusting his thumb over his shoulder. "We're just testing the security systems. After the failures on Muunilinst last week with the bank and all..." He whistled when the officer stood up straighter, clearly uncomfortable, the soldiers shifting uneasily behind him. "The Admiral wants to take no chances."

"N-no, of course not..." the officer mumbled, the door Cody stood before hissing open as Rex finally unlocked it, and the two clones stood leaning in the doorway of the cell.

"Well, our work here is done," Cody said with a friendly wave. "Have a nice day."

It was slight, the smallest vibration in the air, the sound of soft humming around them, and Cody and Rex turned sideways, flattening themselves against the wall just inside the open cell just as the officer flew past them, a strangled gasp in his throat as he was thrown into the cell and struck the far wall, and a singular bang as all ten Stormtroopers were slammed into the corridor's wall to slump dazed to the ground. The clones moved quickly, stepping out into the hall and striking each trooper on the back of their heads before they picked them up and flung the unconscious soldiers into the cell with the groaning officer. After knocking the officer unconscious and making certain that the other troopers wouldn't wake up for some time, the clones stepped out into the hall and sealed the door just as Kanan came jogging up.

"That wasn't bad either," Rex said when Kanan stood before them. "Still, a _real_ Jedi could do better."

"I'd like to remind you, Rex, that if it weren't for the clones, I _would have_ been a real Jedi," Kanan said flatly, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Mm, no you wouldn't," Cody immediately responded. "If not for the Purge, Sidious would have sent Kenobi to execute you all."

"...great," Kanan droned. "That's _great_." The Jedi scooted closer to Rex as the clone worked at the panel outside Ezra's door. "Did you get the security disabled?" he asked, and Rex slowly shook his head.

"Not disabled, but I did manage to stop the monitors from playing the live feed," Rex muttered. "It _should_ give us a little time before they realize that the picture isn't moving, but it's still recording."

"It's going to have to do..." Kanan said, shifting eagerly from foot to foot as he impatiently waited for the door to open. When it did, he rushed in without a thought, the clones swiftly following and the door closing, but not sealing behind them, the prospect of them being sealed inside diminished significantly with the two lightsabers between them.

In the center of the small cell, Ezra was strapped to a horizontal, metal table, restraints around his ankles, wrist and chest squeezing his body tightly and keeping him firmly rooted in place. His head hung limply to his chest, his hair matted and plastered to his forehead with sweat that smelled distinctly medicinal, as if his body was so filled with drugs it exuded out of his very skin. Panic gripped Kanan, and he swiftly rushed to his student, his hand to the boy's throat to check for a pulse, and breathed a heavy sigh of relief to find it beating evenly, if a bit slow. More disconcerting was how he _felt_ , the boy's presence in the Force just... _off_. Thin and weak and barely a trickle in the Force, but even then, something else was wrong. He was disrupted, certainly, and perhaps it was just the drugs repressing his abilities, but they weren't like any drug Kanan had ever seen. Certainly not like the ones he was subject to when he was under Imperial interrogation.

"Difficult to break, he said..." Cody muttered, stepping down into the room and observing the boy while Kanan frantically checked the readouts on his vitals at the side of the interrogation chair. "I wonder of that means they didn't get anything out of him."

"Even if they did, Ezra wouldn't know..." Kanan said in barely a whisper, his hand at the boy's cheek and trying to stimulate the Force to flow through him with their connection. It wasn't working. "When the Empire captured me, I was interrogated by the Grand Inquisitor, among others. I wonder who they brought in to interrogate him..."

"Maybe they didn't," Rex said quickly, but Kanan quickly dismissed the idea with a wave of his hand.

"They did..." he said darkly. "I can _feel_ it."

"All I know is that rescuing to rest of the crew isn't going to happen," Cody said sternly, and beside him, Rex tensed and swiftly looked at the other man, his posture tense and defiant. "Oh, _what_?! Maybe if the kid was alright, it would be a possibility, but he is _done_. He's not a help, he's a hindrance! There's four of us, but there may as well be two since one of us needs to carry him, or he's not getting out!"

" _I_ can go!" Rex said firmly, his tone and demeanor entirely confrontational, and Cody rose taller to meet the challenge. "If I go right now, you give me five minutes, and I can be down in the brig before they even know we're here! The ship isn't hard to navigate, and you saw how easy it is for me to pass myself off as one of them!"

"That is _completely_ absurd!" Cody snapped. "I don't like the idea of splitting up, and Kenobi told me to make sure you all get back safe! How can I do that if _I'm not there_?!"

"Aw, that's sweet..." Rex said mockingly. "For a moment there, it sounded like you _care_ about what happens to us, traitor."

"Yeah, well, for a moment I almost did, before I remembered what you are, _slave_!"

"Will the two of you _shut up_?!" Kanan hissed, activating his lightsaber and cutting away Ezra's restraints, the boy falling limply against Kanan's chest as he was freed, the Jedi carefully taking him in his arms and lowering the unconscious teen to the ground. "None of this is going to matter if we can't get away..." Kanan whispered. "We need to disable the Interdictor's gravity wells on our way out, or we aren't going to be able to escape. We do that, and we can call in Hera for a quick extraction. The _Ghost_ can get in and out before the Imperials will have a chance to mobilize. _If_ we're ready to go."

"We might have to split up regardless..." Rex said, and Kanan uneasily nodded. "If I go now, you can have a chance to maybe get Ezra able to move on his own, and I-"

" _Shh_!" Kanan hissed, his hand held up for silence and his body tense, and both clones crouched down, blasters raised, and listening intently for what the Jedi sensed. They heard it a moment later, the soft padding of fine boots striding quickly to keep up with the heavy footfalls of metallic legs, a hard, pounding ring with that set their nerves on edge and drew closer with each step. The clones drew closer to the two Jedi, protectively crouched before them as Kanan scooped the unconscious Ezra in his arms and silently tried to wake him.

"I'm telling you, my Lord," the accented, frustrated clip of one of the approaching pair said. "All of our security checks out! There isn't anything here!"

"No..." the other voice said, a soft, dangerous sound that is not entirely present, its owner stalking the Force as he stalked the halls. "No, something's here... _someone_..." A low, frustrated sound, half growl and half whine is torn from the man's throat, followed by an almost manic burst of quiet laughter. "It's _close_ , so close, so _familiar_..." In the cell, Cody lowered his weapon, straightening up from his crouch, his eyes fixated on the door from where beyond the two voices seem to have stopped very nearby. Shoulders tight, he silently unclips the lightsaber from his belt and holds it tightly in his hand. Kanan silently does likewise, taps Rex's shoulder, and passes his precious student off to the clone, not thinking twice if he trusted him.

"My Lord, what will you have us do?" the accented voice asked quietly, and for a moment, heavy metal legs pace swiftly, predatory in small, short bursts along the hall, the sound of rough and ragged breathing in the air.

"I _feel him_..." the man snarled, more vicious than before. " _Here_ , the aching, painful _nothingness_. He is not the Force, he is the _absence_ of it..." The heavy pacing stopped, the sound of almost frantic hyperventilation ceasing as suddenly as it had begun. "...contact the Admiral," the voice said again, no longer the frantic, desperate animal, but a cold, dangerous calm. "Inform him that we have him." A swift clicking of heels and the echoing of footsteps echoed through the air until there was nothing but silence, but still, Kanan, Rex and Cody remained still, even as Ezra began to groan as he regained consciousness, though the boy was still heavily under the influence of the powerful drugs the interrogation droids had administered.

They were silent and still for a long while as they listened intently for the sound of breathing, of footsteps, of something unknown prowling the corridors. Kanan is almost too afraid to reach through the Force, to enact any pull upon it that may draw what was once there back again, and even if he does, he is uncertain he will be able to navigate the oppressive darkness of a disturbed and stormy sea well enough to locate its origin. So instead, they rely on their senses, as Rex had once advised young Ezra, and they wait, perhaps not long enough, but time is of the essence, and Thrawn may very well be on the way.

Cody rises first, motioning for the others to stay put when they rise as well, Ezra's arm draped over Rex's shoulder as he sways on legs that will not hold his weight on their own. Creeping closer to the door, his blaster in one hand and stabilized against his chest while his other hand grasped a lightsaber ready to be switched on in an instant, Cody took a deep breath, waved his hand in front of the unlocked door's sensors, and stepped out into the hallway. Not a second later there was a loud, sickening crack, and Cody went flying back into the room, striking the wall with enough force to dent it, and the clone fell to the ground, the saber and blaster dropping from his limp grip, the white armor covering his chest hopelessly shattered and splattered with red from where the shards had dug into his skin and muscle.

Kanan's lightsaber is on in a flash, stepping before Rex as he raises his own weapon and grasps Ezra tightly to him with his other arm, and Cody, groaning and coughing on the ground as he reaches a shaking hand out to grab his fallen lightsaber. Kanan's teeth grind together, his eyes narrow in focus as he steels himself against the oppressive Dark Side when the reverberating snapping hiss of two sabers igniting simultaneously fills the air, and he takes a slow, defensive step back when a red Zabrak with black, tribal markings covering his fearsome face steps into the cell, seeming to loom above them despite his small stature, his metallic legs heavy with each step upon the ground.

"Clone..." the creature hisses delightedly, a malicious grin spreading across his face as his red, double bladed lightsaber spun effortlessly at his side. " _I see you_..."

"Maul..." Cody groaned as he slowly rose to his feet, the lightsaber in his hands igniting as he took off his helmet, a smug smirk on his lips, but no matter his best efforts, he couldn't keep the pain from showing on his face. He staggered when he stepped forward, and was kept from falling when Kanan swiftly reached out and grabbed hold of him, and the clone pressed his lightsaber into Kanan's hand. "Not an Inquisitor," he whispered in a strained voice to the Jedi. "A Sith. All we can do is run."

Kanan never looks away from the nightmare creature in the tiny room, though he gives Cody a curt nod of acknowledgment and takes a deep, calming breath as he watches delight, excitement, animal savagery and malice streaked with madness stain Maul's face, his cybernetic knees bending slightly, the nearly imperceptible quickening of the spinning saber, the quivering in his hunched shoulder muscles, the intensity of his focus in the Force. Kanan feels the explosion of intent before Maul even moves, and in that split second, Kanan grabs the Force and throws Cody out of the way when he feels the Sith's attention latch upon him, the suddenly moving Zabrak rocketing through the air and his spinning saber striking the walls and the ground as the Jedi moved to intercept.

A howl of rage splits the air when his intended target is pulled out of the way, his blade striking the ground in a shower of sparks instead, the Jedi he now faced deftly side stepping and using the two blades in his hand to swipe hard at the Zabrak, and Maul is forced to step back. His gaze fixates briefly on the clone, the Stormtrooper - also a clone, by the feel of him - and the drugged teenager flee the room, the injured man and the Jedi Padawan hauled out by the strong, stocky Stormtrooper. In an instant, Maul's focus shifts to Kanan, his double sided blade coming down hard and fast upon him, and within seconds, Maul has Kanan in the corner, the sweeping strikes of the red blades slashing against the walls of the corner which the Jedi cleverly used to box himself in and aid in his own defense, showers of sparks and splatters of molten steel raining down upon them.

Molten holes burn through Kanan's armor, and sharp pain accompanies the smell of burning flesh as steel and sparks leave deep, speckled scars across his skin, pain making his arms begin to shake under the rapid, furious onslaught, but he's pinned down and cannot move, not until Maul rethinks his tactic or tries to stab at him, the shifting of his blades allowing the Jedi to slip away, but the Sith's mind is locked into his fury, single minded in his brutal efforts, and does not relent, knowing full well that the Jedi will be unable to withstand for as long as he can keep this up.

It only stops with a high whine and a yelp of pain, and Maul's next strike is off-balance, thanks to pain and the impact of a direct shot from a blaster, the red blade glancing off the wall instead of off Kanan's saber. Kanan grabs his moment and slides under the Sith's legs, his sabers sweeping along Maul's cybernetic knees and cutting straight through the black pants he wore, and though his blades sparked against the Sith's legs, his saber doesn't cut through, the burning red line in the metal not damaged, simply heated, and Kanan sprints toward the door through blaster fire that is carefully not aimed at him, but at the furious Maul. The Sith reeled around to deflect the suppressing fire from the two clones, Rex standing in the center of the doorway with both blasters blazing in hand, and Cody leaning against the wall for support, his blaster held at the end of his extended arm as he fired as fast as the weapon would allow.

It wasn't enough, and the one shot they managed to hit the Zabrak with seemed to only make him stronger and more fierce. Easily deflecting the shots fired, Maul extended his hand, and the firing stopped as the clones rose into the air, their weapons clattering to the ground as the Sith Lord used the Force to choke them. It stopped a moment later when Kanan sprinted past them and drove his lightsaber into the security panel, the cell door slamming shut on the outraged Zabrak. A second later, and the end of a red lightsaber was pressing through the door as Maul began to cut his way through, the momentary glance of a molten eye glaring at them through molten steel jolting the group into action.

"Go, go, we need to go _now_!" Kanan commanded, quickly tossing the fallen blasters to the clones and helping to pull them to their feet.

"We can't escape with him on our tail!' Rex snapped as he scooped Ezra up in his arms from the little alcove housing the door to the cell across the hall where he had placed him for safe keeping as they extracted Kanan.

"No, but we're sure as hell going to try!" Kanan said quickly, grabbing hold of Cody and starting to run down the hall with him, but the clone tugged on the Jedi's arm as his step faltered, and Kanan was forced to slow down.

"This armor doesn't protect you from anything..." Cody said with a weak laugh, his hand clutching at his bleeding chest as he took his arm away from the Jedi. "I'm slowing you down..."

"It's fine, it'll be _fine_ ," Kanan hissed, the two of them quickly looking over their shoulder when a loud, crashing bang echoed through the corridors, the halls lighting up with a red glow as Maul stepped out of the cell, having cut himself free nearly twice as fast as Kanan had anticipated.

"Would have been fine if we didn't have _that_ following us!" Cody snapped, swiftly raising his blaster and firing at the furious, advancing Sith, Rex quickly beside him and Ezra clinging to Kanan as the clones fired at the Sith Lord, keeping close to each other to avoid the deflected bolts. The shouting and swift commands of Imperial soldiers echoed through the halls, though they couldn't see any troopers yet, and as they passed underneath one of the many arches that segmented the Imperial corridors, allowing blast doors to slam shut to contain damage to smaller areas. As they retreated, the Sith Lord grew faster, more furious as he advanced under the suppressing fire, only growing quicker as he drew closer, and with a burst of strength and speed he didn't know he had, he sprinted toward Maul, heedless of the cries of Rex and Kanan, his blaster aimed behind him as he shot the control panel, the blast doors slamming shut as the power shorted.

Kanan and Rex stared at the door, their hearts stopped in their chests and unable to breathe, and when Kanan finally jolted forward, his blade in his hand as he rushed the blast door, Rex grabbed the Jedi and shook his head.

" _We can't leave him_!" Kanan shouted at Rex as the clone dragged Ezra up from the ground.

"You cut that door open, Kanan, and we are right back where we started, and we _still_ won't have Cody!" Rex snapped. "He is a _soldier_ , he was injured and slowing us down, and he _made a choice_ to give us a chance to escape! Do not let his decision be for nothing!"

"B-but-"

"He made a promise to Kenobi," Rex said swiftly, handing him back the drugged Ezra as he primed his blaster, the sound of shouting now accompanied by the beat of footsteps on the ground. "That promise won't be fulfilled if we are captured here!"

With a final glance at the blast door, Kanan grit his teeth, scooped up Ezra, and sprinted through the ship's corridors, following Rex on their way toward the maintenance corridors in an attempt to reach the controls for the Interdictor's gravity wells. More than once, they ran into trooper patrols, a perfect mix of Jedi Force abilities and deadly clone accuracy once he removed the helmet, which Rex claimed limited his vision and made it difficult to hit his targets, allowing them to move through the ship quickly. Mostly, they kept to isolated corridors, avoiding troopers if they could instead of engaging them, and it wasn't long before they had disappeared from the regular pathways so they could traverse through the service corridors, a much more direct line to the gravity well projectors.

"We should have done this first..." Kanan growled when he and Rex had dispatched another group of Stormtroopers, a hazy Ezra slowly beginning to complain about being carried and insisting with heavily slurred speech that he could help them fight.

"Yeah, maybe so..." Rex muttered, leaning around the corner, his blaster at the ready, and motioning for the Jedi to follow as he ran into the next hall, the grated floor clanging under their feet. "Live and learn. Next time, we need a sabotage team."

"Which is _exactly_ what we had Kenobi on standby for..." Kanan grumbled as they turned another corner, Ezra wriggling in his grasp and muttering something unintelligible as he reached to activate the comlink on his wrist, the call quickly answered by Hera. There was no visual, but he could clearly hear the Twi'lek's relieved sigh.

"Spectre One. Are you in need of extraction?" she asked, professional as always, but Kanan could hear the relief and excitement in her voice."

"Not exactly..." Kanan said through his panting breaths, tightening his grasp on Ezra as he ran faster. "There have been _several_ complications, but I have Spectre Six in custody, and we'll be ready for extraction once we shut down the gravity wells on the Interdictor so we can make our escape."

"...wait, you were _detected_?!" Hera said tightly, groaning loudly in the silence that followed. "This is what Spectre Zero is for, I'll-"

"You can't," Kanan quickly interrupted. "Thrawn's here. This entire thing is a trap for Spectre Zero."

There was a long pause before Hera said in a strong but quiet voice, "Standby, Spectre One." Kanan slowed to a jog next to Rex when the maintenance corridor opened up into an enormous room filled with towering structures, power pylons, and a dangerous looking reactor supported by a field of shimmering energy, the control platforms just a short ways away, the Imperial presence limited to scientists, a few engineers, and a handful of armed soldiers. It wasn't anything they couldn't handle, and finally shedding his limiting helmet, Kanan hoisted the slowly recovering Ezra on his back and commanded him to hold on, the boy responding with thick-tongued compliance.

The Jedi led the way, his saber slashing the air before him to bat back the plasma bolts the Stormtroopers fired, the deflected shots aimed at hitting the power pylons. From cover behind the shield the Jedi's saber created, Rex shot at the Imperials on the platforms, easily able to pick them off from a distance with the necessary focus provided by the Jedi's cover. It didn't take them long to clear the room, and with Cody's lightsaber in the other clone's hands, it only took them a moment to thrust the blades through the control consoles, the power shorting out and the central reactor losing power with a long, low groan.

Taking Ezra off his back when the boy's legs slipped from around his waist to dangle behind him, Kanan once again scooped the boy up and ran quickly behind Rex as he led the way back into the dark maintenance corridors to hide, the only occasional presence of soldiers in the service areas making it a safer place than in the ship proper.

"Spectre One," the com blared, and Kanan crouched down, propping Ezra against a wall as he quickly answered. "What is your current situation?"

"The Interdictor gravity wells have been disabled," Kanan said, nodding in appreciation to Rex as he picked up Ezra, and he followed the Jedi as they continued their run through the ship. "The ship is guarded by five Star Destroyers. We have secured Spectre Six, but we have been unable to extract the other targets."

"I see..." Hera muttered. "Under these circumstances, docking is ill-advised. "Do you have an extraction plan?"

"I do," Kanan said firmly, skidding to a stop when the maintenance corridor ended and they found themselves standing in a long, broad expanse of ship, the dark of space and the nearby Star Destroyers visible through small, rounded viewports that lined a wall with evenly spaced rows of airlocks leading to hundreds and hundreds of attached escape pods. Rex picked up quickly on the Jedi's plan, and he ran to one of the consoles on the wall, entered a few quick codes, and the airlock opened. "We're going to jettison an escape pod," Kanan said as Rex carefully laid Ezra against the small, rounded bulkhead.

"Are you prepared?" Hera asked, and Kanan watched as Rex stepped away from the pod, his hand on the wall as he stared back toward the long hallways and corridors of the Interdictor.

"Y-yeah, hold on..." Kanan muttered into the com, silencing it as he approached Rex and finally acknowledging the quick beating of his heart and the pulling pain in his chest. "Hey..."

"We're leaving a lot of people behind..." Rex muttered. "I don't feel good about it."

"I was thinking the same thing..." Kanan muttered, touching the com once again. "Spectre Two, who do we have on standby for extraction?"

"Myself in the _Ghost_ , Spectre Five in the _Phantom_ , and the Chiss in the _Shadow_." There was a brief moment of amused silence, and Kanan could almost feel the Twi'lek brimming with pride. "It would seem that the Chiss is a fair pilot, and the _Shadow_ 's stealth systems are ready to be tested, and we are waiting on your command for extraction."

"We're jettisoning the escape pod now," Kanan said, Rex grinning and running to the console and entering the appropriate commands. "Launch the first ship and standby for second launch on my command."

"...Spectre One..." Hera said slowly. "Are you and your crew _not_ on that escape pod?!"

"Negative, Spectre Two," Kanan said, a soft smile on his lips as a loud hiss filled the open space, followed by the explosive thrum of the escape pod launching from the ship. "We're going back in to get the rest of them. Standby for my command." A string of colorful curses hissed over the com as Kanan shut it off, closed his eyes, and reached out with the Force, pushing past the cold, oppressive feel and the frantic rushing of hundreds of life forms aboard the ship.

"Kanan..." Rex said quietly, his hand on the Jedi's arm. "I wasn't just talking about the rest of the crew. We...can't leave Cody behind. Alive or dead, he needs to come home with us."

"I was thinking the exact same thing," the Jedi said, a faint smile upon his lips. "Free the crew, then back for Cody?" Rex swiftly nodded. "We'll probably be dealing with that kriffing nightmare creature. You got my back for that?"

"Tch, do you even need to ask?" Rex scoffed, and Kanan closed his eyes, a faint smile on his lips.

"No. Guess not."

"Spectre One," said the weary, slightly worried voice over the com. "Spectre Six has been extracted by the _Shadow_ and is being brought to the _Umbra_ for medical attention. Spectre Zero insisted. He's getting restless, and you're going to want to keep him busy so he's _not there_."

"Thanks, babe," Kanan drawled, switching off the com and grinning at Rex. "So...you ready to go?"

* * *

The frantic, excited pacing of swift, heavy steps rang in Cody's ears as he groaned awake, squinting against the light and taking short, shallow breaths for the pain in his chest. _Everything_ hurt, every twitch of his muscles a new lesson in agony, every breath like setting fire to his nerves and still, through all of it, was the rapid strides of the animal in the room, a predator mad with the thrill of his capture. When his eyes adjusted to the light, he glared defiantly at the creature as he paced, which only seemed to make the beast's malicious grin even wider.

Cody was certain he was going to vomit.

"Commander Cody..." Maul drawled sweetly, striding forward and roughly grasping the clone's chin. "Master of the Shadow Legion, and Kenobi's most prized possession..." His grip tightened, but the clone didn't flinch. "The last thing in this galaxy he holds dear..." Maul laughed maniacally, his teeth bared. "I thought the little Jedi was a fine catch, but _you_..." His hand shot up and grabbed the clone's hair and pulled _hard_ , Cody struggling for only a moment in the restraints of the interrogation chair. "Kenobi will come for you. He will come for you and I will take you from him like I took his slut and his spawn..."

To Maul's great displeasure, Cody laughed, _actually_ laughed, in his face. " _That's_ your plan?" the clone drawled with amusement so overwhelming that he didn't even flinch when Maul threw his head back against the steel of the interrogation chair. "After all this time, _that's_ how you're going to try and get his attention?" Cody laughed again, the sound making Maul grind his teeth together in his anger. "Honestly, it would be sad if being pathetic wasn't this hilarious." The clone flashed the increasingly angry man a pleasant grin. "Aw, what's wrong? Do you miss him, baby?" Cody said in a voice filled with mocking sympathy before he pursed his lips, locked eyes with the furious man, and teasingly kissed the air in his direction. "Because he misses you...and sometimes at night, I can hear the rancor crying for his favorite toy..."

" _You're worse than I remember!_ " Maul snarled viciously, his hand extended before him and the clone groaning as the Force slammed into him, his jaw tight as he felt the familiar snaking around his throat as his breathing was restricted, and while he managed to glare defiantly at the Zabrak for a moment, he shut his eyes tight in pain when his injured chest and hopelessly broken ribs spasmed for air. " _You_..." Maul snarled, drawing closer to the struggling man, the clone's face clutched tightly between his hands. "Night after night, I _suffered_ under you! If it wasn't Master, it was _you_ , his cruel, _constant companion_!" A sharp peel of manic laughter was torn from Maul's throat, his eyes wild as he released the clone and brought his hand down across his face, blood splattering to the ground from Cody's mouth as the Force released its hold on him.

"You know..." Cody rasped, his voice thick and his throat raw. " _Master_ has been spending an _awful_ lot of time replacing you..." he drawled, watching carefully as the Zabrak's eye began twitching, the corner of his lip curling up in what could have been a smile or a snarl, and a whimper that could have been reluctance or yearning was torn from his throat. "The _Grand Inquisitor_ serves in your place now. I think Master likes him better..." Cody hissed, leaning forward as much as his restraints and the pain in his chest allowed. He was going to die, he had resigned himself to that, and he'd be damned if he didn't go out messing with this wretch. "The Inquisitor can service him in ways _you_ can't, since his lower half isn't _cybernetic_."

" _All because of him_!" Maul snapped, his temper flaring, and Cody could feel pain spreading like molten steel through his veins. "All because _Obi-Wan Kenobi_ took them away from me, took _everything_ away from me! I came back to the Sith _broken_ because Master claimed everything I was, everything I had for himself!" Maul shut his eyes tightly, his rapid pacing continuing as he grasped tightly to his cranial horns. "It was never mine, never, _never_! Always his, always Master's..."

"...you know, for as much as he enjoys violating that Inquisitor's body, I do think he liked your mouth better," Cody said lightly, smirking through the pain when glowing, _furious_ eyes looked at him through the Zabrak's fingers as they covered his face. "The Inquisitor has these sharp, pointy teeth, you see, which makes _that_ particular prospect a gruesome affair, and as an added bonus, _you_ have those adorable little horns to grab on to..." Maul slowly, _dangerously_ stalked toward the restrained clone, and despite the sudden pain and the cold fear that ran through him, Cody forced himself to grin. "I should warn you, though. He just recently captured another Inquisitor. Twi'lek. Female. Got both her legs and a pretty mouth. I dare say she stands to be the new favorite!"

"I should expose you to _all of it_!" Maul snarled, grabbing the man's jaw with crushing force and sticking two of his fingers deep in the gagging clone's mouth, the strong grip on the tight muscles of his jaw preventing Cody from biting down. "Raped _relentlessly_ until there is no fight left in you!" Maul withdrew his fingers and violently slapped the clone again, the prisoner coughing and whimpering pathetically when the irregular, powerful contractions put undue strain on his broken ribs.

"I should very much like to see that happen..." Cody managed to weakly gasp. "I hear you lack the parts..."

"I can find other ways to accomplish the same results," the Sith sneered. "Perhaps that is how I will present you to Kenobi..." Maul said viciously. " _Hopelessly_ broken..." The Zabrak grinned, a cruel and menacing thing as he drew himself up against the restrained clone, raked his nails across the openly bleeding mess of cut skin and shrapnel on the groaning man's chest, and leaned in close. "You're here, which means Kenobi is not far away. He _will_ come for you, and when he does, he will be captured, he will be restrained, and I will make him _watch_ as I kill you. _Slowly_. You will beg for death before I bring it upon you."

"Then I'll be living a _long_ time..." Cody growled, and the Zabrak shrugged as he laughed.

"It doesn't matter. You will die, and I will watch Kenobi _break_."

"You're overestimating my importance..." Cody muttered, the Zabrak frowning and stepping back. "He's not going to kill you for killing me. Hell, he won't even enslave you again. No, he's going to _ignore you_. And that will be it. Your Master's attention, faded into _indifference_."

" _No, he won't_!" Maul snarled viciously, almost desperately, highly aggressive, though he took steps away from the clone, observing him intently for a moment before he grabbed hold of the restraints pinning Cody to the table, ripped them off their bolted fastenings, and threw the clone hard against the wall. Pain erupted through him so intense that his vision bursted in blinding light, the ringing in his ears drowning out the fast, heavy steps as they quickly approached him. He groaned with pain when a hard, heavy weight sat on his hips and a strong hand wrapped in his hair, lifting his head from the ground. Squinting up into the wrathful face above him, Cody mustered all the strength he could and spit at the Sith, blood and saliva splattering across Maul's face.

"You are _nothing_ ," Cody hissed weakly, a dazed, lazy smirk on his face. "A shell of what you used to be because Kenobi _owns you_." Maul's fist slammed into his stomach, the white armor around the point of impact cracking under the weight, and Cody wrenched violently sideways, the sudden pain from his ribs and the Zabrak's fist making him vomit on the ground, a distressing mix of blood and the meager contents of his stomach.

"Soon, _very_ soon, Master Sidious will catch Kenobi..." Maul hissed, his hands wrapping back in the clone's hair and lifting him up, his shoulders painfully off the ground and their faces mere inches from each other, and Cody felt the strength begin to drain from him under the piercing yellow gaze. "Be it here, _today_ at Thrawn's hand or by his own volition, it matters not, but the reign of Darth Lumis is coming to an end. He will be broken, _enslaved_ , and when he is, I will take back _everything_ he has stolen from me! I will be free of _this_..." he hissed, laying a long finger on his own temple, the yellow eyes suddenly wild and frantic. "His voice in my mind, calling, calling, _always calling to me_!" A pained, yearning whimper was pulled out of Maul's chest, the clone's head landing with a hard thud on the ground when the Sith Lord grasped his own head, his eyes shut tight and his shoulders hunched as he rocked back and forth from his immovable seat on Cody's hips. "Master... _Master_..."

Cody shut his eyes and allowed his body to finally relax, his breathing ragged and shallow and submitting to the pain that rushed through him. The urge to provoke the man further crossed his mind for a moment, hoping to spike the Sith's fury so that the savage creature may finally end it for him in a fit of rage, but as he listened to Maul's chanting for his Master become more desperate, more manic, the man quickly growing madder by the moment as his fragile mental state swiftly deteriorated, he couldn't bring himself to do it. Keeping Kenobi from this place had been the right call. For as patient as Darth Lumis could be, he was emotional and quick to rage, and this entire situation would have seen him sprinting full speed into a trap set by the cunning Chiss. One mistake, one slip was all it would take, and Obi-Wan was impulsive and wrathful when it came to defending the few things he had left.

"I'm not going to kill you, clone..." Maul said, impressively smoothly for how frenetic he had been a moment later, his hand caressing Cody's cheek gently, almost lovingly, and the clone looked up into yellow eyes that were wide and wild and on the verge of shattering. "Thrawn needs you alive for his plans." A sharp, snapping hiss filled the air and the acrid scent of the ignition of burning plasma invaded his senses as a single red blade extended out of the haft of Maul's lightsaber. "But he didn't say he needed you in one piece..."

"Mutilating me won't bring your Master back to you..."

" _I have a Master_!" Maul snarled, his hand wrapping around Cody's throat, the blade in his other hand drawing perilously close to the clone, but he didn't flinch, only grasped the Zabrak's wrist to relieve the pressure on his neck and watched as something behind the frantic yellow eyes broke. "Master is _strong_ ," Maul snarled, his voice shaking despite the rage and the yearning in him. "And he is _cruel_. His touch is like fire and pain and fury, and I _need it_!" Maul took a deep, shuddering breath as he began to laugh, quietly at first, but it quickly escalated into something maniacal, his grip on the clone's throat becoming punishingly tight. "Wrath and passion and pain and pleasure, Master, every moment of every day filled with crawling, aching need in your absence!" The lightsaber hung loose in his hand, the blade hissing as it burned a molten line into the floor by Cody's head, the Zabrak's hand easing around the clone's neck and his breathing fast and uneven as his shoulder shook with dry, broken sobs.

"Come with me..." Cody rasped hoarsely, wide, frantic eyes shooting to him. "Return me to my Master and he will not forget it." The hand around his throat trembled, the struggle within him clear on Maul's face, his weight shifting from leg to leg as he contemplated releasing the clone, and in the moments before the hand tightened and the yellow eyes narrowed in blind fury, Cody thought me may have been free.

"Do you take me for a fool?" Maul hissed, raising his blade off the floor and driving it through Cody's shoulder into the ground beneath him, the clone screaming in pain as skin and muscle and bone burned. "Maybe I _will_ kill you, but _oh_ how you will suffer first..." Maul snarled. "We can bait a trap with a dead clone as well as we can with a living one..."

With a sharp, feral snarl, Maul quickly looked over his shoulder, his blade quickly pulled out of the clone's body just as a hail of blaster fire was shot at him, and in a moment, the Sith was on his feet, his second blade activated and slashing at the air to deflect the plasma bolts back toward the shooter. The deflected shots were batted out of the air by blue lightsabers, the Jedi providing cover for the clone behind him, the two working in perfect unison, and for just a moment, Maul felt as though he were staring down a Jedi General and his Clone Commander, a once fearsome partnership that had broken on the wheel of the Empire. Apparently, these two hadn't gotten the memo.

Maul pushed off the ground and sprinted toward the pair, effortlessly deflecting the shots fired at him, and just as he was bearing down upon them, the Jedi and the clone broke rank and sprinted in opposite directions to flank the Sith Lord, the clone running further out and continuing to shoot as the Jedi swiftly cut in, both lightsabers swinging as he engaged the snarling Sith Lord. Attempts to move out from between the pair didn't work, and when Maul grabbed at the Force to throw the clone away, the Jedi darted between them, his own hand raised as he pushed back against the Sith, their hands extended toward each other but the power between them kept them from touching. The Sith was stronger, wilder, with years of intensive training behind him, and the Jedi began to slide back, hit jaw clenched tight as his white armored boots scraped against the ground.

In the time that Kanan had Maul's full attention, Rex had run behind the dueling pair, taking shots when he could that were effortlessly, almost reflexively deflected by the Sith even while pressing against the Jedi, but his goal was the collapsed and bleeding clone on the floor. Casting a quick glance at the two Force sensitives as the power between them broke and the lightsabers clashed in a flurry of sparks against each other once again, Rex quickly knelt beside Cody and dragged the broken man to his feet, draping his arm over his shoulder for support and pressing a blaster into his shaking hand.

"We need you to fight," Rex softly commanded the gasping clone. "Just for a moment, just until we're out of here. Can you shoot?"

Cody swallowed hard and shook his head, barely able to raise the blaster enough to shoot in a straight line. "N-not in this hand." Rex nodded in swift understanding, quickly transferred his support to Cody's other side and draping the other arm over his shoulders, and Cody almost sighed in relief as the blaster was pressed into the other hand. Without a word between them, the clones aimed their blasters and fired upon the Sith Lord, the drastically uneven fight between him and the Jedi evening out a bit as his attention was divided. With their target secured, Cody and Rex slowly began circling around toward the door and Kanan quickly moved to keep himself between Maul and the clones.

The Sith's fury exploded in a flurry of savage, unpredictable and uncontrolled strikes, and Kanan slipped into his defensive posture, his natural Soresu which he had been tirelessly working with Kenobi to perfect, and while he wasn't nearly as good as his Sith teacher, he _was_ learning, and his style reflected it. His minimalist movements were all affected with Kenobi's touch, the Jedi's movements mirroring the Sith's distinctive, perfect style, not so refined, but the marks of his teacher were clear, enough for Maul to recognize, and it made the raging Zabrak falter. It was just for a moment, a slight widening of the eyes, a hitch of the breath, but it was enough, and Kanan's blades caught Maul's at just the right angle, the slash deflected wide, causing the Sith to extend his step to compensate. The momentary disruption was just enough for Kanan to reach through the Force and push Maul back, not to fly through the air, but for his boots to screech and skid along the ground, putting distance between them.

The moment they disengaged, Kanan turned and ran, not looking once behind him as he dashed out of the room to the waiting clones, the two of them opening fire on the console on the wall, the electronics within shorting out and slamming the heavy doors shut just in front of the screaming Maul. The red lightsaber was through the door a moment later, but Rex and Kanan were already fast at work tearing the helmets off dead Stormtroopers that lay scattered on the ground.

"You should have left me..." Cody said in a weak, thin voice as Kanan slammed a helmet over his head right before putting on his own and scooping the clone up into his arms.

"You can lecture me about compromising the mission when we're safe back home," Kanan growled, slamming his hand on his wrist comlink and quickly shouting, "Spectre Two, we need _immediate_ extraction!"

"On my way, Spectre One," the woman said, the com silencing, and Rex and Kanan began to run, sprinting as fast as they could down the halls, the clone shooting every security panel they came across, slamming heavy blast door behind them as they went. The ship was swarming with Stormtroopers, but not a single one moved to engage them when Kanan began shouting about the Jedi on the loose in Sector 7 and barking frantic commands for a medic, which several officers and soldiers rushed to deliver at the sight of the severely wounded trooper in his arms. It made their path through the ship extremely expedient, the group only ducking into smaller corridors when they needed to cut across to make it to their destination, or when they grew nervous about the Sith that was hunting them and felt another blast door between them would be beneficial.

They came to the launch bay fast enough just as the emergency alarms began to blare, and Rex swiftly attached himself to a console, punching in the override codes to give them access to the locked down escape pods, and growled in frustration when it did not work. But the second code did, and moments later, they had piled in to the small, cramped space, the Jedi in the one pilot's seat as the escape pod was launched, a wash of relief filling him when he saw the _Ghost_ , warm and familiar, swiftly flip around and fly right toward them, the squadron of TIE Fighters behind them forced to engage with the _Shadow_ and the _Phantom_. Not ten seconds later, the _Ghost_ swooped overhead, its maglocks engaged, and the tiny escape pod latched on to the hull, space racing by their little viewport as they sped away from the Interdictor, the _Chimera_ , the other Star Destroyers, the squadron of TIE Fighters that inexplicably broke off their pursuit. The pod shuddered, and the viewport filled with the blue and white of hyperspace.

There was silence in the pod, a feeling of relief washing over them as all their previous tension evaporated, and Kanan felt weariness over come him and the clones in the back. He rubbed his eyes, stinging from the overwhelming weariness of exhaustion and emotional strain, and he looked over his shoulder at the clones behind them, their helmets off, their eyes closed, the two huddled close together.

"...hey, slave," Cody slurred in a thick, heavy voice, and Rex opened one eye to look over the man. "...thanks."

Rex scoffed softly, settling down, and shutting his eye, his shoulders relaxing. "Think nothing of it, traitor."

"Alright, you big idiots," Kanan sighed, turning away from them and looking out the viewport at the calming lines of hyperspace, a slight smile on his lips. "Let's get you two home."


	46. Treading the Decline

**AN:** **Hey, remember a time when these chapters were, I don't know, 4000 to 5000 words long instead of long, long action chapters? Yeah, me too. I miss those. So today, our favorite friends are taking a much needed break...for 12000 words. An awful lot going on here, see if you can find all the different moving pieces! Good luck, my lovely hunters!**

 **The Road Not Taken should be updated tomorrow, I know exactly how the chapter is going to go, so the writing should be quite quick. Should be good. At least, it's good in my mind.**

 **Again, lovelies, don't forget to let me know what you think. Don't be a lurker, come out and say hello! I friggin' love it! I like hearing what you guys think, and I REALLY like being able to engage in discussions with you. Some of my best stuff comes from things you guys inspired. Keep being awesome, lovelies, and enjoy!**

 _Chapter 46: Treading the Decline_

The pilot was _Chiss_.

Unmistakably so, there could be no question about it. They flew with grace and speed that seemed cautious and reckless all at once, maintaining a defensive position while baiting the fighters closest to them to attack, which the pilots in their TIE Fighters did every single time with perfect reliability. This was not the _best_ pilot that he had ever seen, but whoever they were, they were still very good, only made to appear even better by their clear study of Imperial flight maneuvers and their own unusual flight tactics, which left he Imperials scrambling for a suitable defense to a thing they had never seen before. And while the ship itself was not of Chiss design, the technology _was_ , from the engine reactors which burned and used fuel in such a way that the rear thrusters burned blue, to the experimental stealth system which had been used by the Chiss military for a thousand years.

It was enough for Thrawn to call off the TIE Fighters, enough for him to command his fleet to retreat to a more defendable position in the Arkanis Sector where he could contemplate the day's new developments in peace. Allowing the rebels to escape had been a tactical decision which greatly angered the captains aboard the other Star Destroyers, and he dismissed their outrage as simply the bitter howling of a wounded pride, nothing worthy of merit or consideration. If his time in the Imperial Navy had taught him anything, it was that many that sat near the top of the Imperial Navy's chain of command, it was that they were mostly made of those who demonstrated raw, naked ambition, not necessarily tactical skill and leadership, which part of the reason why he had angered so many of them.

Thrawn had no mind for the politics of the Naval Command and believed that such politics and social manipulations had no place within the Imperial hierarchy. He believed in merit, promotion through skill and ability, not simply for knowing and pleasing the right people, and so he spoke frankly, presenting the situation as he saw it, focused on results, not the many, many toes he stepped on or the egos he wounded. As Commander Eli Vanto was always quick to remind him, High Command was out to see him fail, not just because he was not human, but because his ways were offensive to them. He rose through the ranks anyway because his results were very difficult to argue with, but that didn't mean every influential eye wasn't on him, waiting for a slip up, a mistake, any reason at all they could use to bring the non-human Admiral low.

Losing a valuable prisoner, allowing the rebels to escape, and retreating from _three_ small rebel ships when victory through sheer might alone was in their hands looked to be their opportunity to do just that.

"Admiral?" Commander Vanto asked as he stepped into Thrawn's stateroom, the lights dim and the Chiss sitting in his command chair, staring intently at the data and security recordings projected on the wall before him. The human officer slowly strode toward him and stood at attention by the chair, silent as he waited for any sign that the Admiral even recognized he was there. It took a few minutes, but eventually, the Chiss' glowing red eyes slightly shifted to look at Eli. "Admiral, High Command has summoned you," Vanto said, his voice strained with irritation. " _Again_. You've been summoned back to Coruscant. A call from them has been forwarded to the Conference Room. They are waiting for you to personally give them the account of what happened in the Del Zennis System this morning."

"They have my report, Commander," Thrawn said in his usual monotone, and Eli couldn't help but wonder if Thrawn was actually just as irritated as he was. "I was very thorough. Did they find it lacking?"

"Beats me..." Eli muttered. "Most like, they're just wanting a chance to humiliate you."

"For what would I be humiliated, Commander?" Thrawn asked almost gently, and Eli crossed his arms over his chest and huffed in annoyance.

"I don't know, how about for retreating from an easy victory against three rebel ships?" He scoffed slightly. "Hell, not even three _proper_ ships. Two star fighters and a freighter against an Interdictor cruiser, five Star Destroyers, and their entire compliment of TIE Fighters shouldn't have even been a contest."

"A tactical decision, Commander," Thrawn said quietly, his focus returning once again to the display before him. "The rebel ships were incidental. Our battle was already lost inside the Interdictor, but the information we received in exchange was well worth their escape."

"Sir?" Eli asked, drawing closer to the Admiral, the red eyes shifting their attention to the officer, the boy more curious than nervous, his posture more relaxed, informal, though still respectful, approaching not as the Chiss' aide, but as his friend, as they had become over their many years together. "I'm...not entirely sure I understand how this wasn't a categorical failure. We were expecting Kenobi, but he didn't even show. We set our trap for a krayt dragon, and Jawas stole the bait and slipped out through the bars of the cage!" Thrawn's head tilted slightly to the side, examining Eli for a moment as he interpreted the expression's meaning.

"Your meaning is that our bait attracted smaller prey that our trap was not meant to ensnare." Eli nodded, and the slightest smirk came to the Chiss' lips as he leaned back in his seat, his fingers steepled before him. "Yes...and no. Capturing the rebel and Jedi student Ezra Bridger was...unexpected, and while I may very well have managed to capture the Shadow King today were he to step inside my ship, this trap was never meant for him. If I may use your very apt analogy, Commander, prey caught in a trap may serve as a lure for a larger beast."

"...but we didn't _catch_ anything, sir," Eli said, and an imperceptible smirk touched the edge of the Chiss' lips.

"Did we not?" A slightest gesture from the Chiss, and Commander Vanto stepped forward, kneeling beside the command chair as Thrawn's fingers deliberately moved over the controls on the armrest, the holographic data minimizing and replaced by the holographic representations of the rebel ship, the _Ghost_ , Kenobi's _Umbra_ , and the third, unidentified U-Wing that appeared with the rebels during their escape. "We can say with certainty that the Shadow King shares an at least occasional partnership with the rebel group known as the Spectres."

"Safe to say, yeah," Eli said, and tapping the small display on the chair, the projection zoomed in on the _Ghost_ , small images of the freighter's crew surrounding the ship, along with the schematics of both the _Ghost_ and her small, auxiliary fighter.

"Our capture of the Jedi Ezra Bridger gave us a very rare opportunity to lure both our rebel cell and the Shadow King to us. When there is one rebel, the others are rarely ever far behind ready to rush to the rescue, as was the case today. But while Bridger was in our custody..." He zoomed in on the image of the young Jedi student, a long scroll of information appearing beside a security loop of the young Jedi in action. "He provided us with invaluable data which we are now using to perfect our method for our capture of the Shadow King."

"Is it finally ready?" Eli asked, looking up excitedly at the Admiral, who barely registered that he had been spoken to.

"Very nearly, yes..." He zoomed back out on the image of the _Ghost_ , the small representations of the Spectres surrounding it, along with a seventh figure wearing clone armor. "As you know, the rebel Kanan Jarrus came to the rescue along with two unidentified allies, and infiltrated the Interdictor using a set of emergency protocols developed during the Clone Wars." He tapped the image of the clone in the bottom corner, and the hologram zoomed in, presenting the security recording from the fight aboard the Interdictor with the Jedi battling beside two men in Stormtrooper armor. "We have isolated the codes and found them to originate with the Republic's 501st Legion, and while we have yet to identify his numerical designation, we can say with certainty that the Spectres have added a clone soldier to their ranks. Any further use of these emergency protocols will be fair indication that we are likely dealing with our rebels."

"That's...good," Eli said as understanding slowly came to him. "That's _very_ good."

"As I said, the loss of the rebels was acceptable for what we received in return," Thrawn said slowly, zooming back out on the images of the ships and staring intently at the U-Wing. "Most importantly, however, was the _third_ member of the infiltration team." The Chiss quickly tapped his fingers on the command chair controls, and the image of another clone appeared, this one in red and black Mandalorian armor. "Lord Maul confirmed his identity as Commander Cody of the Separatist Shadow Legion, the alleged right hand of Obi-Wan Kenobi during the Clone Wars." Beside him, Eli shifted slightly, his mouth pressed in a thin line, his brow drawn together in concern. "Speak your mind, Commander," the Chiss said quietly. "Maul is not present."

"He's...sort of crazy, isn't he?" Vanto said slowly, carefully measuring his words as if speaking bluntly would somehow summon the Sith. "You can't trust a mad dog, and he sure made a mess of things over there."

"Precisely because of the personal nature of his relationship with the clone," Thrawn said flatly, though an undercurrent of excited tension ran through his words. "For a short time, our bait was taken, and in exchange for Ezra Bridger, we captured Commander Cody, a man that, according to Maul, is closer to Obi-Wan Kenobi than anyone presently living." He took a deep breath and held it for a moment, his fingers bringing up the security footage of the Interdictor's primary interrogation room and the furious Zabrak's torture of the clone. The volume was muted now, but he had carefully listened to the audio _many_ times.

"Yeah, but we lost him too," Eli said, shaking his head in disappointment. "We can't use him as bait if we don't have him."

"No, we cannot," Thrawn said quietly, his face as impassive as always, but when he turned his eyes on Eli, the young commander saw triumph burning behind them. "But he is not bait, he is a _lure_. His beating at the hands of our... _mad dog_ , as you called him, and his subsequent escape has given us _everything_ we need guarantee Kenobi's capture." His fingers drummed on the armrest as he thought, his intelligent eyes swiftly daring between the data presented before him.

"Sir?" Eli asked quietly after the Chiss became lost in thought, and the Admiral straightened in his chair, his attention back on his aide. "We _had_ one of his own." He pointed to the holographic display. "We had Bridger. A _Jedi_. That should have been enough to draw him out with the other rebels to mount a rescue."

"That is correct..." Thrawn said evenly. "Which means someone else is dictating the missions the rebels undertake. They have a rebel leader, and Kenobi at least occasionally differs to their command." The Admiral took a deep, even breath as he looked at the faces of the Spectres, carefully examining each one, then moved the Twi'lek Hera Syndula and the Jedi Kanan Jarrus to the top of the display. After a moment of consideration, he shook his head and minimized the Jedi. "But no longer. Our lure guarantees as much. By allowing another to dictate the rescue operation, his clone was severely wounded, and the next time one of his own is under threat, he will come personally to deal with the problem."

"And we already know the people he considers to be under his protection." Eli sighed in satisfaction, looking over the images of the ships that Thrawn was fixated upon, and frowned. "Sir, if we already have him on the line, why not reel him in? We could capture any of his allies, and he will come to us."

"Yes..." Thrawn slowly drawled, though his eyes never left the image of the U-Wing. "Yes, any of them would do. But we are presented with a unique opportunity. I now dictate his movements, and when he engages me, he now no longer has a choice but for it to be on my terms. If we are patient, if we wait for the right time, not only can we capture the Shadow King, but his most dangerous ally as well."

"And what if he just decided to attack?" Eli asked. "I know a single Star Destroyer is hard to find, but if he knows where to look, if he happens upon us..."

"You know very well what is aboard this ship, Commander," Thrawn said quietly. "Our interactions have been far too..." He paused, searching for the right word, and smirked slightly when he found it. "Far too intimate for him to engage me in any other manner but face to face. The moment he sets foot on the _Chimera_ , he is mine. Our job now it to calculate the right moment for it to have the most devastating effect for those who oppose the Empire."

"Sounds like getting a lure to catch Kenobi is more than a fair trade for our losses today," Eli said as he stood and smoother out the folds in his pants. "You broke off the attack to ensure his escape? Lure, not bait."

"Something like that, yes..." Thrawn said in his customary monotone, more distant than usual as he stared at the projection.

"Want to try and explain that to High Command?" Eli asked. "They're still waiting on that report."

"Let them wait," the Admiral said quickly, Eli's jaw going slack as he stared at the blue skinned non-human and sighed. It was hardly surprising. "I have other matters which take precedence over a pointless interrogation. They have my report. That will serve until we arrive in Coruscant."

"...you _sure_ you wanna do that, Admiral?" Eli asked, Thrawn's face as expressionless as always.

"I'm certain, thank you," the Chiss said, his voice as even and assured as always. "That will be all, Commander." With a sigh, Eli turned to trudge out of the room, not envying himself the distasteful task of explaining to Naval High Command why the Admiral believed he had the authority to dismiss them, leaving Thrawn alone in the stateroom with his thoughts.

Tearing his gaze away from the U-Wing, Thrawn brought up the file of his gathered information from Kenobi's Empire Day attacks, now numbering in seventeen ostentatious displays designed specifically to taunt the Emperor. This year's event had been two-fold, beginning with the discovery of three dead and dismembered Inquisitors on the floor of the Senate, draped over the Emperor's chair no less, far less playful than it was outwardly threatening. It culminated in the largest heist in galactic history, and despite financial losses from the Emperor's personal accounts amounting to just shy of a billion credits in untraceable gold bars, minted coins and credit ingots, the gesture had been, ultimately, playful. Not friendly, of course, but it had the feel of familial teasing, an unruly child who had managed to sneak his father's credit chip and use it unrestrained on an elaborate spending spree.

Thrawn's eyes roved over the very official and _very_ legal papers displayed before him, ones drawn up by the bank's chairman himself that authorized the withdrawal of half a billion credits in hard currency, but his attention was ultimately drawn to the note written on the back of the document in an elegant hand, a polite and friendly note thanking Palpatine for the generous severance package, which Kenobi himself had signed next to a picture he had drawn of himself sitting atop a mountain of coins. Thrawn considered himself fortunate to have been allowed to receive this information, as in the past, he had to work tirelessly to unearth the mocking notes from the Emperor's former student, though he had been in the Emperor's presence when the documents were delivered, and the circumstances surrounding the heist made it not only unavoidable, but prudent for the Chiss to have access to them.

The security from the bank had been compromised, and the backlog of the recorded footage had been completely destroyed, leaving no evidence at all as to what had transpired there. Slowly, the information had been pieced together when bank personnel and the security force had been interrogated, but nobody could seem to remember anything relevant, anything unusual or out of place, anything that would have pointed to the rogue Sith having been there, save for the documents and the note that he had signed himself. But his complete absence left his imprint on the circumstances none the less, the lack of his presence forming his imprint as clearly as his actual image would have, what was missing proving to be just as telling as the gathered information.

The chairman had been killed, along with ten other staff and administrators and twenty of the Death Troopers sent to guard the center of Imperial finances, and in their search for the missing bodies, they had discovered the Inquisitor on guard was nowhere to be found. A quick investigation found the bodies dumped on the frightened citizens of an Imperial outpost, but the Inquisitor was nowhere to be found. Most importantly, though, was the discrepancy in the numbers, the amount stolen that Kenobi had flaunted to the Emperor approximately half of what had actually been taken. Without the security footage, it was impossible to know what had happened, but to Thrawn, the picture was clear. The fastidious, meticulous Obi-Wan may have been impulsive and reckless when he was forced into a situation, but when he dictated the terms of engagement, when he created a situation, when he had a plan, it was nothing less than genius strategy and masterful manipulation to see everything go exactly according to his design.

The discrepancy was telling. Something had happened. This was a _mistake_ , an error, something had gone very, very wrong, and what could have been an easy, clean legal transaction to serve as a demonstration to the Emperor that he could walk unhindered in his most secure places had become a lock down and a battle. There was a factor at play that Thrawn knew _nothing_ about, and that needed to change immediately.

There were _several_ new factors at play. Thrawn's gaze drifted back to the U-Wing, the new stealth ship that was almost certainly tied to the _Umbra_ , the thing that made him pull his TIE Fighters off the rebel pursuit. He hadn't forgotten the bodies of the Chiss that the rogue Sith had sent to the Emperor, along with the recording of their dissection, and the brutal violation of their female commander, made to quietly submit to the Sith Lord and allow him to do as he wished with her body. Kenobi hadn't killed her, at least he hadn't recorded himself doing so, and a taunting message at the end of the recording seemed to suggest that Kenobi was saving this Chiss female as companionship for Thrawn himself when the Sith Lord finally captured him.

As the Chiss were rarely seen outside of the Chiss Ascendancy, and the ships sent out of the Unknown Regions to scout in Wild Space flushed their jump coordinates daily and upon being disabled, it made it _very_ unlikely that Kenobi knew where to find the Chiss home world of Csilla.

But he _might_.

Not that it would matter much. Kenobi had an interest in _Thrawn_ , not the Chiss, and so far as most knew, Thrawn had been exiled by the Chiss High Command, leaving him without a home and without a people, and even if Kenobi had somehow discovered the truth of Thrawn's presence inside the Galactic Empire, it seemed highly unlikely that the cunning Sith Lord would turn his sights on such a remote world so deep in the Unknown Regions when his fight was with Palpatine.

No, what was distressing about this was the fact that this Chiss pilot flew like a _Chiss_ , which meant that not only was Kenobi not exerting direct control, but they had retained their mental prowess to fly with such skill, uncharacteristic of the mental deterioration that Thrawn had seen in others who had fallen under the Sith Lord's dominion, utterly broken shells of what they once were, dependent on the will of the Sith to guide them through anything other than the most basic tasks. No, this pilot was unmistakably Chiss, and flew using maneuvers that were considered advance, even among the Ascendancy.

Be it the lone female that remained in his custody or another the Sith had kept hidden, this Chiss was _not_ under direct control, and likely hadn't been made to serve him, but had chosen to. That had yet to be seen, but with the brutal deaths of the other Chiss, it was unlikely Kenobi could hold anything over them to force this Chiss to remain in service to him _and_ maintain such high level of skill and independent thought required to fly that way. Either this pilot willingly served the Shadow King, or Thrawn had _gravely_ misjudged Kenobi's powers. He needed to reevaluate his prey, discover if this Chiss pilot was a servant or a slave, accepted his rule or was forced to submit. And the Chiss _did not_ submit.

Ultimately, it didn't matter. The trap was set, and he had already ensnared the Sith Lord, the actions of reckless, foolish Maul guaranteeing that the next time one of Kenobi's inner circle was in danger, he would be impulsive and emotional when caution and patience were needed for fear of losing someone close to him as he had almost lost the clone. Thrawn had the right bait, all that was needed was the right time, and the threat of the Shadow King would be at an end. The Chiss in his captivity was...ultimately meaningless. When Kenobi was in his clutches, there would be plenty of time to free any prisoners he may keep and to learn the full measure of the man he had been chasing for so long.

All he needed was a little patience, and Thrawn had plenty of that.

* * *

Obi-Wan knelt in the center of the large room, the metal walls around him groaning, the steel crates filled with supplies rattling as they shook, the rancor beside him snarling and furious, his claws raking the ground and leaving deep gouges in the smooth surface, thick saliva dripping off fangs that gnashed together as he roared and snapped the air, his large, usually black eyes now a swirling storm of blood red and gold flames. In their cells where they had been restrained to the walls, the two captive Inquisitors writhed and screamed against their bonds begging and pleading for mercy falling on deaf ears as the Dark Side sunk its fangs within them and tore into them in gleeful, unrestrained wrath, the presence so heavy, so oppressive that they thought they could not breathe for the thickness of darkness in the air.

The draconic leviathan had awakened and shattered the thick ice of the Dark Side of the Force, disrupting the still, cold calm and leaving in its wake spears of sharp ice that sliced through any foolish enough to draw near, sharp dangerous waves that crested and crashed as lightning struck from black clouds over a stormy sea. He was open, raw and exposed, stepping out of his usual concealment to stand defiantly in the throes of the Force, and from across the distance, he could feel eyes on him. It didn't matter. They would come to feel his wrath soon enough.

The mission had returned successful, the crew of the captured ship and Ezra safely returned to Phoenix Squadron with very few casualties, and when Kanan and the clones returned, Obi-Wan was left to hold the beaten, _broken_ body of Cody close to him, alive but severely wounded at the hands of Darth Maul. The _Chimera_ had been there. _Thrawn had been there_ , a still and silent menace hanging over the infiltrating team, and _not once_ did they contact him to let him know that his Chiss Admiral was closer than he had _ever_ been. Cody had weakly explained that it was _he_ whom decided against informing him, the obvious nature of the trap making his clone companion uneasy about putting him in danger, had thought it best to stay away and attack when they could determine the rules of engagement, but Obi-Wan had swiftly silenced him, picked him up, and carried him into the _Umbra_ where he could care for him, commanding that the Spectres give him a _very_ wide berth if they valued their safety at all.

Obi-Wan had been ready, _waiting_ to rush to their aid, as they had planned, the Sith Lord silently sinking into the Force to keep a close eye on Kanan as he snuck around the Interdictor, and Ezra, who he could distressingly not feel. The moment he touched the Force, however, all became dark, bathed in dancing red and black shadows as his sight was obscured by the visions of Sidious, his yellow eyes open and glowing in sinister delight, his cruel grin visible from under the shadows of his hood, his cold, malignant laughter echoing all around him. Obi-Wan _should_ _have_ been able to feel Maul, his feral, half mad pet as he stalked the Interdictor. He _should have_ been able to feel Kanan and his cold resolve, his focus worthy of the Jedi of old. He _should have_ felt Ezra, all bold fear and brash defiance, even in the face of impossible odds, a boy either too determined or too stupid to know when to quit. And above all else, he _should have_ felt Cody, his beloved companion, as he was beaten, tortured, and nearly killed by the _creature_ that murdered Satine and his unborn son.

But all he saw was Sidious. All he heard was his triumphant laughter. All he felt was his end drawing quickly closer.

Now, however, as he knelt within the spacious cargo hold of his ship in full light of the Force, a storm within the Dark Side, an open nexus and sporting the mask of Darth Nihilus upon his face, the vision of Sidious before him finally, _finally stopped laughing_.

That calm self-assurance of his absolute mastery had dropped away as Lumis defiantly stared at him, black robes hanging loose and still around them both despite the violent winds of the devastating storm around them, Sidious' on pale yellow eyes locking with the bleeding red and gold visible through Nihilus' mask, and Lumis saw _hunger_. Small cracks in the tight control of the Emperor, allowing lust for power, ravenous desire and a bone-crushing need for absolute dominion to bleed through, a thing that all Sith possessed in some capacity, but within Darth Sidious, it was overwhelming, consuming, and in his pervasive greed, Lumis saw _weakness_.

Sidious could be defeated. Sidious _must_ be defeated, and Darth Lumis was the one to do it. It wouldn't take much, if only he reached out and grabbed hold of the power needed to do it. He could feel the Dark Side churning within him, the predator within comforting and familiar, but strange and unknown to him all at once, a grotesque mutation of the sleek, silent hunter that prowled unseen through the shadows of the Force. It would be such a _small_ thing to give into the hunger that rested deep and ignored within him, that burning itch for more and more he resisted each time he consumed the Force from another being. The gnawing of addiction would be _so_ easy to surrender to, to give himself up if only it meant he could finally destroy Sidious and exert his own dominion over this galaxy. Such a small thing to sacrifice for the power he would receive in return, and he had been little more than a shell anyway since he had lost everything. The remainder of all he was for infinite power was just within reach and more than worth the little price he was asked to pay...

With a shuddering gasp, Obi-Wan tore the mask from his face and dropped onto the floor before him, running shaking hands through his hair and struggling to get control of his rapid, ragged breathing and his humming heart. He closed his eyes and wrestled with the Dark Side that had been set free, the rancor beside him thrashing and howling and slowly, _slowly_ calming as Obi-Wan slipped back into obscurity in the shadows of the Force, eventually falling to his side with a tired gruff and breathing deeply when the Sith Lord laid a calming hand between his eyes. The vision of Sidious before him slowly faded as he stepped out of the currents of the Force, and Obi-Wan felt _ill_ , chilled and feverish all at once, his forehead beaded in cold sweat, the memory of Sidious' eyes upon him still weighing heavily on his body.

These thoughts were _not_ his own, and never had been. For all he craved power, Obi-Wan fell to the Dark Side to bring peace and order to a galaxy rife with corruption and chaos bred by the greedy, ineffectual Republic and their complacent Jedi. Power for the sake of power had never been a thing he truly wanted, and he often stopped himself from reaching further than he could when he felt the cost became too high, when he was unwilling to pay the price for what he knew could be his if only he just _reached_ beyond that line he was unwilling to cross.

No, these thoughts came from the mask itself and the corrupted beast that lay trapped within it, the sharp and shadowed claws of the Dark Side reaching out to sink deep into his mind the moment he put the dread mask on. There was knowledge to be had there, and he could feel it deep within him as his mind was torn into, willingly exposing himself to the trapped knowledge of the mask's dark powers, but also to the sweet seduction of the Dark Side, that smooth, alluring whisper that beaconed him closer, promised him power and pleasure unlike anything he ever knew if only he would just cut away at the shredded remains of himself. And it _was_ tempting, even though he was keenly aware that to do so would see his motivation for his descent down this dark road ripped from him, his very reason for possessing such power gone in exchange for possessing what he needed, and _that_ defeated the purpose of it all. If he could not be himself in the world he was fighting to create, what was the point?

So his time with the mask was limited, allowing his mind to be torn open and devoured for only so long as he remembered himself, only until he felt greed and hunger and that deep, pervasive itch for more. Someday, he would master the mask, tame the beast that lay within it until even that learned to heed his will, but that day was still a ways off. Today, there was blazing, burning rage as his thoughts swam with the blistering need for revenge against Maul for what happened to Cody. There was Sidious, looming above everything as he watched and waited for the moment where the Dark Side would deliver Darth Lumis to him, an inescapable truth that seemed to grow closer and closer with the passing of each day. There was Thrawn and the gnawing irritation of how close he had been to him, how _so_ near he was to wrapping his possessive grasp around his Chiss hunter if only love and care and fear for his safety hadn't seen the information infuriatingly withheld from him.

Above it all, though, was the deep, fierce need to protect what was his, and he sure as hell wasn't going to allow the likes of the Spectres to keep him from doing everything he needed to ensure the safety and well-being of his things. Of _all_ his things, which included them. Hera's plans and her missions could be damned, she had no authority to command him, to keep him from doing what he should have done in the first place. It was only because he had deferred to her that Cody was nearly lost to him, which he had ultimately done out of a misguided attempt to create greater team cohesion between all the people that fell under his protection. They were simply easier to defend if they trusted each other, and with clones and Jedi, Republic soldiers and Separatist warriors, clashing personalities and conflicting agendas all on one ship, it became even more vital that common ground was reached. But _not_ at this cost.

He never should have sent Cody, he should have simply gone himself, rushed headlong into Thrawn's trap and destroyed it from the inside. Or failing that, he should have _been there_ for Cody instead of waiting, instead of hanging back. He should have been there to fight Maul, to bring the simpering idiot back under his control, to break him once again to his will, to hold the pitiful creature's life in his hands and rake his claws through it. Poor, insane, gibbering Maul would _suffer_ for what he had done. He should have been there. He _should have_ -

Obi-Wan leapt to his feet when he felt him, just before he heard him enter the room, and the moment he did, the door sliding open to allow the clone to limp inside, Obi-Wan was at Cody's side.

"You should be resting," Obi-Wan said, gentle but insistent as he quickly turned the clone around, the rancor pawing happily at the floor to see the commander.

"I don't need rest, I'm _fine_ ," Cody said as he quickly waved him off, though the limp he walked with and his shallow, shaking breathing said otherwise, and though Kenobi let him go to walk toward the panting rancor as he pawed the floor happily, the Sith Lord was _hovering._ Cody would have been irritated if it was anyone else. "The _Ghost_ will be docking with us shortly," Cody said as he scratched between Yoda's eyes, the beast's tongue lolling out the side of his mouth as he closed his eyes and growled softly. "Ahsoka's with them, sounds like she has new information and updated mission objectives."

"And what's wrong with the _Ghost_ for a mission briefing?" Obi-Wan growled, his hand extended and calling the mask to him, his thumb absently tracing the hollow eye and shivering when he felt the Dark Side reach out for him. "I don't see why they need to dock with us."

" _Because_..." Cody said with a roll of his eyes. "They're coming over _here_ , stupid. Kanan's misguided attempt to...I don't know, cater to my recovery." He scoffed as he grabbed the pale skin above the rancor's mouth and lifted up, exposing rows and rows of the smaller, jagged teeth as the beast panted in contentment. " _Completely_ unnecessary, isn't it, Yoda?"

"No, they have the right of it, you need to _rest_ ," Obi-Wan said, grabbing hold of the clone's arm and pulling him away from the rancor, his arm wrapped around his waist to support him as he walked. "But this meeting is pointless because I am not going to be involved in any of their missions. There are things I must do."

"Brother, _please_ don't go doing this..." Cody muttered when he felt the Sith's grip on him tighten, the mask in his other hand shaking with his barely restrained rage. "Being reckless and impulsive never got you anywhere."

"It is not reckless to hunt Maul and bring him to heel for what he has done to you!" Obi-Wan snapped. "I should have gone after him sooner, I should have known that the little _pissant_ that slaughtered Satine and my son could be capable of taking you from me as well! This isn't impulsive, Cody, it's _correcting a mistake_."

"And how do you suppose to do that exactly, hmm?" Cody asked, grimacing as he stumbled even though Obi-Wan was there to support him. "He just lost two Jedi, there's no way Sidious is going to let that stand. You _know_ he's been recalled to Coruscant to answer for his failure."

"He won't be in Coruscant forever..." Kenobi said darkly, gripping Cody tighter as he passed through the door and into the kitchen, the clone reaching out and using the counters for extra support, his breathing becoming faster from pain and effort, and Obi-Wan carefully scooped him up to carry him the rest of the way himself, the clone only protesting for a moment before he begrudgingly admitted that being off his feet was, in fact, more comfortable.

"I doubt the Emperor is going to let him out of his sights after that..." Cody mumbled, closing his eyes and resting his head against the Sith Lord's chest. "Not with you after him, and not with the way you're hunting down the Inquisitors. We haven't seen Vader since you destroyed him on Lothal, and we won't see Maul either."

"... _perhaps_ ," Obi-Wan growled, stepping into his spacious, luxurious living area and laying the clone down on the soft, plush couch, and Cody sunk down into the cushions with a sigh. "You should have told me about Thrawn," Obi-Wan said after a moment of silence. "We've never been so close to the _Chimera_ , you should have aborted the mission, hung back and _called for me_. I could have eliminated his threat once and for all and kept eyes off of you while you saved Ezra."

"What, and let you just walk into the _Chimera_ when Thrawn's expecting you? You really want to play this game on his terms, Kenobi?"

"We don't know he was expecting _me_!"

" _Right_..." Cody drawled with a roll of his eyes. "He had Ezra in his possession, he _knew_ you were coming. And if getting the shit beat out of me is what it took to keep you from doing something stupid and impulsive, that's _fine_."

"Sith Hells, what is with you all thinking I'm impulsive..." Obi-Wan muttered, pulling aside the robe that Cody was wearing and smearing bacta on his chest. "I _can_ make a scene, and I _can_ improvise, but I haven't survived as long as I have without being careful and methodical."

"...honestly, trouble _does_ seem to find you."

"Doesn't it, though..." Obi-Wan said with a sigh, his hand running lazily over Cody's chest as he spread more bacta on, the Sith swiftly batting the clone's hand away when he tried to make him stop. "If we're being _really_ honest, the Spectres are _far_ more impulsive than me. Hera ought to be worrying about her own crew than trying to keep me from getting involved when I am clearly needed."

"Man, you're really hung up on that, aren't you?" Cody muttered, huffing in annoyance when Obi-Wan pulled off the rest of the robe to tend to the rest of his injuries, though he did nothing to stop the doting Sith Lord. "She was right, you know. You being there would have been a _disaster_ because of Thrawn. You'd have run right to him."

"Alright, _yes_ , possibly, but she didn't know Thrawn was there!" Obi-Wan said defensively. "If we were just dealing with the Interdictor rescue mission, which is exactly what we thought when the plan was made, I would have been completely invaluable. The mission was _harder_ because I wasn't there, and _you_ almost died for it." He drummed his fingers in the slick bacta on the clone's chest, the touch of the Force in his fingers sending warmth through Cody's lungs. "Because I am being _hunted_ , she says...because of the mess I made on Muunilinst. I have _always_ been hunted, and she doesn't even know what happened on Muunilinst! It only went the way it did because my children are _ambitious twits_! If they only listened, everything would have gone _exactly_ to plan! In and out, no mess!"

"...that's actually a fair point," Cody said after a moment of consideration. "But ultimately, it doesn't matter. You _do_ attract trouble and quite a lot of unwanted attention, and she's not just responsible for her crew anymore, she's not just part of some small group of renegades. She leads the entire _Phoenix Squadron_. An entire rebel cell at her command. She needs to strike a balance between taking risks and playing it safe. _You_ , _sir_ , are a final gambit, because the wrong eyes look at you and they find her rebel fleet."

"You know, I lead the Separatist war machine for _months_ , and I don't remember having dilemmas like this."

"Your army were droids, sir."

"...oh yeah, that's right..."

"And you only sent me and the Shadow Legion into situations you knew we could win," Cody said, groaning as he tried to sit up, but quickly gave up. "You went into high risk situations yourself."

"I ought to be doing that _now_ ," Obi-Wan snarled. "I didn't join my strength to the Spectres to steal supplies and fuel from the Empire. I don't _do_ errands!"

"Not even if I need something, baby?" the deep, amused voice of Kanan said as he walked into the room with Rex by his side, and Cody tilted his head back over the couch's armrest to look at the pair. Obi-Wan simply glowered and applied more bacta to the clone, as if more would somehow miraculously work better or faster.

"I don't do _domestic_ , Jarrus..." Obi-Wan grumbled. "You and I have a good thing going. Don't ruin it by wanting stupid things like fidelity, commitment, and _kriffing late night market runs_."

"Ever the romantic, Kenobi..." Kanan said with a roll of his eyes, the clone beside him chuckling softly as he looked at the mess of a man on the couch.

"Up and about, traitor?" Rex asked, the slightest touch of warmth and care in his voice that went undetected by nobody. "You're looking good. I think it may actually be an improvement."

"Jarrus, get your slave under control, I think he's going mad with lust..." Cody drawled, a wicked smirk on his face as he watched the other clone scoff. "Really, I don't know if my body is safe with him around."

"Oh, _fantastic_..." Obi-Wan growled, his eyes briefly flicking to the door when Hera and Ahsoka walked in. "I knew that you three going on a mission together would go a long ways to building trust between you, but _this_ takes self-gratification to a whole new distressing level."

"Oh, _please_!" Kanan said with an exaggerated roll of his eyes. "Tell me that you wouldn't have sex with yourself given the opportunity. There is _nobody_ more in love with themselves than you are."

"...that is beside the point, Kanan."

"Should we come back later?" Ahsoka drawled, a soft, amused, almost relived look on her face as she looked the men over. "We could always come back if now's a bad time."

"There is _never_ a bad time for you, dearest," Obi-Wan said as he rose to his feet, his eyelids lowered seductively before he clasped his hands together, found them covered in bacta, and looked at them with disgust, stopping himself from wiping them on his pants as he looked about for something to clean up the medical gel. "...how's Ezra?"

"Still recovering," Hera said softly, crossing her arms in front of her chest and shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot, more the concerned parent than the impervious military commander she was supposed to be. "Whatever it was they put in his system was impossible for us to isolate. We don't know what it is, or what exactly it does, but it seems to be a similar cocktail to the one they pumped Kanan full of when he had been captured."

"We'll just have to take care that no more of our people are captured," Obi-Wan said firmly, wiping his hands off on Cody's pants when he failed to find anything else, the clone simply grumbling and rolling his eyes as he did so. Slowly, Obi-Wan drew closer to the Twi'lek, close enough to bear threateningly down upon her, enough for Kanan to place his hands on his lightsaber at the obvious danger as it slowly rose. "No more, Hera..." Obi-Wan softly hissed, barely restrained rage tightening his words, and the Twi'lek drew up tall in the face of the menacing man. "That is the _last_ time I will allow you to stand between me and what is mine."

"We are a _team_ , Kenobi," Hera said, her voice strong and unafraid even though she could see the telling blood red slowly seep into his eyes. "Nobody here _belongs_ to you, and my crew means as much to me as it does to you. _Sometimes_ , being a part of this family means standing down and trusting others to handle a situation they may be better suited for."

"But they _weren't, were they_?!" Obi-Wan snapped, his voice rising dangerously as he drew even closer to the stalwart Twi'lek. "I almost lost Cody, Hera, and I _will not_ suffer another loss! Not now, not ever, I have already sacrificed enough!" Obi-Wan froze when he heard the snap hiss of a saber igniting and the warning thrum of the blade in his ear. He slowly glanced up the length of the blade to look at Kanan, not angry or fearful or nervous, simply communicating to the Sith Lord in the best way he knew how, and a slight smirk spread across Kenobi's face. His hands held up before him, he took a step away from Hera and drew up taller when the Jedi switched off the lightsaber.

"All of us have suffered losses at the hands of the Empire, Obi-Wan," Hera said, the hard edge of the rebel commander gone from her voice. "You aren't the only one who's made sacrifices."

"Then you will understand that I will personally defend that which is dear to me," Obi-Wan whispered, the hard edge in his voice. " _Regardless_ of what you believe is best."

"I understand your need to protect the people you love, Obi-Wan," Ahsoka said soothingly, stepping between the Twi'lek and the Sith Lord. "Just as I understand that Hera must keep herself emotionally removed to make difficult decisions. Cody is _fine_ , the rescue was successful. Perhaps one day, you and she may reconcile these differences and come to an understanding."

"We shall see..." Obi-Wan growled, eying Hera for a moment before he turned to walk back and kneel beside Cody once again, Ahsoka and Kanan both breathing sighs of relief when, despite his glares, Obi-Wan's temper had faded into a muted simmer, one that, thankfully, wasn't directed at the Twi'lek pilot.

"We have a great deal that we need to accomplish," Ahsoka said, fishing the datapad out of the wide pouch at the back of her belt and syncing it to the holotable in the middle of the room. The lights dimmed, and the blue lights of the holotable flickered on and displayed the frigates, carrier cruisers, corvettes and starfighters that made up the Phoenix Squadron, over ten significantly sizable ships and a hundred starfighters all ready to be deployed for the might of the rebellion when the time came.

"Increased Imperial pressure around Lothal and the surrounding sectors have caused an increase in rebel recruits," Hera said as they gathered around the table. "Phoenix Squadron is growing faster than our current capacity allows. We need more ships, but, but our squadron is quickly becoming a fleet, and it's getting harder to hide a group of ships that size from the Empire." She put her hands on the holotable and leaned forward. "We need a base."

"Even if it's temporary, we need something soon," Ahsoka added. "We are also in need of food, fuel, supplies, weapons, a hundred other things to keep a military running, most of our supply lost when Transport One was destroyed." Ahsoka crossed her arms, a frown on her face. The loss of the corvette still stung. "Obviously, you can see the flaw in having to maintain a supply ship. We need a base."

"A lot of work to do and not much time to do it," Hera said with a sigh. "Kanan, we'll be sending you and Sabine within the next few weeks to attempt to arrange passage through Mandalore's Concord Dawn System to help speed up out pathways through the Outer Rim. I'd send Obi-Wan, but we want to preserve the secrecy of his influence with the Mandalorians for as long as we can. Kenobi and Bo-Katan have worked way too hard keeping their alliance a secret to risk it being blown by the Concord Dawn Protectors that may _actually_ be loyal to the Empire."

"Is there a chance of that?" Kanan asked, looking over at Obi-Wan, and the Sith Lord slowly nodded.

"Of course. Bo-Katan has done an admirable job of keeping her people loyal to her, and those that oppose her Imperial sanctioned rule and left to serve as bounty hunters _will_ come to me when I call, but there will always be those that _actually_ believe the Imperial cause." He took a deep breath, his finger tracing lazy circles in the bacta on Cody's stomach. "It's very likely that when Bo-Katan and I join forces, we will have something of a civil war on our hands that must be brought to heel. The Empire will not easily let Mandalore go, and Bo-Katan's break from them will be seen as a betrayal by many, and an opportunity for Imperial influence by the ambitious."

"So...these negotiations for passage may very quickly become a matter of lightsaber diplomacy," Kanan said flatly.

"A distinct possibility, yes," Obi-Wan confirmed. "The Protectors have always been difficult to predict."

"Oh, fantastic..." Kanan mumbled as he ran a hand over his hair. "I'll be sure to talk strategy with Sabine and Kenobi before we go, Hera."

"Thank you..." Hera sighed, checking something off on her datapad and looking over her information quickly. "When Ezra recovers, I'm sending him on a fuel run. There's a remote Imperial depot which hasn't been under heavy guard in the past, and if we play our cards right, we should be able to make off with the entire supply."

"That shouldn't be a problem for Ezra, he's always had something of a talent for thieving," Kanan said, his chest unmistakably swelling with pride.

"Which is why we're sending him and Zeb to lead the raid of an Imperial warehouse as well," Hera said, scribbling on her datapad. "The two work well together, despite their bickering. Which leaves..." A few more taps on the datapad and the image displayed over the holotable zoomed in on the corvettes. "We need more ships like these, and we need a base."

"You know..." Kanan drawled, his arms crossed over his chest and frowning at the Twi'lek. "For a rebellion built on helping people, we sure aren't doing a lot of helping. I don't like it."

"We _are_ helping, love," Hera said with a sigh. This was a fight they have had more than once. "But we can't help others if we can't help ourselves, and for that, we need a base of operations. We can't attack the Empire if we don't attack from a place of strength, and floating around in space ready to jump at a moment's notice _isn't_ a strong position. But more than that, nothing we do will matter so long as the Empire is still around. We are treating a symptom, not the root of the problem, and until the Empire is gone, nothing can truly get better."

"Yeah, tell that to the people that are suffering while we're running around looking for supplies for _us_ instead of helping them," Kanan said bitterly. "Maybe it doesn't matter in the long run, but it matters to _them_. No help we can provide is meaningless, not to the people we're helping!"

"I understand your frustrations, Kanan," Ahsoka said softly, laying her hand on his arm. "Truly, I do. We haven't forgotten the people that are suffering, but there is also a bigger picture at work. We can do both, and when we have a base to support us, we can help more people than we ever could before. Trust me." Kanan looked between Hera and Ahsoka, both women stronger than he believed he ever could be, and he sighed, bit his lip, and slowly nodded.

"Kenobi..." Hera said softly, laying an understanding hand on Kanan's chest, which the Jedi quickly covered with his own. "As our resident expert on stealing ships, we're sending you to increase our fleet. How you choose to do so is up to you. Also, since you are the most well traveled out of us, we're tasking you with scouting worlds that we can use as our base of operations. If we-"

"No," Obi-Wan said firmly, and Hera immediately swallowed her words and looked at the man in stunned disbelief.

"No?" she repeated weakly, and the Sith Lord stood up.

" _No_ ," he said again, stronger than the time before. "Literally _anyone_ can find a suitable base. I am needed elsewhere."

"Uh, _no_ , you are needed here with _us_ ," Hera said, matching the Sith Lord for intensity. "We _need_ a base, Kenobi!"

"None of this matters!" Obi-Wan hissed. "Your base, your ships, _none of it_ will mean a _thing_ if the real, _actual_ threats aren't dealt with _now_. You have Jedi with you, Hera, and where there are Jedi, there are Inquisitors. I'm going to finish my destruction of the Inquisitorius, I am going to go after Thrawn, and I am going to continue to search for the knowledge and power I need to defeat Darth Sidious."

"Obi-Wan, the _rebellion_ -"

"The rebellion _doesn't matter_ if the Empire's most powerful assets go unchallenged!" Kenobi growled. "Phoenix Squadron is a small part of a big picture, Syndula, and I am _not_ yours to command!"

"Oh, this is about the _rescue_ , isn't it?" Hera said with a sigh. "Obi-Wan, I didn't know Thrawn would be there, none of us did!"

"It... _isn't_ about Thrawn..." Obi-Wan growled, his arms crossed tight over his chest as his gaze drifted toward Cody, the clone groaning in pain as Rex helped him sit up. "...alright, _maybe_ it's sort of about Thrawn. Maybe it's about the Empire's super secret project, _maybe_ it's about the Inquisitors and the Sith hunting us, but it all boils down to the same thing! These are major threats that go beyond the need for a base, and given the opportunity, any one of those things could destroy us all in a _second_. One wrong move, and we are _all_ gone."

"And sending you on that rescue mission would have been the end of you, Obi-Wan!" Hera said, the slightest strain of panic in her voice and her usual cool slipping away to reveal fear and concern. "It was an obvious trap, one we didn't know about going in, and one _I_ didn't know about until the damage was done, and like it or not, you're one of us, Kenobi! Sending you out to face Thrawn was a risk I wasn't willing to take because I don't want to lose you!" There was silence for a moment, tense for the emotion that strained the air, the Twi'lek quickly looking down at the floor and breathing deeply to restore her calm.

"...I understand," Obi-Wan said slowly. "I...know you did what you believed to be best to protect your people. You're not wrong. I would have gone after Thrawn. I...understand the wisdom of not informing me until we were safely away, just as I acknowledge that my agreement to keep away until called may very well have been the Force at work." He took a deep breath, his eyes closed as he considered his next words. "But just the same as you would do for me, _I_ must protect you and your crew. Finding a base is...treating a symptom, as you so aptly put. Seeking out and destroying the threats to Phoenix Squadron is the only cure to our problem, and our threats right now _have_ a name."

"The Inquisitors, Maul, Vader, Thrawn..." Ahsoka said softly, and Obi-Wan slowly nodded. "I agree. They need to be managed, and if you are actively seeking them out and destroying them, attention on you may give Phoenix Squadron the opening we need to find a functional base. It's not like you aren't being hunted anyway."

"Ahsoka..." Hera said softly, clearly concerned and unhappy with the turn of events. "We _need_ him, this is unnecessarily risky."

"Risks I am willing to take to defend the Spectres," Obi-Wan said quietly, motioning for Hera to come closer, and as she stepped forward, Obi-Wan met her halfway and tightly embraced her. "Allow me to do my work so that you may do yours..." the Sith whispered, kissing the top of her head when the Twi'lek laid her head against his chest, sighing as the tension between them evaporated.

"We still need a base," Hera muttered. "And ships."

"I'll keep an eye out," Obi-Wan quietly promised. "In the meantime, I keep an apartment on Garel. You may be able to keep a few ships in the secure hangar there."

"Garel is _very_ close to Lothal, Obi-Wan..." Ahsoka said, the Sith letting go of the Twi'lek, a slight smile on his face as he looked at her before he turned back to Ahsoka and the holotable. "Are you sure it's safe?"

"No, but it's better than nothing. I've been able to come and go as I please, and the _Umbra_ is perhaps the most wanted ship in the galaxy." He shrugged. "The private spaceport that belongs to the financial district where I keep my home is quite expansive and _quite_ secure."

"We'll look into it..." Ahsoka said, taking the datapad from Hera and writing herself a note. "On the matter of your mission, Obi-Wan, I _do_ have information for you," Ahsoka said with a clever smirk, a swipe of her finger across the datapad clearing the holographic display of the Phoenix Squadron and replacing it with a section of the galactic map which quickly zoomed in on a blue planet with a roiling, turbulent atmosphere. " _This_ is Eadu, a planet in the Bheriz sector."

"Oooh..." Obi-Wan said, leaning in and looking closely at the planet and zooming out to get a bigger picture of the sector. "Remote. Good place for a rebel base?"

"Mm, not likely," Ahsoka drawled. "There's a heavy Imperial presence in the area, because Eadu is home to an Imperial Kyber Refinery." The Sith Lord's eyes widened, his breath held as his gaze burned over the hologram. "It's exactly what you're thinking, Obi-Wan, all of the kyber crystals the Empire has been mining are making their way here to the facility, which, by the way, is being run by Director Orson Krennic and his lead scientist, Galen Erso."

"Oh, _Ahsoka_ , you beautiful woman..." Obi-Wan muttered absently, his attention fixed on the display before him. "Everything we need to know about the Empire's secret project is going to be there."

"I suspect that's the case," Ahsoka said quietly. "We're working on infiltrating, but we can't get close, and we're worried about driving them away to another location. We worked _very_ hard to get this information, and I don't want to have to start over. We only have one chance at this."

"Very, _very_ good work, Ahsoka..." Obi-Wan muttered, his hands together and his fingers pressed to his lips as he moved around the table, flipping through the floating data and frowning at the frankly terrible odds. "We'll keep working at this. Perhaps we can find a way to get enough information to infiltrate without being detected. You're right about the Imperial presence being formidable, and if this _is_ what we think it is, these ships are a part of the Tarkin's fleet, and he knows how to detect the _Umbra_. He'll be looking for it."

"I arrived at the same conclusion," Ahsoka said. "We thought we might be able to get a guy past them, but the code we thought was good didn't check out and he was destroyed. Hardly anyone comes or goes, and the codes they are using rotate constantly."

"So we need to find a guy on the outside who can get into the facility," Obi-Wan growled in irritation, a hand running through his hair as he thought. "Or at the very least, someone that knows a great deal about this project that can help us fill in the gaps of our own research. Having a more complete picture of what is going on may help us get inside so we can get the details." A wide, pleased grin passed over Ahsoka's face.

"And fortunately for you, I may have just the guy." She leaned in closer, her smile becoming a devious smirk as the Sith Lord eyed her. " _Nightswan_."

" _Kriffing Nightswan_!" Obi-Wan cried, throwing his hands up in the air. "Have we finally found him? He's been a man I've needed to speak to for a _very_ long time."

"His general whereabouts, yes," the Togruta said, clearing the hologram and replacing it with the galactic map, which quickly zoomed in on section of the Outer Rim. "He and his rebel insurgency are currently operating out of the Batonn Sector, though we have yet to locate his base of operations. It won't be long before we find him. It won't be long before the _Imperials_ find him, the Batonn Sector is heavily militarized, and it's gotten worse these past few months. The Imperial Governors of Batonn, Sammun and Denash have all called for additional help in dealing with the matter."

"Then let's move quickly on that," Obi-Wan muttered. "Get your best people on that, I want to find him before the Imperials do. If we can get his insurgency to join ours, so much the better."

"Ships and a base, Kenobi..." Hera gently reminded him. " _Ships and a base_. We can't support another group of rebels within Phoenix Squadron if we have nowhere to put them."

"Oh, I'm certain that the Nightswan would have ships to commit to our cause," he quickly dismissed. "I know he's been reluctant to join his rebels to other cells in the past. Let's see to it that he has a change of heart."

"One last thing, Obi-Wan," Ahsoka said when the Sith Lord turned away from the group. "Information regarding _your_ mission. Kanan, this concerns you as well, since you have a burning desire to do good independent of our military efforts."

"Y-yeah..." Kanan said, clearing his throat and standing up taller as he moved to stand beside Obi-Wan. "What is it? Delivery of relief supplies? Liberate a local populace?"

"A rescue, actually..." Ahsoka said, her face becoming hard and serious as she closed off the holotable and placed the datapad back in its pouch on her belt. "Your attacks against the Inquisitors, Kenobi, have forced them to change their priorities. Their numbers are growing drastically smaller, since you keep capturing and killing them, and after your last Empire Day... _thing_ , their focus has shifted." She pointed her finger against the Sith Lord's chest. " _You_ have made Kanan and Ezra _very_ difficult targets, and they can't very well keep hunting Jedi if there are no Inquisitors left to hunt them."

Obi-Wan's eyes widened in understanding, his hands clenched tightly around the edge of the holotable. "Oh, _shit_."

"Shit is right," Ahsoka agreed. "They've begun very earnestly seeking out Force sensitive children and abducting them."

" _Are you kidding me_?!" Kanan cried, a look of disgust upon his face as he stared at the Togruta. "They're taking _babies_?!"

"Infants, young children, those with the gift of the Force first discovering their powers and too young to conceal it. Too young to _fight_ ," Ahsoka said grimly. "Their families murdered, the children taken away to be corrupted by the Dark Side and brought up to serve the Empire."

"This needs to be stopped!" Kanan growled, his eyes narrowing dangerously and his chest tightening with anger. " _Now_. _Immediately_ , before another child is taken!"

"Agreed," Obi-Wan and Ahsoka said in unison, the Sith Lord bowing his head and closing his eyes as he motioned for her to continue. "This is, _obviously_ , an atrocity that must be corrected, but it also had further reaching complications. While a child stolen for corruption wouldn't be a viable threat for quite a long while the fact that the Inquisitors are out actively looking for Force sensitives means that at some point, they _will_ find our Mandalorian Jedi, and while they have been trained for survival, they are _not_ invisible in the Force." Ahsoka took a deep breath and placed her hands on the table, leaning upon it as though she needed support. "They are not children anymore, and they are careful, but many of them are _also_ teenagers just now coming away from under the watch of their adoptive families, and you know _very well_ what that's like, Obi-Wan."

"A dangerous, _idiotic_ stage of life," the Sith Lord quietly agreed, the flash of something within him making Kanan believe that he wasn't just talking from personal experience. "You're right. If the Inquisitors are keeping a much closer eye on this, it's only a matter of time before one of them is discovered."

"And they aren't stupid," Ahsoka said quietly. "They'll put two and two together quite quickly. Honestly, it's a miracle that they haven't been found out yet."

"We lost some early on, the ones that survived were scared and careful..." Obi-Wan muttered. "But you're right. Our luck is bound to run out eventually, and this is the time for it to happen. We need to kill the hunters before they figure out that a bunch of Jedi younglings survived Skywalker's massacre at the Jedi Temple and joined the ranks of Mandalore."

"Any idea where to start looking?" Kanan asked, and Ahsoka quickly nodded her head.

"Absolutely. Worst case scenario, we can use this hunt to bait the Inquisitors to come to us, but as it so happens..." She reached into a smaller pouch on her belt and tossed a datastick onto the holotable. "We intercepted a transmission this afternoon. Inquisitors investigating a possible Force sensitive on Takobo."

"If we know where they're headed, let's not waste any time in getting there," Kanan said quickly, turning away from the group and taking long strides toward the door before he turned around to face them, almost as an afterthought. "I'm going to the cockpit to have K2 put in the jump coordinates. Will we be ready to leave in a few minutes?"

"Yes, yes..." Obi-Wan droned, quickly waving him off. "Always on the move, aren't you?" He sighed heavily as Kanan ran out of the room and Kenobi dropped on to the couch next to Cody and pulled the injured clone down to rest his head on the Sith Lord's lap, which Cody only complained about for a moment before long fingers ran soothingly through his hair. "Seems we have our work cut out for us, and it is a kriffing _load_ of work. And here I thought I'd have the chance to go investigate the Valley of the Dark Lords on Moraband..."

"Right..." Ahsoka drawled, looking skeptically at the Sith Lord. "Don't you think it's maybe _not_ the best idea to go digging around in a place filled with Sith Temples when you have repeated visions of your defeat _in a Sith Temple_?"

"It's true he would know I was there the moment I arrived in orbit over the planet, and I'm _certain_ he has cleared it of any artifacts that may have been hidden there," Kenobi admitted. "However, he cannot deprive the place of _knowledge_ , and I suspect there is a great deal that I can learn there. Besides," he said with a shrug, "Sidious rarely leaves Coruscant these days."

"That you know of..." Hera said, and Obi-Wan shot her a long-suffering look.

"That _anyone_ knows of. When the Emperor _shits_ , the galaxy knows about it. The curse of power and influence, I suppose, slipping away to commune with the Dark Side as part of his rituals as a super secret Dark Lord of the Sith isn't so easy as it once was. It's a risk I'm willing to take."

And if he finds you there?" Ahsoka asked softly. "What then."

"...I suppose I will make him really, _really_ work for it to kill me," Obi-Wan said quietly. "He won't capture me, I can tell you that, I will end my own life before he has a chance to use my body for his benefit. There are...not many places more appropriate for me to die than in the Valley of the Dark Lords."

"Good thing that there's a whole mess of things you need to do first to ensure our safety," Ahsoka said with a small, sad smirk as she looked the Sith Lord over. "First, the younglings."

"Yes..." Obi-Wan muttered, his gaze drifting toward the viewport as the ship shuddered and the stars blurred to the blue and white of hyperspace. "First the younglings."


	47. Future of the Force

_Chapter 47: Future of the Force_

"Alright, Ezra, clear your mind," Kanan said in a smooth, calm voice, his teenage student's eyes closed as he breathed deeply and reached out through the Force. "Focus. Don't just think about what we're looking for, _feel it_."

"I just don't know if the best time to have a lesson is when _babies_ are in danger..." Ezra grumbled, his lips turning into a petulant frown, and Kanan sighed when Ahsoka and Obi-Wan began snickering from the cockpit.

"I think it's the _best_ time..." Kenobi drawled lazily, flicking a few switched on the console and spinning his chair around to face the Jedi pair in the back. "Just think: You fail in this, apprentice, and those poor, defenseless infants are going to die. _Or worse_! Sounds to me like the best time to succeed in your studies."

"Great..." Ezra growled. "So no pressure, right?"

"None _whatsoever_ ," Obi-Wan said with a pleased grin as he winked at the distinctly unamused Kanan.

"Never mind him, Ezra, focus," Kanan said to the suddenly uncomfortable Ezra. "Clear your mind, we'll try again."

"Kanan, I don't even know _what_ I'm supposed to be looking for!" Ezra says, huffing in frustration as he ran a hand through his hair and frowned. Suddenly, the length of it is _irritating_ him, making him feel younger, more boyish than the man he's been striving to be. "How am I supposed to find a _baby_ in the Force?!"

"The Inquisitors can do it!" Obi-Wan called from the cockpit. "If those talentless fools can do it, you certainly can."

"If the Inquisitors can do it, _you can do it_!" Ezra shouted, jumping to his feet. "Sith _Hells_ , Kenobi, why can't we all stop messing around and go save this kid?!"

"Never much cared for children..." Obi-Wan muttered, Ezra gritting his teeth as Kanan pulled him back down to kneel before him on the floor.

" _Because_ , Ezra..." Kanan explained as calmly as he could, but he was growing restless and agitated as well. "This is the perfect opportunity to hone your skills, and you have always worked best under pressure."

"Y-yeah, but..." He groaned, his eyes drifting toward the cockpit and looking out the viewport at the bright points of a thousand lights that made up the streets and buildings of the city far below them on the arid world of Takobo. The Chiss enhanced engines and thrusters of the _Shadow_ made it a much faster ship than the _Phantom_ , and it was for that reason in addition to the advanced prototype stealth system that they had chosen to take Kenobi's custom U-Wing for the mission. They could rocket through the lower atmosphere and be at the city in minutes. Speed was of the essence in their line of work.

"But nothing," Kanan says sternly, as he always does when Ezra drifts. " _Focus_. Trust in the Force, and it will guide us. Find the child, sense it, _feel it_."

"Right, but _how_!" Ezra snapped, leaping to his feet and pacing. "I can feel _you_ in the Force, Kanan, because you and I have a connection, but I've never _met_ this child! I don't know what to look for, so _how_ , in a city that big, am I supposed to find a single child?!"

"You just..." Kanan stammered, biting his lip as he thought. "You just feel for...um..." He shot a pleading look to Ahsoka and Obi-Wan, the two of them laughing softly to each other for a moment before the Torguta stood, started to walk closer, and stopped when the Sith Lord grabbed her hand and urged her back into the seat, his own fingers steepled together as he looked at the teenager.

"All of us view the Force in a different light," Obi-Wan softly explained. "Be it the pull of the earth, the shifting of light and dark, the breeze in the air, the flow of water...the Force, all of it, different and at once the same. For me, it's water." He crossed his arms over his chest, a slight pout on his lips as he chewed the inside of his cheek. "When it isn't all on fire, in any case..." He exhaled sharply and waved his hand as if to dismiss the idea. "Be it a river or ocean or lake, it's all the same. Every creature, every being lives within it, moves it calms it. Sensitive to it or not, all beings are a part of the Force."

"Right, _that_ isn't helping!" Ezra said, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the bulkhead. "Really, there's a kid down there in danger, _why_ are we up here?! Shouldn't we just...look for the Inquisitors instead? They're stronger, we can find them easier."

"The Inquisitors are trained," Ahsoka said quietly. "What's more, darkness obscures them. They can be difficult to detect from a distance. A predator will keep to the shadows until it is ready to strike."

"And your task, _apprentice_ , is looking for the child," Obi-Wan said, Ezra's irritation making him irritated as well. "Pay attention. Every single living creature can move the waters of the Force, but only those of us sensitive to it can call it _to_ us. We are not the pebble cast in the stream, we are the current that moves it along. _All_ of us exert our pull upon the Force. Even an infant."

"...t-that's how the Inquisitors find them?" Ezra asked, his hands falling to his sides and his eyes widening in understanding. "That's how _we're_ going to find them!"

"Precisely so," Obi-Wan said quietly. "Focus on the Force, yes, but not just on it's movement, but on what it is moving _to_. It's a child, so it will be small. _Subtle_. But it will be enough."

"...b-but what if I-"

"Ezra," Ahsoka quickly interrupts, the boy looking at the calm strength f the Togruta. "The child is safe. Obi-Wan knows where he is."

"Ugh, works well under pressure, Tano!" Obi-Wan groaned, running his hands down his face and avoiding Ezra's shocked, angry stare. "He works well under pressure! There isn't any pressure when he _knows_ the kid's safe!"

"Pressure is one thing, but his fear and his anger are _unbalancing him_!" Ahsoka said with a roll of her eyes. "Using those emotions isn't a natural thing for most, Obi-Wan, not even you. A very advanced lesson for another time, I think."

"If we know where the kid is, _why_ aren't we down there saving him?!" Ezra snapped, and Obi-Wan laughed, sharp and harsh, and the teenaged took step away.

"The child is safe, Ezra," Obi-Wan said in an almost hissed whisper. "But the Inquisitor that is coming for him is not. I will not waste the opportunity to kill one when I have the chance. Do not forget that your mission is a rescue. _Mine_ is a murder." He flicked his hand in the air. "So find the child so that you may accomplish your mission. You serve as better bait anyway, your presence attracts more attention."

"You're just being an asshole _on purpose_ now, aren't you?" Ezra grumbled, sinking back to his knees, taking a deep breath and shutting his eyes. "Follow the current, right?"

"Precisely so," Obi-Wan said quietly.

"Clear your mind, Ezra," Kanan said, laying his hand upon the boy's shoulder. "It's easier to see where the Force is flowing when you tune everything else out. Be calm, centered and focused. You can do this."

Slowing his breath as best as he was able, Ezra did as he was told, reaching out to touch the Force and working as best as he could to clear everything from his mind. Slowly, his fear for the safety of the Force sensitive infant began to fade, the anxiety about the inevitable appearance of the Inquisitors drifted away, the general sense of apprehension he had about the mission becoming distant. With his worries behind him, the Force surrounded him, became more vibrant, filled with the feel of a thousand, thousand lives teeming below them, all of them unique, all of them filling the Force with light like a million burning flames. One by one, he let those go too, allowed the tiny, flickering flames to fade into soft, glowing embers.

And still, the Force was blindingly bright, beautifully lit by the presence of Kanan, strong and stalwart and protective despite his own fear and discomfort, the Last Padawan, once again called to do the work of the Jedi when he had sworn to himself he would never travel that road again. By Ahsoka, removed and pragmatic, hardened by the streak of darkness that ran through her, placed there by her Master's fall to the Dark Side, her mistreatment by the Jedi, watching her Master die, seeing what her friend Anakin had become. And Kenobi, who he couldn't feel at all, which made it all the more unsettling and noticeable, the Sith Lord more the absence of the Force instead of the nexus he knew him to be, safely hidden away within the folds and shadows of the light.

It was too bright. He couldn't see, couldn't focus, and instead turned his eyes toward the darkness, to the void that the Sith Lord created, to the strange way that the light warped and twisted around him, the way it dimmed as the darkness almost seemed to bleed from the void like an open wound. Ezra could feel his chest tighten with a feeling he couldn't place, with the cold he felt when he thought of his parents, of living abandoned on Lothal for years, of the fear he felt of being alone again, his anger toward the Empire. Even the light seemed to fade away now as he fell deeper into the Force, strangely calm with his conflicting emotions.

He saw it then, when everything around him was dark, the faintest light, small and pulsating, a long, thin thread that reached far into the darkness, and Ezra grasped it, felt it, warm and unassuming, small and unaware, another being sensitive to the flow of the Force, too young to know it, too old to conceal it. He grasped hold of the thin thread, and even when he gasped and opened his eyes, his world within the _Shadow_ materializing around him, Ezra could still see the tiny presence stretching out before him.

"I-I see it!" the teenager said excitedly. "I think I know where to find the child."

"Well done, Ezra..." Kanan says, a soft, proud smile on his face. Behind the Jedi, the Sith Lord scoffs, turns his seat toward the viewport, and flicks a few switches on the console, his hands coming to rest on the yoke as he guided them toward the planet.

"Took you long enough..." Obi-Wan muttered. "I expected you to have it faster. If you hadn't spent so long _fretting_ , we'd be on the ground by now." Behind the Sith, Ezra was grinning. Obi-Wan was a hard Master, but he had been working with the Sith Long enough to know that disappointed high expectations and a swift chastisement like that was approval. A truly disappointed Kenobi didn't speak, only sneered and looked at him like he was the most distasteful of the scum of the earth. He had only seen the expression once, and it was crushing.

"It gets easier each time you do it," Ahsoka said with her small, almost secretive smile. "We'll continue to work on it."

"Well?!" Obi-Wan growled as he looked over his shoulder. "Are you going to come guide us to the child, _boy_ , or do I have to get us lost?" With a bright, pleased grin, Ezra sauntered up to the front of the fighter and placed his hands on the backs of the two pilot seats, his eyes fixed on the viewport as he quietly guided Obi-Wan down toward the city, an enormous thing built behind high, circular walls that dotted the barren landscape around them like a forgotten coin upon the ground. As they drew closer, the true, sprawling size of it became obvious, a city that built around a towering, palatial center and tapered down into lower buildings as they crept toward the walls and away from the high-end city center.

Guiding them closer down toward the northern quadrant. It becomes obvious how rundown these buildings are, how tightly packed together everything is, everything poor and worn and quickly falling apart, not from disuse, but from misuse and a lack of care. Though there are very few buildings that are smaller that seven or eight floors in height, everything _seems_ short, as if the shambled buildings were too hunched, too timid, too sickly to seem their actual height. The quadrant is poor, primarily Ithorian and the thread in the Force is without question leading them here. Obi-Wan sets the ship down in the spaceport nearest to the spot that Ezra excitedly points to, not as close as they'd like, but the place can't be more than a half hour walk away.

With the slightest gesture of his hand, Obi-Wan gets the docking authorities to turn away from the ship and quickly sign the proper authorization for their landing, watching the pair of lumbering Ithorian officers leave and forget about the new arrival before he turned back toward the ship and walked up the extended boarding ramp.

"Remember," he says quietly as he stands before the other Force sensitives. "As of right now, there are five Inquisitors that remain at large."

"So far as we know," Kanan said, and Obi-Wan shot him an irritated look.

" _No_ , Kanan. _Five_. At the time I captured the Grand Inquisitor, there were nine remaining in service to the Empire, and before you ask," he growled, his gaze flicking over to Ahsoka, "I know because he told me, and _yes_ , we can trust the information. I... _consulted_ his mind to confirm the information was genuine."

"Oh, is _that_ what we're calling it now?" Kanan asked in a slow, disapproving drawl, which earned him an accusing finger pointed in his direction.

"If you only _knew_ what he did to Luminara Unduli before he murdered her, even you, _Jedi_ , would find it within you to subject him to the worst horrors imaginable." Kenobi leaned in toward Kanan, his eyes blazing with fury. " _Luminara_ , Kanan, dear, sweet, _lovely_ Luminara. She deserved to live, and if not that, she at least deserved the mercy of a swift death. Our friend the Grand Inquisitor owes me a great deal more suffering before I am satisfied enough to let him die."

"Focus, Obi-Wan..." Ahsoka said tightly, her posture rigid and uncomfortable with silent, seething anger, a reminder to Kanan that once, Ahsoka had known and worked closely with the Mirialan Master as well. "Nine Inquisitors that _he_ knew of."

"No, _nine_. All Inquisitors once reported to him, and he in turn reported to the Sith Lords. Dear Vader and Maul can't be bothered with _peasants_." Obi-Wan scoffed, crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall. "Since that time, I have killed three and captured one, leaving us with five remaining Inquisitors, and of those, I have fought one that survived because I got distracted dealing with Vader, and Ezra and Sabine escaped two." He shrugged. "The remaining two are as of yet unknown to us, so please, do be careful out there."

"Obi-Wan and I will be keeping ourselves hidden in the area," Ahsoka explained as she stepped forward, effectively taking the mission briefing from Kenobi, which the Sith quietly allowed without any sign of complaint. "Remember, we _want_ to draw the Inquisitor out, and more importantly, keep them here, but your primary objective is getting this child to safety. If the Inquisitor doesn't show, so much the better, but I doubt we'll get so lucky."

"We want to keep them from escaping," Obi-Wan quietly added. "If you can hold their attention, so much the better."

"But don't be _stupid_ ," Ahsoka said firmly. "No unnecessary risks. Losing one of you isn't worth killing an Inquisitor, so above all else, save the kid and get to safety. You just being here should be enough to drive the Inquisitor out into the open. Focus on your mission, and let Obi-Wan take care of his."

"And please, try not to make too much of a mess..." Obi-Wan said with a roll of his eyes. "We don't want to complicate the matter by having Imperial forces alerted to our activities."

"Well, if you handle the Inquisitor quick enough, that won't be a problem, now will it?" Kanan said brightly, flashing a smile at the Sith Lord who forced a tight, insincere, almost mocking smile in return. "I've got a kid to save. Come on, Ezra, we've wasted enough time."

"Right!" the teen said, dashing off ahead of the Jedi, and Kanan gave one last look to Ahsoka and Obi-Wan as he started to leave, the two huddling together and speaking in whispers so low, he couldn't hear them. With a sigh, he jogged after Ezra, his hand on the boy's shoulder slowing him down when he finally caught up to him.

"Easy, Ezra..." Kanan said in a hushed voice. "Being in a rush makes it look like we're up to something. We don't want to attract unnecessary attention."

"I just...don't want to lose this kid," the teenager said quietly, drawing closer to the Jedi. "What if we're too late? We wasted a lot of time already."

"Patience..." Kanan advised, almost grimacing when he heard himself say it and saw the look of irritation n the teen's face. When he was a Padawan, he also didn't want to hear he needed patience when it seemed the situation called for action. "If this were urgent, if there was any chance of the Inquisitor getting what they wanted, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka would have brought us here faster. We're here _exactly_ when we need to be. The two of them follow the flow of the Force. You must trust that."

"I just don't see how getting here faster would have been a bad thing," Ezra grumbled.

"Yes, well, you can't always see the bigger picture." Ezra groaned loudly and rolled his eyes, and Kanan couldn't keep himself from laughing. "S-sorry. My Master always used to speak in riddles, and I hated it. I swore I never would if I ever took a student. Sith Hells, listen to me now, she'd be _so_ proud..." Kanan rubbed at the back of his neck and smiled down at the teenager. "I'm not the greatest Jedi, Ezra. I never completed my training, and there were _years_ that went by when I was disconnected from the Force. I'm still getting back into it. I don't understand everything, and I haven't been training constantly like Kenobi and Ahsoka."

"I think you're just as great as they are," Ezra said quietly, his eyes cast at the ground as he kicked a stone across the cracked pavement. "So what if you're not as powerful, I still learn just as much from you as I do from them." He shrugged. "Maybe more."

"Alright, I _know_ that's not true," Kanan said, eying the teen suspiciously. "What do you want?"

" _Nothing_!" Ezra cried, throwing his hands up and finally looking at the Jedi. "Yeah, _sure_ , Obi-Wan's teaching me a lot about the Force and the Dark Side and how to control my own...I don't know, my own weakness to it, I suppose. But _you're_ teaching me how to follow the right path. The _good_ path. I don't know that I could do that without you."

"Don't be ridiculous, Ezra, you have a good heart..." Kanan said quietly, stepping closer to the Padawan to make room for a large, lumbering Ithorian shuffling in the opposite direction. "You would do the right thing on your own."

"I don't know that I would..." Ezra whimpered, his gaze falling back to the ground. "Before you and Hera, before my life on the _Ghost_...I was selfish, Kanan. I didn't care that others were suffering, I never helped those that needed it because I only cared about myself. _You_ taught me how to be better than that." He laughed almost bitterly and thrust his hands in his pockets, shuffling slightly before he picked up his pace again. "What I'm learning with Kenobi is great and all, and the Dark Side _is_ useful, but..." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "You're here to save a life. He's here to take one. And if I had a choice...w-well, I'd rather be like you."

"You always have a choice, Ezra..." Kanan muttered through the tightness of emotion in his chest. "I've always trusted you to make the right one."

"Can you..." The teenager ground his teeth together. "Can someone use the Dark Side and still be a good person?"

"...I don't know," Kanan whispered after a moment of pensive silence. "Obi-Wan's fall to the Dark Side began with the best of intentions. Maybe the opposite can be true as well. Maybe something truly good can come from a place of darkness and pain."

"It could have been me, you know," Ezra said quietly. "This kid we're saving? I could have just as easily been picked up by the Inquisitors. I could have been corrupted and turned to darkness, and I wouldn't have known any better." He took a deep breath, his exhale shuddering with emotion as he quietly released them, calm settling over him where anxiety and fear had been only a moment earlier. "I guess that's why I've been so impatient to save him. I-I'm sorry. I'll...try to do better." He quickly shook his head. "No, I _will_ do better. I promise."

"Never doubted you for a second, kid," Kanan said, a smirk on his lips as he gently bumped into the teen and grinning when the now pouting boy was knocked off balance. "We're getting close. Lead the way, I _swear_ I don't know where I'm going." Ezra rolled his eyes and frowned petulantly for a full three seconds before a smile cracked through, and he sped up to walk in front of the Jedi, his breathing calm and even as he followed the pull of the Force.

It was only a few blocks they had to walk, but it felt like forever to Ezra. The streets were grimy and rundown, the people meandering through the alleyways dirty and haggard and primarily Ithorian. It was a slum, no question about it, and part of Ezra thought that even the cramped, impoverished conditions of Lothal's many Tarkintown camps was preferable to this. At least those were outside in the rolling fields of Lothal under a wide, expansive sky with clean, fresh air and a gentle breeze. Everything here felt _sick_ , claustrophobic, the air thick with soot and smoke and pollution from the many, many rows of production factories they had seen on their approach.

It was making Ezra feel almost paranoid, like something might be lurking in the shadows of every tenement they passed by, the looks of the impoverished hungry and wanting, like they were being sized up, and though Ezra felt greatly sympathetic for these people, he had been here himself not too long ago. He knew very well that many of the people they passed were sizing them up, deciding if they were worth mugging or pickpocketing. Darkness was here, greed and fear and suffering, and it was making it difficult to see, to sense _anything_. It would be an easy thing for the Inquisitors to hide themselves here, and as they drew closer to their destination, the threat of ambush gnawed at the very heart of him. One look at Kanan, and it was clear that they Jedi felt it too.

"This is it..." Ezra said, stopping outside the doors of a ramshackle building, the iron and steel of the walls covered in patches of rough, red rust and the street-facing windows too tightly packed together gave the impression that the apartments within were equally cramped. Ezra couldn't imagine living in a place like this. Even on his own, he always had space, be it the open fields of Lothal or the privacy of his abandoned transmission tower. But he knew poverty trapped these people, factory workers paid too little for too many hours at work for the Empire. This was happening all over the galaxy.

"So it is..." Kanan muttered, looking up at the building, his expression unreadable.

"...Do you feel like we're being watched?" the boy asked, partially for reassurance, but Kanan slowly nodded his head.

"I do, yeah," Kanan whispered, shifting from foot to foot and looking sidelong down the street to either side of them. "Keep your eyes open. I can't feel what it is, but there is _definitely_ something here."

"Inquisitors?" Ezra asked softly, and Kanan nodded so slightly that Ezra almost didn't see it.

"We _are_ expecting them. I can't imagine it being anything else."

"Well, let's hope Obi-Wan isn't late then," Ezra said, taking a deep breath and stepping up to the door, which jerked and screeched open, the outdated mechanics screaming to be fixed or replaced. The inside of the building was, if even possible, _worse_ than the outside, the walls dented and stained with large sheets of tacky decorative coverings peeling off at the corners and patchwork, worn industrial carpet covering the floor where the creaking sheets of steel beneath didn't show through large rips and tears. Every step was a litany of creaks and groans of a building that seemed to object to standing, and the thick, foul stench of alcohol, spice and mold hung heavy in the air, making Ezra gag and attempt to cover his nose with his shirt until even that proved to be futile and he gave up, resigning himself to the stench he could taste that permeated everything.

"I don't think it's _just_ the Inquisitors we're saving this kid from..." Ezra muttered as he followed Kanan up a narrow stairwell that felt unstable and ready to collapse. "How many children sensitive to the Force had to grow up in places like this because the Jedi are gone?"

"How many of them were exposed to worse..." Kanan whispered. "How many children since the fall of the Republic have been abducted by the Sith and corrupted, left no choice but darkness..." Kanan shook his head, his hand grasping tightly to a splintering railing. "It's not just here. Every place the Empire touches becomes like this."

"...we need to stop them," Ezra growled softly, and Kanan laid a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"We will. But not today. Focus on the task at hand." Steeling himself and continuing on, Ezra turned into a thin hallway on one of the landings in the stairwell, grimacing as he pressed himself close to the musty wall to step around two Ithorians sitting sprawled out in the hallway in a drug-induced haze. The creaking groan of their each step grated on Ezra's nerves, the boy uneasy with the inability to move silently through this place, though he took some comfort in the fact that others would not have the advantage of silence either, They didn't need to Force to know if Inquisitors were stalking them, the building would tell them so.

Ezra stopped outside a rusted, dented door he thought to be far too thin for the Ithorian residents to comfortably squeeze through, hesitating for a moment before Kanan urged him on. With a short, sharp breath, Ezra pushed his hand to the intercom, and winced when he was met by a brief burst of static that quickly shorted out. With a sigh, he hit the door control, and while he found it to be unlocked, the rusted door screeched as it jerked slowly open on a bent track and ultimately failed to open the entire way. With an irritated sigh, Ezra squeezed through the thin space, waiting patiently in the dark room beyond for the much bigger Kanan to wriggle his way in. For what it was worth, the apartment _was_ a bit bigger than it appeared to be from the outside, though that wasn't saying much. The room they had stepped inside was long a thin, a ratty couch pressed up against the wall near the window and a small, pitiful counter with a heating plate upon it that stood in for a kitchen. Off the room to the right and the left were small archways covered with curtains standing in for missing doors, one leading into the refresher, and the other into, presumably, a bedroom.

A faint, flickering light shone from under the curtain and through worn holes in the fabric, and the soft rustling beyond and the sound of someone hushing a babbling child confirmed the presence of the infant they were looking for, that the home was not, in fact, empty as it had appeared, and Kanan and Ezra took a moment to regroup outside the entrance to the small square bedroom beyond. Despite the obviously poor conditions, this home _was_ clean, devoid of any trace of dirt and dust and grime that seemed to cover the rest of the building, though the walls still showed their age and sported stains from rust and leaks within the walls. Not the fault of the family, who was clearly trying to do their best and carve out a living in a bad circumstance.

"Hello?" Kanan called, and the rustling in the room stopped, the tension in the Force spiking. "We aren't here to hurt you, we just want to talk."

"We think your child might be in danger," Ezra said softly, as gently as he could. "May we come in?" They were met with silence and a stillness that came from fear, and Ezra leaned closer to Kanan. "What do we do if they won't talk to us?" the teenager whispered as quietly as they could.

"We stand vigil, I suppose..." Kanan quietly answered. "The Inquisitors _will_ come, and the child is in danger regardless of if our help is accepted or not. It is needed, and we will be there."

Before Ezra had a chance to respond, the sound of careful, creeping footsteps could be heard behind the curtain, and a moment later, the fabric shifted, and one side of an Ithorian's hammerheaded face poked through the opening, the singular eye looking suspiciously at the pair who stood a respectful distance from the doorway. The eye disappeared again behind the curtain, and a moment later, the fabric was drawn, revealing the small bedroom behind it as a thin Ithorian woman stood in the doorway.

"Why do you think that?" she asked cautiously, the two mouths of her species making it sound as though two beings were speaking at once in perfect unison. "Who would be after my son? Why?"

"Ma'am, we have reason to believe that your son is... _unique_ ," Kanan gently explained, the Ithorian's long, flat neck lowering in suspicion and confusion.

"Unique _how_?" she asked defensively, and Kanan took a small step forward.

"We believe he may have sensitivity to the Force," he whispered, his eyes focused on the door as Ezra walked toward it to listen for anything that may be happening outside. "We're from a group that aims to protect these unique individuals."

"The Force?" the woman muttered, her eyes widening for a moment as if things she failed to understand before suddenly made sense. "You think my son has...a-are you Jedi?!"

"The Jedi have been gone for a long time, ma'am," Kanan said, drawing up taller and taking his lightsaber from his belt, the Ithorian's focus drawn to the cylinder in his hands as she gasped, her gaze held by a weapon she didn't seem to recognize, but knew all too well what it was. "We're just...a concerned party. We have reason to believe that the Empire has detected your son's unique abilities and are on the way to take him from you. We are here to protect him from them." The woman leaned her head out to look at the door and quickly turned to head back into the bedroom, motioning for Kanan and Ezra to follow her inside, and the two slipped into the small, square bedroom, allowing the curtain to close behind them. On the bed, bundled up tightly in a soft, blue blanket was the infant Ithorian and with a sigh of relief, Ezra walked over to sit on the edge of the bed, smiling as the child wriggled and reached out to him.

"Oh, he's _cute_..." the teenager cooed, looking over his shoulder at the Jedi that remained standing near the doorway. "This is definitely him, Kanan."

"I know, I feel it too," the Jedi muttered, watching as the child's mother scooped the tiny thing up and held him close.

"What does the Empire want with my son?" she asked, the dual tones of her voice strained with tension and fear. "How would they even know that he's got this... _thing_?"

"They felt it," Kanan quietly explained. "Just as we did. We don't have the time to explain what they want with him, and honestly, I'm not sure you want to know. But we're going to protect you both."

" _How_?" the woman asked, her eyes wide with fear. "If they _know_ , what's going to stop them from just coming back when you're gone?"

"We were hoping to take you away from this place," Ezra said quietly, moving to stand beside Kanan. "We've got a ship in the spaceport ready to go and a group pf people who have been protecting children like yours for a _very_ long time. We can take you both out of the Empire's reach. You'll be safe with us."

"I wish there was another way, but there isn't," Kanan said quietly. "This galaxy just...isn't safe for people with this talent."

"How do I know that you aren't going to hurt him?" the woman said defensively. "How do I know that this is the right thing?"

"...you don't," Kanan said as gently as he was able. "I'm sorry, but you're just going to have to trust us to do what's best for you and your son." The woman didn't have time to respond, clutching the boy tight to her chest when a sharp, snapping hiss and the acrid smell of molten metal filled the air, and Ezra quickly grabbed the woman and pulled her with him into the corner of the bedroom, his lightsaber clutched tightly in his hand as he crouched defensively before them, ready to be activated at Kanan's command. A dull, light thud of the flimsy metal of the door falling to the ground was accompanied by heavy footsteps and the low, menacing thrum of more than one lightsaber, and a moment later, a red blade pierced effortlessly through the wall and sliced across the doorway to the bedroom, the curtain cut and falling to the ground.

It wasn't one Inquisitor that stood menacingly in the hallway before them, but _two_ , a huge, bulky male so broad shouldered he'd be unable to fit through the narrow doorway without turning sideways, and a tall female, a pair of short, thick, light blue lekku draped over her shoulder that ended in long, pointed white horns that fell past her chest. The black helmets they wore concealed their race, but the female was clearly Chagrian, and from the way she leaned forward while the larger male hissed and drew back, she was clearly the more aggressive of the two. Behind them, three spherical probe droids floated, jet black and intimidating constructs that made both Kanan and Ezra tense with the memory of their torture at the hands of the Empire.

" _Well_..." the woman drawled when Kanan ignited his lightsaber, retracting the blast shield on her helmet to reveal a light blue face sporting black, tribal tattoos and pale yellow eyes. "We certainly didn't expect _you_ here, Jedi..."

" _Really_?" Kanan scoffed, his saber held at the ready and gesturing to the Inquisitors and droids that crowded the other room. "You brought all of _this_ to capture an _infant_? How utterly _pathetic_ are you?"

"I'd say it's a good thing we did," she said softly, less offended than she was amused. "And to think, my friend here was going to come alone." She laid her hand on the large man's chest and grinned at Kanan. "The Force certainly _does_ have a way of giving us exactly what we need." Behind him, the baby began to wail, the fear and hatred in the air distressing the infant to the point of panic.

"We should leave..." the male behind her growled, and the woman rolled her eyes, a vicious sneer on her lips. "You _know_ we should. Where this Jedi goes, Darth Lumis isn't far behind. There are other children in the galaxy. We need to leave. _Now_."

"You should listen to your friend," Kanan said, his face completely unreadable, and standing strong against the feel of the Dark Side as it closed around him, the Inquisitor trying to reach into his mind, but unable to breech his defenses. She hissed in frustration, her Eyes never leaving Kanan as she flicked her wrist back at the probe droids.

" _Go_ ," she commanded the droids. "Search the area for the rebel leader, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Do not engage, just report on his location." Her lip curled up into a vicious sneer as her gaze drifted to the corner where Ezra crouched defensively before their target. "And keep an eye out for these two as well in case they manage to escape. I don't want to lose them." Without a sound, the three spherical droids flew from the room, leaving the two Jedi, the infant, and the mother alone with the Inquisitors.

"Ezra..." Kanan hissed, his eyes never leaving the Inquisitors. "Get the kid out of here. You know what to do." Without a word, Ezra struck on his lightsaber and thrust it through the wall and began cutting a section away, large enough for him and the thin woman to slip through with the infant, but much too small for Kanan or the Inquisitors to follow through. The moment Ezra's lightsaber powered on, the Inquisitor attacked, heedless of her surroundings as the red blade struck against the thin walls and the floor, effortlessly cutting through them while Kanan held his ground, deflecting each strike angled at him in an effort to keep the Inquisitors out of the room. Holding his position at the open door suddenly seemed much less important when the large male ran to the end of the room and thrust his saber through the wall to cut another entrance, but when Kanan briefly looked back toward his Padawan, Ezra, the Ithorian mother and her son were already gone, the edges of his cut hole still smoking.

With the other's gone, Kanan quickly began sorting through a way to escape, and when the large male had finally managed to cut a hole into the room he could fit through, Kanan shifted his stance, using a moment when the Chagrian's lightsaber slowed when it struck the wall to press into an attack of his own, the woman hissing and cursing as she was forced out of the doorway in her own defense. With a snarl of anger at the suddenly aggressive Jedi, she slashed up high, caching Kanan's blade and forcing it upwards just as her larger companion sent his own saber smashing against both her's and the Jedi's. Instead of fighting it, Kanan used the momentum and the force of the large blade against his own to spin, maintaining his balance by spinning low and ducking under the Chagrian's blade as she swung it around, sliding behind her and out of the bedroom to stand out in the other room.

With a focused push, Kanan slammed th Force against the Inquisitors, knocking them back into each other to send them tumbling in a tangle of limbs and dangerous blades onto the bed behind them. Kanan didn't wait to hear their furious screams as he jumped through the hole in the wrecked door and went sprinting down that halls as fast as he could. He didn't waste time running up the stairs, instead using thee Force to help him leap up entire flights at a time in his mad dash away from the outraged Inquisitors. He could feel them in the Force, furious and enraged and hateful and very quickly following in his wake. He wasn't sure if he was gaining ground or if they were closing in, but all Kanan needed to know was that he had to keep running. The longer he held their attention, the more likely that Ezra would get the mother and child to the safety of the _Shadow_.

Throwing his hand in the air before him, the rooftop escape door flew open, and Kanan dashed through, out into the muggy, polluted air that felt like a relief when compared to the stale smell of the apartment complex. He ran as fast as he could toward the edge of the flat rooftop, the sound of the screaming Inquisitors and hard footfalls behind him, and Kanan jumped, flying across the gap between buildings and landing with a roll on the roof of the next building over. He was on his feet quickly, losing very little speed as he came out of the roll, and he was sprinting full speed across that roof as well. He knew the Inquisitors were there, could hear their heavy footsteps, could feel them closing in, and he jumped once again, landing on the next roof and continuing on.

For a while, Kanan felt like he may have been pulling away from them, could feel himself centered in the Force and drawing continuous strength from it as he jumped from building to building. He wasn't exactly sure _where_ he was going, and after a few minutes, he was certain he had been turned around several times. His mad dash came to an end when he made a sharp, quick turn from one roof to another and found that the only jump available to him that didn't see him backtracking into the Inquisitors was across the broad street. It was a formidable jump, but Kanan felt he could do it, and glancing back to be certain there was enough distance between him and the Inquisitors, he ran to the far edge, steeled himself, and sprinted toward the jump.

As soon as he pushed off from the edge of the roof, he knew he was going to make it, the sound of the Inquisitors landing and shouting seeming almost muffled, like they were more distant than they actually were, the swift, hard pounding seeming to fade away as he flew across the space over the street far, far below. The triumph of his success ended with a hard lurching in his chest as his body was suddenly yanked backwards, the Inquisitors grasping him with the Force and pulling him back toward him. He twisted in the air to avoid one lightsaber as it cut up at him, and he slammed hard to the ground, his own lightsaber igniting and deflecting the second Inquisitor's blade as he rolled along the ground and leapt to his feet. When he was righted, he looked for a new place to run, only to find the two Inquisitors boxing him in toward a corner with nothing but a very far drop beneath him. He raised his saber, looking between the two to try and devise a way out of this and quietly wondered where Ahsoka and Kenobi had gone to.

"It's over, Jedi," the woman growled, all her previous amusement gone and replaced with frustration and a distinct lack of patience. She was breathing hard, and she had enough, and with her prey in her grasp, she would give him no chance for escape. "After we kill you, we'll find your apprentice and kill him as well."

"I somehow doubt that..." Kanan said, which only seemed to make the woman more angry.

"Oh, _do you_?" she hissed, her lightsaber spinning I her grasp as she slowly advanced, and Kanan was forced closer to the edge. "Your support isn't coming, your Sith Lord _isn't here_! And if he is, he's forgotten about _you_." A sharp chime from the comlink on her wrist chimed, and with a furious snarl, she checked it, her eyes narrowed in anger for only a moment before her jaw fell slack and her eyes widened slightly in surprise.

"What is it?" her counterpart asked, drawing closer to her as she snarled, bearing her teeth and holding her saber out before her.

"Our probe droids have been destroyed," she growled viciously. " _All of them_."

"All of them..." the male repeated listlessly before he growled and swiftly shut off his lightsaber. "We need to leave _now_. Before it's too late. It might already be too late, we should have left when I said so before!"

" _Are you out of your mind_?!" the Chagrian snarled, looking at him like he was out of his mind as he turned to leave.

"Killing the Jedi isn't worth dying here today!" he snarled as he turned away. "Do what you will, I'm leaving!"

" _Coward_!" the woman screamed at his retreating form as he broke into a jog, sensing fear and panic in the Force that only sparked her rage. "Our Masters will hear of this!"

"They won't!" he called back to her, turning to face her and stopping, his arms spread out in an almost welcoming gesture. "If you stay, you'll be dead! If you run, you're in the same boat, and even if they find out, I'd rather deal with Lord Vader's punishment than face Darth Lumis again. You _don't_ know what it's like. If you know what's good for you, you'll run too." He didn't say anything else as he turned and ran, jumping from the rooftop to another one nearby, and he was quickly out of sight.

"You should listen to him, you know," Kanan said quietly, almost sympathetically, his blade lowered as he looked at her. "If you're lucky, he'll kill you, but I wouldn't count on it. He captured the last Inquisitor he faced and, _well_..." He looked her over once before he met her furious gaze. "You're sort of his type."

For just a moment, it seemed as though the woman would back down, that she would turn tail and run like her companion did. For just a moment, her saber wavered in a shaking hand, the corner of her mouth twitching, her yellow eyes filled with fear and uncertainty. But it was only for a moment. Her hand tightened on her lightsaber, a cruel smirk spread across her lips as her eyes darted sideways, and Kanan followed her gaze to stare in horror at Ezra in the streets below, the Ithorian with the baby tucked in her arms following closely behind him. It seemed... _impossible_ , with how zigzagging his path over the rooftops had been, with his lost he had felt, but he had been running at full speed from two enraged predators, and Ezra had been leading a mother and her child through the streets. He hadn't considered once that he may be faster, that he pay pull out ahead of his student.

When the Inquisitor sprinted toward the edge of the roof and vaulted off, falling directly toward Ezra in the streets below, Kanan jumped after her without a second thought to how high up they were.

Ezra felt it just before it happened, and using the Force to push the mother and child to the side, his saber was in his hand, the green blade extending just as he spun to catch the red blade of a falling Inquisitor. The impact was so hard that Ezra was forced to his knees, and instead of trying to hold the Inquisitor off, the Padawan rolled back, his boot slamming into the woman's stomach and sending her careening backwards as Ezra rolled over his head, his hands pressed firmly against the ground, and he pushed off the ground to land back on his feet. Blade raised and ready, he faced a furious Inquisitor that had missed her mark, and with a savage cry, she rushed at the young Jedi, only to be stopped when the falling Kanan's boot smashed into her face and sent them both tumbling to the ground in an uncontrolled, tangled heap, their lightsabers knocked out of their hands as they collapsed.

They struggled for only a moment, fists flying and striking ribs and faces as the lightsabers flew back to their Masters' hands, the blades igniting simultaneously when the Inquisitor straddled the Jedi and slashed down hard, the blue catching it and holding the blade that hovered inches from his face. The Inquisitor was dislodged from her position of strength when Ezra rushed her from behind, the greed blade angling right at her, and sensing the danger in the Force, she dove over Kanan, keeping her blade on his to keep him pinned until she was clear and then slashed back at the Jedi on the ground, the blade catching his shoulder and searing through muscle and bone and the armor that covered his arm.

A sharp, started, pained scream was torn from Kanan's throat, and Ezra ran to kneel protectively beside him, his blade held at the ready. If the hard landing wasn't enough, the slice through his shoulder was enough to disable him temporarily, though he quickly scrambled to a kneeling position, his saber held in his off-hand to keep the blade from shaking. Triumph filled the Inquisitor's eyes, the woman pacing before them like a caged animal as she reveled in the pain, the fear, the darkness that surrounded them, the wounded Jedi meaning that her victory was close at hand. Her hand tightening around the hilt, she activated the second blade, the double-sided saber spinning rapidly in her hand as she rushed at the pair.

She didn't get far, the Inquisitor suddenly and violently thrown backwards into the nearby building to fall limply to the ground, and with a sigh of relief, Ezra clung to Kanan as he watched Ahsoka Tano come to stand before them, a brief look over her shoulder to glance quickly at Kanan's injury.

"...hurts like a bitch, doesn't it?" the Togruta said with a smile, and with a feeble laugh, Kanan nodded in agreement, his hand clutching at the blackened, burning wound. "Nothing a little bacta can't fix. Can you still fight?"

"Y-yeah..." Kanan groaned, holding tightly to Ezra as the boy pulled him to his feet. "I just need a minute..."

Ahsoka nodded slightly and turned her gaze on Ezra. "Complete your mission, Bridger. Get the youngling to the ship, it's not far. We'll be right behind you."

"W-what about Kanan?" he asked, his face drawn with worry and concern as he looked at the Jedi, dirty and sweating and breathing far harder than he'd ever seen. "He _can't_ fight, Ahsoka..."

"Trust in your Master, Padawan," she said with a small smile. "You need to move fast anyway, and he'd likely to slow you down. Don't forget, there's still another Inquisitor out there." A slight, sly smile touched the corners of her mouth as she looked back at the Inquisitor, the Chagrian finally rising and looking at them with a mixture of confusion, rage and fear. "Besides, I do my best work when I have someone to protect..." With a reassuring squeeze on his shoulder by the wounded Jedi, Ezra silently nodded, took a deep breath to calm his nerves, and rushed to the Ithorian's side, the mother tightly clutching her child close, and the teenager led them quickly into an alleyway, disappearing quickly from view.

"Ahsoka Tano..." the Inquisitor said breathlessly, the saber back in her hand and quickly lit. "Lord Vader said you were alive. I'm not sure anyone believed it. I think maybe he even stopped believing it himself." She grinned maliciously her eyes narrowing as she watched Ahsoka casually ignite her two emerald lightsabers. "He is going to be _very_ pleased to see you again."

"What a coincidence..." Ahsoka said quietly as she took a step closer, her lightsabers spinning to be held in her backhanded grip. "I know a Lord of the Sith that's been eager to meet you as well." She smirked softly when the Inquisitor sneered and crouched slightly down, ready to spring forward on the attack, though fear rippled strongly through the Force. "If you come along quietly, I'm sure he'll be gentle with you. Obi-Wan's always had a fondness for those that willingly serve him."

It was enough to send all the Inquisitor's fear tumbling into blinding hatred, and with a savage snarl, she threw her lightsaber at Ahsoka, the red blades a deadly spinning disc that sliced through the air toward the Togruta as she rushed forward to engage her foe. Ahsoka effortlessly batted the spinning blade out of the way as she rushed to meet the Inquisitor, the Chagrian calling her blade to her extended hand just in time to catch Ahsoka's strike. The plasma sabers exploded in flashed of lights and showers of sparks as they repeatedly struck, the Inquisitor standing her ground as Ahsoka darted athletically around her, her movements fluid and lithe and graceful, her every strike and deflection effortless in its execution.

The fight was uneven from the start, and from where Kanan stood watching, breathing deep as he called upon the Force to take away his pain, the sharp burn fading into a dull throb. The Togruta was in _no_ need of help, the woman an absolute flurry of vicious strikes and athletic movements that was both beautiful and fearsome to behold. The Inquisitor was getting more angry, more savage as the fight drew on, her blade activated to spin on its access when the Togruta's swift movements became too much, and with the additional aid of technology to cover her weaknesses, the Chagrian finally managed to get Ahsoka on the defensive. Managing to get a moment of space between them, Ahsoka powered down her lightsabers and let them drop to the ground, her face the perfect image of calm and focus as the Inquisitor grinned wickedly and jumped, her spinning blade poised to slash down at the kneeling Togruta.

The moment she landed, the blade arched downwards, Ahsoka just barely leaning away, the blade so close she could feel the heat, and she reached out and grabbed the saber's hilt, the spinning blades stopping and the Inquisitor's eyes wide with disbelief. With a swift pulse of the Force, the red blades disappeared as the saber deactivated, and Ahsoka twisted the weapon out of the Chagrian's hands. Slicing her arm through the air, Ahsoka slammed the Force into the Inquisitor, the woman flying through the air to strike the building she had hit before. Just before she fell to the ground, he body was lifted again, and the ground rushed to meet her again and again as the Togruta repeatedly smashed her against the wall and the hard stone of the pavement. Pain exploded in a white flash behind the Inquisitor's eyes when her head hit the ground, rendering her dazed and disoriented, and her pain quickly began to fade and grow distant as her vision grew dark and unconsciousness took her.

When the body went limp, Ahsoka released her, quickly rushing over and kneeling beside the girl to check for a pulse, and she sighed in relief when she felt it, slow but strong. Calling the Inquisitor's blade and her own dropped lightsabers to her and attaching them to her belt, she looked back and smiled softly at Kanan as he limped closer, wincing with each step.

"Do you think you can carry her?" Ahsoka asked softly, raising the body with the Force, and Kanan looked at her skeptically.

"You're not _actually_ going to hand her over to Kenobi, are you?" he asked as he tucked an arm under the Inquisitor's knees and grasped her around the shoulders to his chest, wincing slightly as he adjusted to her weight when Ahsoka slowly released her.

"I am," Ahsoka said quickly, sighing softly when the Jedi tensed in objection. "Look, I know that talking to Obi-Wan is like hitting your head against a wall, but he actually listens to you when you talk. You said something to him that made him...rethink his methods. I don't think even you would object."

"...r-really?"

"Really. I swear that sometimes he is just obstinate on purpose. It gets to you, and I think he likes to see you riled up." She pointed at the Inquisitor. "She has known nothing but darkness and pain and cruelty. She was never given a chance to choose. Regardless of what Kenobi wants, _I_ don't feel comfortable killing that."

"...y-yeah, I agree," Kanan muttered softly, following after Ahsoka when she gestured for him to follow, his every step becoming stronger as the Force took the pain away. "You think we can turn her away from the darkness? Do you think we could save the others instead of killing them?" Kanan asked hopefully, and Ahsoka looked sidelong at him for a moment before she shrugged.

"I don't know. I doubt we'll be able to save all of them, but we can certainly try. Some of them were Jedi that fell after the Empire rose, some of them never had a choice, but if we believe they are lost, then they truly are." She took a deep breath and looked at the unconscious woman in Kanan's arms. "Creatures of pain and fear and suffering, but Obi-Wan has always said the Dark Side is more than just that. If they continue to reject the light, then perhaps they simply need the right Dark Side Master. Someone to guide them, not trap them."

"And you think Kenobi can do that?" Kanan asked softly, and Ahsoka shrugged again.

"Who knows. He's _exceptionally_ cruel to those who have wronged him, or if he has a specific purpose for being so, but she hasn't done anything to him. And that Twi'lek he's keeping now..." She shrugged slightly. "I walked in on him _training_ her the other day. Actually teaching her like he would teach an apprentice. He may be corrupted and rotten, but I think a very large part of him misses the company of other Dark Siders. For a long time, he had his old Master, Dooku, Asajj Ventress, Barriss Offee, my Master Quinlan..." She smiled, a sad and distant thing like she was lost in a memory, her hand slowly tightening around the lightsaber at her hip. "It's lonely in the dark. I think being around you and the other Spectres made him realize just how alone he's been."

"I can understand that..." Kanan muttered, gripping the woman tighter to him, a new surge of sympathy for the Chagrian and his Sith Lord friend rushing through him. "You know what he needs?" Kanan said resolutely, drawing up to his full height and smiling when his legs didn't give way. "A _girlfriend_ , Like, a real one, not the sort of women he just keeps around for sex."

"I've been saying that for _years_ ," Ahsoka said with a smile. "But, pleasure is a major part of the Dark Side. I can't see him giving it up. And I honestly don't think he'll ever love again. Obi-Wan's just a creature that...mates for life, I suppose, and his died a long time ago." She shrugged. "But maybe. Who knows, he might get close again someday."

"Maybe we can help save him too." Ahsoka closed her eyes, smiling softly as she laughed.

"I think you already have, Kanan."

* * *

He had fought Darth Lumis on Lothal.

At first, he hadn't recognized him, hadn't been able to sense him, had _thought_ he sensed a Jedi when the young, clean shaven, golden haired man called a blue lightsaber to his hand. It didn't take him long to realize that the Jedi he had sensed was Kanan Jarrus or Ezra Bridger, both who had been in his company. It wasn't until he had tossed the blue blade into his off-hand and drew a red saber that the Inquisitor realized his mistake, that the man he could not sense before him was Darth Lumis, the renegade Lord of the Sith. It was too late to run. Lumis had his sights set on him, and before he knew it, he was facing down the Sith that had bested his Master, Maul, on both Naboo and Mandalore and irreparably tore through his mind to leave madness and submission in the bleeding wounds, and his Master, Vader, who he had beaten and dismembered on Mustafar, condemning him to a life trapped inside the black armor that so terrified those that looked upon it.

Lumis fought with effortless grace, elegance, and the reckless abandon of a man with the confidence that came from knowing he was in no danger. He had won before the fight had even started, and while Lumis' blade work was excessively dangerous, it was his mastery of the Force that was the real threat. Even as he had blocked and parried the Sith's slashes and thrusts, even as he hissed in pain when that red blade touched him and sank _only just_ beneath the skin before he withdrew, a constant reminder of all the time he could have killed him and didn't, the Inquisitor could feel him in his mind. He wasn't sure how the Sith got in, felt his mental defenses strong and tight, and yet the teasing clawing within his mind set his teeth on edge and disrupted his focus when he heard the soft, amused laughter echoing inside him and the amused commands to submit.

With each burning touch of the saber to his skin, with each scrape of the claws upon his mind, with each sickening squirm of what felt like snakes worming through his brain, he could feel his defenses cracking, his walls being broken from the inside. It wasn't long before Lumis had foregone the use of his lightsabers entirely and commanded him to kneel, and he had no choice but to obey. A moment later and they were running through the hallways toward the hangar, the Inquisitor following with a jerky shuffle after the Sith Lord, and the last thing he remembered before unconsciousness took him was the sight of his Master, Darth Vader, turning to face off against the man that had crippled him.

He wasn't sure _why_ Lumis had let him live. He thought, perhaps, that he had been distracted by the presence of the other Sith Lord, his own threat insignificant in the presence of Darth Vader, but the Inquisitor didn't really know. All he knew was that when he had groaned awake some time later, Lumis was gone, and Vader was...he wasn't sure _what_ he saw in the hangar that day. What he was certain of was that he was rewarded for his survival and his failure by being given to Admiral Thrawn to experiment on, a torturous experience that only grew worse and more painful as the Chiss perfected his ability to combat those that walked with the Force. By the end of his tenure under Thrawn, the Chiss could stop him dead in his tracks in an instant, and there was _nothing_ he could do about it. He wasn't certain if it was enough to combat the might of Lumis, but at the very least, it was an _excellent start._

And when just a few weeks ago, three Inquisitors turned up dead in the Senate...it gave him the motivation to run today. His previous escape from Lumis had been nothing but luck, and he would not be so lucky again. Ending up like that simply wasn't worth the capture of a child, or a thousand children, or the death of two Jedi rebels. His fellow Inquisitor simply didn't understand. She had never faced Darth Lumis, she had never fought him and lived to tell, had never felt his shadowy grasp, combing through his mind like he owned it. She didn't understand, and perhaps she would die here for it. He wasn't going to take that risk. He was _leaving_.

He ran faster when he caught sight of the spaceport, sprinting across the open expanse of the maintenance field and heading right for the hangar bay where he and his fellow Inquisitor had docked their TIE Interceptors, the latest in Imperial starfighter technology to come out of Lothal. He rushed past rows and rows of secure private hangars, some guarded, some left wide open, others locked tight to protect the ships inside belonging to the city's more wealthy businessmen. He found his hangar untouched at the far end of the spaceport and quickly punched in the code for the lock, the inner mechanics whirring as they unbolted and unlocked the various components of the elaborate security system. He bounced impatiently on his heels when the door began to rise, waiting for the moment he could duck underneath and get to his ship, and as soon as he saw his TIE's curved wings through the door's opening, he scrambled through the opening and ran forward, the door groaning as it continued to rise.

He stopped so suddenly his boots screeched against the steel floor, the noise echoing through the hangar, and with a pitiful whimper, he retracted the blast shield on his helmet to rub at his eyes to be certain his mind wasn't playing tricks on him. There, seated cross-legged on top of his TIE Interceptor, was Darth Lumis, the black robes he wore making him almost seem a part of the shadows in the hangar's lo lighting, his eyes glowing a fierce gold in the darkness. The Inquisitor's legs felt weak when he felt the Sith's eyes upon him, a cruel, amused smirk spreading across his face. He was _absolutely_ certain he was going to vomit.

"Hello there!" Lumis said, soft and amused, and the Inquisitor did the only reasonable thing he could in such a situation. He turned and ran. He hardly took three strides toward the now open hangar door before his feet were pulled out from under him and he fell hard to the ground, his face slamming on to the ground and his nose erupting in a fountain of blood. Panic overcame him as he was slowly pulled backwards, and he clawed at the ground, his fingers bleeding as the frantic friction peeled the skin of his fingertips off. "Now, now, none of that..." Lumis gently chided as the man began to scream and sob. "I've been waiting for you! You're not just going to _leave_ like that, are you, dear? That is _terribly_ rude..."

" _Please_..." the Inquisitor sobbed, flipping over and trying to dig his heels into the ground to back away from the Sith, but no matter how he struggled, he was slowly pulled closer to the man on the TIE. "Please, Lord Lumis, I-"

"Oh, no, no, don't beg, your Masters taught you better than that..." Lumis scoffed. "Have some more pride than that, show me you are _worth_ something..." He patted the ship he was sitting on. "And I was tasked with bringing new ships to my cause. These are going to do nicely, I thank you for delivering them to me." He looked down at the Inquisitor, frowning as the man continued to struggle. "Wait a moment...I _know_ you!" Laughing, Lumis jumped off the TIE and landed on the ground, raising his hand and the Inquisitor was pulled up into the air. " _You're_ the Inquisitor I fought on Lothal!"

" _No_! N-no, I-I'm not-"

"Mm, don't lie to me, boy, I remember you..." Lumis drawled, a tight smile on his lips as he patted the Inquisitor's cheek, and with a wave of his hand, he dropped the man on the ground, frowning as he watched him scramble to his feet and make a futile dash toward the open door. With a sigh, the Sith extended his hand, and the Inquisitor was sent slamming prostrate on the ground, the panic in his fast and heavy breathing audible.

"You are making this _very_ difficult..." Lumis said as he drew near the man on the ground. "Much more difficult than it needs to be, I assure you. I simply want to _talk_." He drew his lightsaber, the red blade igniting and held in a relaxed grip, the Inquisitor's eyes wide as he stared at it. "There is no escape, so stop trying. If you fight me, I will kill you. Do I make myself _absolutely_ clear?"

The Inquisitor whimpered as he nodded, the pressure on his body lifting, and he immediately grabbed his lightsaber and ignited it, a furious slash drawing a hissed curse out of the Sith Lord as he stepped back, immediately falling into an easy defense of the furious assault. Lumis was less surprised than he was irritated, though he expected little lese from a cornered animal, but in the past, those cornered animals had always submitted to him, rolled over and exposed their necks to him. It was rare that one fought, and when they did, he had always been able to _force_ them to submit. Today, he was trying something new, and the large, frightened, _thoughtless_ man had failed spectacularly. To attempt to fight his way out of such a situation instead of exercising patience and cunning wasn't just idiotic, but it wasn't the sort of creature he had any use for.

Lumis caught sight of Ahsoka and Kanan out of the corner of his eye, and he couldn't help but smile as his gaze shifted back to his opponent, a small sidestep and the slightest flick of his blade sending the Inquisitor's lightsaber striking against the ground. His blade twisting in his grip, Lumis slid his blade up along the other blade, the tip of his weapon sliding effortlessly into the Inquisitor's throat. Lumis deactivated his blade and stepped away as the Inquisitor dropped to his knees, a strained wheeze escaping through the hole in his neck as he reached a shaking hand up to touch at the smoking wound before he pitched sideways and lay still. With a final, disdainful look at the dead Inquisitor on the ground, Obi-Wan turned away from him and strode quickly to meet Ahsoka and Kanan.

"He started it..." Obi-Wan grumbled, gesturing back at the Inquisitor on the ground, his gaze immediately drawn to the dazed woman in black at Kanan's feet, the Jedi's saber pointing menacingly at the scowling Chagrian. He looked her over once before the Sith Lord's attention turned to the wound on Kanan's shoulder, burned and blistered through his cut armor, and he hissed, his furious glare shooting to the captive woman. He quickly grabbed Kanan's ponytail and pulled him downwards, the Jedi leaning over with a quiet complaint as the Sith tore the armor off to look at the wound.

" _Oww_ , hey! What are you-"

"Are you hurt?" Obi-Wan demanded with a growl. "Did this _wretch_ harm you?!" he snarled, his red blade in his hand as a second as he waved a hand in the air, the hangar door slamming shut with a resounding bang.

"I'm _fine, dad_ ," Kanan said with a roll of his eyes when Obi-Wan leaned in, his golden eyes squinting as he looked closer at the wound, his lips pressed together in a thin line before he nodded curtly and gently pulled on Kanan's shirt to cover it.

"It's not so deep as it appears..." the Sith Lord grumbled. "You're fortunate. Much deeper and it would have been very difficult to return use to your arm."

"Lessons for next time," Kanan said with a bright smile as he looked at the serious concern on the Sith's face.

"The mission was a success," Ahsoka said quickly when Kenobi's furious gaze drifted to the Inquisitor, the Chagrian's arms shaking as she looked at her dead fellow on the ground, effortlessly slain by the Sith Lord, the exact fate he had been hoping to avoid. "Ezra and the youngling are safe on the _Shadow_."

"I had no doubt he would succeed," Obi-Wan said as if it were the most obvious thing in the galaxy, his hand gesturing to the TIE Fighters behind them. "You wanted ships."

"I wanted _real_ ships, not starfighters," Ahsoka said teasingly. "But I suppose they'll do until you find us something better." She pointed at the lifeless Inquisitor on the ground. "What happened to him?"

"He _stupidly_ decided to fight me," the Sith Lord snarled, his gaze slowly returning to look at the Chagrian Inquisitor that remained slumped by Kanan's feet. "A mindless brute is of no use to me, Ahsoka, and his Force potential was average at best. No, the surge of strength I felt came from _her._ " A slow, wicked grin crept across his face as he slowly sauntered toward the Inquisitor on the ground. "And what about you, dearest?" the Sith Lord said sweetly, his deactivated saber spinning on his palm as he looked down at the Chagrian and with a wave of his hand, sent the fallen Inquisitor's blade flying to her hand, the woman grasping it with wide-eyed surprised as she looked up at the intimidating Sith Lord. "Do you mean to fight me as well?"

"... _Tano_ said you would be gentle if I did not resist," she muttered, bowing her head as she placed the saber on the ground and rolled it to the Sith Lord's feet. "I do not wish to resist."

"What's this, not going to beg for mercy?" Obi-Wan scoffed, calling his saber back to his hand. "Your friend begged."

"He wasn't my friend, he was a coward and a fool!" she snapped, her hands tightly grasping her knees. "He should have known that there is no room for mercy among the Sith." She scoffed bitterly and shook her head. "The only mercy the Sith have to offer is death. I will not beg for that which I do not want." She gasped, her eyes wide for only a moment before she screwed them shut, her teeth grinding together as she grasped her head between her hands, the burning touch of the Sith Lord deep inside her mind. Memories flashed before her mind, all of them hers, long forgotten and buried beneath pain and suffering, a childhood stolen when she was ripped from her world and hurled into darkness, the pain of feeling herself being twisted and corrupted under the torture of others far stronger than her, the brutal training under the Sith that only she and a handful of others survived. And through it all, she could feel the Sith Lord's satisfaction and his sympathy burning like a cold flame within her.

"You are intelligent..." Obi-Wan whispered as he circled around her, the woman shivering as she felt that fiery gaze looking deep inside her. "And powerful, though not nearly so strong as you could be. The Sith Lords have _wasted_ your potential, honed you into nothing more than a weapon when you could be _so_ much more..." He stood and observed her, stroking his beard as he looked her over. "Darth Sidious has Mas Amedda serving close beside him. I feel my former Master may... _appreciate_ that I have a Chagrian serving beside me as well." He extended a hand to the Inquisitor on the ground. "Come with me, girl. Pledge yourself to my service and I will teach you to be everything that your Sith Masters said you could not."

The Inquisitor sucked in a sharp breath, her eyes widening and filled with greed, with lust for power, with desire, but also with crippling loneliness, pain and fear, and a deep longing for it to end. Exhaling a shuddering breath and licking her lips with a black, forked tongue, she reached out and clasped the Sith Lord's hand between her own, her shoulders shaking as she laid his fingertips upon her head, groaning softly when she felt the Sith sink deep into her open mind, this time the feel warm and pleasurable in her submission.

"Ahsoka, you take the _Shadow_ back to the _Umbra_ , Kanan and I are going to follow in the TIE Fighters," Obi-Wan said quietly, motioning for the Chagrian to rise, which she quickly and dutifully obeyed, and he and his new charge quickly moved to one of the TIEs, the woman jumping up on top of the ship and entering the cockpit to unlock the console and controls, which she quickly did with the other when she was done.

"Dark Side apprentices..." Ahsoka muttered quietly to Kanan as he called his cast away shoulder guard to him, a frown on his face as he looked at the cut upon it. "It almost looks as though he's beginning to form the basis of his new Sith Order. He's been talking about it for years."

"...are you nervous about it?" Kanan asked, and the Togruta shrugged.

"Perhaps not as much as I should be," she said softly. "If Obi-Wan's the one doing the teaching, if he's going to change the Sith as he said he would...co-existence between different philosophies on the Force may be possible. He _is_ friends with a Jedi, after all." The Togruta's mouth pressed into a thin line. "No, what worries me is that his Sith Order has _always_ been a Sith _Empire_. A part of me has always known what it is he seeks to do, but..." She sighed and shook her head. "Our rebellion leaders may be in for a bit of a shock when they realize that one of their founding members is, at the very heart of him, _Imperial_. Not a revolutionary, but a usurper."

"Sounds to me like Obi-Wan may one day soon have a _great_ deal to discuss with the rebel leaders," Kanan mumbled, and Ahsoka quietly agreed, her gaze fixed on the Sith Lord as he jumped into the TIE's cockpit.

"A great deal, yes..." Ahsoka repeated, and couldn't help but wonder if one day, the rebellion she had worked so hard to help form would one day be called to stand against an Empire ruled by Obi-Wan.


	48. A Princess on Lothal

**AN:** **Long time since the last update, huh? I had a few smaller projects I wanted to do, and the past few weeks have been difficult to concentrate on writing because of my sick dog, who stuck it out like a trooper for as long as he could before we had to put him down on Tuesday. We got almost ten days more out of him than anyone thought, and while it was very difficult, I was glad to have that time. It might be a week or so before I'm back in the groove, but don't worry. I haven't abandoned this, or any of my other projects.**

 **I've been wanting to write this chapter for a long time now, and many things went places I wasn't expecting, but I'm glad it took me there. Please enjoy, lovelies!**

 _Chapter 49: A Princess on Lothal_

The Imperial fleet had left Lothal. Out of the blue on the way back to their Garel hideout after a routine mission, Hera had swung the _Ghost_ by the planet to which they always returned and found it _largely_ unguarded. Like it had been before Tarkin had occupied the planet. A _reasonable force_ , not the overwhelming armada they had been faced with before. They could return, assess the damage, see what Tarkin's reign had wrought. It was a chance to go back to what had been their home base for a long while, see what the Imperials were doing in the vital production factories they placed such value in. They were rarely given opportunities so good as this one, a chance to at least alleviate the strain that the Empire placed on suffering Lothal.

Hera didn't like it _at all_.

"I'm not saying we shouldn't go..." the Twi'lek sighed in frustration, pinching the bridge of her nose and squeezing her eyes shut when the crew immediately cried out against her suggestion that they _not_ go to Lothal. "I'm saying we should be _cautious_."

"Well, _yeah_ , of course we'll be careful," Ezra said quickly. "We're _always_ careful."

"At least _some_ of us are..." Kanan muttered, casting a pointed glare at the sheepishly grinning Ezra. "I don't know if this is a trap. We _have_ been gone for a while, and the Empire is a big place. Not everything centers around Lothal."

"And _that's_ what's worrying me," Hera said firmly. "Tarkin isn't here, so what is so important that he'd withdraw his fleet from a vital planet like Lothal where there are _active Jedi rebels_ , to say nothing of the Shadow King operating in the sector?"

"We may have an answer for that," Ahsoka said as she stepped into the room, the Spectres sitting around the holotable quickly standing to greet her. "The intel we received from Minister Tua is finally starting to pay off in a _very_ big way, now that we have Obi-Wan's Inquisitors to fill in the missing pieces and confirm the more high risk info," Ahsoka said, connecting her datapad to the holotable and swiping her fingers across the screen to bring up the relevant information.

"And this information has to do with Lothal?" Hera asked as the galactic map was displayed on the screen.

"In a way, yes..." the Togruta muttered when the galaxy map appeared before them, and she quickly tapped a few points, highlighting a collection of planets scattered around the Outer Rim. "First of all, our absence from Lothal _has_ been noted," Ahsoka said, firm and commanding, more Fulcrum now than Ahsoka. "Our activities in other sectors and Kenobi's actions on Muunilinst have the Imperial High Command moving troops in an attempt to protect high risk targets and vital Imperial strongholds. Say what you will about what happened on Muunilinst, but it rattled the Imperials. They believe the Shadow King is moving to strike the Empire at its heart."

" _That's_ why Tarkin moved his fleet?" Sabine asked, her eyes wide and completely bewildered as she crossed her arms and scoffed. "I thought Tarkin was smarter than that."

"He is..." Ahsoka said flatly. "Which is exactly the problem. Tarkin wouldn't move his fleet from a vital system like Lothal with the threat of a Rebel cell, two Jedi, and a Sith Lord _nightmare_ running around unless something even bigger has called his attention. Which it _has_." She zoomed in on one of the highlighted points. "This is the Batonn sector," Ahsoka said with a triumphant grin on her face. "Home to the Nightswan insurgency, which Tarkin has suddenly become _very_ keen on destroying. We've known for a while that Nightswan has been dealing hard blows to Imperial shipping and exports, but we weren't sure why."

"And we know now?" Hear asked, and Ahsoka tightly nodded.

"We do. Apparently these have been targeted strikes against the Empire's secret project, and Nightswan has somehow become _very_ knowledgeable about it." She reached out and touched three points within the sector. "Now, we don't know the identity of the Nightswan, and we have yet to make proper contact with him, but we're zeroing in on his location. His base of operations is either here, on Denash, on Sammun, or on Batonn, and contact needs to be made with him quickly, since the Imperial governors within the sector have officially requested naval aid in destroying the insurgency."

"And that's where Tarkin is headed?" Ezra asked, and Ahsoka bit her lip and slowly shook her head.

"No...no, Tarkin has been called elsewhere. It looks as though the Imperials are assembling task forces to deal with the matter, so it looks as though we still have some time to locate and make contact with Nightswan, if we can." She sighed heavily. "No, Tarkin's been called elsewhere on vital business at an unknown location. To discuss a certain...classified operation." Ahsoka placed her hands on the table and leaned forward. "Codenamed: Project Stardust."

"Sounds to me like we need to get to that meeting," Zeb growled.

"Yeah? I think we should go after Nightswan," Sabine shot back.

"I think we're better off leaving this stuff to Ahsoka," Kanan said quietly. "There's too many unknown factors here for us to be of much use. This is better suited for the Fulcrum network until we have something really solid to go on."

"I actually agree with Kanan on this one," Hera said slowly. "We are, as of now, extremely limited in what we can do because we don't have a base of operations. We're vulnerable in a way I _really_ don't like, and every time we meet the Imperials, we suffer losses that we just can't afford. We need to regroup, and now that Lothal has suddenly become available, I think it's as good a time as we're going to get."

"That was my recommendation as well," Ahsoka said softly, zooming out of the Batonn sector and tapping the highlighted planet of Lothal. "Leave the intel work to me, and I'll pass along anything I find when we're ready. But for now...Lothal _is_ vital to Imperial interests in the Outer Rim. There's no telling how long we'll be able to be there, but it won't be for long. We need to take advantage of this opening while we can."

"Does Obi-Wan know about all of this?" Kanan asked, and Ahsoka sighed heavily.

"He does, but you know how he is..." the Togruta muttered. "He's been playing with those Inquisitors for almost two weeks, there isn't much we can do to take him from that."

"How were the Separatists successful with _anything_ with that man running the show..." Hera mumbled, and the Togruta chuckled softly and flashed the pilot a grin.

"They _did_ lose while he was helming their war effort..." Ahsoka said, a sly, devious edge to her voice that quickly lightened the heaviness in the room. "But, on the subject of Kenobi, take comfort in the knowledge that he isn't _all_ self-serving." A swift flick across the datapad and the galactic map was cleared, replaced by the image of three Hammerhead corvettes, not large ships, but versatile one that sported plenty of space for cargo and crew and was equipt with enough fire power to defend it. "You wanted ships, Hera, and Obi-Wan's talked to his contacts to bring you _these_."

"First two TIE Interceptors, and now three corvettes?" Hera asked, a pleased cadence to her voice as she circled the holotable and observed the ships. "And it's not even my birthday, he must _really_ be smitten." She paused and frowned as she looked at Ahsoka. "But they aren't here _now_. Why? What's the catch?"

"No catch," Ahsoka said quickly before that sly smile crossed her face once again. "Not exactly. These ships are coming from allies of ours on Alderaan. They've been paying close attention to the work we have been doing, and out losses against Tarkin's fleet over Lothal have been noted, as has the suffering of the people planet side under the increase in Imperial restrictions. They wish to help, and talks between them and Obi-Wan have resulted in a plan that can accomplish several of our goals at once."

"So, what, they're just going to deliver the ships to us?" Sabine asked, a frown on her face as she looked at the people in the room. "...does _nobody_ see the problem with this? Alderaan is sort of a major deal in the Core Worlds. If they just give us these ships, it's going to be found out in a second that they're aiding rebel factions. Alderaan does a lot of good work in the galaxy, but that's all going to end _very_ quickly if they are suspected of treason."

"You're right," Ahsoka said, the smirk on her face making it clear that she wasn't worried. "Alderaan has been working against the Empire since its inception. We have become _very_ good at this game. They aren't going to give us they ships. They are embarking on a mercy mission to Lothal to deliver relief to the people because of the harsher Imperial restrictions. And while they're there..." She grinned brightly, her arms crossed over her chest. "We're going to _steal them_."

"So, we get ships, relief to the people suffering on Lothal, _and_ we get to make the Empire look bad because they lost a visiting dignitary's ships." Ezra grinned broadly. "I _really_ like this plan."

"Yeah, it's great until you realize that this will bring the Imperials _right back to Lothal_ ," Kanan said firmly. "They only just let up. Doing this will just bring them back. Maybe not Tarkin, but we could be faced with something worse. You know, like _Thrawn_."

"Obi-Wan considered that," Ahsoka said softly. "Part of the reason he planned it this way is because that's _exactly_ what he wants. We've already lost Lothal, and the Imperials _will_ be back. If we can manipulate the situation so we can get Thrawn here, well...that's a very dangerous, very hard to find enemy that suddenly becomes _very_ visible to us."

"...Lothal will suffer," Ezra said softly, and Ahsoka bowed her head, her brow wrinkled in contemplation and conflict.

"Lothal is already suffering. And Thrawn has...something of a reputation. He's a hard man, but not a cruel one, judging by his military career. He goes out of his way to engineer surrenders when massacre and subjugation appear to be the only options, and he does it by being _clever_. If Lothal is going to be under Imperial occupation, and it _will_ be, we may be better off with Thrawn than anyone else."

"Which will give us a stationary target while we remain mobile," Hera muttered, her eyes running over the data presented before her on the hologram.

"Yeah, sure, but we get a smart opponent in Lothal, we're not going to be able to get them out," Kanan said firmly. "We can oust an idiot, but this guy's actually dangerous, and if we know where he is, it won't be long before Kenobi forces an engagement, and if Thrawn's got a home base, no matter when we strike, it's going to be on his terms."

"Obi-Wan disagrees," Ahsoka said quietly. "He's got a plan, and the only way we're going to resolve this is by actually sitting down and playing with him. Kenobi and Thrawn have been moving their pieces around each other for a _very_ long time. They must engage eventually, and Obi-Wan thinks if he can draw Thrawn to Lothal, he can win."

"I agree with Ahsoka and Kenobi on this one," Hera said quietly, earning her a wounded look from Kanan. "I know you don't like it, love, but they have a very solid point. Our time on Lothal will be short. The Empire will return in greater numbers, but if we can somehow dictate _which_ Imperials we face...maybe they determine the terms of the engagement, but _we_ decide the field. That's vital to the success of any battle."

"And what good is being able to say _where_ we're going to fight when Thrawn will know the field as well as we do?" Kanan countered.

"Because he doesn't get to _decide_ the field, it's not his choice!"

"That won't matter to a _tactician_!"

"Alright, _stop_ ," Ahsoka said firmly, and both Kanan and Hera turned their gazed to the ground. "Let's not forget that we have a tactician on our side as well. Obi-Wan is every bit as intelligent as Thrawn is, and while he may not have the overwhelming Imperial might that Thrawn has access to, Obi-Wan's always been very, _very_ good at making very little go a very long way. We need to trust him. He's got a plan."

"...alright," Kanan said with a sigh, running his hands down his face as he groaned. "Alright. Stealing ships from the Empire. When do we begin?"

* * *

"I didn't think you were coming with us on this..." Kanan drawled as he leaned in the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest as he watched Obi-Wan sort through one of the crates that his two Inquisitor ladies had brought in from the _Umbra_. In the two weeks since Obi-Wan had made these acquisitions, Kanan had seen a fair bit of the Sith Lord, but _nothing_ to indicate that he even had women on the ship. They were _gone_ , simply not there, or else tucked away out of sight where the Jedi could not object to what was being done to them. Presumably.

Which made it all the more unsettling that they were _here_ , right now, and... _behaving_. The two women were leaning against the wall, standing close together and calmly watching the Jedi watching them, their matching yellow eyes belying something intelligent, curious and bold, which wasn't at all what Kanan had expected, given the Sith's treatment of the Grand Inquisitor. He was always fearful, a perpetual haze of panic and obedience dulling his eyes, but these woman were bright and vibrant. These weren't slaves, just as Ahsoka had said. These were _apprentices_.

"I wasn't going to come, no..." Obi-Wan muttered, pulling out a piece of armor from the crate and holding the chest plate up, a heavy, black piece of armor that matched the helmet of the Death Trooper that Kenobi had gotten Ezra for his birthday. He gestured casually at the Inquisitors. "The girls are progressing faster than I anticipated..." Kanan frowned when sly, arrogant, _identical_ smirks spread across the women's faces, and he had to look away. She looked _nothing_ like Hera, but the red Twi'lek steeped in the Dark Side was a shocking counter to Kanan's good, _sweet_ lover, and it almost hurt him to look at her knowing that once, perhaps, this woman was once like Hera, under other circumstances could have _been_ Hera.

"You sure we can trust them, Kenobi?" Kanan asked, inching closer to the Sith Lord when he could feel amused, coy gazes burning into him. Obi-Wan didn't even look up from sifting through the crate.

"Girls, no harm is to come to the Jedi, am I understood?" Obi-Wan asked in a flat, disinterested voice as he dug out a shoulder pauldron and dropped it to the floor.

"Understood, Master," the girls chanted in unison, and Kanan couldn't repress the shiver that ran up his spine.

"Alright, can I just say how _weird_ it is having _kriffing Inquisitors_ in this ship?!" Kanan said almost frantically as he turned to face the women once again, the looks of shared amusement still present on their faces.

"Why?" the Chagrian asked with a curious tilt of her head. "Is it any stranger than having a Lord of the Sith on the ship, Jedi?"

"We're not Inquisitors anymore, in any case," the Twi'lek added when Kanan sputtered for words, trying in vain to find an explanation as he quickly averted his eyes, the bemusement on her face quickly becoming more sultry as her eyes roved over the flustered Jedi. "Oh, I think the little Jedi likes _Twi'leks_!" The widening eyes and the faint blush that touched the tips of his ears was enough to make the woman chuckle, press off the wall, and draw closer to the now retreating Kanan. "A _fine_ choice, if I do say so myself..."

"Behave, Vehemis..." Obi-Wan said softly, his gaze finally lifting to stare at the Twi'lek, and scolded, she bowed her head and stepped back. "Hera Syndula is, without question, the boss around here, and I have found it a distressingly terrible idea to mess with the things she cares about. Unless you wish to deal with the positive fury of this crew's Space Mom, I _highly_ suggest you leave the Jedi alone."

"...I apologize, Jedi," Vehemis muttered as she bowed her head. "I was...simply attempting to be friendly."

"Uh huh..." Kanan mumbled cautiously, scooting even closer to Obi-Wan as he glanced suspiciously at the Chagrian, the woman he had fought back on Takobo, a woman who was willing to take a child from his mother and corrupt him with the Dark Side, the woman who had fought and wounded him, the injury healed now, but the dark scar stood as a reminder of how dangerous a person could be when they felt trapped. "And what about you?" Kanan carefully ventured. "We, uh...we good?"

"Why should we not be?" the Chagrian asked, the faintest smile touching her lips. "As I remember it, you and your friends bested and subdued me. More than that, I am no longer an Inquisitor in service to Darth Sidious."

"What, just like that?" Kanan scoffed. "Loyalties change easily when in the hands of an enemy. What's to keep you from turning on us the moment it suits you?"

"Among my brothers and sisters of the Inquisitorius, I was the Third Sister," she quietly hissed. "We were encouraged to fight and kill each other so only the strong and the clever rose to the top." She laid a hand over her chest, her eyes drifting down to the ground for a moment before she looked at the Jedi once again. "The Third Brother was stronger than I was, but _I_ was smarter. I seduced him, and after he finished using me, I killed him when his guard was down and became the Third Sister. Before that...I was _girl_." She sneered contemptuously, and the Twi'lek beside her ran her fingers down the blue skinned arm and gently took her hand. "With the Empire, I was nothing, a number never meant to climb too high and made to be replaced." She drew up and threw her head back proudly. "With Master Lumis, I am Vitios, and you cannot possibly understand what it means to have a name until it is _stripped from you and forgotten_." She took a deep breath, her lip curling up in twitches of anger. "So _don't_ question my loyalty, _Jedi_."

"W-well, shit..." Kanan muttered, rubbing at the back of his neck and quickly looking back at Obi-Wan, the Sith having returned to his task of picking through armor, but it seemed half-hearted, almost reserved. He had been quiet before, but now, his silence was profound. "I, uh...I apologize. I-I didn't think..." Kanan sighed heavily and shook his head. "I don't know what I thought. Not that, I guess." Vitios nodded her head, but said nothing else. "You don't...remember who you were before...I don't know, before you began following the Dark Side."

"I remember being torn from my family on Champala," Vitios said quietly. "I remember Lord Vader slaughtering them when they resisted my abduction." She shook her head slowly. "But my name was lost to me long ago, all memories I had before then, who I was before have faded nearly completely. When you are very young, pain and torture easily destroy the memory of anything else that might have been. It is...easier to believe there is nothing better."

"I was born in the Dark Force Temple on Dromund Kaas," Vehemis chimed in. "My parents were acolytes there expected to breed children powerful in the Dark Side, but I did not know them. I was born into darkness and given to Lord Vader when I showed sufficient talent. I survived the massacre there because I was on Coruscant for training." The Twi'lek took a deep breath, her eyes running over the Jedi's face and shivering slightly when she could feel his sympathy. "I...never had a name. We earned a title by becoming Inquisitors, and only then."

"...I do hope you can find what you're looking for with us," Kanan said quietly, despite the fact his heart was pounding with anxiety. "We don't have much, but what we do have is good. We're...family here." The two women drew back slightly, genuine surprise in their glowing yellow eyes as they searched his face, and he could feel their presence in the Force, dark and subversive and uncertain reach out to gauge him, and quickly withdrew when they found him devoid of the fear and anger they were so accustomed to. They quickly turned from him to speak to each other in soft, hushed voices that the Jedi couldn't understand, but he couldn't help but smile privately to himself when he felt confusion and the slightest stirring of respect in the Force.

"Kanan," Obi-Wan said, interrupting the silence with his light, easy tone and his customary smirk as he pointed to a stack of armor on the ground, the awkward tension in the room quickly fading away. "I need you to try that on. Despite the smaller fleet above Lothal, the security on the ground has increased a great deal. A Death Trooper protection detail has been integrated into the security of the Alderaanian delegation, and we are _not_ letting that go to waste. Suit up."

"Pretending to be a regular Storm Trooper was bad enough..." Kanan muttered as he picked up the armor's black body suit, a frown on his face as he considered the tightly woven mesh when Ezra climbed down the ladder in his own white Imperial scout armor, a bright smile on his face when he saw the Sith Lord.

"Hey, Kenobi!" Ezra chirped as he jumped off the ladder. "I didn't think you'd- _Oh shit_!" He pressed himself firmly against the wall when he saw the two Inquisitors, his whole body tight and tense, and Obi-Wan rolled his eyes and peeled the Padawan off the wall.

"My girls, Ezra, relax..." Obi-Wan drawled, smacking Ezra on the back when he laughed in nervous embarrassment. "They're here to help?"

"Really?" Ezra asked, eying the Chagrian nervously, the woman merely staring blankly at him in return, the slightest twitch of irritation at the corner of her lips. "Because I remember _that one_ sort of...trying to kill us not too long ago."

"They're fine, Ezra," Kanan muttered gently as he unfastened his own armor from his arm. "I feel we can trust them. Their loyalty wasn't bought, and it wasn't coerced. They...found something here they didn't know they were missing."

"Oh." A bright, genuine smile crossed Ezra's face. "Just like me."

"Just like all of us..." Obi-Wan whispered, clearing his throat and standing up straight when he felt the eyes of the two Jedi staring at him, the warmth of the Force as it reached out to him making him immediately pull away. "Atgal kia'tave kraud, panele. Isar nenx itik je'as deja tikazi nu'm kaire," he said firmly, and with a respectful bow, the two women gave a final glance to the two Jedi and disappeared through the corridor linking the _Ghost_ to the _Umbra_. The moment they were gone, Kanan started shedding his clothing to slip into the body suit, Obi-Wan quickly removing his own robes to do the same.

"Has the plan changed?" Ezra asked when the two men began snapping the black armor in place.

"Not changed, no, but from the sound of it, security is especially tight," Kanan grunted as he reached back to snap the snug straps of the armor in place. "Sounds like we're going to have to assess today and execute tomorrow."

"Looking good for Alderaan is in the Empire's best interests," Obi-Wan added. "Even with the shit Sidious pulls, he sort of needs the Alderaanian relief work to make a show of pretending to care. It's good publicity they need. At least for now." Obi-Wan rolled his eyes. "As useless as the Senate is, they still have the ability to limit what Sidious can openly do. I don't think they'll last much longer, but so long as they _are_ around, he needs the humanitarian work that places like Alderaan do."

"Alright, extra security, got it," Ezra said with a nod, a smirk on his face as he leaned in toward the Sith Lord. "But _you're_ here in case we need some _mind magic_ , right?"

"Exactly so."

"Don't encourage him, Ezra..." Kanan growled. "You know how he takes ideas like that and runs with it. Give him an inch, and by the afternoon, he'll have the entire Imperial garrison under his sway." Obi-Wan's eyes lit up, a bright smile on his face as he turned toward the Jedi, and Kanan poked him in the chest. "Don't get any ideas! That's a tall order, even for you, and you'd bring the entire Imperial fleet down on Lothal. We barely escaped last time!"

"Relax, I wasn't planning on doing anything a Jedi wouldn't approve of..." Obi-Wan said with a roll of his eyes. "Not today, at least. Today is about _surveillance_."

"Oh, well isn't that just a kriffing relief..." Kanan growled. "You sure you can handle this, Kenobi? I wouldn't want you blowing your cover because the temptation to be...well, _you_ is too great to handle."

"Mm, you are _so_ considerate," Obi-Wan drawled, patting the Jedi on the cheek as he passed him to climb the ladder to the cockpit. "Don't you worry, darling, I'll do nothing to disappoint you."

"If you do, Kenobi, our romance is _over_. There's only so much I can take before you break me completely."

"I was under the impression that I _have_ broken you..." Obi-Wan said gently, a wicked gleam in his eye as he looked down at the Jedi from the balcony and watched with amusement as Ezra began gagging.

" _Again_ with the flirting?!" the Padawan called after Kanan as he climbed the ladder to join the Sith Lord. "I'm telling Hera, she's going to be _so mad_!"

"...so, you _didn't_ tell him about the threesome?" Obi-Wan asked Kanan when he came to stand beside him at the railing. Kanan simply shrugged.

"He's just a kid, Kenobi, I don't need to tell him _everything_."

From the cockpit, Hera could here the echo of outraged screams followed by wild, raucous laughter, and with a heavy sigh, she piloted the _Ghost_ toward Lothal.

* * *

They stood at attention on the landing platform, their weapons grasped tightly in their hands as they watched a young, nervous Imperial officer pace before them, giving the troops their orders and something akin to a rather threatening pep talk as he tugged at his collar and wiped the sweat from his brow. It wasn't even hot out, the winter months on Lothal approaching quickly, but the officer was terribly anxious and likely fresh out of one of the Academies to command his first post. Every time he passed them, he gave them a cautious, almost frightened look. In all likelihood, the young Lieutenant had never seen a Death Trooper before, and they were intimidating enough as it was without being distinctly outside his chain of command, the garbled, coded speech emitted through their helmets unsettling in the best of circumstances. The least of which because he couldn't understand it.

"Get a load of this guy..." Kanan muttered to Obi-Wan, grinning within the helmet when the lieutenant shot a fearful look back at the Death Trooper. "I thought they had increased security, what are they doing sending out kids to command this stuff?"

"Honestly, I'm disappointed that they didn't send someone more important," Obi-Wan said, leaning in slightly toward the Jedi. "I was hoping for Agent Kallus, or Lothal's Governor, or an Inquisitor, or _something_."

"Maybe not an Inquisitor, Master," a slightly teasing feminine voice said into their helmet's open com channel, their helmets linked up to the _Ghost_ and the _Umbra_ in order to keep Hera appraised of the situation, and to keep the Obi-Wan's crew on standby in case support was needed. "We know the three Inquisitors remaining in service to the Empire, and all three possess the talent to sense your Jedi from a fair distance. Though, perhaps not if he stays close enough for your presence to negate his."

"Let's just be grateful they aren't there to test that," Hera said softly. "Kenobi, are you certain that the Death Troopers that were _supposed_ to report won't be found?"

"Kanan and I took their identification codes, so until we leave, the Empire should be none the wiser," Obi-Wan said softly, watching as the lieutenant paced by again, glancing at them once more before he turned his eyes back to the sky to keep watch for the expected Alderaanian delegation. "And Yoda ate the bodies, so we don't need to worry about that either." Over the com, Hera sighed heavily. "No, don't give me that, Syndula," Obi-Wan gently chided. "The rancor needs to eat, and I needed a place to dispose the bodies. Two problems solved with a single solution."

"I didn't _say_ anything..." the captain said forcefully to a cascade of female chuckles from Kenobi's crew.

"No, but you were _thinking_ it," Obi-Wan drawled, Hera groaning in the background.

"You're going to stay out of my head, Obi-Wan, unless you want your new pets to know who's in command here," Hera calmly demanded, the women on the _Umbra_ falling silent when the Sith Lord swallowed hard.

"Understood, Mistress. It won't happen again."

"Master," the irritated electronic hum of K-2SO chimed in over the gawking of the female crew and the loud and raucous laughter of Cody. "Three Hammerhead corvettes just reverted to sublight speeds over Lothal and are approaching the heavy cruisers in orbit. Assuming passage is given, they should be at your current location in approximately six minutes."

"Acknowledged, K2," Obi-Wan said, drawing up taller and turning his attention toward the skies. "Com silence while we're working, kids. Time to see what we'll be dealing with here."

"Be safe," Hera said softly. "I'll see you when you return." With that, the buzz of the open channel fell silent, and Kanan and Obi-Wan stood at attention and watched the skies, occasionally allowing their gaze to drift to Ezra, who stood nearby at the front of a group pf Imperial cadets. Getting on the planet had been a simple thing to do. In place of the Star Destroyers that had previously blockaded the planet, the Empire had left behind a small fleet of light and heavy cruisers, lorded over by a single Star Destroyer, which was nowhere to be seen. With the activity in nearby Batonn, it was very likely that the Destroyer had been called out to offer reenforcements. The number of heavy cruisers in the skies above Lothal was nothing to joke about, but it was far less threatening to deal with and made getting past them and down to the ground far easier.

The _Ghost's_ identification modulator worked like a charm, as always, and Hera had brought them down to their usual place in the caves of the planet's twisting, winding canyons, as of yet untouched by civilization of any kind. With any luck, getting out would be just as easy, though those plans would be discussed that evening when they made the plan to steal the corvettes, though they suspected there wouldn't be a problem. The Imperial garrison the cruisers were landing in was a remote one, far outside of the main force in Capital City in order to be closer to the location they were to be distributing aid to. If they were swift and effective, the corvettes could be stolen and hitting lightspeed before the cruisers overhead were made aware that the Alderaanian ships were in rebel hands.

If things went as planned.

The light glinted off the ships long before they arrived, and Obi-Wan watched as the singular point of light became three as they drew closer, slowly able to make out the shapes of the corvettes as the low thrum of their engines began to reverberate through the air. In the Force, he could feel the lieutenant's uneasy and frayed nerves, the young man almost buckling under the pressure, Ezra's excitement and Kanan's soothing presence as he reached out to calm the boy. It took only a few minutes for the ships to land, the versatile corvettes much bigger than Obi-Wan had been led to believe. Hera was going to be pleased, but if anything, this further stressed the need for a more permanent base. He'd be sure to look around for one on his way back from Moraband when he journeyed there within the next few weeks.

With a hiss, the boarding ramp of the premier corvette slid open, a compliment of Alderaanian guards marching out of the ship to stand at attention on the landing platform and long the ramp. From inside his helmet, Obi-Wan sucked in a sharp breath and held it, his hand at his side shaking to conceal the ripping current he felt within his body, the Dark Side held tightly at his command as it snarled and raged and hissed in fury. The change in the Sith Lord did not go unnoticed by Kanan, who leaned closer to him and discretely nudged him to get his attention, but Kenobi's eyes were fixed on the ship. There, walking down the boarding ramp, was a teenage girl in a simple but elegant white gown that just brushed her ankles, her long, braided hair draped over her shoulder as she stepped out of the ship, a guard captain not much taller than her at her side.

"Princess Leia of Alderaan," the lieutenant said as he stepped forward and bowed deeply to the teenager. "It is an honor to have your presence here on Lothal."

It took every shred of self control for Obi-Wan not to scream.

"Thank you, Lieutenant, but if you don't mind, I'd like to skip the pleasantries and begin distributing the relief aid as soon as possible," Leia said, her voice commanding though her tone was gentle and sympathetic. "Lothal has suffered _terribly_ because of the rebel insurgency here. I don't want your innocent to starve."

"Nor do I, Princess..." the lieutenant said, clearing his throat to make his voice seem less thin and nervous than it sounded. "We have all been suffering because of these terrorists. We just need to, uh..." He cleared his throat again and gestured back to some of the Stormtroopers in the line, and two stepped forward carrying scanning equipment. "We just need to scan the contents of the ship, check for...c-contraband..." he muttered, clearly uncomfortable with the implication that a Princess _might_ be carrying illegal goods, but the teenager simple gave him a winning smile and nodded her head.

"Of course, Lieutenant. Anything you need." The nervous Imperial bowed to the teenager before he turned to give his commands to the scanning crew, to be thorough, but not disrespectful, to follow exact procedure and be careful not to damage anything at all. While the lieutenant busied himself with his men, the Princess frowned, her brow drawing together in focus for a moment before she swiftly shook her head and leaned close to the guard at her side, the two of them whispering to each other for a moment before the guard drew to his full height and seemed to scan the area through the mask he wore.

Beside him, Kanan could feel Obi-Wan _burn_.

"Kenobi..." the Jedi whispered, nudging the man beside him. "I don't like the feel I'm getting from you...makes me feel like you're getting ready to do something rash... _again_..."

"I'm going to kill them..." Obi-Wan snarled, his entire being tightening, and both the Princess and the guard looked quickly in their direction, eyes wide and nervous for a moment before they staggered back, the Princess gasping with fear as she looked directly at them.

"Princess Leia!" the lieutenant said swiftly as the scanning crew entered the first ship, the man gesturing for the Death Troopers, and slowly, the two of them came forward, Kanan keeping his eye on the Sith Lord. Something was up, and he wasn't sure what it was yet, but he did _not_ like it. When they were standing beside the lieutenant, Kanan could see that the girl was _pale_ , her eyes wide and fearful as she stared intently at Obi-Wan. "As an added precaution, Governor Pryce had assigned you an extra security detail of the Empire's finest troops."

"O-oh..." Leia muttered weakly, swallowing slow and hard as she looked back to the Imperial officer, a tight, nervous smile on her lips. "I-I...please send the Governor my thanks..."

"Are you...afraid of them, Princess?" the officer asked gently, drawing up tall and making a show of fearless bravery for the young royal. "Most people have not seen a Death Trooper, Your Highness, and it's true they are intimidating by design, but you have nothing to fear. These are the most elite soldiers the Empire has to offer. You will be safe in their care."

"I-I'm certain I will be..." she said, her gaze dropping to the ground and very discretely backing up against her guard, her attention quickly diverted behind her when a low rumbling carried through the air, caused by a large craft that towed a hovering sled behind it, a large clamp fixed to the device. Nine of the clamps were towed out, each one guided toward each ship's set of three landing struts, and the clamps were fixed, a high pitched electronic hum emitting from them before they loudly banged as they were attached.

"To ensure the security of the Alderaanian delegation," the Imperial said proudly, "we are locking down your ships with gravity locks."

"Gravity locks..." Leia mindlessly repeated. "Isn't that a little excessive?"

"We are leaving nothing to chance, Your Highness," the lieutenant said, finally appearing to be comfortable now that his security measures were falling into place. "One of our rebels is a known ship thief. Nothing is going to go wrong on my watch. _And_ ," he said, drawing up proudly and gesturing to the large complex behind him, "for _additional_ security, we have Imperial Walkers stationed here to guard your ships while your delegation is distributing the relief supplies."

"...and tell me, _how_ am I supposed to distribute my relief supplies without my ships?" Leia asked in a flat, unamused drawl, and the lieutenant gawked, trying several times to begin offering an explanation and failing each time to become coherent. "You know, forget it..." the Princess said sweetly, sidling up closer to the suddenly flushed lieutenant and sliding her fingers down his cheek, her eyes drifting to the Imperial shuttle at the end of the landing platform. "I'll just have to use your shuttle."

"My...m-my shuttle?" he gasped, almost choking on his words when she smiled at him.

"I thank you _so much_ for offering it!" Leia said brightly, gesturing to the Alderaanian guard behind her. "Please, as soon as the scanning crew is done with their inspection, begin delivering the relief aid to the shuttle." The guards quickly saluted and began doing as the Princess commanded, and Leia turned, strode past the gawking officer, and strode toward the shuttle, her guard and her Imperial protection following close behind her. They were halfway to the shuttle, well out of sight of the officer and the Stormtroopers as they scrambled to help the Alderaanian guard when Obi-Wan's hand shot out to wrap tightly around Leia's arm, the Princess' assured step faltering when she gasped and held her breath, her skin paling considerably and her eyes wide and frightened. The guard at her side drew closer to Kenobi, stuttering as he tried to formulate a sentence, but the swift turn of his head to look at the smaller man made the guard immediately step back.

"Obi-Wan..." Kanan said quietly to the man, watching the Princess and her guard very, _very_ carefully as the Sith Lord exerted his unyielding control over them. "Maybe you should-"

"You will stay out of this if you know what's good for you, _Jedi_ ," Kenobi snarled, the sound vicious even through the helmet's modulator, and a soft, desperate groan from the soldier and the Princess' silent trembling. Kanan decided that staying out of it was, in fact, the best course of action. Something was going on here that he didn't understand, and testing the Sith Lord here, surrounded by Imperials and without their lightsabers, was a very, _very_ poor idea. There was a history here, one he didn't yet understand, but the warning in the Sith Lord made it very, _very_ clear that this was deeply personal.

With Obi-Wan's hand on the Princess, the pace quickened, the girl and her guard's legs moving quickly to keep up with the Sith Lord's long, angry stride. Four posted guards stood at attention outside the shuttle, and they drew up slightly, their posture becoming rigid as they approached, but a quick flick of Kenobi's wrist and the snarled command of "Leave us" made the troopers shiver, and despite being unable to understand his words through the helmet's coded, unintelligible vocoder, they obeyed, their feet dragging for a second before they marched away. Releasing the Princess, Obi-Wan shoved the girl and her guard up the ramp and into the shuttle, Kanan following close behind and pressing himself silently to the back wall as the Sith slammed his hand on the panel to seal the ship closed.

"Please!" Leia said frantically, throwing her hands up in placating surrender when Obi-Wan tore his helmet off and threw it against the ground, his golden eyes blazing with fury and bleeding through with the jagged touch of deep red. "I-I can explain!"

"Oh, you had _better_!" the Sith Lord snarled, his fury only growing when his gaze shot to the nervous guard. " _Take that stupid thing off your face, boy_." The soldier quickly obeyed, his shaking hands quickly removing the helmet and dropping it to the ground, the blond boy just as young as the girl he guarded, his blue eyes cast shamefully at the ground as he reached out to take the Princess' hand in his.

"We thought..." Leia began, but stopped herself quickly and shook her head. " _I_ thought-"

"No, you _didn't think_!" Obi-Wan snapped, bearing down on the teenagers, the two of them backing up as far as they were able, but there wasn't much space between them and the wall. "The orders I gave you were _clear_. You are _not_ to be involved with the missions connected to the rebellion!"

"No, you said we couldn't fight beside you, Father!" Leia snapped back, anger flashing through the Force as she drew up, emboldened by the growling Dark Side, and Kanan slowly removed his helmet and stared at the people before him. These teenagers were strong in the Force, though he couldn't understand why he had been unable to sense it before now. More than that, they were Kenobi's _children_ , or at least the girl, this _princess_ was, though the way the boy held her hand felt somehow familial. No, these were, without question, the Gemini agents he had encountered briefly before.

"We _aren't_ fighting!" Leia continued, her wrathful gaze meeting the cold, expressionless face of the Sith Lord. "This is a humanitarian mission, that's all! You weren't even supposed to _be here_!"

"And you aren't supposed to be doing this at all!" Obi-Wan growled in response, his looming presence over the twins doing nothing to frighten the emboldened Leia, but Luke shrank back, chastised and remorseful. "I was clear in the matter, you are _not_ to be involved, save for the duties I've assigned to you at the base! Was I not _perfectly clear_?!"

"When we are ready, we will fight!" Leia shouted back. "I don't care what you think, Father, we _are_ ready! We have been! And I will not be held back by you any longer!"

"I'm sorry, Father..." Luke whimpered, his voice shaking with emotion he tried to hold back. "We just...wanted to help..."

"I ought to just kill you both myself!" the Sith Lord hissed as he used the Force to push the twins down on to the acceleration couch. "It would be better than having you fall into Imperial hands, because they would not be so merciful to grant you a swift and painless death, not when they learn who you are!"

"I'd rather go down fighting them then sit around _uselessly watching_!" Leia snapped, struggling against the powerful hold the Force had on her, her thrashing ceasing as she suddenly began gasping for air.

"Without you two, I would have _nothing_ left in this galaxy to fear losing..." Obi-Wan said, his voice flat and expressionless and all the more chilling for it. "I would be unbound, free to act _exactly_ as I wished because _nothing would matter_." He shrugged indifferently when the twins turned wounded eyes upon him, no longer frightened or fearful, simply filled with the dull ache of sympathy and understanding. "I may die, I may destroy the Empire, but the outcome wouldn't even matter."

"Don't be _stupid_ ," Leia hissed almost bitterly. "You have the _Spectres_ , you care for them!"

"Leia, _stop_ ," Luke growled, and though anger flashed quickly through her eyes, it soon fled. She nodded and stared at the floor.

"The Spectres aren't my _children_ ," Obi-Wan snapped, a wave of his hand releasing the twins from the grasp of the Force. "Even before the day you were born, my entire existence has centered around protecting you, and I shall _continue_ to do so." A low, angry growl reverberated through his chest as he ran his fingers through his hair. "Does Bail know you're here?!"

" _Of course_ he knows!" Leia snarled, her temper flaring in a knee-jerk reaction that she swiftly bit back, biting down on her lip when she felt her father's eyes seeing right through her. "He's the one that sent us!"

"B-because..." Luke choked, shallowing hard to fight back his nerves. ""Because we...t-told him that you said that we should lead the mission..."

"...Luke, you are _so stupid_..." Leia hissed, shrinking back in her seat when Obi-Wan seemed to tower over him, the Dark Side drawn to him like he was the center of a black hole, and the metal within the ship suddenly burned to touch with how cold it had become.

"Let me see if I understand this..." Obi-Wan whispered, the easy smile on his lips at odds with the glowing fury of his eyes. "Bail Organa sent you here because he believed _I_ had asked for you. To... _what_ , presumably get you more integrated into the rebellion?" The twins slowly nodded, unable to make contact with the wrathful Sith Lord.

"Father..." Leia began, but she was swiftly silenced with a sharp command that carried the weight of the Force behind it, and she did not have the strength of will to disobey.

"I will hear _no more_ from you today..." Obi-Wan growled dangerously. "From _either one of you_." Groaning, he turned from the twins and ran his hand over his face, breathing deep as he attempted and failed to calm himself. "You two are eating away _years_ of my life..." he mumbled into his hands. "Of all the dangers to me in this galaxy, it will be _you two_ that will be the death of me, I _swear it_." He pointed at them, his eyes narrowed and his face hard and unyielding. " _Stay there_. We will discuss this later."

Luke and Leia said nothing, only nodded as Obi-Wan turned away from them and stormed into the cockpit, throwing himself into the pilot's seat and quickly beginning the pre-flight checks. Slowly, Kanan peeled himself off the wall, his chest aching with the breath he didn't know he was holding relieved when he exhaled. He slowly walked through the ship, each step as silent and as careful as he could make it, as if he would somehow disturb the tense peace if anyone noticed his presence. He bent to pick up Obi-Wan's discarded helmet when he came to it, looking at the twins as he did so, though they were silent, their heads bowed and their gazes lowered with palpable guilt. He wanted to say something to them, anything at all to maybe comfort the kids, as they appeared to be no older than Ezra, but he could think of nothing at all to say that could soothe them. He had witnessed something deeply personal. He had no business getting involved, lest he inadvertently make matters worse.

He stopped in the entrance of the cockpit, looking at the Sith Lord hunched over the control panel and staring intently at the instrumentations and displays before him as the checks were run, as if staring could somehow make the process go faster. Obi-Wan didn't seem to notice him there, though Kanan was certain he had. The man was far too alert to be oblivious to his surroundings, more so than Kanan had ever seen, since his apparent children were near, and the need to protect them was so overwhelming that Kana could hear the Force sing with the Sith's need. He slowly lowered himself into the copilot's seat and set Obi-Wan's helmet down on the ground between them.

"I'm sorry you had to see that..." Obi-Wan muttered after a long moment of silence. "Teenagers are...difficult. I'm sure you understand, having had a hand in raising Ezra..."

"...I'm not sure it's the same thing," Kanan said almost meekly. "Obi-Wan, I...didn't know you were a father."

"You weren't meant to know," Obi-Wan muttered, his fingers flicking up switches when the pre-flight checks completed. "You never should have known, though honestly...I'm a bit surprised you hadn't puzzled it out."

"There were times I very nearly did," Kanan said, smiling gently when the impassive mask the Sith wore began to crack, revealing something almost tender beneath, something soft and vulnerable he had seen only once or twice in fleeting moments within the man. "There were times when I saw something in you, just...something about the things you said or the way you did things that made it seem possible. I always just thought...maybe it was a relic of a time when you were going to be a father."

"No..." Obi-Wan said swiftly, the corner of his eye twitching slightly before he rubbed his palm against it. "I never had the chance to be a father to the child Satine and I created. I never thought I had it in me after that." He looked back over his shoulder and leaned over until he could catch a glimpse of the twins, the two still sitting silent and cowed on the acceleration couch. With the faintest twitch of his lips, he turned back around, his focus returning to the displays on the console. "...Luke and Leia showed me otherwise. They...saved me, in many ways."

"From what?"

"From myself..." Obi-Wan whispered, a sad smile touching his lips as he let go the control on his emotions. "There was a time I was...lost. After Satine, there was nothing inside me but madness and a compulsion to see the galaxy burn for all I had lost. I was burning, and I would see everything be incinerated with me."

"Ord Mantel," Kanan said quietly, and with a soft chuckle, Obi-Wan nodded, finally turning to look at the man beside him.

"Not every story the Jedi told about me were lies or exaggerations or twisted until they became horror stories to scare Padawans," Obi-Wan said. "But some were. Some were crimes I was innocent of, and many of them were actually worse than the way they told it." Obi-Wan closed his eyes and took a deep, calming breath as he reached back into his memory. "I did burn Ord Mantel, and all the billions of people on the planet. And I would have continued. I would have gone on until there was nothing left or until someone finally ended the destruction with my death." He looked back toward the twins once again. "Luke and Leia...and their mother. They...brought me back from the depths of insanity. They saved me, in more ways than one."

"...who was their mother?" Kanan asked, despite himself, though he couldn't find it in him to regret asking, even when the Sith Lord's brief flash of anger and the hiss of annoyance at the invasive question quickly yielded into a painfully wounded look in those golden eyes.

"Padmé..." Obi-Wan whispered an almost pitiful whimper in his throat as he swallowed hard. "She was in no ways my Satine, but she was... _exceptional_. Brilliant and beautiful and kind to a fault. And Sidious..." He stopped himself and quickly shook his head. "Sidious and _I_...together, we managed to ruin her. By the time I had realized _why_ , I tried to help, I tried to somehow...stop what I had started, but things were too far into motion. All I could do was protect her and her unborn children from harm, and it still wasn't enough..."

"Did you love her?" Kanan slowly asked, and Obi-Wan leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, his hand laid over his heart and feeling the strong, steady beat.

"Until the day I die, my heart will always beat for my Satine..." the Sith said, his voice thin and strained with emotion. "I cared about Padmé a great deal. In a way...I suppose I did love her. As much as I was able with my heart torn out and buried on Mandalore."

"What happened to her?"

"I killed her..." Obi-Wan said, his voice distant, and he glanced out of the corner of his eye at the look of appalled shock on the Jedi's face. "Don't look at me like that, Kanan. I am responsible for the deaths of _billions_. I have burned planets and committed more than one genocide. I can probably only count on one hand the number of beings in the history of this galaxy that wade as deep in blood as I do. But of all the beings I have killed...there is only one I truly regret." He took a deep, calming breath and clenched his hand to keep it from shaking. "I won't cheapen her death by making excuses as to why I did what I had to do. I wish it could have been otherwise. I wish I would have fought harder to find a way. But I didn't. I had my reasons, and she died for them. That is all."

"...do they know?" Kanan asked, glancing back toward the twins, and Obi-Wan scoffed.

"Of course they know. I do not lie to my children, Kanan. I will not allow something as petty as dishonesty to tear my family apart." Obi-Wan grumbled and looked behind him. "They're smart, in any case, and you've seen how rambunctious they are. They'd find out the truth on their own anyway if I hadn't told them..." He sighed heavily and imputed a string of commands into the console. "Luke, Leia, come here!" the Sith Lord called, and a litany of quiet cursing and frantic scrambling could be heard behind them as the twins moved as quickly as they were able to stand in the open doorway of the cockpit.

"F-father," Leia began frantically when the Sith Lord turned in his seat to face them, and quickly shut her mouth when he held up his hand for silence.

"You two get your shit together. I'm lowering the boarding ramp so we can get your relief aid on the ship and delivered." The twins looked at each other questioningly before glancing back at their father.

"Father..." Luke began softly. "I thought we weren't allowed to-"

"You're here now, so you may as well finish what you began," Obi-Wan grumbled, pointing a menacing finger at them and the two of them quickly shrank back. "But so help me, you _will_ obey. If this is _anything_ like what happened on Muunilinst, I will take your X-Wings and you will _never_ fly again. Am I understood?" With a gasp, both kids frantically nodded, the threat having the desired effect. "Go. Make yourselves ready." They rushed away, uttering not a sound as they retreated to the back of the ship, and Obi-Wan picked up his helmet.

"Kanan..." the Sith said quietly. "Please, keep the nature of their relationship to me a secret. For their safety."

"I promise," the Jedi answered solemnly. "If there are introductions to be made, you'll be making them."

Flashing the Jedi a small, grateful smile, Obi-Wan reached out as if to touch his shoulder affectionately, stopped himself, and pulled back, sliding his helmet over his head and pulling the release for the boarding ramp.

* * *

"Of all the irresponsible, reckless, _dishonest_ things you have ever done, this is by far the worst!" the life sized holographic image of Bail Organa said to the two crestfallen twins, his voice raised and his tone stern, the Sith Lord standing behind them with his arms crossed over his chest as he listened to the lecture. Bail was a _terribly_ good parent, somehow managing to be both commanding and compassionate all at once, a facet of his personality and his practiced political skills which made him such a fine leader. What was clear, though, was that Bail loved these children, and, the twins were heartbroken to have disappointed him so severely.

"I'm sorry..." Leia muttered. "I just thought-"

"But you _didn't_ think, Leia," Bail groaned, his eyes squeezed shut as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "You just found a way to do as you like, never once paying mind to the dangers or the consequences. You have always found clever ways around rules, Leia, but _this_ was foolish and ill planned. And _you_ ," he said, turning to Luke. "I have always known you to be the voice of reason, Luke, but even you have exercised poor judgement today." Instead of answering, Luke bowed his head and sniffled, his shoulders shaking as tears splattered the ground.

"It wasn't Luke's fault..." Leia muttered, gently wrapping her arms around her upset brother. "I convinced him it was a good idea."

"I have no doubt you instigated this mess," Bail said with a sigh. "But Luke is responsible for his own actions. At any time, he could have let _someone_ know what stupidity you were planning this time. You may be persuasive, Leia, but you aren't _that_ good."

"So what are you going to do?" Leia muttered, catching her lip between her teeth as she looked up at her guardian. "I...I-I don't know how to say I'm sorry for this..."

"You already have, sweetie..." Bail said softly. "And I don't know how you're going to be punished for this. That's up to your father to decide."

"I'm still considering the options," Obi-Wan said quietly when the twins looked back at him. "There is a great deal to take into account."

"As always, Obi-Wan, I would ask that you are merciful in whatever action you chose to take with them," Bail said softly, his eyes on the obviously remorseful twins. "We were all teenagers once. It is never an easy thing."

"Never easy, no..." Obi-Wan repeated with a sigh. "My rebellious years were...particularly volatile, though I wasn't a teenager when I rebelled against the Jedi. I had always been something of a late bloomer." He nodded as if he had decided something. "Thank you, Bail, I will keep that in mind when I decide what I'm to do with them. I'll be in touch sometime tomorrow, the Spectres and I need to plan how to go about stealing your ships."

"Just be safe, Obi-Wan," Bail cautioned. "I know you're something of an expert in stealing ships, but you've never stolen more than one at a time. You're going to have to put a good deal of faith in your team, so the plan _must_ account for all possibilities."

"Oh, please Bail, you're talking like this is my first mission..." Obi-Wan said with a roll of his eyes. "I have a plan and contingencies in the event that it doesn't go like I think it will. Let's not forget that I was trained by the man that single-handedly orchestrated the fall of the Jedi _and_ the Republic."

"Oh, believe me, I have not forgotten..." Bail said with a shake of his head. "May the Force be with you, Obi-Wan."

"...yeah, let's hope it still is." He disconnected the hologram and closed his eyes, breathing deeply as he touched the Force and found what he always did these days. Ominous red and the black shadows of Vader, Maul and Sidious, and his own broken form upon the ground, no matter what he did, no matter what he tried to change it, the Force simply redirected him here every time he attempted to see past it. The gift of his foresight was _gone_ , replaced instead with the draw to _this_ , his oncoming defeat. If somehow, the Force was still his ally, he couldn't see it.

"Father?" Luke asked quietly, laying his hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder, and with a sigh, the Sith Lord laid his hand over the boy's. "Are you alright?"

"Of course," Obi-Wan said with an easy smile on his face. "Come on, we need to talk strategy with Kanan and Hera. You two are going to be good and _listen_ , yes?" The twins nodded quickly, and with a gesture of his hand, Luke and Leia followed Obi-Wan out of his room and into the corridor of the _Umbra_ as they headed toward his spacious living room where both the crew of the _Ghost_ and the _Umbra_ were waiting to discuss the plan.

After the aid had been delivered as planned, several other Imperial ships having to be called in to deliver all the supplies in a timely manner, Obi-Wan and Kanan were reunited with Ezra at the relief distribution center they had set up, and after they had completed their task, they collected Luke and Leia, disconnected the onboard tracking and identification transmitters, and flew to where the _Ghost_ had set down, contacting the _Umbra_ and telling them to join them on Lothal. As soon as Obi-Wan's ship landed, he told Kanan to meet him with the other Spectres within an hour, took Luke and Leia by the arm, and dragged them to explain to Bail what they had done.

Now that his children had faced the considerable disappointment of Bail Organa, it was time to get to work.

They stepped into the room and found the considerable crew they had amassed over their time together waiting for them. The Spectres, the two clones, the Fulcrum agent, Kenobi's two droids, his Chiss and his two former Inquisitors, all of them quietly, somewhat awkwardly mingling, most of it driven by Ahsoka, who had fearlessly approached the red Twi'lek and the Chagrian with Kanan and quickly began building bridges between them and finding commonalities with the dark siders.

"Alright, let's get to work," Obi-Wan said as he strode into the room, gesturing to K2, who quickly dimmed the lights and activated the holotable, the layout of the rural Imperial garrison where the hammerhead corvettes were docked appearing before them. "Before we begin, an order of business." He gestured to the twins that stood quietly behind him. "This is Luke and Leia, the Gemini agents. They are assisting us in this mission."

"Oh shit, _you're_ the Gemini?!" Ezra said excitedly, the teenager almost coming out of his skin as he looked at the two of them. "You're rebels _and_ royalty?!" He grinned brightly when Leia looked up and smiled at him softly. "This is going to be _so awesome_."

"Keep your pants on, boy, they aren't celebrities," Obi-Wan said with a roll of his eyes. "We have a job to do. Did everyone here review our notes on the strength of the force present?"

"We did," Hera said, stepping forward to take her place at the table across from the Sith Lord. "The security is _very_ tight, but they don't have a great deal of air support, and the communication array shouldn't be too difficult to take out." She frowned and pointed to one of the images displayed and quickly enlarged it. " _These_ are the problems. AT-AT Walkers. Those things are heavily shielded, and I don't know that we have the fire power to take even one down. There are _two_ of them, and getting those gravity locks released while we have those things shooting at us..." Hera shook her head. "Not good prospects."

"Hmm..." Obi-Wan circled the holotable, observing all the information displayed before him. "Getting on the ships shouldn't be a problem, it's everything else..." Obi-Wan muttered, his eyes roving over the group. "...Sabine," he said softly, pointing to the Mandalorian. "Grotthu." He pointed to the Chiss. "And Luke," he said, pushing the startled boy forward. "You're the best pilots we have that we can spare. You three are stealing the ships."

"Wait, _what_?!" Leia gawked, looking at her grinning brother. "I am-"

" _A Princess_ ," Obi-Wan growled in warning, "and will be _missed_ if you are not present. We need you to be seen, and we need you to be _pissed_. Understand?"

"...yes," Leia said firmly, drawing up and looking as regal as she could. "Yes, I think I can manage that."

"I know you can," Obi-Wan said quietly. "You will remain on Lothal and wait for the Imperials to send you back home to Alderaan. We need this as clean as possible to avoid implicating Bail in rebel activities. You are to rejoin us on _Phoenix Home_ as soon as you are able." Leia didn't answer, only bit her lip and nodded, which was good enough for Obi-Wan. "Hera, you and Chopper in the _Ghost_ and Cody and K2 in the _Umbra_ for air support, and the rest of us are on the ground. Kanan, you lead the team to get those gravity locks disengaged. This is our absolute top priority. Unless those things are off, we can't steal those ships."

"I'll take Ezra and Zeb," Kana said, frowning as he looked around the room. "And Rex. I bet there's a code to disengage those gravity locks in that idiot brain of his."

"There might be," Rex said, chuckling softly as he shrugged. "I'll have to take a look at the equipment, but if I have good cover, I should be able to figure it out."

"Zeb will cover you," Kanan said, a hand on the Lasat's shoulder. "Ezra and I will be trying to cut through the locks on the second and third ships."

"Without cover?" Obi-Wan asked, shooting the Jedi an almost disgusted look before he scoffed. "Take HK with you. Lightsabers are going to draw a lot of fire, and it's going to give him _lots_ of targets." Perched atop a counter toward the back of the room, HK-45 looked up, a short burst of electronic excitement sounding from his vocoder.

"Overjoyed: Master, it has been _so long_ since you've allowed me to engage in this sort of excessive execution!"

"You aren't indestructible, HK," Obi-Wan softly growled. "You are to be _prudent_ , and you are only to destroy the Imperials that are actively shooting at our ground team, understand? If they ask for a slaughter, give it to them, but don't attract undue attention. Those Walkers can destroy you, and the more people you kill, the faster they will be able to locate you. We need time. The longer you can avoid detection, the safer you will be."

"Hey, slave," Cody drawled from where he stood leaning against the wall, and Rex looked over, his eyebrow arched at his cocky copy. "In the event that you're _totally_ useless and you can't disable the locks, I'll let you use my lightsaber." He shrugged. "As long as you promise to bring it back."

"You're getting sentimental again, traitor," Rex said with a roll of his eyes and an amused smile. "If you don't cut that out, I'm going to think you're starting to like me. We can't have that."

"In that case, I hope the Walkers step on you," Cody grumbled, tossing the other clone his lightsaber, and Rex flashed him a quick grin as he caught it.

"Speaking of which, Kenobi..." Hera said, pointing to the enlarged images of the Imperial Walkers. "These are a _huge_ problem. What are we going to do about _these_?"

"You leave that to me, dearest..." the Sith Lord said in a low, pleased drawl. "Vitios and Vehemis will come with me to deal with that matter."

"What about Ahsoka?" Ezra asked, the Togruta looking down at him and smiling gently.

"I'll be leaving for _Phoenix Home_ to prepare to take the new ships in," Ahsoka said. "As a Fulcrum agent, my job isn't to be on the front lines, and I'm afraid word of my presence may very well attract attention we don't want. Obi-Wan isn't the only one being actively hunted."

"Lord Vader has been hunting her for a _very_ long time," Vitios said, and Luke and Leia slowly drew close together. "He knows she lives, and he very much wants him dead."

"I put myself at enough risk on Takobo," Ahsoka whispered, her voice laced with irritation. "If I'm found, the entire rebellion may be at risk. I need to return to the background where I can be of the most use."

"Sounds like we have a plan then," Hera said."Any questions?" Nobody moved, and with a smug smirk upon her lips, she shut the holotable off. "Alright. Let's get going."

* * *

"They just _look_ so much bigger when they're standing against you..." Vehemis whispered, her red lekku squirming in irritation as she ducked behind the crates at the edge of the Imperial landing field when the nearby AT-AT Walker swept it's head around, its searchlights passing slowly over the area. Beside her, the Chagrian rolled her eyes.

"Don't be a fool, their size hasn't changed," Vitios hissed. "You're just afraid, _fear_ is making them seem large. The _Sith_ do not feel fear."

" _Well_ , are _aren't_ Sith, now are we?" Vehemis snapped back to the derision of her Chagrian teammate.

" _Not yet_."

"Ladies..." Obi-Wan gently chided, his eyes scanning the area as he listened to the chatter over the com in his ear. Things were going _very_ well, from the look of it, and everyone was in place and ready to move as soon as Sabine, who was leading the pilots that would actually steal the ships, gave them the word. It was a major operation, and the Mandalorian was leaving _nothing_ unchecked or rechecked to ensure that on her end, things went as smoothly as possible, because once they began, it was going to be a mess.

"Master..." Vehemis said, her voice low and seductive as she reached out and dragged her fingers down the Sith Lord's side. "Exactly _how_ are we supposed to destroy those? They were built to withstand bombardments, blaster fire does _nothing_ to them, and we don't have anything in the way of explosives."

"Anything can be destroyed, Vehemis..." Obi-Wan said quietly, his eyes following the shadow of Kanan as he and his team darted from cover to cover, avoiding the Imperial patrols, though the guard detail around the ships _was_ light, due in large part to Leia's efforts. She had the young lieutenant wrapped around her finger, and for the past half hour, he had been showing off, giving her a full tour of his little rural garrison and demonstrations on what his soldiers were capable of. It kept the Imperials occupied in an effort to impress the young Princess of Alderaan. "Never forget that nothing is beyond destruction. All things must end eventually."

"Even you, Master?" Vitios asked softly, and Obi-Wan closed his eyes, a forced smirk on his face.

 _Even me_. "Don't be absurd, _apprentice_ , I am a Lord of the Sith, Master of the Dark Side, one who follows in the footsteps of the greatest powers this galaxy has _ever_ seen." He scoffed, his gaze turning toward one of the Walkers as it slowly moved closer. " _Nothing_ can kill me."

" _I_ never doubted you, Master..." Vehemis purred, pressing herself against the Sith Lord's side and shooting the Chagrian a victorious glance. "So what's the plan? How are you going to destroy the Walkers? Master, _please_ say you're going to crush it with the Force!"

"I wasn't planning on destroying them at all..." Obi-Wan said, grinning when the Twi'lek drew back and frowned. "Come now, destruction is not always the answer, my dear. If our enemy is so kind to bring us a weapon to use, it's _terribly_ bad manners not to use it."

"We're going to appropriate the Walkers," Vitios said, a small, superior smirk on her lips as she leaned over to look at the Twi'lek. "Just as I said. You owe me forty credits."

"Don't be so smug, Master _still_ likes me better."

" _Unity_ , pets..." Obi-Wan drawled softly, reaching to run his fingers affectionately over their hairless heads, and both woman slumped beside him, leaning against him for support. "If I cannot count on your cooperation during my missions, you will not come, and then what use are you to me. This isn't the Inquisitorius. Your advancement isn't dependent on the failure of the other, but on your joint success. The ancient Sith fractured because of this. Sidious' Empire will fracture because of this. _Mine_ will not."

"We're ready," Sabine's voice said over the com, and Obi-Wan grinned, his eyes staring intently at the Walkers before him. "The pre-flight checks are done, the engines are primed, and we're ready to fly the moment the locks are engaged. Is everyone in position?" A cascade of quiet affirmatives followed, and after that, the com fell silent, and Obi-Wan pointed to the nearest Walker.

"You two take that one," he commanded the women beside him. "I don't care _how_ you get in, just make certain you do. If we can keep the _Ghost_ and the _Umbra_ out of the fight until we need to be evacuated, it will make our escape easier."

"Understood, Master," the women said in unison, and without another word, they ran out behind cover, Vitios and Vehemis running for the nearest Walker while Obi-Wan stepped into the shadows and sprinted off toward the one further off. The sound of blaster fire and shouting filled the air when the Imperials discovered the rebels when the first of the nine gravity locks disengaged, and immediately, the Walker Obi-Wan was running toward began to turn toward the Alderaanian ships. Taking his blue and red sabers in hand, Obi-Wan caught them in a backhanded grip as he ignited them, his presence revealed too late for the Walker to do anything about him as he jumper toward one of the massive legs and dug his sabers in.

Sliding down as the plasma blades slowly dragged molten lines through the hard armor of the AT-AT, Obi-Wan swung his legs and vaulted upwards, twisting in the air at the peak of his jump to stab the sabers into the leg just above the large joint of the knee. He planted his feet against the rotating disc of the steel beast's knee when it began to move, placing as little pressure on his sabers as possible to keep himself from sliding down as much as possible, the rush of wind as the Walker took a long step ruffling his hair and nearly dislodging him from his place when the wide foot landed hard upon the ground, the jolt nearly shaking the sabers free. By the time he jumped again, he had nearly sunk below the rounded knee disk, the armored plating so thick that it didn't seem as though the plasma blade did any damage to the leg's inner workings.

The cannons above him began firing, sending vibrations through the entire craft that passed through the sabers so that the Sith Lord could feel it in his chest, and he quickly looked over to the airfield to see a hail of blaster fire filling the air. Gritting his teeth, he launched himself up again, finally clearing the legs and slamming his sabers into the side of the tank's body and swiftly jumped one more time to land gracefully upon the top, crouched low to keep his balance as it moved with jerking steps. Holding his saber loosely between his thumb and forefinger, he extended his arm and with a quick flick of his other three fingers, he threw the top hatch open and swiftly dropped inside, the Imperial troops inside hardly having the chance to even reach for their blasters before the rapidly spinning lightsabers sliced the four bodies to pieces.

Obi-Wan quickly sat at one of the control stations, turning up the volume on the Imperial's closed com channel and listening to the panic in the voices of the officers as he familiarized himself with the controls. They were, unfortunately, quite complicated, and absolutely needed a minimum of two people to run the mobile tank with efficiency, but he didn't need to be able to manage more than minimal movement to line up his shots and fire on his targets. He quickly scanned the scene of the battle spread out before him through the wide viewport of his high vantage and grinned when he saw Vitios and Vehemis, red sabers in hand, one dangling through an open hole cut in the bottom of the craft's body, the other perched atop it and stabbing the weapon through the Walker's head and into the cockpit. In moments, both Walkers would belong to them, and it would be safe for the ships to take off.

Grinning wickedly, Obi-Wan lowered the aiming reticule and grasped the cannon controls, aiming them at the compound's transmission tower when a strained, frantic voice over the com reported that the Princess and her retinue were safe inside the bunker, giving the AT-AT Walkers and the forces on the ground the freedom to fire without concern for the safety of their royal guest. Muttering a swift, amused "Yes Sir" over the Imperial channel, Obi-Wan opened fire, striking the transmission tower several times while fire bloomed against the collapsing metal, and the cockpit filled with static, then silence as the communications system was destroyed.

"Sabine," Obi-Wan said into his own com as he angled the cannons down to aim at the Stormtroopers as they broke rank and scattered to avoid the falling debris, and he couldn't help by smile wickedly as the confusion allowed the small figures of Zeb and HK-45 to quickly and easily pick the soldiers off. "We have control of the Walkers. You're clear for liftoff as soon as you are free to do so."

"Copy that, Kenobi," Sabine said, and Obi-Wan watched through the hail of blaster fire at the spinning lightsabers in blue and green at the base of the ships as one of them powered on its powerful engines and lifted into the air, quickly speeding away toward the atmosphere. "See you at _Phoenix Home_ ," Sabine said, excited laughter lining her voice as the swift work from the lightsabers freed the second ship. "Be safe."

"Hera, we're ready for extraction," Obi-Wan said after the connection between him and Sabine was cut, getting out of his seat and slashing his blue lightsaber across the Walker's controls before he leapt out of the hatch and jumped off the side, his lightsaber digging into the side of the craft to slow his fall.

"Copy that, Kenobi," the Twi'lek said swiftly. "We're keeping the _Umbra_ in the air to provide fire support if needed. Standby for extraction." Cutting the com, Obi-Wan sprinted toward the final ship, batting away stray bolts of plasma as they were fired at him, the lightsaber drawing the attention of the nearby troops as they fled from the excessively fatal combination of HK and Zeb. Quickly activating the com to tell Vitios and Vehemis to remain in the Walker until they saw the _Ghost_ to provide cover should they need it, the Sith Lord's feet smacked against the hard permacrete of the airfield. A loud hiss and a resounding bang sounded as one of the gravity locks was secured, the clamps falling uselessly to the ground, and Kanan rushed to stand before the ship, his lightsaber swinging defensively as he batted back blaster fire to give Rex and Ezra the cover they needed to finish their task quickly.

"You know what's nice?" Kanan said when Obi-Wan skidded to a halt beside him, his own saber swinging to provide a wider shield from the suppressing fire. "Well made plans that _actually_ go the way we want them to. I'm half expecting things to go very, _very_ wrong at any second."

"Careful, Kanan, you know talk like that is what summons trouble down upon us," Obi-Wan gently chided. "I confess, though, it's good for the kids to see what happens when a plan is followed. You should have _seen_ the shit they caused on Muunilinst, you would have been _appalled_."

"You sound almost proud of them," Kanan said with a smirk, shooting the Sith a sidelong glance as the man drew up, his head held up proudly as he looked across the field at a small girl in white safely behind the Imperial lines, her arms flailing wildly as she shouted at and berated the officer in charge. "Hell, if I didn't know better, I'd say you were _glad_ they're here. Have you forgotten _how_ they ended up here to begin with?"

"Don't be stupid, Jarrus, of course I haven't forgotten," Obi-Wan said with a roll of his eyes, another sharp hiss signaling the release of another of the gravity locks. "They are, absolutely and without question, the biggest shits in the galaxy." He extended his hand, pushing back with the Force and causing the advancing line of troops to be flung back right in the line of fire of a gleefully cackling HK-45. "But make no mistake, I _am_ proud of them."

The _Ghost_ swept in just as soon as the third lock released, and without wasting a moment, the ship lifted into the air, its engines blazing as it rocketed away, and Kanan and Kenobi rushed forward to provide cover for Zeb and HK as they retreated for the _Ghost_. Vitios and Vehemis sprinted across the ground, the walker they abandoned standing still as the open cockpit smoked, the two women swiftly moving to guard Rex and Ezra as they ran for the _Ghost_. With the rest of the crew safely aboard, Obi-Wan gestured for his girls to follow, and falling in beside the Jedi and the Sith Lord, the four Force sensitives ran for the safety of the ship, Hera's expert piloting expertly bringing them away from the planet and into the calm peace of hyperspace.

* * *

It was three days before Leia made it to _Phoenix Home_ , which gave Hera's crew the time they needed to go through the stolen Hammerhead Corvettes and scrub them free of any identifiers or navigational input and get them outfitted with a new series of codes and identifiers that would be recognized by other factions of the rebellion as friendly ships. While Hera oversaw the work and muttered to herself about the desperate need or a base, a datapad in hand to flip through all the possible locations that Ahsoka's Fulcrum agents had scouted, Obi-Wan looked out at the Phoenix Squadron fro the bridge of _Phoenix Home_ and felt the need for a bigger ship. The next one he stole would be more substantial that three Hammerheads practically given to him by Bail. No, he needed a ship, a _real_ ship, one that he could command battles from, one that he could face off against Thrawn's _Chimera_ in. One that could sit at the head of the Rebel fleet when it was time.

When Leia arrived in her X-Wing with Luke's towed behind hers, she was once again dressed in her red and gold Mandalorian armor, the helmet on her head concealing her identity from everyone aboard the ship, save for the crews of the _Ghost_ and the _Umbra_ , who had learned in the days before that one half of the Gemini agents was the Princess of Alderaan. She found her father aboard the _Umbra_ , the stealth ship occupying one of _Phoenix Home_ 's massive hangar bays, and with a heavy sigh, she entered the ship, her head bowed and ready for the inevitable, awful judgement of her Sith Lord father.

She found him in the comfortable living room lounging on the soft, plush couch, a drink in his hand as he talked to Kanan and Hera, though she couldn't hear about what, while Ezra sat on the ground nearby with the two former Inquisitors, the women teaching him how to preform basic maintenance on his lightsaber when they discovered what used, worn condition the dirty hilt was in. Leia quickly made her way to Luke, who stood silently in the back corner, his shoulders tense and filled with as much dread as Leia felt. She tried to keep to the edge of the room, tried to keep her steps quiet to avoid her father's notice, and she nearly made it to his side before a swift tug in the Force alerted her to the Sith Lord's attention. Groaning softly, she gave her brother an apologetic look as he pushed off the wall, and the two walked around the room to stand before their father, the room falling silent as they did.

"So..." Obi-Wan said, spreading his arms out wide. "A successful mission, yes? None of our people harmed, our objective completed, everything completed exactly to plan, no unnecessary deaths..."

"Maybe _a little_ unnecessary," Kanan pointed out. "HK and Zeb went on something of a spree."

"...alright, so my Murder Droid didn't listen," Obi-Wan said with a shrug. "Bug surprised there. But the plan was executed _flawlessly_." Obi-Wan leaned back on the sofa, his fingers steepled together and his ankle crossed over his knee. "Why do you suppose that it?"

"Because we obeyed your command..." the twins responded in unison.

"Because we had a plan, and you did not deviate from it, yes," Obi-Wan said quietly. "You two did well because you followed my instructions."

"You didn't bring us here to tell us we did a good job," Leia said bitterly, and the Sith Lord's eyes narrowed.

"You're right, I didn't," Obi-Wan said coldly, and the twins shifted uncomfortably under the weight of his stare. "While you two _did_ do very well, you shouldn't have been involved to begin with. You are only here because you decided to be deceptive and dishonest because you disagreed with my decisions. I cannot allow this to go unpunished."

"We know..." Luke whispered in a shaking breath, and with a heavy sigh, Obi-Wan rose from his seat, taking his datapad into his hands.

"I've had Bail make a list." Leia groaned loudly and Luke's jaw tightened, but he nodded resolutely. "When you pulled this shit with Owen, he got to make a list as well, so for a month, you are now the indentured servants of Bail Organa. And he has sent a _very_ large stack of legal proceedings that need to be transcribed for the Senate."

"Oh, _come on_!" Leia bemoaned. "This is _worse_ than the vaporators..."

"And you will _happily_ do it," the Sith Lord snarled, and Leia looked down at the ground, biting back the snide remark on her tongue. "Bail cares about the two of you, and he deserves better than to be manipulated." For a moment, Obi-Wan sighed heavily, his fingers swiping over the datapad in his hands. "I gave this a great deal of thought," Obi-Wan mumbled. "You two are getting restless, and I've no doubt that regardless of the punishment I devise, it is only a matter of time before you two venture out once again on your own."

"W-we won't!" Luke said frantically. "I'll watch over Leia, I'll stand my ground, I _promise_ -"

"You can control her no less than anyone can control you, Luke," Obi-Wan said firmly. "You may not be so rebellious as Leia, but you are just as restless. I talked to Owen the other day, and he says you have been neglecting your own duties on the farm in favor of flying, and he says you complain terribly about what he _does_ have you do. Tatooine and Alderaan...are simply too small for you." Obi-Wan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "...so from this point on, you will be staying here on the _Umbra_ so that I may keep a closer eye on you. It is...simply safer for you to be working close with me than to be out in the galaxy on your own where you can do something stupid without anyone to save you."

For a long moment, they stared at the Sith Lord like they did not understand, their eyes wide and their jaws slack, and with a soft, desperate whimper, they rushed to their father and threw their arms around him, muttering quiet thanks and apologies when Obi-Wan drew them into a tight embrace.

"It will not be easy here..." Obi-Wan said quietly, placing a kiss on both their foreheads as he released them. "This is _not_ a reward, it's for your safety, and I am _very_ angry about this mess, so don't think the list of things you will have to do for me is anything less than substantial."

"W-we'll do it!" Luke said quickly, taking the offered datapad from Obi-Wan's hands. "Whatever it is, it will be done!"

"But...not forever, right?" Leia asked, reading over the list and glancing up at her father. "I mean, there are things on here that are way grosser than the stuff we were doing at the base, and some of these things are... _impossible_."

"And before you are freed from your servitude to me, the list _will_ be completed," Obi-Wan said with a smirk. "In addition to Bail's work and all the work previously assigned to you at the base, and when we have a base for Phoenix Squadron, you will be doing the maintenance and upkeep for that base as well." He smirked as he leaned in toward the overwhelmed children. "I take your transgressions _very_ seriously. Work hard and work well, and we shall see about reducing the length of your internment."

"You won't regret bringing us here," Leia said with a firm nod. "We'll...somehow see this done."

"You can count on us," Luke said, clutching the datapad close to his chest, and Obi-Wan dismissively flicked his hand in the air and sat back down on the couch.

"Just do not forget that this is for your own safety," Obi-Wan said firmly. "A prison is a prison regardless of where it is, and you, _children_ , are grounded forever. You simply need a harder hand to enforce the terms of your punishment."

"...but we _love you_!" Leia said as sweetly as she was able, and Obi-Wan chuckled softly.

"And I you, Princess. But don't think that will make this any easier for you." The smile he flashed the girl was almost menacing. "Go. Get settled in. We begin tonight, whether you are ready or not." With a mixture of nerves and excitement, Luke and Leia dashed from the room to do as they were told, leaving the others to stare at the Sith Lord.

"...Kenobi?" Ezra asked cautiously. "What was _that_ about?"

"Keep talking, boy, and you'll learn first hand when I ground you too," Obi-Wan chirped, and the Padawan quietly returned to putting his lightsaber together. He wanted _no_ part in the wrath the Sith Lord was enacting upon the Gemini, no matter how excited he was for the chance to work with them.


	49. The Protector of Concord Dawn

**AN:** **My thanks to Glare for getting my thoughts straight on this one. There's A LOT going on here, including payoff for shit I started establishing back in the last part of this monster series. The Mandalore plot's starting to come together. Can you FEEL IT, KIDS?! Shit's going to be getting real very, very soon.**

 _Chapter 49: The Protector of Concord Dawn_

"Hey, Luke?" Leia said, sighing as she wiped the sweat off her brow and frowning when her brother looked quizzically up at her. "This is the _literal worst_." Beneath her, the wet, soapy rancor roared and shook himself, Leia stumbling to grab hold of his sloping horns and cursing as she struggled to regain her footing. "This, in _no ways_ , has _anything_ to do with the rebellion!"

"Father didn't say anything about the rebellion, Leia, he said we have _chores_ ," Luke said pointedly, quickly glancing back and Vitios and Vehemis, who were sparring nearby. "This is what happens when we do things your way..."

"Yes, _well_ , my way gets things _done_ , Brother."

"Really..." Luke drawled, pointing up at his sister. "Your way isn't getting Yoda washed faster."

"It's because he _won't stay still_!" Leia growled, placing her hand on the rancor's head and reaching to the beast through the Force, only to have the rancor shake his head and send her tumbling to the ground to her brother's delighted laughter. Standing quickly and flicking mud off her hands with as much dignity as she could muster, Leia laid her hands on the rancor's nose. "Did Father tell you to make this a challenge for us, Yoda? Or do you just like the attention?"

The rancor's tongue lolled out of his mouth, the rush of a heavy exhale ruffling the twins' hair as he rolled on his side right into the muddy puddle on the ground. "This rancor is _never_ getting clean..." Luke said as he scratched the beast between the eyes, looking over his shoulder at the dueling Dark Siders, and Leia grinned wickedly as she followed his gaze.

"Oh, _Luke_ ," she chided, smacking him in the arm and the boy flushed deeply as he quickly looked back at her. "Do you think Father's new pets are _cute_?!" When the boy flushed deeper, Leia leaned against the rancor and laughed. "Oh, _you do_! Luke wants the hot Dark Siders!"

"I-I'm not like you, Leia!" Luke said indignantly, picking up his brush and dunking it in the bucket of soapy water. "I don't want to bed every beautiful thing I see!" The triumphant grin on Leia's face only made Luke flush deeper, and with an irritated growl, he returned to scrubbing the rancor's flank. " _Besides_ , they aren't _pets_ , Leia, they're the first of Father's Dark Councilors for his Empire."

"...you know, I bet Father would let you fu-"

"I'll tell Father about the scoundrels _you've_ been hanging around with it you don't _stop_." Leia balked at that, shot a quick glance behind her to make certain Obi-Wan was out of earshot, and seeing the Sith Lord quickly returning from his scouting, she cursed under her breath and returned to scrubbing the rancor.

They had come to Millius Prime, one of the thousand plus moons of the planet Iego, in search of a base for the Phoenix Squadron, though Obi-Wan had said otherwise when they had left that morning, something about preparing for a trip deep into Sith Space to search for a way to defeat Darth Sidious. Which wasn't a _lie_ , of course, but he didn't tell her that this training trip would occur on worlds possibly suitable for a rebel base. Force forbid that Hera Syndula knew that Obi-Wan Kenobi cared.

"As far as bases go," Obi-Wan said as he approached, Vitios and Vehemis stopping what they were doing and quickly filing in beside their Master, "Millius Prime isn't a bad choice. All these moons mess with scanners, the Imperial presence out here is virtually non-existent..." He smirked slightly when Yoda rolled on to his back, the twins groaning in irritation as the beast became dirty all over again. "It _may_ be too remote for Hera, though."

"Does she _have_ to be near Lothal, Father?" Luke asked as he climbed up on the rancor's stomach and began scrubbing his belly. "If she has a base and ships, she can travel. It shouldn't matter _where_ , right?"

"Mm, the location is of great importance," Obi-Wan said softly. "Phoenix Squadron has operated in the Lothal sector for some time, and there is significant Imperial interest in the area. We need to be there or close to make the best use of our time."

"And this will help us bring about _your_ Empire, Father?" Leia asked excitedly, and Obi-Wan nodded, laid his hand upon the rancor's snout, and the beast instantly relaxed, allowing the twins to more easily scrub at his stomach and flank.

"In time, Leia. Patience," he whispered, closing his eyes and touching the Force, and quickly backed out when he felt the vision of his end pull him in. It was becoming faster now. So close... _so close_. "I've been waiting almost twenty years to rule over a Sith Empire from Mandalore to Mustafar...I can wait a few years more."

"Can you?" Luke asked, his tone shaking and uncertain, and Obi-Wan quickly looked at him, felt the worry, the concern, and with a sigh, he closed his eyes and said nothing. "Father..." Luke continued, stepping closer to the Sith Lord. "I know you are worried about your visions, I know you think that...t-that your end is near, but if you let us _help_ you..."

"What do you see in the Force?" Obi-Wan asked the boy quietly. "In your visions, when you look into the future, what is it you see?"

"...not what you see, Father," Luke said with a sigh. "And nothing I understand. I see Master Yoda and Qui-Gon standing as bright points in the Force. I see...an asteroid field that feels like death and a broken moon surrounded by Star Destroyers. I see...an Imperial in white with blue skin overlooking Lothal. I-I see..." Luke swallowed hard and closed his eyes, his hand clenched tightly by his side. "I see _Vader_. Nothing distinct, just him and his breathing drawing closer and closer..."

"Father," Leia quickly interrupted, her brow drawn with concern as she looked at the Sith. "Luke doesn't need to tell you that he doesn't see you in his visions. If you just let us help you, if you just...give me Nihilus' mask, I can-"

"Out of the question, Leia, we have been over this," Obi-Wan said firmly. "The mask is dangerous."

"Just for a moment!" Leia said swiftly. "Just long enough to see where Nihilus hid his holocron! If you can learn from him, Father, if you can learn to do what he did, you could drain the life right out of Sidious before this fight of yours even begins!"

"Provided the mask even _has_ such information, or that his holocron hasn't been found by someone else," Obi-Wan growled. "No, Leia. We will find another way. That's the whole point of our trip to the Valley of the Dark Lords. If there's something to find, we shall find it there."

"But _when_ are we going?!" Leia sighed, pouting when she saw the devious smirk on the Sith Lord's face.

"When you are _ready_ , my child."

"Father?" Luke asked as he slid off the rancor to stand beside his sister. "Is this one of those, 'When you're ready, you will join the rebellion,' or do you actually mean it?"

"Oh, I _always_ mean what I say, Luke..." Obi-Wan drawled, his golden eyes glowing with sinister light as he laid his hands on the waists of the women beside him. "Vitios. Vehemis. Parod temias berniuk tave midwan iv'tave Qyâsik. Isar nenx'akida negu'tau galetis pradzia darval." _Show these children the power of the Force. Do not stop until they cannot rise again_. Slow, sly grins spread across the Twi'lek and the Chagrian's faces as they drew and ignited their lightsabers, slowly advancing on the twins as they retreated and drew their own blades, nervous looks on their faces as the Dark Siders lunged. They rushed away from the rancor and the Sith and into the open clearing upon the forested plateau they had landed upon, the blades swinging fast and sparking as red struck green and blue, the youthful combatants lithe and athletic as they dodged and flipped around each other.

" _Don't work them too hard, Obi-Wan_." The Sith Lord ground his teeth together and shivered at the soft, warm breath of the Force that materialize beside him.

"Every _single_ day, Qui-Gon..." Obi-Wan groaned. "When are you going to die for good..." He glanced sidelong at the Jedi spirit, calm and serene as he kept vigil over the twins, and the Sith Lord sighed, his irritation and anger quickly fading. "And they aren't children anymore, are they? I can't protect them forever, and they must be ready for the day when they must protect themselves..."

" _All things must end, Obi-Wan_ ," Qui-Gon said softly. " _Even you._ "

"Well, _thank you_ for that reminder!" Obi-Wan snapped. "I don't need you to tell me that the Force no longer has a use for me! Is _this_ why you passed into immortality?! _To vex me_?! On that subject, when will _you_ finally end, hmm? Soon, I hope, I'm tired of being haunted."

" _You may very well end before I do, Obi-Wan_ ," Qui-Gon said grimly, and the Sith Lord slowly turned, vicious, angry eyes on the spirit.

"I bet you would _love that_ ," Obi-Wan hissed dangerously. "All of this, _all of it_ is because of _you_ , I feel to the Dark Side, I joined the Sith because _you pushed me to darkness_!" He scoffed bitterly, his arms crossed over his chest and looking out at the twins, no longer fighting and now standing and listening intently as Vitios and Vehemis instructed them and corrected the flaws in their technique. "I bet it feel _great_. Your biggest failure, finally reaching the end."

" _There is nothing satisfying in seeing you suffer, Obi-Wan_ ," Qui-Gon said quietly, shifting closer to the Sith Lord, and while the golden eyes narrowed and his mouth curled up in a sneer, he didn't move away. " _I never considered you a failure, for that matter, but I unquestionably failed you. I am...trying to atone for what's been done. Just as you are_."

"Yes, well, maybe people like us don't deserve redemption," the Sith Lord grumbled. "Maybe, no matter how much we wish it, there's no forgiveness for what we have done..."

" _...Obi-Wan, it's never to late to_ -"

"Yes it is," he quickly interrupted. "For me, it is. I crossed the point of no return long, long ago. Murder and manipulations and the death of billions on my hands...even if I wished it, I can never return to the light. Some things are just... _unforgivable_. To seek redemption would only see me answering for my crimes with my death, there _is no_ redemption for me..." With a heavy sigh, Obi-Wan looked down at his hands, shaking slightly, and clenched the tightly. "I can _never_ be forgiven..."

" _You do not believe the people that surround you now believe you can find forgiveness_?" Qui-Gon asked, and the Sith Lord responded by laughing bitterly.

"They aren't the ones I would need to seek forgiveness from, now are they?" Obi-Wan whispered. "But most of those I've wronged are dead, and there is no forgiveness to be had from ghosts. Barriss, Grievous, Ventress, Dooku, Luminara, Padmé, Quinlan..." He took a deep, shuddering breath and looked up at the sky, away from the spirit. "Force help me, _Quinlan_ and Satine and the son I never got to hold...I have wronged them all, and not a single one of them is alive to forgive me because _I_ did this, my actions are responsible for their deaths..." Obi-Wan laughed bitterly, closed his eyes tight and shook his head. "All that's truly left is Vader, and we all know that's _never_ going to happen because I can't forgive him either, not for all he's done to me." His eyes narrowed, a vicious sneer on his lips as he glanced at the Force ghost. "Just like I will never forgive you. You made this happen, all of this was you."

" _I've made my peace with what I've done_ ," Qui-Gon said softly, sadly, his ghostly visage wavering slightly. " _I know what my actions have wrought on the galaxy, and I did what I could with the time I had to set things right_."

"...I-I know..." Obi-Wan whispered, his gaze falling to the ground and breathing deeply to regain control of his emotions. "I know you did what you could. Too late, perhaps, and too little, but you did."

" _I know it means very little to you, Obi-Wan, but for what it's worth, I forgive you_."

"S-stop that..." the Sith Lord growled when he felt the warm comfort of the Force envelop him in a gentle embrace, furiously pushing the feeling away with a cold, hateful spike through his heart. "You _know_ how it burns me, why do you insist on doing this..." With a quick wave of his hand, Yoda pushed himself up off the ground with a groan and lumbered off to the nearby slowly moving river that ut through the clearing, and he collapsed within it, a wave of water sloshing up to the surface and turning the soft earth quickly into mud.

"All my life," Obi-Wan whispered, his eyes on the children nearby, but his gaze looked far past them at something distant and long past, "I have followed the will of the Force. I tried my best to be an instrument os its design, I followed it into darkness when I felt the shifting tides, I gave up everything I used to be, everything I _could have been_ , and I have been rewarded with death and betrayal. The Force has taken everything from me, and now, it has even taken my ability to see anything other than my own terrible fate. The Force is no longer my ally, and I don't know where I went wrong..."

" _Perhaps you didn't_ ," Qui-Gon gently suggested. " _Perhaps this is where you have always been headed. Maybe this is simply how your story ends._ "

"Is that it?" the Sith Lord asked quietly. "Is this what the Force had in store for me all along? That I would guide Luke and Leia to adulthood, and now that they are there, the Force no longer has a use for me? That I am simply to be... _discarded_?!" A choked, bitter sob tore through the Sith Lord's chest, and turning away from Qui-Gon, he rubbed his sleeve over his face. "Sith Hells, what is even the _point_ of me. I joined the Sith to change the galaxy. Was it all really for nothing if it is simply to end like this? What does the Force want with me..."

" _I'm certain I don't know_..."

"And what's the point of _you_ if you are one with the Force and are _blind_ to its will?!" Obi-Wan snapped viciously, and Qui-Gon met him only with a sad smile.

" _You know that's not how this works. Time is as nothing here. Everything around me is the present._ "

"As it has _always_ been..." Obi-Wan growled, but the hard edge had gon out of his voice. "I deserved better..." the Sith lord whispered. "I have given all I had to give, I have followed the will of the Force. As a Jedi, I was discarded, unappreciated, ignored, and as a Sith, I was betrayed by yet _another_ Master. The Force is _cruel_. It has taken everything from me, and I _deserve so much better_!"

" _The Force works beyond our understanding, you know this_ ," Qui-Gon said as he inched closer, but the writhing tides of the Dark Side surrounding the Sith kept him at bay. " _Perhaps your vision is incomplete. Perhaps it is simply a warning, or the vision is not literal. Perhaps Sidious is manipulating what you see, perhaps your inability to see beyond is simply a product of his hand._ "

"...I confess I have considered that," Obi-Wan mumbled. "I should like to believe it. I don't want my time to end, I am not ready..." he whispered, a faint smile on his lips as he watched Luke and Leia abandon their sabers in favor of jumping into the river with the rancor, their task of cleaning him suddenly much easier now that the beast was cooperating. "My children still need me..."

"Father!" Luke cried from the edge of the river, his light tan tunic completely soaked through and a bright smile on his youthful face. "Does this count as cleaning the rancor? Can we check this off of the list?"

"I only said you had to wash Yoda, boy, I didn't specify _how_ it needed to be done." Obi-Wan grinned broadly when Luke's jaw went slack, and Leia looked at him with indignant outrage. "I assure you, children, everything on that list could be difficult, as you have chosen to do, or an exercise of your skills in the Force to simplify the task. Never let it be said I do not put a focus on your training, it is _your_ own limitations that keep you from creatively using the gifts you were born with."

"... _I told you, Luke_!" Leia screeched, jumping off the rancor and tackling her brother to the ground. "I told you Father wouldn't be angry if I mentally dominated the beast!"

"Only you tried and you _failed_ , Leia!" Luke snapped in return, shoving his sister away. " _Get off_!" Leia shot an angry, pointed look at her Father, as if to ask him how he could do this, and he simply shrugged.

"I didn't say it would be _easy_ , Leia. These tasks are meant to challenge you, not baby you. You want to show off your skills, you must be met with an appropriately difficult challenge. It is not my doing that you failed to command the rancor to do your bidding."

"W-well the task was unfair!" Leia stuttered, biting her bottom lip when she heard how foolish it sounded. "You and the rancor share a bond, how am I supposed to push past that?!"

"One can only grow when faced with adversity and failure," Obi-Wan said with a grin. _"That_ is the way of the Sith. The conquest of your weakness and the acquisition of power through struggle and hardship." He pointed at Yoda rolling lazily in the river. "You must be strong to control my rancor. Once you can, you'll know you have become more powerful."

"You know, _Qui-Gon_ doesn't teach us like this..." Leia muttered, shooting the Force spirit a pleading look, and the Sith Lord simply scoffed.

"Yes, well, Qui-Gon is dead, Princess. Killed by the Sith, so you tell me who has more to offer you."

"He doesn't mean it, Ghost Uncle Qui-Gon," Luke whispered to the spirit. "You've taught us _lots_ about the Force."

The small smile on Obi-Wan's lips as he watched Luke and Leia, under Qui-Gon's guidance, attempt to control the rancor faded when a deep, hard pounding erupted in the back of his mind, the Force rushing through his ears and he shut his eyes tight, his teeth grinding together as he felt the sudden disturbance around him. Something had disturbed the Force, and a quick glance at the completely oblivious others made him immediately turn from the group and march into the _Umbra_.

"K2, contact the _Ghost_ ," Obi-Wan said as he rushed into the cockpit, the droid looking back at him and emitting an electronic sigh before doing as he was told.

"Something urgent, Master?" K2 droned. "Or do you just miss the company of the Jedi? You've only been away from him for a few days. Is this what you organics call love? HK would be _appalled_. I'll be certain to tell him."

"This isn't a joke, _droid_ ," Obi-Wan snapped, much more harshly than intended, and he slunk into the pilot's seat and glowered, avoiding looking over that the droid he knew was examining him. "Just do as I say..."

"...do you believe the _Ghost_ 's crew to be in danger?" K2 asked after a long, uncomfortable silence punctuated only by the slow, rhythmic beeping of the unanswered com.

"I don't know..." the Sith Lord muttered. "But I have a _very_ bad feeling on the matter."

"Kenobi?" the small, cracking voice of Ezra Bridger said when the com was finally answered.

"Is everything alright?" Obi-Wan asked quickly, before Ezra could say anything else. "Did something happen?"

"...h-how did you know?" Ezra whispered, his voice shaking, and Obi-Wan felt the heavy knot in his stomach grow cold. "We're trying to get that route through Concord Dawn. We were wrong, Kenobi, these Mandalorians are Imperial, they attacked as soon as we told them who we are." He took a long, shuddering breath. "They... _destroyed_ the ship Hera was flying. She's in critical condition, Obi-Wan, I don't..." The teenager's voice cracked, a stifled shuddering sob barely picked up by the transceiver. "We don't know if she's going to be alright..."

"You're trying to tell me that _Hera Syndula_ , one of the greatest pilots I have ever seen, was _shot out of the sky_?!" He didn't know what to expect, but that was the absolute last thing he would have imagined. "Damn it, send me your current coordinates," Obi-Wan growled, furiously pulling levers and flipping switches as the _Umbra_ powered on, smacking K2 on his armored chest and mouthing for him to get everyone on the ship. "I'm on the way."

* * *

It was worse than he had imagined. There was something surreal about seeing the lively, brilliant, beautiful Hera Syndula unconscious in the medical bay in such terrible condition. Bandages wrapped around her arms, her head, her lekku, and her torso covered blistering burns, long, bloody gashes and broken ribs, and while her vital signs had stabilized, one look at her made it clear that she was lucky to have survived. A distraught Kanan sat by her side with her hand gently held between his, his eyes closed in focus as he attempted to get control of his emotions, but he was clearly struggling with it. Obi-Wan didn't say a word as he grabbed a chair from the wall and pulled it to the other side of the bed, gently running the back of his knuckles over the Twi'lek's cheek.

"How was your trip?" Kanan asked listlessly, not once looking at the Sith Lord as he spoke.

"Shorter than intended..." Obi–Wan muttered. "We got some training in, though, and the rancor got washed. The important things."

"Yes..."

"...what happened?" Obi-Wan asked gently. "The Protectors on Concord Dawn have always made their own way, they _shouldn't_ have attacked like that. It's not like them."

"Maybe you're wrong..." Kanan muttered. "Maybe Mandalore is lost. _Maybe_ their Moff is just another kriffing Imperial."

"No," Obi-Wan said firmly. "Bo-Katan has _always_ stood by me."

"How can you be so sure?" Kanan snapped, glaring at the Sith Lord before he winced, bit down on his lip and took a few deep, calming breaths. "S-sorry...when was the last time you saw Moff Kryze?"

"Not so long that I don't know where she stands, Kanan," Obi-Wan said firmly. "Trust me, Mandalore is with us. But their situation is... _difficult_. If the Empire finds out that Mandalore doesn't stand with them, Bo-Katan will be deposed, and the Imperials will subjugate the people. They're strong, and they'll put up a fight, but they're hiding too much, the Imperial information they have access too is far too valuable to lose were they to be exposed." Obi-Wan took Hera's hand in his and brought it to his lips. "It's not something we can afford to lose."

"But we _need_ those routes, Obi-Wan," Kanan said, his brow drawing together in irritation as he looked at the Sith Lord.

"And we can _get_ those routes," Sabine snapped as she entered the room, her helmet tucked under her arm and her entire body shaking with fury. "I've tracked them from Concord Dawn's third moon, they _must_ have a base there. I say we infiltrate, and destroy their ability to attack us by _blowing up their ships_!"

"Ugh, _why_ is it that blowing things up is the _first thing_ you Mandalorians turn to?!" Kanan said as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Are all Mandalorians crazy, or is it just you?" He glanced sidelong at Obi-Wan. "...never mind, I answered my own question..."

"To what end, Sabine?" Obi-Wan asked quietly. "Blowing up their ships will not secure a route, they will simply call for more ships, and the Empire will deliver. The route will be clear for a day, _maybe_. That is hardly worth the risk or the effort."

"Yeah, well you don't have a say in this, _Shadow King_!" Sabine spat, her jaw clenched tightly in anger. "If the Protectors were an independent faction like we thought, _maybe_ , but they _aren't_ , they're _Imperial_. And don't you _dare_ say anything about Moff Kryze! She sold Mandalore to the Empire, she is _not_ our ally!"

"Because she _can't_ be," Obi-Wan said firmly. "And we have _discussed_ this, Sabine, you know very well that Bo-Katan is an ally."

"No, I _don't_ know that!" Sabine snapped. "The Protectors said they stand with the Empire, they nearly _killed_ Hera! Now that we need them, Mandalore isn't there for us! If she's as good an ally as you say, they should know who we are, they should have helped us instead of shooting at us! After all this time, _Moff Bo-Katan_ hasn't helped us _once_!"

"Because _she cannot_. Not now, not yet, not openly."

" _Not ever_!" Sabine snapped. "But that doesn't even matter now! What _does_ matter is I know who the Protector of Concord Dawn is. _Fenn Rau_ , and he's going to _pay_ for what he did to Hera!"

"Now, now, Sabine, don't you go doing anything _stupid_ ," Obi-Wan said dangerously, but the young Mandalorian only drew up tall, her eyes furious and filled with unshed tears.

"This is _my fault_ ," she said, starting strong, but her voice broke at the end. "I should have made sure Hera was with me, I shouldn't have gone ahead! And so help me, Kenobi, I _will_ have revenge for what was done to her!"

"Fenn Rau..." Kanan said quietly, his eyes closed as he gently stroked Hera's head. "I...know that name. He led a squadron that fought in the Clone Wars during the Battle of Mygeeto. I was there." Kanan looked at the Twi'lek quietly for a moment, stroked her cheek, and resolutely nodded his head. "Hera wanted to try and forge an alliance here, since we were led to believe that the Protectors didn't submit to anyone's rule. I think we should give an alliance another shot."

"Are you _out of your mind_?!" Sabine almost yelled. "Kanan, _look what they did to Hera_! Even if they weren't Imperial, which they _said_ they were, they still need to pay!"

"But we gain _nothing_ by attacking them!" Kanan said firmly. "That's not how you secure a route, Sabine, that's how you make enemies and _swarm_ this system with Imperials! I intend on finishing Hera's mission because it's what she would want us to do! I believe I have a chance to do that if I could just get down there and talk to this guy."

"Or how about you leave the Mandalorians alone?" Obi-Wan drawled as he stood from his seat. "If the Protectors are hostile, turn around, leave and don't look back. There are other routes that can be secured."

"And that's it?!" Sabine gasped in disbelief. "You're just going to _let_ these bastards get away with what they did to Hera?! Kenobi, when you were wronged, you _burned planets_ , you lead the armies of Mandalore against those who struck against you and you _destroyed them_! You cannot deny us our revenge!"

"These routes were selected for a reason," Kanan cut in. " _Hera_ picked these routes for a reason. I think we should give this another chance. _Everyone_ deserves another chance."

"That wasn't a suggestion, Kanan," Obi-Wan snapped dangerously. "You are already down one member of your team. I will not stand to see another in danger today." The Sith Lord didn't say another word to them as he turned and stormed out of the medical wing, leaving a confused and angry Kanan and Sabine in his wake.

"...he's up to something," Kanan muttered when Obi-Wan was out of view. "I don't like it."

"I don't like _any_ of it," Sabine grumbled, her hands on her blasters as she started to head out the room, only to have her arm caught by the Jedi.

"Sabine, _don't_ ," Kanan strongly cautioned the petulant girl as she tore her arm away from his grasp. "Nothing good can come of attacking them, understand? _Nothing_."

"And you're just going to leave it at that?!" Sabine wrenched her arm away and shook her head in disbelief. "Kanan, _look what they did_! They almost killed Hera! How can you not want revenge, you're supposed to love her!"

"Don't you _dare_ -" Kanan stopped himself quickly when he rose to his feet by biting down on his tongue, his hand clenched tightly at his side as he slowly lowered himself back down to his seat, his fingers gently tracing over the gentle slope of Hera's jaw when he relaxed. "I'm just grateful she's alive..." Kanan said in a choked whisper. "Hera wouldn't want us to go acting like fools just because someone was hurt, she wouldn't want us looking for vengeance. Hera...wouldn't put her own needs before the needs of the rebellion." Kanan took a deep breath, leaned over, and gently kissed the Twi'lek's forehead before he got up from his seat. "If there was even a remote shot at securing these routes, Hera would want us to try again. I'm going."

"Kanan, they _obviously_ aren't open for negotiations!" Sabine said, following the Jedi as he left the room. "The only thing the Mandalorians understand is strength, and they just kicked our ass! Talking _isn't_ how to do this!"

"Your way will have them calling for Imperial reenforcements," Kanan reminding her, never once slowing his pace as he walked through the corridors of _Phoenix Home_ toward the docking port where the _Ghost_ sat waiting. "It's rash, and it's reckless. And you said yourself that the Protectors are different. I can infiltrate their base, I can talk to their leader. I think I have a shot at making this work." The Jedi groaned and ran his hand over his face as he stepped into the small hallway that tethered the two ships together. "And I sort of _have_ to. No way is Kenobi just going to let this sit, you know how he gets. If I can get to the Protectors before him, then maybe I can keep the situation from escalating."

"Not without me you won't," Sabine scoffed, following the Jedi up the ladder and into the _Phantom_. "I'm Mandalorian, I understand them like you don't. You're going to need me there."

"Sabine, we already lost Hera!" Kanan said forcefully, throwing himself in the _Phantom_ 's pilot seat and preparing the ship for flight. "This is a one man mission. I won't have more of us in danger."

"Then why not stay and just let _Kenobi_ deal with it?!" Sabine growled. "He seems to think the Mandalorians are his allies, so why not just let him go on down there and just _tell them_ to let us through?"

"You know as well as I it's not so simple," Kanan sighed. "And you also know that Kenobi isn't going to be going down there play nice, he's going down there to _kill_."

"So _maybe_ we'll get access to the routes after all," Sabine said with a smug smirk on her face. "If they're too scared to fight against him, they'll allow us through their territory."

"Force help me, he _really_ is one of you crazy Mandalorians, isn't he? You sound _just like him_." Sabine gave the Jedi a mocking bow. "This all works out best if we can stay _friendly_."

"And if it _doesn't_ , you're going to need me down there," Sabine said, turning his seat to face her. "Kanan, if things go wrong, we need to make sure there's no way they can attack us. Let me come with you, and we can destroy their ability to fight back by destroying their ships. If you can't work something out, they're going to be coming after us anyway, so I say we make certain they are neutralized. Just in case."

For a long moment, Kanan sat and looked at the girl, a frown on his face as he considered his options, and with a heavy sigh, he turned the chair back toward the console. "Fine," he said tersely, ignoring the silent celebration of the girl as she strapped herself in to an acceleration chair. "But _nobody dies_ Understand?"

"You got it, boss!" the girl chirped excitedly, and with a groan, Kanan disconnected the _Phantom_ from the _Ghost_ and made the jump to hyperspace.

* * *

"They _already_ have Imperial reinforcements..." Sabine hissed to the Jedi, the two of them laying flat on the plateau above the crater where the Protectors kept their base, an Imperial shuttle slowly landing on their wide open landing field. From their vantage point, they couldn't see the strength of the people emerging from the shuttle, nor the sort of Imperials that had been sent to support the Protectors.

"Think they're telling the Empire about us?" Kanan asked, and the girl beside him swiftly nodded.

"Absolutely," Sabine said softly. "I told you this was a bad idea. We should plant the charges, destroy their ships and get out."

"Not until I've had a chance to talk to their leader..." Kanan muttered, his eyes narrowing as he caught sight of a young Imperial officer approaching a Mandalorian that Sabine had identified as Fenn Rau, the officer handing something off to the Protector, saluting quickly, and disappearing back inside the shuttle. Kanan and Hera scooted away from the ledge when the shuttle lifted off the ground once again, slowly rose into the air, and when it was clear, flew off toward the atmosphere. When the shuttle was gone, they crawled back to the ledge and looked below to see the Mandalorians shuffling crates into one of the small storage buildings while Fenn Rau stood speaking to two soldiers in blue and black armor. Beside him, Sabine hissed.

"Death Watch..." she muttered quietly. "The most elite of the Shadow Legion. They only get sent out for top priority stuff, Rau _definitely_ told the Empire we're in the area."

"...did you bring enough explosives to destroy all their ships?" Kanan asked as he leaned over to her, his eyes fixed on Fen Rau as he entered a building backed up against the slope of the crater with one of the Death Watch at his side, the other accompanying a small group of warriors as they fanned out among their ships.

"Do you _even_ have to ask if I have enough explosives?" Sabine scoffed, rising to her knees and rolling her shoulders. "Listen, Kanan..." she said softly, almost shy, her shoulders slumping slightly with a feeling that Kanan couldn't quite place. There was an uncertainty to the usually confident Sabine, and the Jedi wasn't sure why. "If things go wrong, I can..." She stopped, was silent for a moment, and shook her head. "Good luck, Kanan. I _really_ hope you're successful."

"I think I can be. The Imperials didn't stay, so I'm hoping these guys are more independent that your average servant of the Empire."

"They _are_ Imperials, Kanan," Sabine said grimly. "Don't forget that." Without another word, the Mandalorian rose to a crouch and ran as stealthily as she could around the ledge of the crater, and with a heavy sigh, Kanan grabbed hold of the edge and slowly slid down the sloping depression to hide behind one of the many prefabricated buildings. Keeping his eyes open for the patrolling guard, Kanan silently ran from cover to cover toward the large building at the end of the compound. The guard was fairly easy to avoid, the presence here a small one, and Kanan couldn't help but feel a deep, unsettling knot twist in his stomach when he thought of Hera, and how skilled these warriors must have been to take her and several others in their advanced scouting crew down.

Easing his stride as he approached the building, Kanan took a deep breath and steeled his nerves, and when his pounding heart had slowed, he slowly stepped into the building, a cozy recreational room, from the look of it, a bar in the back and several small tables placed around the room. Fenn Rau sat at one of the tables, a wide glass filled with a steaming liquid on the table before him, his helmet placed on the table as he sighed tiredly and looked _right_ at Kanan. Swallowing his nerves, Kanan stepped inside, his eyes on the Death Watch soldier leaning against the bar, her fingers lazily tracing the hilt of her blaster.

"You've got some nerve to sneak on to my base," Fenn Rau drawled as Kanan stepped confidently inside, the Mandalorian drawing his blaster and pointing it at the Jedi, though Kanan didn't feel any threat in the man. He was...curious. "I assume you're one of the rebels I dealt with earlier."

"A pretty good guess..." Kanan said softly as he walked closer, pulled out a chair at the table across from the Mandalorian, and sat down upon it. Rau sighed, rolled his eyes, but slid his blaster back in its holster.

"I don't recognize you as one of our regulars," Rau droned, picking up his glass and taking another drink. "Before I kill you where you stand, why don't you tell me what you want?"

"You might not know me, but I know you," Kanan said, carefully observing the man's every reaction. "You're Fenn Rau of the Skull Squadron." The man drew back, his eyes wide, and Kanan leaned in slightly, a smirk on his lips. "Third battle of Mygeeto. I was there. We were pinned down, and your squadron came in and saved us, even though your people took no sides in the war. It was...an honorable thing to do."

"The Protectors were mercenary at the time," Rau said measuredly. "The Kaminoans hired us to help train the clones, and we simply fell into the Republic after that. Mand'alor Satine never objected, and after she died and was avenged, the Protectors continued fighting. Not our war, but our ways are the ways of the warrior." Rau quirked his head and examined the man across from him. "That was a _very_ long time ago. I was younger then. More reckless. It was a different time."

"With a different leader..." Kanan said softly, and the Mandalorian frowned, his brow wrinkling in irritation. "Your Empire is gone, and you're being ruled by another one."

"I fail to see what this has to do with me," Rau growled, and Kanan took a deep breath, his eyes briefly drifting to the Death Watch soldier, her hands never leaving the blaster at her hip.

"You gave me a chance to live," Kanan drawled, a slight smirk touching his lips. "I'd like to return the favor." The sound of a blaster being drawn and the high whine as the charge primed filled the air, and Kanan slowly looked over the see that the Death Watch soldier had drawn her weapon and was pointing it directly at him.

"Careful now, rebel scum..." Rau said quietly, picking up his glass and slowly sipping from it. "That sounds a _great_ deal like a threat."

"It isn't," Kanan said firmly, his eyes locked with Rau's to avoid making the Death Watch warrior feel threatened or challenged. "Your people were great once, and now they serve a corrupt Empire. You must know they aren't interested in sharing their power."

"Maybe not, but Mandalore is strong under them," Rau drawled. "And the Empire is certainly stronger than _you_. If this is about joining you in your futile fight against the Empire, you are out of your mind. Why should I side against the Empire and my Mand'alor when fighting you is _so_ much easier?"

"Because in the end, _everyone_ is the Empire's enemy," Kanan said, lowering his voice and glancing quickly at the Death Watch soldier before looking back at Fenn Rau. "If we don't stand against them, we are _all_ lost. You can't _possibly_ believe in the Empire."

"Perhaps not..." the Death Watch soldier said, pushing off the counter and sauntering forward, and Fenn Rau quickly rose and stepped away from the table as the woman removed her helmet, her fiery red hair tumbling to shoulder length and she gave the Jedi a cursory once-over with intelligent, bright green eyes. "But he _does_ believe in _me_ , and I _am_ an Imperial."

"Mand'alor..." Rau growled softly as he drew up beside her. "You don't need to bother yourself with this rebel..."

"I have heard enough," she said almost sweetly, her blaster aimed at Kanan's heart and very slowly, the Jedi raised his hands in surrender. "And you're not just _any_ rebel, are you?" she asked, drawing closer to Kanan, an amused smirk on her face. "You are _Kanan Jarrus_. Jedi survivor and leader of Lothal's rebel insurgency."

"Bo-Katan..." Kanan barely whispered, hardly daring to breathe when an amused smirk twisted her face. He swallowed hard as he looked at the woman, trying to discern if this woman was friend or foe, but the cold, hard feel he got from her did not seem promising. "Obi-Wan Kenobi's been looking for you." The amusement fell from her face in an instant, those green eyes narrowing in anger.

"If survival was your goal, Jedi, you said the wrong thing."

Kanan stood quickly, his hands moving swiftly to grab the two pieces of his disassembled lightsaber from his belt as Bo-Katan tossed her helmet to Fenn Rau, her arm extended toward the Jedi, and a sudden pulse of energy send Kanan slamming against the wall, the two pieces of his saber knocked from his hands and sent rolling across the floor. As Kanan scrambled to his feet after he fell, his hand extended and calling the pieces to him, a glowing yellow grappling line shot out from the vambrace on Bo-Katan's wrist, the plasma rope wrapping around the Jedi and binding his arms to his side, and with a swift yank, Kanan was pulled off balance and sent tumbling to the ground. He struggled against the restraints, but they were firmly secured, held taut by the Mand'alor that now towered over him.

"My people have been killing yours for thousands of years..." Bo-Katan said impassively, her hand held out to accept the pieces on Kanan's lightsaber that Rau laid against her palm. "What chance did you think you had?"

"Honestly?" Kanan groaned. "We didn't think _you'd_ be here."

"And why shouldn't I be?" she scoffed. "The rebel faction associated with the Shadow King shows up in _my territory_. Seems to me like he's making a move. I'd be foolish _not_ to be here." Tugging on the grappling line, she pulled Kanan up to his knees, and with a triumphant smirk, she patted his cheek. "And now that I've captured _you_ , Jedi, he's sure to come. I have a score to settle after our fight on Lothal."

"So...you _aren't_ going to help the rebellion?" Kanan asked lightly, and with a forced smile, Bo-Katan motioned for Fenn Rau to detain the Jedi, the Mandalorian moving immediately to do as he was told, and binders were fastened to Kanan's wrists.

"Mand'alor!" the other Death Watch soldier called as he entered the room. "We caught this rat skulking about the ships and planting explosives on their hull," he said as he held up a detonation device, two other soldiers following close behind him and throwing Sabine upon the ground at Bo-Katan's feet. "She says she's a Wren, and she's invoked her right to single combat."

Grimacing, Sabine pushed herself to her knees, and stared in wide eyed horror at the redhead that stood above her, and she quickly reached for her blasters, only to find her holsters empty. Swallowing hard, the teenager did her best to glare defiantly at the Mand'alor, though it fell flat, the fear within her overshadowing everything else.

"Well, I'll be damned..." Bo-Katan drawled as she eyed the girl. "Sabine Wren...your mother's been worried sick about you."

"Yeah, I'll just bet..." Sabine grumbled, her gaze falling to the ground when she found herself unable to look at the woman before her.

"She's going to be _so_ pleased to have you back home, though I don't believe she will be very happy that you've fallen in with this..." She gestured to where Kanan knelt with his hands tightly bound behind his back. " _Jedi_ ," she sneered in disgust. "Rebel _filth_. It seems you have forgotten what it meant to be Mandalorian. Our very way of life set forth in the Resol'nare...have you forgotten, little Wren?" Bo-Katan chided, and Sabine closed her eyes.

"Ba'jur bal beskar'gam, ara'nov, aliit, Mando'a bal Mand'alor, an vencuyan mhi," Sabine chanted under her breath. "Education and armor, self-defense, our tribe, our language and our leader, all help us survive..."

"You remember that, at the very least..." Bo-Katan scoffed. "Obey the commands of your Mand'alor, as all true children of Mandalore must. Show us you are still one of us, Sabine. Prove you are worthy of the Wren name." The redhead held out her hand to the girl at her feet. "It's easy. Swear yourself to me, as you have once before, and I will take you home where you belong. Back to your family." A slight smile tugged at the edges of Bo-Katan's lips when Sabine's shoulders tensed. "Come now, girl, I can be merciful. I am fond of your mother, we have been close friends for a _very_ long time. Return with me now, and I will forgive your transgressions and your betrayal."

"Betrayal..." Sabine whispered as she chuckled bitterly. "I...follow the will of the Mand'alor," she said softly, finally looking up and meeting Bo-Katan's eyes with fierce defiance. "But you are _not_ my Mand'alor! You are a traitor to our people and a disgrace to the memory of the one who came before you! _I_ follow the true Mand'alor, I follow the _Shadow King_."

"What a pity," Bo-Katan said coldly, glaring down at the defiant girl with disgust. "Your mother will be _so_ disappointed..." She flicked her wrist dismissively in the air. "Restrain her. I want her and the Jedi detained. Keep them under close guard until I am ready to bring them back to Sundari for interrogation."

"No, Bo-Katan, _wait_!" Sabine snapped furiously as she struggled against the men that pushed her against the ground and roughly bound her hands behind her back. "I have a score to settle! I demand my right to single combat!"

" _What right_?" the woman snarled, her composure finally breaking as she knelt before Sabine, grabbed a fistful of her hair, and pulled her head up, forcing the girl to look at her. "You gave up the right the moment you turned your back on your people! Only a Mandalorian has the right to such, and _you_ are _dar'manda_." Bo-Katan released Sabine, allowing her head to drop back to the ground. "You want the right to die honorably in single combat, _Wren_? Take it up with your Mand'alor." Dropping into a chair and crossing one leg over the other, she gave a short, dismissive wave, a disgusted sneer on her face. "Get them out of my sight," the Moff commanded, and Kanan and Sabine were dragged from the room, the two rebels silent and resigned to their capture and silently planning the best way to escape.

* * *

It was a mess. Not even just the regular mess that she had been used to dealing with over the past fifteen plus years, but a _dangerous_ mess. Bo-Katan had dealt with her share of rebels, but for the most part, they had been smart enough to avoid Mandalore, and by the time they _did_ manage to become a big enough problem to attract her attention, they were too bold or too stupid to be of any use to the rebellion. She executed most of them, very, _very_ publicly in order to maintain appearances and to further endear herself to Tarkin's brutal methods, and it served as a good reminder for her own rebellious people: be smart, and be cautious, lest the same fate befall them.

The Spectres apparently hadn't gotten the message.

It wasn't a bad plan, all things considered, as far as cutting through the Mandalorian territories went. The Protectors had always followed their own way, and like many Mandalorians, took orders more like helpful suggestions, and while they _would_ heed the call of the Mand'alor, the Protectors of Concord Dawn took nobility and honor very seriously, objecting violently to what they viewed as injustice, which often put them at odds with the Empire they served. Fenn Rau heeded to Bo-Katan's will because the Empire was overwhelmingly powerful and the warriors of Mandalore have always respected strength above all else, but she was certain that when the Shadow King finally commanded Mandalore to heed his call, it wouldn't take much for the Protectors to rush to join him.

Or rush to defense of the Empire. She was never really sure about the Protectors.

But the Spectres took a risk, and they had paid for it. The Protectors had attacked, and the rebel's prodigious pilot had been shot right out of the sky, the wrecked ship having enough in it to jump to hyperspace before it was destroyed outright, but from Rau's report, it seemed very unlikely that she had survived. Without Hera Syndula, the entire Phoenix Squadron was crippled, even with the Jedi Kanan Jarrus leading them. Even if Obi-Wan were to step in and pick up the slack, it was a devastating blow, and being down such a skilled pilot often times meant the difference between life and death when on the run from relentless Imperial forces. If Hera Syndula really was dead, it was only a matter of time before the Spectres were captured or killed.

It was enough to bring Bo-Katan to Concord Dawn. High profile rebels like the Spectres demanded her attention, and in light of what had happened, it was a very real possibility that within the next few days, Obi-Wan Kenobi would be by to deliver his own brand of justice for the death of the pilot she knew he cared about. That two other Spectres had arrived was an unexpected surprise, but not an unwelcome one. That particular rebel faction wasn't one that left their own behind, and in the face of loss, it seemed a very likely scenario that they would remain in the area, perhaps attempt to seek revenge, which was partly what had happened. The Jedi, of course, remained a behavioral enigma, but she never expected sense from a Jedi.

Still, the capture of Sabine Wren and Kanan Jarrus guaranteed that Obi-Wan would come, since all that was left of their crew was the young Jedi and the Lasat, and while it was possible that they would act recklessly, it was a far greater possibility that Obi-Wan would come himself to save the Jedi he cared for and the Mandalorian named after the woman he loved. And if not...shipping Sabine back home to her mother gave Bo-Katan to orchestrate the rebels' escape in a way that didn't implicate her as a traitor among uncertain company. The Protectors were unpredictable, and she knew them to be carefully watched by Gar Saxon, the Imperial liaison in the area, not one of her boys, but an _actual_ Imperial stooge, one of the ambitious Mandalorians who sought to see her ousted in order to achieve power themselves.

It was a difficult balance to maintain, to make certain that her people remained loyal to _her_ , and not the Empire, a balance she knew she did not fully succeed in striking. When the time came, Obi-Wan's Mandalorians would rally to him, but _hers_ would be divided, and those that stood against her would have the might of the Empire at their backs. No, they weren't ready, not yet, and appearances must be maintained, because Bo-Katan knew she was _always_ being watched.

"Mand'alor," Fenn Rau said as he reentered the room and slowly approached the woman, standing just out of arm's reach beside her. "The rebels have been detained, and the explosives have been removed from the ships. You were right. The devastation would have been complete were they to be detonated."

"Never doubt the ingenuity of the Wrens, Rau..." she said softly, her eyes fixed on the liquid that slowly swirled in the glass she held. "They don't leave jobs uncompleted."

"Shall we contact Countess Wren?" he asked, and the woman shook her head.

"I'll call Ursa myself. She should hear it from me that I have caught her daughter working for these rebel insurgents. She's my friend. I owe her the courtesy of discussing the matter with her personally." Bo-Katan looked over her shoulder at the man as he stood awaiting her next directive, but it never came, and under the intensity of her stare, Fenn Rau shifted uncomfortably.

"There's no doubt the other rebels are nearby," Rau said hesitantly when he couldn't handle the silence anymore. "We can have our men in the air and searching the system on your word."

"No," the Moff said firmly, her fingers lightly tracing over the engraving on the left side of her chest, the small rows of square denoting her Imperial rank that stood as a substitute to the placard that would usually adorn an officer's uniform. "No, having their leader captured will almost certainly draw the rebels here. They are a sly bunch. I don't want them slipping past our defenses while the men were out looking for them. Fortify our position here and double the guards, and be aware that one of the rebels remaining is a Jedi." She flicked her wrist in dismissal. "Go. See it done. Have your men report to me the moment they find anything."

Fenn Rau bowed at the waist and marched out, barking commands to the men waiting outside, and Bo-Katan was alone once again. With a heavy sigh, the Mand'alor put the glass to her lips, drained it, and poured herself another drink. It was a difficult thing to do alone, and she found herself longing for the day that Obi-Wan called Mandalore to his side, the day where she could drop this farce and join him in his fight, the day she would tell her people that the day to join forces with their Shadow King was _now_ , when they could throw off the yoke of the Empire and be truly Mandalorian once again. The day was coming, but not soon enough, and Bo-Katan had been more than patient.

She was halfway through her next drink when slow, deliberate footfalls carried someone into the room, and she glanced behind her at the Mandalorian warrior approaching her, his armor a polished jet black trimmed with gold, and her eyes narrowed in distaste before she turned back to her drink. The Protectors often took a very mercenary approach to the color of their armor, the colors chosen based on preference instead of allegiance, which, to Bo-Katan's sensibilities, left the prized armor meaningless. There was so much more to Mandalorian armor than protection. It carried with it a cultural weight, was a way of life, something that an outsider couldn't understand, and the Protectors were, and had been for a very long time, _mercenary_.

"Have you found anything for me, Mando?" she asked, taking a drink from her glass and feeling the irritation mount within her as he stopped too close behind her.

"We did," he said, and Bo-Katan froze when she heard the soft, clipped accent she knew so very well, and all the irritation vanished in a moment when he reached over her shoulder and laid the hilt of the Darksaber on the counter before her. With a shuddering breath, she turned around on her seat and looked up into the visor to stare into the black depths at the golden glowing points of light from within.

"What took you so long?" Bo-Katan asked pleasantly, a wry smirk on her lips as the man ambled back to put some space between them, a soft chuckle emitting from the speaker of the helmet. "You never did make it to Carlac for training after our last meeting."

"The unexpected keeps me busy," Obi-Wan drawled, his hands folded behind his back and shifting casually from foot to foot. "You know how it is."

"That I do..." Bo-Katan said with a sigh. "Like my most recent headache. Rebels in the Concord Dawn system, and not just any rebels. _The Spectres_. The Lothal rebels led by that kriffing Jedi."

"It's why I'm here..." Obi-Wan said softly, watching as Bo-Katan finished her drink, stood from her seat, and dragged her hand down the black armor covering his chest. His hand unconsciously drifted to the woman's hip, and with a soft sigh of relief and yearning, Bo-Katan stood up on her toes and pressed their foreheads together, the helmet between them a hated but necessary boundary that they both longed to be rid of.

"You couldn't have come soon enough," Bo-Katan whispered, her eyes drifting over the Sith Lord's shoulder to look at Fenn Rau as he stepped in the room and stumbled when he saw his Mand'alor pressed up close against a tall warrior. "Rau!" Bo-Katan called just as the man spun on his heel to leave, and he grimaced as he slowly faced the Moff.

"I...apologize for interrupting, Mand'alor..." Rau grumbled, his eyes lowered toward the ground modestly to keep himself from staring. "I...d-didn't know you were with-"

"No harm done, my friend," Bo-Katan said, grabbing Obi-Wan's arm and leading him past the gawking Fenn Rau. "But we _do_ have things to discuss. Manage my matters while I am gone, and make sure your men know not to disturb me." She flashed the man a tight smile and patted his cheek. "We'll be out behind the storage sheds."

"I'll...be certain the men keep their distance..." Fenn Rau muttered, and flashing a charming grin at the flustered man, Bo-Katan pulled Obi-Wan out into the nippy air of Concord Dawn's moon. After quickly acknowledging the few soldiers milling about just outside, the two slowly walked back among the loose congregation of buildings and flimsy, temporary extensions on warehouses and ducked behind a small, overfilled storage room, crates and boxes stacked haphazardly outside as they awaited the space to be properly stored.

"Are you here to kill the Protectors?" Bo-Katan whispered after a quick check of the area to be certain they were alone. She'd have pulled them inside one of the buildings, but she wasn't sure they weren't being monitored. The Empire had a habit of watching _everything_. "After they killed your pilot, I figured it was only a matter of time before you arrived."

"Mm, you know me so well..." Obi-Wan drawled as he leaned against the wall of the building and crossed his arms over his chest. "But no, not this time. Hera isn't dead. I'm simply here to assess the situation."

"The pilot's alive?" the Mandalorian asked, her brow creasing in thought as she examined Obi-Wan's expressionless mask and the faint nod of his head. "Not an hour ago, I captured Two of the Spectres, I thought they came here for revenge."

" _The Spectres are here_?!" Obi-Wan hissed, leaning in closer to Bo-Katan, and the woman somberly nodded.

"The Jedi and the Mandalorian."

" _Zarchas Valzino iv'tave Tsis_! I am _surrounded_ by fools and impulsive children!" the Sith Lord snapped, furiously pacing back and forth, Bo-Katan calmly watching as his gloved fists clenched, blue static sparking around the gauntlet and up the length of his arm until it quickly dissipated, his shoulders slumping as he leaned tiredly against the wall once again. "Force help me if I didn't have you, Bo-Katan. I'm fortunate they fell into your hands instead of much less friendly ones."

"It wasn't luck that brought me here, it was your pilot being shot out of the sky," Bo-Katan muttered soothingly, reaching up to brush her hand against the side of his helmet. "You're never far behind them, and I needed to see you."

"I never thought you to be one to want for male companionship, Bo," the Sith said, chuckling softly when the Moff rolled her eyes, though she placed her hand firmly upon his chest to press him against the wall as she drew closer.

"The Empire leaves something to be desired when one's tastes are for kings," she whispered, and Obi-Wan groaned deeply, his hand snaking around her waist and pulling her close when he felt the pull of mutual desire tear through the Force. "But more than that," the Moff said slowly. "Your plans, Kenobi. The rebels being here make it seem as though you are testing Mandalorian resolve. I can't allow that. We aren't ready, not now, not with so many eyes upon us."

"Hera is insistent that a route through Mandalorian territory is a necessity," Obi-Wan said, firmly despite the tenderness of his touch as his hand slid into her hair. "The Empire is tightening their hold on the surrounding areas, it's making our work far more difficult. The route running through the Concord Dawn system connects almost directly to the Lothal sector. We need this route."

"You want the Empire to be tightening it's grip on Mandalore too?" she asked, a mocking, almost irreverent edge to her voice. "They _aren't_ stupid, and there are almost as many eyes on you and your rebels as there are on me. Your rebels start using the route, and it won't be long before I am forced into open conflict or complete submission, and I sure as hell am not going to submit to these Imperial dogs." She sneered in contempt and spat on the ground to rid herself of the vile taste in her mouth. " _Nobody_ rules over Mandalore but the Mandalorians, and I have sacrificed _so_ much to make certain it stays that way." She laughed bitterly, her eyes closing as she turned her face away from the Sith, her hand tightly grasping the armor on his shoulder. "There isn't much pride and dignity I have left to give, Obi-Wan...I won't allow them to take Mandalore from me."

"But you aren't yet ready to fight," he said softly, his finger slowly tracing her jaw as she shook her head.

"We aren't ready because _you_ aren't ready," she said sharply. "Mandalore on its own cannot beat back an entire Empire. We need open war, we need them spread thin and fighting _everywhere_ to have a chance. We need your rebellion. A single flame is easily put out, but together, we are _wildfire_. They won't be able to contain it all."

"They will if they have the tools to do it," Obi-Wan said, his voice lowering to a soft growl as he pulled her even closer. "The Inquisitors, the secret project, _kriffing Thrawn_. We may have an army of Force sensitives, Bo, but drop Vader or Maul among them, and they _will_ die. They are young, and they have no chance when standing against the Sith."

"Do any of us but you?" she grumbled, and with a sigh, Obi-Wan shook his head.

"No, I suppose not."

"It seems to me your path is clearly laid out before you," Bo-Katan said. "Cripple the Empire in whatever ways you can before we are forced into open warfare. Everyone knows you've been killing Inquisitors, and knowing you, you'll be done with them soon enough, which only leaves this secret project and Thrawn."

"I am slowly drawing closer to Thrawn," he whispered, his hand tightening around her hip, his shoulders tense with frustration. "He is elusive, but we have been dancing around each other for too long. The day we engage is fast approaching, and when it does, he _will_ be mine."

"Just take care you don't end up walking into one of his traps," she cautioned. "I've met Thrawn. I don't understand how he thinks, but he sees things others do not. He draws the truth out of brush strokes and lines, an entire history laid out before him when the rest of us merely see an image."

"You've met him..." Obi-Wan mumbled, slowly taking off his helmet and placing it down on one of the crates beside him, his eyes searching her face as she breathlessly reached up and stroked his cheek, the slightest gasp in her throat when she saw his face for the first time in years, just as she remembered it, felt the warmth of his skin beneath her fingertips and shivered when he brought his fingers to her temple. "May I?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper, and the Mandalorian nodded, biting down on her lip as she grabbed on tightly to his sides to brace herself.

Once, long ago, she had bore witness to the Sith Lord's savaging of Pre Vizsla, the leader of the Death Watch back at the start of the Clone Wars. Without even touching him, Obi-Wan had forced the man to his knees, had used the powers he commanded to violently enter his mind and wrack the man with pain and agony so severe he was reduced to nothing but weakness, a blubbering, mentally broken man who begged for his life, for the pain to stop, and had offered up his honor in the form of the Darksaber to placate his tormentor. Bo-Katan had been there, had felt the pain rush through her blood like star fire, had been unable to move her body, felt his invisible grasp constrict around her neck and lift her unbreathing from the ground, helpless to rush to Pre's aid and forced to watch the man who had been her first lover crumble into willing servitude. Obi-Wan had made her bow before him that day. He had made _all_ Death Watch bow to him.

Bo-Katan thought it was fine. He was the stronger warrior, Mandalorian by association to her sister, even if she believed dear Satine at the time to be little more than an empty facsimile of a true Mandalorian, her lover had certainly shown himself to be a true warrior. When Pre Vizsla lay broken, Bo-Katan abandoned him and sought out Obi-Wan after she had assumed control of the Death Watch, knelt before him, and pledged herself to his service, and since then, she had not once looked back. So when Obi-Wan lay his fingers upon her head and asked for entry into her mind, she allowed it and braced herself for the pain she knew he could inflict.

She was not expecting it to feel the way it did. There was no pain, as she had anticipated, but pressure upon her mind for just a moment before she felt it release, her entire body flooding with intense relaxation and the dull throb of satisfaction as she leaned against the Lord of the Sith. She could _feel him_ , every movement, every wiggle of his fingers, every slight movement as tendrils of cold wrapped around her consciousness. Bo-Katan closed her eyes and leaned against him, shivering slightly as her memories flashed before her, the cold, dark observer in her mind carefully flipping through her every thought, every feeling, every experience, little more than a casual glance before he moved on.

It was... _intimate_. In a way that the fierce Mandalorian had never experienced before. Bo-Katan had many lovers in her life. Some for a single night before battle, others longer term affairs born from a clash for dominance that always ended when Bo-Katan invariable tamed her partner and lost interest, the domesticated animal holding no fascination for her when she craved the wild and feral. But her relationships never consisted of _this_ , exposing what lay beneath the hard exterior life had forged around her, and though she hated how weak it made her feel, she couldn't' find it in her to struggle against Obi-Wan.

She found herself calling to mind her one telling encounter with Thrawn when he had come to her in her palace, when he had spoken to her in Mando'a and expressed not just interest in her culture, but _complete_ understanding. The Chiss had said he had been studying Mandalore for some time before then, had correctly related the Mandalorian mentality to the Sith, had spoken at great length to her about Obi-Wan and her sister. She could feel the man that held her tense, the memory slowing as the Sith Lord focused on the Chiss, the way he looked, the sound of his voice, his mannerisms, less on what he said and _how_ he said it. The man within her mind felt like a predator finally catching sight of the prey he had been tirelessly stalking, the thrill of the hunt and the pure euphoria of the moments before the kill flooding her senses and leaving her shaking as she clung to him.

"My Mand'alor..." Obi-Wan drawled in her ear, the woman groaning in protest as she felt the Sith's shadowy grasp withdraw from her mind. "It was a mistake not to have you by my side sooner..."

"But we can't, not yet..." she whispered, an irritated scowl on her face as she looked up at him, the clear edge of want and longing in the sliver of green that encircled her dilated pupil. "There's too much to be done first, and we need to get your rebels back to your fleet..." She slid her hands up into his hair, her thumb running across his cheek. "But when we're ready, when you call for Mandalore to stand beside you, I will be there and I will _never_ leave."

"We'll build the new Empire together, Bo-Katan..." Obi-Wan whispered, his fingers tucked under her chin. "You and me, the Mand'alor and the Lord of the Sith, ruling the Mandalorian Empire, _just_ as Satine and I started so long ago..."

With a deep growl as desire and ambition rushed through her, Bo-Katan grabbed hold of Kenobi's shoulders and slammed him back against the wall, standing up on her toes to roughly claim his lips. Obi-Wan returned the fierceness of the gesture without hesitation, his hand tightening in her hair as the two struggled for domination, and neither of them willing to yield. Something broke within them, something that had been unspoken between them for years, that had gone so long unfulfilled and slowly built in the absence of each other, and now they fought as if to make up for all the time they had lost. Neither was sure of who began fumbling for the straps of each other's armor first, but they almost frantically fought to tear it off between rough, claiming kisses that showed no sign of stopping.

* * *

"Hey, Kanan?" Sabine lazily drawled, her mouth pressed together in a thin line as she stared at the flat, gray wall before her. "This _sucks_."

She wasn't wrong about that, Kanan thought with a sigh as he stared at an equally plain, dark wall, the room devoid of anything but themselves, their wrists bound behind them and the two of them tied together back to back to make movement more difficult. Their weapons had been taken away, and with Sabine's bombs diffused, the prospects of stealing a ship and flying to safety seemed impossibly grim, especially when even _Hera_ had fallen before the Protectors of Concord Dawn.

"Of all the people, of all the Imperial _filth_ that had to be here," Sabine bemoaned, "why, _why_ did it have to be _kriffing Bo-Katan Kryze_." She laughed bitterly and shook her head, staring at her helmet in the corner that had been casually tossed inside with them. "So much for Kenobi's alliance, it's obvious where she stands..."

"I'll admit it seems like a bit of a dead end..." Kanan grumbled. "...it sounded like you two have a history," the Jedi said, slow and measured, and the teenager behind him tensed against her restraints. She was silent for a while, her breath coming in short, angry puffs, but Kanan patiently waited, knowing that no matter what it was that Sabine was hiding, the silence and the dire circumstances they found themselves in would prompt the restless girl into speaking at least some of the truth he sought.

"My mother and the _Moff_..." she spat in disgust. "They grew up together. They fought on the losing side of the Clan Wars back when they were even younger than me. Against Bo-Katan's own sister, no less. When Satine took control, my mother and Bo-Katan and the rest of the Death Watch were exiled to Concordia, and they grew strong there, waiting for a chance to take Mandalore back from the peaceful New Mandalorians." Sabine took a deep, heavy breath, her back straightening against Kanan's. "And then came Obi-Wan Kenobi. The Duchess' Jedi protector, and he forced the Death Watch to kneel."

"What, just like that?" Kanan asked, looking over his shoulder and catching the gradient blues and orange of Sabine's hair in his periphery. "That's not the work of a Jedi, that sounds like a Sith Lord. It couldn't have been so simple otherwise."

"I honestly don't know," Sabine said with a shrug. "Mother never spoke about it much. What she _did_ say was that the Shadow King rose at Satine's side, and the Mandalorian Empire was born. Death Watch pledged themselves to the new strength on the throne and the rest..." She moved her arm as if to gesture, and frowned when she strained against her bindings. "You know the rest of the story. Satine died, the Shadow King disappeared with the fall of our night, and Bo-Katan took over and handed Mandalore over to the Galactic Empire when she feared she may lose her position." Sabine sneered in disgust. "A vile, _duplicitous_ woman. She says to follow the Resol'nare, but she is a living affront to it! She stood against her own sister, she handed Mandalore over to the Empire just to keep her power, she turns against all those that stand in her way, just as she's turned against Obi-Wan now! If she was even with him to begin with...it's _so_ like her to seek revenge for what Obi-Wan did to Death Watch, both during the Clan Wars and again in the Clone Wars."

"I confess, if she _is_ with us, she's putting on a hell of an act..." Kanan whispered. "Maybe there are things at work that we aren't aware of, but you're right. We can't trust her in the hopes that she may be with us when it's very likely she isn't."

"And my _family_ stands with her," Sabine spat bitterly. "When I realized what the Empire was, when I left the academy...my mother sided with Bo-Katan over me, she..." She bit down on her lip. "Look, it doesn't matter why..." Sabine muttered. "I grew up hearing about the Shadow King, how he was idolized, how we followed him to victory and glory. Is it so strange that I would grow to detest the one who gave Mandalore away when I was given an example of true strength to aspire to?"

"No, I suppose not."

"And my family _blamed me_ , they..." Sabine sighed heavily. "It doesn't matter. All that matters is that my family betrayed me, and I can never go home because of that _cutthroat bitch_!" she shouted at the locked door, and the wall reverberated with sound as an armored hand struck it on the other side, followed by the swift, harshly barked command in Mando'a. "...well, the guard's still there."

"Let's be glad he is, we're going to need him to get out," Kanan said as he wriggled, turning them so he could look at the door. "We're going to need to get him in here, I've got a plan."

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Sabine said with a grin. "Let's do this."

With a deep, calming breath, Kanan closed his eyes to still his heart and touched the Force, opening his eyes only when he felt focused and centered, and he fixed his gaze on Sabine's helmet, the painted armor rising into the air to gently float toward them. When the helmet had drifted close enough, Sabine twisted her body, sending Kanan pitching sideways as she slammed her foot against the helmet and kicked it toward the door. It struck the wall just beside her target with a resounding clang, earning them a cascade of shouting and cursing form the guard outside, and as Kanan righted them, Sabine shouted back, with what, Kanan did not know, but he was certain it was both disrespectful and _filthy_.

Metal scraped against metal outside the room, the door groaning as the lock disengaged and the door flew open, a _very_ angry Mandalorian Protector striding quickly into the room brandishing his blaster in his hands and shouting at the top of his lungs at the defiant Sabine. With a deep, calming breath, Kanan looked up at the man looming over them, his gaze fixed on the man's face, and when the soldier saw the Jedi staring, he sneered, pointed the blaster at Kanan's head."

"You will drop your weapon," Kanan said flatly, his voice calm and expressionless, and with a shudder, the Mandalorian's shoulders tensed for just a moment before they went slack, the blaster dropping from his grasp as he mindlessly repeated the words Kanan had spoken. "You will release our restraints and leave this place to go drinking in celebration of your victory over the rebels." Behind him, Sabine snorted, but the man did as he was told, bending down to free the captive rebels before he ambled out of the room, the cool breeze outside blowing in and circulating the stale, heavy air. Neither Sabine nor Kanan dared to move for a long while, listening for the sounds of the soldiers outside, but they couldn't hear anything.

"Where did you learn how to do that?" Sabine hissed as she scooped up her helmet and the soldier's discarded blaster, hanging behind the Jedi as he cautiously leaned out the doorway and scanned the area. "I mean, I _knew_ you could do that, but I didn't know you could do it like _that_."

"As it so happens, my current teacher is the authority on mind control," Kanan said with a shrug. "I've gotten significantly better at it." Kanan ducked back into the room and pressed himself up against the walls. "I should have made the guard leave us his armor..."

"The others would immediately know something's up if that happened," Sabine said firmly. "A Mandalorian doesn't just walk around without their armor. Why?" she whispered with a frown. "Are there a lot of guards out there?"

"Yeah, but nothing substantial around here, they're all out by the ships..." Kanan muttered. "Getting off this kriffing rock is going to be a _nightmare_..."

"If there aren't many guards around here, let's see if we can find something useful in these storage sheds," Sabine said, and Kanan flashed her a wide, mischievous grin.

"I was about to say the exact same thing." Gesturing for her to follow, the two of them snuck out of the building, closing and locking the door behind them ans keeping close to the walls and behind cover as they went. Occasionally, they would have to duck out of the way to avoid roving guards, though they were few and far between. They grew more and more frustrated as they slunk around the buildings, slowly drifting toward the back out of the sight of the Mandalorians as they found most of the buildings locked with secure codes that were too much trouble to work past. The ones that were open were either completely empty, or contained crates that were filled with rations, but no weapons or anything that could be of any use in an escape.

Kanan stopped Sabine quickly when he heard something bang against a one of the buildings they were headed toward, and when nobody emerged, the two slowly crept closer, Sabine keeping the blaster tight in her grasp. As they drew near, they could hear shuffling from behind the small warehouse, followed by a sharp gasp and hushed, indistinct whispers, and a slow, wide grin spread across Sabine's face when a deep growl was followed by a soft moan, and pressing herself against the building, she inched her way along the wall with the equally curious Kanan at her side. When they had come close enough, Sabine and Kanan slowly leaned out to peek around the corner and they froze, eyes wide and jaws slack.

There, pressed up against the wall of the building, was Obi-Wan Kenobi, stripped to the waist and breath reduced to hard, fast panting, his armor carelessly scattered on the ground around him. In his arms was an equally disheveled Bo-Katan, the woman heatedly exchanging deep, passionate, nearly violent kisses with the Sith Lord as she struggled to remove the remainder of the armor at his hips and legs. Kenobi's hands slid beneath the skintight long sleeved compression shirt the Moff wore, pushing it up to reveal pale skin and a flat, well defined stomach as he pulled loose her last remaining pauldron and allowed it to drop to lay at her feet with the rest of her armor he had divested her of, which put her nearly even with the half naked Sith. With a vicious snarl, Obi-Wan pressed back against her, pushing off the wall and pulling her close, revealing long, red lines from where the woman's fingers had raked against his skin to accompany the numerous red bite marks on his neck and chest.

Sabine _couldn't move_. She couldn't even _breathe_.

"Are you _kriffing kidding me_?!" Kanan hissed, drawing the attention of the Sith Lord and the Mand'alore, and with a deep, frustrated groan, Obi-Wan fell back against the wall, his head hitting the surface with a resounding thud. "We're _trapped_ down here, and you're out here _fraternizing with the enemy_ instead of saving us?!"

"Well not anymore..." Obi-Wan growled, shooting the Jedi a vicious glare that Kanan initially recoiled from, but quickly returned.

"Oh, _no_ , you don't get to look at me like that!" Kanan growled, grabbing Sabine by the arm and pulling the stunned girl around the crates to stand behind the cover that the two lovers were taking advantage of.

"Of course I do!" Obi-Wan countered between clenched teeth. "I told you to turn back, I told you not to get involved with the Mandalorians!"

"You don't command me, Kenobi!"

"Well _maybe I should_."

"Alright, _stop_ ," Bo-Katan snapped, placing her hand on Obi-Wan's face and shoving him back against the wall. "Nobody here is impressed by your male posturing, you Jedi idiots!"

"I am _not_ a Jedi..." Obi-Wan grumbled, but fell silent when the Mand'alor pointed a menacing, warning finger at him. "You were in no danger, Kanan..." Obi-Wan said tiredly, his hand running down his face as he took deep, calming breaths to regain the control that he had so willingly lost. "Bo told me you were here, we had a plan to return you to Phoenix Squadron."

"Oh, excellent," Kanan casually drawled. "And that plan involved _having sex against a wall, now did it_?!"

" _Well_..."

"The plan involved transferring you to Mandalore and allowing Kenobi to escape with you en route, all the while maintaining my cover" Bo-Katan said softly. "I don't think I need to tell you that this is made _suitably_ more difficult if you aren't my prisoner." She tilted her head and observed the Jedi carefully. "I thought you knew that Obi-Wan will always come for you."

"You're an _ally_..." Sabine finally managed to gasp, her entire body shaking as she watched the Moff scoop up her armor, place it on a crate, and slowly begin to put it back on. "I know Kenobi said...b-but I didn't _actually_ believe-"

"He is the man my sister chose to rule Mandalore beside her," Bo-Katan said somberly. "He is _family_ , and family comes before all else."

With a soft, pitiful whimper, Sabine sunk to the ground, grateful for the cover her helmet provided, and silently cried. "You... _aren't_ Imperial."

"Of course I'm Imperial..." Bo-Katan scoffed. "But my empire is Mandalorian."

"A-and my mother..."

"Misses you," Bo-Katan said swiftly. "Every single day, she misses you. And before you go getting sentimental, _no_ , she hasn't forgiven you for running away the way you did. She thought you were smarter than that."

"A-are you kidding me?!" Sabine choked, staring wide-eyed at the harsh, indifferent Mand'alor. "Did she expect me to stay and just do what the Empire told me to?!"

" _Yes_ ," Bo-Katan said, crossing her arms over her chest. "We have all made sacrifices for staying safe under Imperial rule while we gather our strength. All of us. To pass off your burden to your family because you were unwilling to do what needed to be done is _selfish_."

" _I didn't know_!"

"No, how could you?" Bo-Katan snapped. " _You never asked_!" The Moff gave a tired sigh and pulled tight the strap on her breastplate. "Sabine Wren. I was there on the day of your birth, and I watched you and your brother grow up. You should have trusted me."

"How could I when you supported all the things the Empire has done, all the things they _made me do_..." Sabine whispered, but the edge of anger had left her voice as she became more thoughtful. Bo-Katan laughed bitterly.

"As I said, Sabine, we have all had to make sacrifices..." the Moff whispered. "The things I have had to do for the likes of Wilhuff Tarkin for the good of Mandalore..." She shook her head and growled, snatching her helmet from the crate and slamming it on her head. "None of that matters now, what's done is done."

"You'll help us, then?" Kanan asked hopefully, and the woman crossed her arms over her chest.

"As always, I will do what I can, _when_ I can, until the day we're ready to fight. Today, that means helping you return to your fleet." She snatched the pieces of Kanan's lightsaber off her belt and held them in her hands as she pointed an accusing finger at the Jedi. " _Don't get used to it_. Next time, what's best for Mandalore may mean leaving you to the Imperials. I worked too hard and come too far to see myself exposed to them, and I _must_ keep my cover. The information I get is far, _far_ too valuable to be sacrificed to cover for your stupid decisions."

"Noted, Ma'am," Kanan said as he saluted, and he caught the two pieces of his lightsaber when Bo-Katan tossed them back to him. "So...about those hyperspace lanes through the system..."

"You know, not knowing when to quit is what got you into this mess, _Jedi_ ," Bo-Katan snapped, shoving Kanan toward Sabine. "Did you listen to a word I said? _No_ , you don't get passage through the system, I can't afford to have you here! You get to go back to your rebellion. You should be grateful you even get that."

"We're absolutely not complaining about that," Kanan said with a smirk as he slowly lowered himself to his knees and pulled Sabine down with him, his hands behind his head. "I suppose we're at your mercy, Moff Kryze."

"I hate you _so much_ , Kanan..." Obi-Wan growled between clenched teeth as the Mand'alor once again secured binders to the rebels' wrists. " _I_ should have been at her mercy right now..."

"I certainly like to think so, but that's up for debate," Bo-Katan drawled as she checked the bindings on her captives to be certain they were tight and properly secured. "But there aren't many men that put up the fight you do. I fear we may simply ensure each other's destruction."

"And what a _beautiful_ thing that is..." Obi-Wan drawled as he turned furious eyes on Kanan and smacked him upside the head. "You _idiot_. Look what you're keeping me from because you _can't listen_!"

"I've _never_ been good at following directions," Kanan said with a shrug, wincing slightly as Bo-Katan dragged him up to his feet.

"We'll see how quickly you change your tune," Obi-Wan growled as he pulled his compression shirt over his head and furiously thrust his arms through the sleeves. "Every single time you have a moment alone with Hera, _I will be there_. The _moment_ I feel your desire for her rising in the Force, Kanan Jarrus, _I will be at your side_."

Kanan laughed, light and easy at first, but quickly becoming more nervous. "...but not really, right?"

"No, really, you're never going to have sex again." He stopped when Bo-Katan's gloved hand slowly caressed his cheek, and with a possessive growl, he kissed her palm.

"When next we meet, Obi-Wan, we'll see about picking up where we left off," she said softly, a teasing, promising lilt to her voice that even the helmet's modulator couldn't filter out. "In the meantime, though, I'll see to sending Fulcrum alternate routes that won't draw attention to me. It's not what your pilot wants, I'm sure, but it's better than nothing. Consider it...an apology for what happened to her."

"Apology accepted, Mand'alor," Obi-Wan said with an incline of his head. "It's much appreciated."

"I need to get this rebel filth back to the main camp so I can yell at my men," Bo-Katan said, giving Kanan and Sabine a rough shove. "I'll have them on a ship within the hour. Make sure you're on board so you can return them to their fleet."

"My thanks, Bo-Katan."

The Moff hesitated for a moment, torn between pushing the rebels out from behind cover and raising hell, and returning to the Sith Lord that she had missed. She finally settled on laying her hand on Obi-Wan's chest and lightly drawing her fingers along the long, black scar that crossed his skin beneath the compression shirt. "It was...good to see you again, Kenobi. Our next meeting will not take so very long."

"It will be unbearable none the less," Obi-Wan said softly, and with a gently, affectionate pat, Bo-Katan pushed the rebels out and walked away from the Lord of the Sith. "So close..." Obi-Wan muttered ad he began almost petulantly strapping on his armor. " _So kriffing close_."


	50. Valley of the Dark Lords

**AN:** **I know this one took a long time to update, but trust me, this bitch was making me fight to make it worthwhile. And boy do I think it is. I worked VERY hard to bring this one to you guys, and I'm finally happy with it. I'm pretty sure you guys are going to like this one. As always, let me know what you think, and a quick thank you to all you guys that leave me your thoughts. I might not always get back to you guys, but I read them all, and when I have a hard time writing, I run through them and it helps me remember why I'm doing this. You guys are the best. Thank you. You're what keeps me writing.**

 **Give me a little to update this one, I need to update some of my other things, and I need to toy with the idea of the next chapter of this before we get deep into The Shit. Or just jump right on in. Not sure yet.**

 **Also! STAR WARS REBELS IS BACK! BO-KATAN IS BACK! WOOOOOOOOO!**

 _Chapter 50: Valley of the Dark Lords_

"Come on, Kenobi..." Kanan practically whined, the blue image of his hologram flickering with the interference of hyperspace. "Zeb _isn't_ the last of his kind, and there might be a planet out there _filled_ with his people! The Lasat home world, one the Empire _hasn't_ destroyed. He might not be the victim of a genocide!"

"I'm certain the smell is atrocious," Obi-Wan said with a roll of his eyes. "The one is bad enough. I can't imagine what it's like having three of them on that ship, to say nothing of an entire _planet_ infested with the beasts..."

"...alright, the smell isn't _great_ ," Kanan confessed. "But this is important to Zeb. You should be here."

"What's important to Zeb isn't important to my survival, Kanan, and my time is limited," Kenobi mumbled. "Besides, I promised the Gemini I'd take them to Moraband. Not the typical spot for a family vacation, but they have wanted to go since they were very young."

"Not the safest place for children..." Kanan said pointedly. "Not the safest place for _anyone_ , especially not you. You sure that vision of yours doesn't happen down there?"

"Of course I'm not sure, but the safest place for them is at my side. Nothing, _nothing_ will ever happen to them so long as I am around." Obi-Wan crossed his arms and sneered when the Jedi looked at him sympathetically. He _hated it_ when Kanan did that, and he was so very good at it. "Speaking of safety, how good of an idea is it to let Hera fly through uncharted territory and who knows what out there in Wild Space? She _just_ recovered from her injuries."

"You want to tell her no?" Kanan growled, clearly not happy about it either. "Hera insists she's fine. You know she calls the shots..."

"It's precious you allow that woman to own you like this," Obi-Wan gently chided. "But then, you Jedi have _always_ craved chains, haven't you?"

"You want to tell her she can't do this?" Kanan asked flatly, and for a long moment, Obi-Wan simply stared at him.

"...no, absolutely not." Obi-Wan grinned broadly when Kanan arched an eyebrow and sighed in irritation. "Oh, I bet that woman ties you up and has her way with you, doesn't she?"

"She would..." Kanan bitterly agreed. "If you hadn't _interrupted us the last few times, Kenobi_!"

"And good luck getting laid with those big smelly beasts on your ship, Kanan!" Kenobi laughed at the scowling Jedi. "I don't think I have anything to worry about while I'm gone. The time you two get alone is scarce enough, but mark my word, when you do get the chance, _I will be there to ruin it_."

"You spiteful piece of shit..." Kanan grumbled. "It was _one time_ , Kenobi! How was I supposed to know that you lack the self-control to not try and have sex with a woman _during a mission_?! _In the middle of an enemy camp_!"

"I'm a Lord of the Sith, you Jedi moron, when have I _ever_ had self-control?!" Obi-Wan snapped. "And that meeting was a long time coming and you _ruined it_."

"How many times do I have to say I'm sorry until you let this go?!" Kanan groaned, his hand running over his face. "In the hopes that _this time_ you'll have mercy, I'm sorry, Obi-Wan, for keeping you from having sex with your _girlfriend_."

"She's not my girlfriend, Jarrus, you know that," Obi-Wan casually said with a roll of his eyes. "We are just two people coming together in violent mutual destruction. It's a brutal, _beautiful_ thing, and you're a little shit for interrupting."

"Oh, _please_ , it's not like you didn't just take Vitios and Vehemis and throughly use them the moment you got back."

"Mm, that isn't the point," Obi-Wan drawled. "And it was _mostly_ instigated by them. I'll say this for you, Kanan, your tastes are _excellent_. The Twi'leks certainly know how to pleasure a man."

"Oh, Force help me, Obi-Wan..."

"Tell you what, Jarrus," Obi-Wan chirped, leaning in toward the holotransmitter and grinning wickedly when Kanan drew back. "I'll leave you and Hera alone if you beg and call me Master."

Kanan scoffed, rolled his eyes, and flashed a devious grin at the Sith Lord. "Not outside the bedroom, _Master_ , you know the deal..."

"Oh, _this_ is why I keep you Jedi around..." Obi-Wan groaned. "We're coming out of hyperspace, lover, I need to go. Be safe out there. I'll see you in a few days."

"Take care, Kenobi," Kanan said softly, the sympathy back in his expressive eyes. "I mean it. It's too soon to lose you."

"I couldn't possibly agree more," Obi-Wan growled as he shut off the com, the sound of Luke and Leia running through the ship closely coming closer until they burst into the cockpit, out of breath and grinning from ear to ear and decked out in their Mandalorian armor.

"Is that it, Father?" Leia asked excitedly, pointing out the viewport at the planet hanging ominously before them, deep red and splattered with chalk white cloud cover that made it look eerily like -blood and bone. "Is that Moraband?"

"It is..." Obi-Wan said quietly. "The home world of the Sith."

"What can we expect to find there?" Luke asked, leaning forward and squinting at the planet as it grew larger in the viewport. Through the Force, Obi-Wan could feel Luke withdraw behind his iron defenses as the touch of the Dark Side grew stronger, while Leia slowly opened herself to it.

"Tombs to ancient Sith Lords," Obi-Wan said almost reverently. "A Sith academy, ancient Sith Temples, all located in the Valley of the Dark Lords. But mostly, expect the Dark Side like you've never felt it before and the restless spirits of Ancient Sith."

"Like Qui-Gon?" Leia asked, looking behind her as Vitios and Vehemis ambled into the room, their hands lightly brushing over Obi-Wan's shoulders.

"Nothing like Qui-Gon," Obi-Wan whispered, leaning back in his seat and breathing deeply as he felt the Dark Side coil around him, cold and oppressive and stirring the growling beast inside him to life, the soft, seductive whispers of darkness filling his mind with promises of pleasure and power, devoid of any of the pain he knew that strength to cost. It was _liberating_. He had spent so long in hiding that he had almost forgotten what it was like to fully turn himself over to the darker tides of the Force.

They were silent on the rest of their way down to the planet, each one of them slipping deep into meditation to prepare themselves for whatever awaited them down on Moraband. As they drifted closer, as they cut through the atmosphere toward their destination, Leia had to close herself off to the oppressive darkness, her head beginning to throb as it became almost too much. Even Vitios and Vehemis seemed woozy and unsteady, clutching tightly to the back of the Sith Lord's seat as the _Umbra_ made a rapid descent into the valley far below.

Obi-Wan slowly ran through the landing checks when he set down to give the twins and his dark siders a chance to adjust to such a powerful Dark Side nexus, and he could feel all four of them reaching out to him through the Force to draw the strength they needed to fortify their defenses. They gradually began to adjust, slowly finding their centers even in the depths of the darkness that surrounded them, and evening out their ragged breath and frantic heartbeats, they slowly straightened, testing out the feel of the Force and their bodies under the oppression of the Dark Side. When they found themselves suitably balanced, they checked that their weapons were firmly on their belts and quietly followed the Sith Lord to the _Umbra_ 's closed boarding ramp.

"Cody," Obi-Wan said quietly as the clone approached the Sith Lord with Kenobi's two droids at his side. "At the first sign of _anything_ , you are to contact me. I am leaving you with HK for safety."

"Protest: Master, I should be coming with you for your protection!" HK said with a mechanical whine. "K-2SO can be fixed of he is broken, but you, Master, are a squishy organic. Horror: there is no fixing you if you break!"

"Your entire arsenal will not help you here," Obi-Wan said, laying his hand on the intimidating blaster rifle the droid held and lowering it. "Our lightsabers won't help us here, this is the realm of the Force. They're a precaution here. Nothing more."

"Take care, brother," Cody said quietly, laying his hand on the Sith Lord's shoulder. "We'll be ready to fly at a moment's notice."

"With or without me, Cody," Obi-Wan whispered in the clone's ear. "Like we discussed." They could feel the twins looking at them, but neither adult would meet their eyes.

"I promise," the clone said quietly, his hand affectionately squeezing his shoulder. "May the Force be with you."

"A hope I am in desperate need of at the moment..." Obi-Wan growled, his hand slamming on the ramp release, and with a hiss, the airlock disengaged and the door slid open and the Sith Lord strode out, followed closely by Vitios and Vehemis. With a great deal of hesitation, Leia took a deep breath and swallowed her apprehension, her gait confident despite how nervous she was. With a heavy sigh, Luke gently took the clone's hand.

"Don't leave without Father, Cody," Luke softly pleaded. "We all need him. It's...not his time yet. I have to believe that."

"Trust me, Luke, I won't be leaving your Father," Cody said with a sigh as he ruffled the boy's blond hair. "Not unless there's no other choice..." He nudged the boy toward the boarding ramp. "Go on. Cheery Moraband awaits, can't imagine why you're hanging back here..." With a small chuckle and a wry smile, Luke squeezed Cody's hand briefly before jogging down the ramp to catch up with the dark siders. He sidled up next to Leia when he rejoined the group, flashing the nervous, uneasy girl a tight smile and gave her arm a reassuring squeeze. He was less susceptible to the Dark Side than his sister, and she was keenly feeling the effects of the soft whispers in Ancient Sith that the very air seemed to carry.

"F-father," Leia began, trying to sound more confident than she felt. "I don't understand. You're a Sith Lord, but you're..." She took a deep breath and shivered, grasping her arms against the cold. "I can feel you're shielding yourself against the darkness instead of embracing it. Why?"

"Fully embracing the Dark Side is a very dangerous thing, Leia," Obi-Wan said quietly, almost reverently as his eyes drifted over large, weather-worn statues that stood vigil outside the resplendent archways of the many tombs of the ancient Sith Lords that lined the valley below them. Each step kick up puffs of red dust from the dry earth beneath their feet, the high canyon walls of the valley rising up as they descended down the gently sloping pathway, the dark red stone feeling as though they were being swallowed whole by a large, dangerous beast. Even the sky seemed to darken as they walked further into the valley, an already sinister hazy swath of reds and yellows above them marked by black, thundering clouds appearing even darker and more foreboding the closer they drew closer to the resting place of the Dark Lords of the Sith.

"The Dark Side can never be truly tamed," Obi-Wan continued quietly, the twins drawling closer to him as the canyon opened up into the long, wide valley. "Those who fully open themselves to darkness risk losing themselves and becoming slaves the whims of the Dark Side. In order to achieve mastery, one must have _control_."

"So..." Leia said slowly as she gathered her thoughts. "If I were to just...let go-"

"The Dark Side would claim you," Obi-Wan said quickly. "Without the resistance and the discipline to resist, you would be lost, no more than a slave to its will, and the Dark Side has no use for slaves beyond consuming them. A Master is powerful because the Dark Side is drawn to them, not just because they summon its power, but because it seeks to devour them as well." He took a deep breath, felt the Dark Side shift and move around him, his own pull moving the darker tides and stirring the snarling dark beast he kept tightly in control. "A Master understands this power struggle, and therefore must always remain vigilant, lest they be devoured as well."

"We were encouraged to turn ourselves over completely," Vitios said quietly, her eyes flicking over to her comrade, who was visibly struggling to resist the temptation of the soft, gentle call of the Dark Side. "We were to fully embrace it. It was...complete submission. No restraint, no control. Just darkness."

"It makes you stronger," Obi-Was said quietly. "But it also makes you easy to control. For the likes of the Lords of the Sith, any creature consumed by darkness is as easy to sway as the Force itself." He reached out and lightly stroked the Twi'lek's squirming lekku, the woman shivering and groaning softly from the contact. "It was why I could so easy bring you to heel, Vehemis."

"I remember, Master..." the woman said breathlessly, swallowing hard as the Sith Lord's touch helped her bolster her defenses.

"The Sith never required you to be anything more than uncontrolled brute strength, it was enough for their purposes, and it keeps you in their control," Obi-Wan explained. "You would never be anything more than beasts to them."

"But you will make us more, Master," Vitios said, laying her hand on the struggling Vehemis' shoulder, and Obi-Wan slowly nodded.

"I will. _So_ much more..." He pointed straight ahead at the large, smooth, sloping sides of a massive pyramid that menacingly loomed at the far side of the valley. "That's the Sith Academy. If there's something to be found, we'll find it there. There may be something in the tombs around here, but..." He growled softly as he eyed one of the tomb entrances, tightly sealed by fallen stone, the result of a Republic bombardment long, long ago, if his former Master was to be believed, and on this matter, he had no reason to doubt him. It was a different time when Sidious had brought him here, when they had once been family. "The tombs have been plundered, and the way to the inner sanctums are dark labyrinths filled with death traps. The risk is not worth it when we have a better option."

"And if we don't find what you need, Father?" Leia asked, and for a long while, the Sith Lord was silent, his stride slowing as he considered the question.

"I _will_ find what I need here..." Kenobi snarled, his hand tightening at his side. "If not in the Academy, than in the tombs after I have you and your brother safely back on the _Umbra_." The immediate protests from the children were quickly silenced by a vicious, uncompromising glare from the Sith Lord, the gold of his eyes spiked with deep, blood red, as they always were when the Dark Side within him rose high and dangerous. They knew better than to mess with the Lord of the Sith when he was like this, even more so now that they were on unknown and frightening territory.

As they drew closer to the towering pyramid of the Academy, a cold breeze grew into threatening, whipping winds, kicking up not the red dust and dirt of Moraband's earth, but thick wisps of black smoke. Obi-Wan stopped, calm and indifferent to the threat of the Dark Side around him while the twins fearfully drew closer to him, Vitios and Vehemis striking their lightsabers on and standing in defense of the Sith Lord, the dark mist swirling around them in a vortex, trapping them in the center of the dark tide. Slowly, the mist began to take form, shifting and twisting into shadowy figures in cloaks and armor, their eyes hidden behind masks the color of aged bone.

" _We are the Sith_ ," the phantoms said as one, their voices a dull, hollow echo that was heard more in the mind than with the ears. " _What right have you to stand before us? You, who are insignificant in the might of the Dark Side, and..._ " A cruel, malicious laugh echoed in the air around them, sending chills up the twins' spines as they grabbed on to their father's robes for comfort and reassurance. " _And a bastion of the Light. Are you lost, little souls? Come with us and we shall give you purpose._ "

"They have purpose already," Obi-Wan said, his voice calm and even as he reached out and grabbed hold of Vehemis and Vitios as they wavered and began stumbling toward the spirits, the contact immediately snapping them out of the daze, and they found their footing as they became _furious_. "I am Darth Lumis, Lord of the Sith, and _you_ are in my way, spirits."

The spirits drew back, still for a moment before they observed the self-proclaimed Sith Lord, the Force pressing down on the indifferent Lumis, and with a hiss, the ghosts drew further back. " _Darth Lumis_..." the spirits hissed. " _An apprentice no longer, and yet, your Master has not perished_."

"Not yet..." Lumis growled, the weight of the Dark Side behind his words making the spirits waver and retreat, the smoke retreating for a moment before it reformed into spectral form. "Out of my way, _spirits_. I've more right to this place than those who no longer bear the mantle of Lord of the Sith."

" _But those that follow you do not_ ," the ghosts hissed, moving closer only to be swiftly repelled when the Sith Lord sneered and walked forward, the others following closely at his side.

"They have the right because I _say they do_!" Lumis snarled, his hand flicking in the air with marked disgust, the violent push of the Dark Side reducing the spirits to smoke and ash with a bone-chilling scream of hate and anguish, the spectral beings banished by one who had no patience for those beneath him. Sith Lords, dead before mastery. Such beings held no use to Darth Lumis. He was in search of a _Master_ , not the feeble spectral constructs of those unworthy for anything but guarding the Tombs of those greater than themselves. Obi-Wan's pace didn't slow as he strode toward the Academy, taking the long steps up the steps to the Academy's entrance, the massive pyramid guarded by the time-worn statues of the ancient Sith.

It was colder inside the Academy than it was outside, darker, the Dark Side so thick that even the glow of Vitios' and Vehemis' lightsabers almost seemed to be swallowed by it, thin lines of red that cast no light in the overwhelming dark. The stale, dry air stank of smoke and darkness and blood, thousands of years worth of sinister deeds and sacrifice lingering heavy over this place like night that would not and could not end. It was... _peaceful_ , the darkness her undisturbed by the light, the Force so cold its waters froze, leaving nothing behind but ice and stillness and a serenity that Obi-Wan couldn't remember feeling in the light. Even his children and the acolytes were lulled into a state of relaxation, the tension in their shoulders leaving and their rapidly pounding hearts slowing as the serene peace of the Dark Side soothed them.

"Keep your guards up," Obi-Wan whispered, even the softness of his voice seeming loud in the large chamber, the people beside him tensing as their alertness returned, quickly reaching out to grab hold of the Sith Lord. "It's by design that the Dark Side feels so peaceful. It's the fastest way to coax you into lowering your guard so it can get in. After that...it's very difficult to resist." They said nothing, only drew closer to the Sith Lord, but he could feel their mental defenses fortifying, and grasping the Dark Side in his hands, asserting his dominion over the beasts snarling and hungry in the shadows, Obi-Wan led the way deep into the Sith Academy.

"Have you been here before, Father?" Luke asked quietly, trying to sound confident and bold, but his voice was shaking, and Obi-Wan knew that the boy was merely making conversation to distract himself from the unsettling feel of the Academy's corridors as they narrowed around them.

"Once," Obi-Wan said, the echo far less in the smaller hallways. "Not long after I fell, I suppose. Sidious took me here as a reward for surviving my trials on Mygeeto, Kursid and Shira. We didn't come _here_ , exactly, but we explored the Great Temple together. It...strengthened the bond between us, learning about the Sith Lords that preceded us from him."

"You almost sound like you miss him," Leia scoffed, and the Sith Lord slowed his pace, the others bumping into his back with the sudden reduction of his quick stride.

"I suppose there are times I do..." Obi-Wan whispered sadly, a clear twinge of pain and regret in his voice. "For a long time, Sidious was my family. When the Jedi betrayed me, when they discounted me completely, when they threw me away like I was _nothing_...Darth Sidious was there to ease the pain of my fall. Instead of falling alone, _he_ was there..." Obi-Wan sighed heavily, coming to a stop before the mouth of the hallway as it opened into a vast, cavernous room, a quick, warning tug at the Force cautioning to the others to be still when he felt them shifting restlessly behind him. "And then Sidious threw me away like the Jedi did. For the _same man_ that the Jedi abandoned me for. I warned him I would not suffer betrayal like that again, and for it, he will die. I will accept nothing less." Even though he was certain that the limited lighting prevented the others from seeing as well as him, he gestured to the open chamber before him. "What do you see?"

"Nothing, Father, it is _dark_ ," Leia drawled, earning herself a swift hiss of annoyance.

"Not with your eyes, _girl_ , your eyes will deceive you. Use your other senses, use the Force, what do they allow you to see?" Obi-Wan growled, and Vitios gently laid her hand on the Sith's shoulder.

"Spirits, Master..." the Chagrian said softly, her yellow eyes glowing faintly in the dark. "This place is infested with ghosts."

No sooner had she said so did a sudden chill send shivers up their spines, the two women and the twins drawing closer to the unaffected Sith Lord as the sudden feel of oppressive dread filled them. The thick, heavy air came alive with the whispers of ancient voices and the rising and falling cadence of chanting in the language of the Sith, it's undulating tones almost hypnotic, had the melodic voices not periodically been disrupted by screams of agony that echoed off the high ceilings and distant walls of the cavernous chamber. Spectral images passed before them, not the writhing, living shadows of smoke and flames they encountered earlier, but pale figures, translucent and glowing and completely unaware of the living beings in their domain, the wisps and wraiths merely passing by or reenacting the echoes of past horrors committed in these halls, visions of pain and suffering and torture that quietly passed through and vanished like spectres into the night from whence they came.

Luke staggered back with a strangled, horrified cry when a particularly violent spirit passed right through him, pain and hate and rage and suffering tearing through the boy as the cold mist of the specter ghosted over his skin and chilled the very core of him. Breathing deep and heavy, he pressed his hand to the wall behind him to steady himself, only to find the wall to be warm and moist and tacky, and he quickly snatched his hand back to find it smeared with blood. Swallowing hard and striking his lightsaber in his unsoiled hand, he turned to look behind him to find long lines of blood slowly seeping from the walls, and with only a moment's delay, he turned to the side and vomited on the ground.

"W-we shouldn't be here..." Luke gasped, his voice rough and raw, and Leia tightly wrapper her arms around him and soothingly stroked his back. "This is a place of overwhelming evil, _why_ did you bring us here, Father?"

"You're the one who wanted to be a part of this fight," Obi-Wan said quietly, his eyes closed and his breathing deep and even as he reached out to touch the untamed Dark Side around them, the darkness hissing and snarling as if it objected to the unwanted touch. "This fight means fighting against the Dark Side and the Sith Master that controls it. If you do not have knowledge of the depths of the darkness, if you do not know what it is you are facing when you stand against it, you cannot know how to fight it and defend against it. That's ultimately what led to the fall of the Jedi Order. They had spent so long in the light they had forgotten the feel of the dark, and when it came for them, they didn't understand until it was _far_ too late."

"This isn't anything you couldn't have taught me..." Luke muttered as Leia released her hold on him, and through the dark, he could see his Father's glowing eyes turn on him.

"I am a warm and familiar presence to you, Luke. When the Emperor or his minions come for you, you will not feel safe as you do with me. If you do not come to know the feel of true fear, it will grip you when you most need to remain calm and centered." He passed his hand before him, and with a swift gesture, he snapped his hand closed into a fist and rows of flames sprung up from a long line of grates running along the edges of the room to ignite enormous brasiers situated at the far end beside a large archway flanked by grim statues. "More than that, you cannot possibly expect me to torture my own son, can you?" Obi-Wan asked, and Luke bit his lip, his eyes cast to the ground as he shook his head, a smile on his face that he struggled to repress.

"I know this... _evil_ is your legacy, Father," Luke whispered, his nose wrinkling as he wiped the blood on his hand off on his pants. "But none the less, I am glad to have a port in this darkness where I can feel safe."

"Always, my son..." Obi-Wan muttered, laying his hand on Luke's shoulder for a moment before he turned his sights on the hall before them. "Alright, let's get moving."

It was not unlike the Great Hall that once existed within the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, Obi-Wan couldn't help but think as they slowly made their way through the massive room, the rightful dark counterpart to the magnificent splendor that was once the Jedi Order. It seemed somewhat fitting that while the Jedi were dead and gone, their Temple converted into Sidious' Imperial Palace to add further insult to their memories, to fully dominate all that had once stood as a bastian of the light, these ancient Sith Temples still endured, weathering the ravages of the ages just as the Sith themselves. Massive statues of terrifying beasts from a thousand different worlds lined the hall, standing as grim, frightening guardians of the massive halls of the academy, from the dreadful visage of the Terentatek to the ferocious Krayt Dragon, each one more terrible to behold than the next.

With the way the spirits walked freely about the halls, with the eerie echoing of the chanting and screaming and seductive whispers of Ancient Sith, with the beastly visages and the way the light from the flames reflected off walls slicked with blood or something that was distressingly like it, the academy was unsettling at best. The twins clung tightly to their father and had crushing grips on the ignited lightsabers in their hands that they knew would not help them. Even the Dark Siders kept close, hoping that the powerful influence of the Sith Lord would be enough to keep them safe in this place. Only Darth Lumis seemed unaffected by this, his stride long and confident, hie presence unwavering and fearless like he had always belonged there, like he had seen worse, _lived_ worse, and simply couldn't be bothered with ancient horrors.

"Father..." Leia whispered in a shaking voice as one of the spirits drew so close to her she could feel the spiking chill in the air. "It's not safe here. We should leave..."

"Are you having second thoughts about your commitment to learning the ways of the Dark Side?" Obi-Wan asked, peering at the girl out of the corner of his eye with an amused expression on his face. Leia laughed nervously, shivering as she drew even closer to the Sith Lord.

"The Dark Side isn't _always_ like this..." Leia muttered softly. "It's not all...all torture and blood and violence, that's what you've always said. Besides," she said, trying to sound strong and resolute and only managing to sound small, " _you_ don't us it like this."

"Don't I..." Obi-Wan growled, low and dangerous, and the girl's hand on his arm tightened. "Just because you do not see this side of me doesn't mean it doesn't exist. I've done awful things in the name of power, Leia. All this and worse in service to the Dark Side..."

"I-I don't..." Leia began, her voice catching hi her throat as the air was pierced with a tortured scream that seemed to echo high above them. "I-I want to learn, Father..." Leia squeaked, clinging tighter to the Sith Lord. "Even with all this, I want to learn the Dark Side."

"If that is your wish..." Obi-Wan said softly, inclining his head. "When you are ready, and if you fear this place, you are not yet ready to learn the ways of the Sith."

"Is this place not dangerous, Father?" Luke asked, his eyes wandering the room and taking care to keep his sights on the spirits as they materialized. "Are we not right to fear it?"

"There is nothing here to be afraid of," Obi-Wan said firmly. "All that exists here are _ghosts_ , shadows of a time long past. Their time is over. They have no power here beyond the power you give them."

"...n-nothing here can hurt us?" Luke asked, drawing up slightly and relaxing slightly, and around him, he could feel the others do the same. Beside him, the Sith Lord chuckled softly.

"All that was once here is dead, Luke. They cannot harm the living. The dead may speak to us, their words may still influence our actions, but only if we allow it." He glanced down at the children at his side when he felt their hands slide off his arm, the two standing taller, more confident than before, the touch of fear still lingering, but largely banished. "Remember, of all the horrors in this place, _we_ are the most dangerous. These are restless, lingering spirits that bitterly cling to an existence they no longer have. Nothing more."

"Dead and gone..." Leia said softly, her eyes roaming across the room to gaze at the spectral images as they phased in and out of existence, nodding curtly as she drew up and breathed deeply to clear herself of her residual tension. "There's nothing to fear in this place..." she whispered, more to her self than to anyone else.

"Even if the walls are _literally_ bleeding..." Luke muttered, shivering as he looked down at the smear pf blood on his pants.

"A little blood never hurt anyone, Luke," Leia said with a cocky grin on her face, her self-assuredness returned as she drew comfort and strength from the calm ease of the Sith Lord and the two acolytes that followed behind them. "It's probably not even actually blood!"

"That doesn't make this place any less creepy," Luke grumbled. "Let's just get what we came for so we can leave. The sooner we leave, the happier I'll be."

"Father said it's _good for you_ to be here..." Leia teased, her hands on her hips and leaning in toward her disturbed brother, her confident swagger abruptly ending when a spirit passed right through her and sent a cold shiver up her spine. "...on second thought, I wouldn't mind exposure to the Dark Side somewhere less creepy..."

"All the places strongest in the Dark Side are infested with restless spirits," Obi-Wan said as he mounted the steps at the end of the hall, his charges slowly following behind him. "Though it's true that Moraband is worse than most. Conquer your fear of this place, children, and there will be very little that will be able to unbalance you."

The twins nodded, but said nothing else as they followed the Sith Lord up the long staircase toward the massive arching doorway at the top, leading back into a room that was oppressively dark, as if the light from the brasiers that flanked the archway couldn't permeate the inky black beyond the room. It was notably colder on the elevated landing at the top of the stairs, a large, half-circular dias carves with ancient emblems of the Sith that over looked the hall lit by flames and the ethereal glow of the restless spirits. It was eerily beautiful from up here, cold and thick with darkness but nearly serene.

The air shimmered with the lingering regrets and resentments of ancient Sith who bitterly still held on to the realm of the living, too weak to fully manifest, but determined to not be forgotten. With the strength of the Dark Side and the melodic chanting that whispered through the air, it was an ideal spot for meditation, to draw closer to the Force. Even the occasional screams that split the air seemed to fit, to blend in seamlessly with the was the Force ebbed and flowed here. Even the twins, who had been so unsettled before, seemed at ease here, Luke quietly allowing the peace of the place to help him strengthen himself against the dark, while Leia took the opportunity to slowly reach for it.

"Vitios, Vehemis," the Sith Lord said quietly, and the two Dark Siders quickly moved to kneel before him, their heads bowed and lekku lazily swaying in their subservience. "You two wait out here. Guard the way. Commune with the Dark Side. Dig deep, push past your fear. I expect you to learn something from the knowledge these spirits possess."

"As you command, Master," Vehemis said, but beside her, Vitios shifted uncomfortably, the Force straining with her apprehension.

"If we lose ourselves, Master..." the Chagrian asked. "You said the spirits have no power but that which we give them. Suppose they seduce us."

"Then you are not the talent I believed you to be," Lumis said coldly. "I'll give you the courtesy of slaying you quickly." He pointed a warning finger at the nervous woman. " _Do not fail me_."

"We won't, Master," Vehemis said confidently, kneeling upon the ground and tugging the nervous Vitios to sit beside her. Without another word, Obi-Wan placed his hands on Luke and Leia's backs and gently nudged them forward to step into the darkness of the room beyond.

As they walked deeper inside, engraved writing and symbols in Ancient Sith carved into the walls began to glow deep red, casting the room in a faint, sinister light. And the air grew colder, thicker as the Dark Side became choppy and stormy, stirred to life by the mighty beasts that awakened and stirred deep within the waters. All around them, the shadows seemed to writhe and move and thrash with life, hissing and slithering around them like snakes as they were drawn toward a large, stone sarcophagus at the center of the otherwise bare room. As before when they arrived on the planet, the swirling shadows began to take shape, the haze of darkness lit by flames that sparked deep within them, and Obi-Wan stepped protectively in front of the twins as fiery eyes peered out at him from the depths of the darkness as the smoke and flames twisted and turned to form a tall, armored man, more solid than ethereal as he knew this spirit to be.

"Remember, my children..." Obi-Wan whispered to the twins as they grasped his robes with shaking hands, the frightening armored figure moving closer with long, slow strides, flames leaping from the ground with each heavy step of his armored boots. "No matter the form these specters take, they cannot harm you."

" _Are you so certain of that, Lord of the Sith?_ " the spirit asked in a light, hissing tenor that echoed in their minds as much as in their ears, a fiery lightsaber of smoke and shadows blazing in his hands. The twins ducked behind the unmoving Sith Lord when the spirit raised the blade and brought it arching down upon them, their eyes shut tight and biting back whimpers of fear when the felt biting cold and burning heat as the saber struck through them, and after a moment, the blinked open their eyes to peer around their father at the wrathful spirit, the blade burning uselessly in his hands.

"I am _certain_ ," Lumis spat, a sneer of disgust on his face. "I may learn from the past, I may have been wounded from it, but it can no longer inflict new pain upon me. This is _not_ your domain any longer, Darth Bane."

" _And for what reason have you come to my tomb, Darth...Lumis?_ " The spirit drew back and laughed, harsh and hollow, and the twins slowly crept out from behind their father to stand beside him. " _Lumis...apprenticed to no Master, and yet, your Master still lives_."

"Your Rule of Two is broken," Lumis calmly said, impassive in the face of the taunting and angry spirit. "Sidious broke it long ago when he took both me and another on as apprentices."

" _And what happened to the other_?" Bane hissed, drawing closer to the Sith Lord and slowly circling him and the nervous children. " _Your Sith...brother_ ," the spirit seemed to spit in disgust. " _Darth Tyranus_."

"I killed him."

" _The stronger slew the weaker, you destroyed your competition and proved yourself worthy of the Sith_ ," Bane said slowly, as if explaining it to a child. " _My Rule of Two endured, despite your Master's intentions. Or perhaps because of it_." The spirit chuckled softly and drew closer, his shadowy hand reaching out to touch the Sith Lord, Lumis remaining impassive and unimpressed as darkness passed right through him and embers went out on the thick dark fabric of his robes. " _And yet here you stand while Sidious yet lives to train another_."

"I was not strong enough to kill him when I broke away."

" _Then it was your right to die_ ," Bane hissed, pointing a long finger at his chest. " _You live on time that was never yours to have. Sidious should have killed you, or else his new apprentice should have_."

"I _fought_ Vader and won," Lumis growled through clenched teeth. "When he first challenged me for my position as apprentice to Sidious, and once again recently, and both times, he failed to defeat me." Bane's fiery eyes narrowed as he leaned in, his skeletal mask mere inches from Lumis' face as he looked deep inside the fearless Sith Lord, a deep growl reverberating against the armor he wore.

" _You allowed your defeated opponent to live?_ " Bane asked in disbelief. " _You left your Master an apprentice that was lesser than you? Unworthy of the Sith for his failure_."

"I did."

With a deep, angry hiss, the spirit of Darth Bane sliced his arm through the air in a wrathful gesture of dismissal and floated away from the Sith Lord to hover over his stone tomb. " _Greed and corruption plagued the Sith, made us weak, and we were destroyed_ ," Bane snarled, eying Lumis as he drew closer. " _I created the Rule of Two in order to guarantee the growth of the Sith, to see us thrive and flourish in power, each one stronger than the next. Your selfish, ignorant actions have ruined this system, have left us weaker than we should be_!"

"Did you never once consider that the same ambition and selfishness that led to your creation of the rule would once again plague the Sith?" Lumis asked, running his hand along the smooth, cool surface of Bane's tomb, the spirit hissing and sputtering in rage. "That lust for power goes hand in hand with the adherence to the Dark Side. How could you not have foreseen the possibility that one day, the Master would train an apprentice with _no_ intention of relinquishing his power."

For just a moment, the spirit was still, the flames reducing to embers, the smoke pooling in thick pools of darkness upon the tomb, the armor beginning to fade and become disjointed in the air before them. With a rush of cold wind that seemed to come impossibly from the ground beneath them, the flames were stoked and jumped to life, the darkness swirling to reform the spirit. " _You believe your Master to have failed you_?" Bane softly growled, and Lumis scoffed, his arms crossed over his chest.

"I _know_ he has. Sidious never taught me everything he knew, he withheld important and valuable knowledge so I could never grow strong enough to rise against him, and he has done this to his new apprentice as well. Sidious never believed in your Rule of Two, he believes in a Rule of One." A cold, bitter sneer marked his lips as he forced a humorless laugh. "Darth Sidious is the culmination of the Sith Imperative, he is the final result of what your Rule of Two sought to achieve. The Jedi are dead, the Force plunged into darkness, and the Sith finally rule. Why should the man that executed our final revenge crave anything other than to rule the galaxy unchallenged?"

" _And the Sith are already weaker for such_ ," Bane hissed, his fiery eyes piercing right through the twins at the Sith Lord's side. " _When Sidious meets his end, the knowledge he has not passed on will be lost, and the Sith will be diminished yet again_."

"Only if we adhere to your principles, and I have always found the failure to adapt and change so very, very _Jedi_ ," Lumis said, his voice filled with disgust and contempt he felt for the long dead Order. "Strife leads to ingenuity. We will adapt and evolve, as we always have, and even in this, we shall progress, and we shall grow stronger."

" _Which brings you to me, does it not_?" Bane asked, curious and amused as he again leaned in toward the Sith Lord. " _You come seeking the strength to kill the Master of the Sith_."

"I do."

" _And for what end_?" Bane sneered, once again turning his burning gaze to the twins at Lumis' side. " _So that you may train multiple apprentices, such as the ones you have so carelessly allowed to set foot in this sacred place? They are too weak, too young, too steeped in the light_ ," he sneered, reaching for them, only to be stopped by a swift and violent rebuke from Lumis, the man's eyes narrowed in warning as the Force hummed around him like a sharpened weapon held at the ready to banish the spirit from his presence if he so willed it. " _They are unworthy of being Sith_!"

"They are not my apprentices," Lumis said calmly. "Not yet, in any case, and while I have trained them to hone their skills, not a one of them would ever claim to be Sith. Like you, I know the value of training a singular apprentice. Dividing your attention between two only serves to weaken them both. The Jedi adopted the practice of a singular apprentice as well, and there is good reason for it."

" _So what is your end_?" Bane snapped, the embers smouldering within the roiling shadows of his body glowing brighter with his anger. " _If Sidious is the last of my line, you are the first of a new era of Sith. What shape will the Sith take under your guidance_?"

"I will restore _balance_ ," Lumis whispered, a wash of relief flooding him when he thought about his long-time goal finally achieved, and the cold bitterness that hardened within him when he remembered that his visions showed he would never achieve it. The Sith spirit was keenly attuned to the changing pulls of the Force and reached out, grasping for Lumis' mind, only to find an impenetrable fortress surrounding his presence and consciousness.

"Too often, the Sith abuse the Force, bending it to their will and fighting against the current until the Force inevitably strikes back against us," Lumis quietly explained. "The Force strives for a balance, and I mean to uphold it. My Sith Empire will work in concert with the Force itself, and by doing so, we shall never again be destroyed because it moves against us."

" _Such a thing has never existed_ ," the spirit sneered.

"And before you, it was _unthinkable_ that the Sith should number only two," Lumis shot back. "If we continue to make the same mistakes, we are doomed to fail over and over again."

" _If that were true, you would have no use of me, Darth Lumis_ ," Bane said smoothly, slowly beginning to circle the Sith Lord again. " _The Force would lead you to the victory you seek, which can only mean your precious Force has abandoned you_." The spirit chuckled low and deep when Lumis' jaw tightened and his shoulders tensed, the Dark Side thrashing and howling with rage. " _You seek to overcome the fate the Force has set before you. Show me_." The spirit reached out his shadowy hand to the Sith, and with a deep breath, Lumis closed his eyes, and opened his mind to the ghost's fierce grasp.

It was just as before. The red haze of the Sith Temple, the dark, shadowed images of Maul and Vader and Sidious, the glowing yellow of their eyes dark, the watchful eye Sidious kept on him at the moment turned away. There he lay on the ground, his body broken, his robes smoking with the effects of Force lightning, his golden eyes dull and vacant, his body living but his mind hopelessly shattered, leaving him as nothing but an empty shell, a powerful husk that Sidious could use for his own purpose. His past and his future were tied in servitude to his old Master, and Lumis felt a stab of pain deep within him to know that the Force was leading him to _this_ , not even the peace of death, but an eternity of slavery for the benefit of Sidious' reign. A swift and sudden flash of hot, searing light exploded behind his eyes, blinding him and burning the vision and the dark hands of Darth Bane from his mind with a howling, wrathful shriek of pain, and everything went black.

Lumis could feel the twins reaching out to him, their soft, gentle presence wrapping protectively around him and drawing him back to their side with a warm, comforting breeze. Slowly, his vision returned to him, shapes emerging from the shadows as his eyes adjusted, the softly glowing embers of the Force spirit distant and faint as the darkness converged around the ghost that had been blasted away and shattered by the sudden burst of light. Kneeling upon the ground, Lumis took a moment to center himself before he rose to his feet, once again shielded and his presence in the Force carefully concealed as he watched a burst of flames and a loud, echoing laugh bring Bane back into being.

" _Sidious wields your beloved Force against you, Lumis_ ," the spirit laughed with amusement and sinister glee. " _As a true Master of the Sith would, he has bent it to his purpose. The will of the Force doesn't matter in the face of one who would twist its path to suit their own purpose_."

"Which is why I am here," Lumis said, drawing up tall and commanding to face the ancient spirit. "I seek the power I need to defeat him."

" _A fool's errand_ ," Bane scoffed. " _You already have this power, and you already know what you must do to possess it. You have_ always _known_."

They were plunged into darkness as a wave of roiling shadows crashed upon them, sharp and nearly overwhelming live a ferocious pack of predators half starved and feral. Lumis could scarcely breathe and couldn't see for the rush of the currents around him, the Dark Side within this place wild and free in the domain of the powerful spirit that dwelled here, over a thousand years of corruption making the Force nearly untamable. Lumis reached out and grasped the Dark Side, the vicious beast snarling and snapping at the touch of the Sith, and he could feel pressure bearing upon him, his blood beginning to heat in his veins with fire that seared his nerves. Pain raced through him, worse than any torrent of Sith lightning Sidious ever exposed him to, but he would not relent, his hands clasped firmly to the thrashing Dark Side as he slowly, carefully wrapped chains around it.

It didn't take long before Lumis secured a firm, commanding hold on the Force, the raging beast snarling and snapping at the cage it was surrounded by, and slowly, he began to grasp tighter, the raging storm of the Force calmed with the biting chill of the Sith's touch. Rage and fury cooled to restless caution, and then to reluctant surrender as the Sith Lord brought the Force under his soothing control, and the pain in Lumis' veins abated when the dragon of the Dark Side rolled over in submission. The whipping winds died down, the crashing waves of darkness settling near the ground in a black, hazy fog, and with a smirk of satisfaction, Lumis drew up proudly for only a moment before dread dropped heavy in the pit of his stomach.

Luke and Leia were _gone_.

Hollow, amused laughter echoed around him as panic tightly gripped Lumis' chest, and he reeled around to search for the spirit of Darth Bane, the apparition vanished completely from the room, little more than glowing ashes drifting in the air and the ghostly, chilling laugh the only signs that he had been there at all.

" _Power comes at a cost, Darth Lumis_ ," Bane's voice echoed, his furiously glowing eyes darting up to look for the origin of the voice, and the harsh grating of hard stone grinding drew his gaze to the far end of the room, dust and debris falling as a hidden door slowly fell away from the archway it was guarding. " _You know well the sacrifice required to Master the Dark Side_. _Come see what it demands of you now_."

Lumis vaulted over the sarcophagus and sprinted toward the open doorway, the room beyond flickering with pale, ghostly light as blue flame ignited in torches along the walls leading into the hidden room. His heart was pounding so hard he could feel his chest ache with each rapid beat as the foreign feel of prickling cold on the back of his neck made his hair stand on edge. A persistent feel when he was a child and a Jedi, but as a Lord of the Sith, he could count on one hand the times he had felt what it was like to stand on the edges of fear, and he surely felt it now, the cruel, resounding laughter doing nothing to ease the disturbance he felt in the Force as the Dark Side swelled with predatory hunger at the sight of the Sith hunter wandering dangerously close to becoming prey.

He sprints into the room and comes skidding to a halt nearly the moment he enters, his muscles ridged, his breath held and his eyes wide as he stares at Luke and Leia, the two children he has raised since infancy, restrained to the smooth, black slabs of sacrificial alters by the unyielding pressure of the Dark Side, a circle of ghostly figures in flowing black robes of billowing shadow draped over thin, ethereal forms. Between the alters stood the spirit of Darth Bane, all smoke and blazing flames and darkness making the air, the very Force itself shimmer with power in this cruel place, and Lumis could feel sink within him the memories and the lingering regrets, not of Sith, but of _Jedi_ who had been sacrificed upon these alters to slate the thirst for blood that was demanded of the Sith. Sacrifices that he would have easily made himself, were they not his _children_ held to the alters.

" _You have always known the sacrifice you must make to defeat Darth Sidious_ ," Bane said, his echoing voice smooth and amused and so, so cruel, and Lumis found himself rooted to the spot as the spirit drew near. " _All your power, all your tremendous gifts have come to you at a heavy price. Your future as a Jedi and the family you treasured, the deaths of your lover, your son, your greatest friend, all for your rightful place among the Sith, all for the depths of the power you have come to know and master. And still you fall short_." Bane's ghostly hand lay upon Lumis' shoulder, the wisps of shadow passing through the Sith Lord's flesh as he followed the spirit's extended hand as he pointed at the twins, gasping and whimpering in terror as they futilely struggled against the cold grasp that restrained them to the sacrificial alters. " _You seek now the power to destroy Darth Sidious. You know what you must do_."

"I can't..." Lumis whispered breathlessly, his eyes fixed on the children but unable to move, and the spirit beside him grinned, the cold hands sinking into the Sith Lord's chest, and Lumis gasped, a shiver running up his spine when he felt long, cold fingers grasp his heart. "Not this, not _them_..."

" _Only them_ ," Bane hissed. " _It could only ever be them._ "

"Anyone else!" Lumis pleaded, swallowing hard and sinking to his knees with a groan as Bane reached inside his head and closed his fist around his mind, his impenetrable defenses beginning to weaken in his desperation.

" _Who else but them_?" Bane calmly asked, his hands tightening as he scratched at the cracks the straining Sith Lord was beginning to show. " _The rebels you have come to call family? The woman you ache to see? What of Mandalore, the home you can never return to?_ _Or the cloned soldier you call brother?_ " The spirit chuckled deeply, each word like a hammer to the Sith Lord's defenses. " _Devastating, yes, and you would morn their loss until your end, but it is not enough. None of your sacrifices have been willing ones, so why should this? Nothing less will allow you to grasp the power you need to alter your fate, nothing less will allow you to become what you have always meant to be_."

"My children..." Lumis muttered, closing his eyes and shaking as he felt the spirit enter his mind, felt the Dark Side he commanded strain against the chains that bound it and howl for power, and he struggled to maintain his hold, tightly grabbed hold of the wrist of the hand that had reached for his lightsaber.

" _Your children_..." Bane hissed in his ear. " _Your last ties to the man you once were that you stubbornly cling to. Slay him, Lumis. Slay them and leave your past behind you. They are a burden. A_ weakness _, the one thing standing between you and power beyond your imagination_."

"No..." Lumis said softly, his voice trembling under the strain of the Dark Side and the spirit that raked his cold, dead fingers through his mind and memories. "No, my children, the people I have loved, they have _never_ been a weakness..."

" _They have only been weakness_ ," Bane snapped, his hands tightening and sending searing pain through Lumis' mind, the tortured sounds of the Sith's screams echoing throughout the sacrificial chamber. " _Need I remind you of the fate in store for you? Must I show you where it is your weakness leads?_ "

The spirit dragged the vision to the front of his mind, the surrounding room swiftly fading away to give way to the glowing red of the Temple, the clear, vibrant visages of Maul and Vader and Sidious standing before him, so different from their shadows of before, so _real_ , and Lumis felt his chest tighten, his skin burn with the lashes of Force lightning, the searing pain of a deep lightsaber strike on his back that made his arms feel heavy and useless. His vision grew hazy, and Lumis found himself fighting for consciousness as it slowly slipped away into the Force, the cackling of Darth Sidious ringing in his ears as he was stopped, trapped by the confines of his own body, helpless to sink into oblivion and forced to watch as his own body became a tool for the Master of the Sith, an instrument of channeling the visions he saw into perfect foresight for the Emperor.

Lumis felt his body slam hard onto the ground, sharply gasping as he drew in a quick breath, the vision that had felt so real gone like it wasn't even there, though the pain the shadows of the future cast upon his body lingered. He tried to struggle to his feet, but quickly gave up when he felt the Dark Side press down against him, forcing the dazed Sith Lord to remain on the ground, his eyes fixed to his struggling and screaming children, though he lacked the strength to do anything about it.

" _It can all be avoided_ ," Bane said in his ear as his fingers wriggled deep in his mind. " _You can change your fate, it can be altered. You came here seeking strength, Darth Lumis, but it was never something anyone could give you. You must be the one to take it_."

Lumis closed his eyes, felt the cold, raw power of the Dark Side roiling and snarling and straining to be released, warming his blood and whispering soft, sweet seductions to tempt him to the power that lay just within reach if only he had the courage to grasp it. When he opened his eyes, he found the strength to rise, his focus singular and his resolve firm, even as the ground seemed to shift and sway beneath his feet, even as everything around him seemed to melt away, leaving only the alters where Luke and Leia were restrained and the cold feel of the thrumming red lightsaber in his hand.

The twins stilled as he drew near, their eyes wide and disbelieving and _so_ frightened as Lumis plunged the blade through Luke's chest, Leia shrieking in heartbroken horror as she felt her twin die, the screams lasting only for a moment before the blade stabbed into her chest as well, the plasma hissing and crackling against blood and bone and stone as the smell of burning flesh drifted through the air. Lumis shuddered when he reached into the Force and felt _nothing_ , none of the warmth of the presence he fought so hard to protect, the agonized screams of Obi-Wan Kenobi ringing in his ears as the stubborn vestiges of the Jedi and the good man he once was finally and violently died, the power coursing through him as it had never before, and Darth Lumis felt _free_.

Things moved quickly then, the academy of Moraband fading into the Imperial Palace on Coruscant, the dark, ancient halls of the Jedi now corrupted by the touch of the Sith, though none of it moved Lumis as he slowly walked through the mighty halls toward where Darth Maul stood waiting, nervous and twitching and locked in a battle with himself before the two Sith had even begun to fight. It was over quickly, the Zabrak's mind shattered with a wave of his hand, and Lumis stepped over the body as if it was nothing. Vader fell next, the final guard before the Emperor's throne room, the man pure hate and rage that had only grown over time, far stronger than he had been the last time they fought, but in the end, Lumis slew him anyway, sustaining a long, deep scar that crossed the blackened one on his chest, but he felt nothing. He was beyond pain, the sensation quickly converted into power which only made him stronger.

He was ready for Sidious this time, his first meeting with his former Master since before the Jedi fell, since before he had called himself Emperor and cut Lumis out of his rightful place within the new galactic order. And Sidious had grown _old_ , complacent in his uncontested rule, assured of his victory because of the vision that no longer bound Lumis, unbeknownst to him. The fight was long, fierce enough to wound the Force, tearing at the very fabric of it with the violence of the powers that strained the air, but Lumis was young and strong, and while Sidious fought hard to maintain the Empire he had toiled to create, Lumis fought like a man with nothing left to lose and nothing left to fear, and even Sidious fell before him.

The rest were flashes, moments stolen from the future that could be. Visions of Kanan Jarrus daring to stand against him as he stood defensive over the bodies of Zeb, Sabine and beloved Hera, of Ezra struggling with his own darkness and ultimately failing to control it in the presence of the Sith Master, of the conflicted teenager driving his green saber through Kanan's heart when the Jedi couldn't bear to raise his blade against the boy he loved. He saw his Mandalorian younglings, the Jedi saved from the Temple so very long ago twisted and corrupted by the Dark Side, their bodies physically altered at the behest of Darth Lumis to become the dangerous army of Sithspawn that enforced the new Emperor's iron will. The rebel fleet was crushed, sought out and defeated by the armies of the Sith who knew _exactly_ where to find each and every rebel base. Even brave, stalwart Ahsoka Tano, the final bastion of light in the galaxy, fell before him, struck down and destroyed when she had refused to join him.

And above it all sat Darth Lumis, the gold of his eyes gone forever to a tide of glowing blood red, high upon a mountain of the dead on throne of darkness, one with the victorious Dark Side as he watched entire planets burn and felt _nothing_.

The present slowly pieced itself together around him, the cold blue flames, the robed, chanting spirits, the blazing form of Darth Bane, the sacrificial alters laid out before him, and Lumis swayed on unsteady feet as he pushed through the haze in his mind, his hand tightening around the thrumming saber in his hand. His focus sharpened, and he found himself staring at the faces of Luke and Leia, still in their fear, their restrained hands trembling, their eyes wide as tears slipped down their cheeks to splatter on the black stone of the alters, and he felt his heart harden as distasteful resolve settled heavy in his gut.

" _Rid yourself of weakness, Darth Lumis_ ," Bane said, soft and smooth. " _You know what you must do_."

"There was never really a choice for me, was there?" Lumis asked softly, the blade clutched tightly in his hand as he saw his future before him. "I have always known what I must do, _always_..." A vicious snarl curled his lips, his golden eyes blazing with furious rage, his hand extended out before him. " _Get away from my children_!"

The Dark Side roared in fury as it obeyed the call of the Sith Lord, rushing to his command and raging around the nexus like a cyclone, the whipping winds tearing the living darkness of the spirits to pieces and throwing Darth Bane out of his mind as his iron defenses snapped shut around him, the ghost screaming in rage as the Sith Lord banished him from the realm of the living. The ancient Lord clawed at the ground, flames and embers showering from his body as it was pulled apart, the smoke dissipating and the shadows melting back into the darkness, the echoing, wrathful howls fading until there was nothing but still silence and the cold peace of the Dark Side, neither oppressive nor overbearing as it had been before, the flames burning on the torches upon the wall in soft, warm reds and oranges and yellows unlike the ghostly blue pallor of before.

Dropping his saber upon the ground, the blade deactivating with a hiss, Obi-Wan scooped the twins up into his arms, and with his back against the alter, slid to the ground, the twins tightly clinging to him and sobbing openly into the soft black robes over his chest. Calming his own pounding heart, he held them close, the Dark Side wrapping protectively around them, and he could feel them in the Force reach out with their own warms hands and permeate deep within him, loving and infinitely grateful and comforting him despite their own distress.

"W-we saw everything, Father," Luke said between choked sobs. "I-I thought..." He stopped, pressing his face against the Sith Lord's shoulder. "I felt your struggle, I _saw_..." Luke shook his head and gripped tighter to his Father. "I _knew_ you would never hurt us...I knew it, even in all this darkness there is light in you..."

"You could have had it all..." Leia said blankly, her voice confused and distant. "The solution to your problems, you could have _changed_ your fate, ended the rebellion before it began..."

"None of that, _none of it_ is worth a thing without you two..." Obi-Wan muttered, gently kissing both their foreheads. "I swore to protect you. With my dying breath, I _will_ protect you..."

" _Master_!" Obi-Wan's eyes flicked up to see Vitios and Vehemis sprinting toward him, panicked and out of breath, and he tightly held the twins closer. "Master, we heard screaming, is everything alright?" the Chagrian asked, quickly kneeling beside the Sith and his family while the Twi'lek stood before them and surveyed the area, her saber ignited and clutched tightly in her hands.

"We got here as soon as we could, but we couldn't cut our way through," Vehemis said through grit teeth.

"I told you, your sabers will be of little use to you here..." Obi-Wan said, pulling the twins up with him as he stood and carefully smoothing back their disheveled hair, a faint smile on his lips as the sniffling children tried and failed to wave away their fussing parent. "Is anything out there?"

"No, Master," Vitios quickly dismissed. "Even the spirits are gone. We came running because of _you_ , not because of anything happening out here."

"There were...embers on the tomb back there," Vehemis said, her brow drawing together and her lekku squirming in agitation. "Burned trails on the ground and scorch marks upon the walls. We thought perhaps something had been there, but when we looked again..." She shrugged. "It was nothing but ash."

"Sounds like nothing," the Sith Lord said, the slightest hint of amusement in his voice that his acolytes didn't understand. "Or at the very least, something that had gone out long ago."

"That is what we sought to find here, was it not?" Vitios asked, and the Sith Lord fell silent, his hands resting on Luke and Leia's shoulders as he gently nudged them toward the way out.

"...I suppose it was."

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Vehemis asked as she fell in behind the Sith, and Obi-Wan took a long, deep breath.

"I did not..." he said softly, his voice distant as he gazed at the ground. "I found something else, though. Not the thing I wanted, but what I needed."

"...and what's that?" Vehemis asked, looking to Vitios for answers, but the Chagrian simply shrugged.

"Resolve..." Obi-Wan whispered, his hands tightening on the twins' shoulders. "I'm sick of this place," he growled, his stride lengthening in his haste to leave. "Let's not waste another moment here." They quickly followed, the Twi'lek and the Chagrian reporting to the Sith about what they had learned from the spirits, and as Obi-Wan closed his eyes, all he could see was the vision of his defeat and the echo of Sidious' laughter ringing in his ears. If that was what it took to protect Luke and Leia, if that was the sacrifice the Force demanded for their safety, he would gladly pay the price, and he took comfort in that, for once, it was a sacrifice he chose to make.


	51. Homecoming

**AN:** **HOLY SHIT.**

 **Guys, this chapter took longer because it's basically two chapters in one. Really, it's the longest one yet. Some things happened in it I wasn't anticipating and...well, you know how it is. From this point on, I'm rushing headlong into our act two finale, I have the next...four or five chapters planned out exactly, and all other projects are on hold until these are done because I've been wanting to write these chapters for a LONG time. Don't expect lightning fast updates, since the chapters are going to be long, but trust me, I'll be working on it.**

 **Let me know what you think, kids! Character development here, lots and lots of it!**

 _Chapter 51: Homecoming_

There was something off about Kenobi. Something that had changed in the short time he had been gone, and Ezra couldn't quite put his finger on what that something was. He had mentioned it to Kanan, and the Jedi was quick to brush it off, told him that Obi-Wan simply had his hands full with the training of his two former Inquisitors and the education and integration of the Gemini into the greater rebellion, but it was clear that Kanan had seen the same thing Ezra did. Obi-Wan was _distracted_ , the strain of almost frantic desperation undercutting his every action, his every mission, the very feel of him as he restlessly stalked and paced during their strategy meetings.

Ezra had only really seen Kenobi in passing, not long enough to ask the Sith Lord if he could spare the time for some training, which the teenager was using as an excuse to have a chance at discovering the source of his troubles. So after the _Ghost_ 's last mission to secure desperately needed fuel from an Imperial depot, a mission where Ezra had made _massive_ strides in his own powers and discovered, perhaps, the heart of where his talents lay, he had the reason he needed to seek out his Dark Side teacher and show what he had learned from the Purrgil. Massive, deep-space creatures that had a natural ability to fly through hyperspace, the Purrgil were considered dangerous by most because of their propensity for flying directly into ships in the hyperspace lanes, resulting in enough deaths to cause most pilots to fire upon them on sight.

When the creatures showed up in a massive swarm near the Imperial Depot where the Spectres were stealing their fuel, their presence was enough to distract Ezra from the mission entirely, his attention drawn to the soft, gentle pull of the Force calling him toward the lumbering Purrgil. It was enough to put his life in danger, enough to make him an easy target, and when his life was in danger, the Purrgil inexplicably saved him, and the teenager formed a deep, almost instant connection with the creatures, giving him an almost perfect understanding of them, even though they could not openly communicate. They understood each other on a deeper level, and in the end, it was Ezra's connection, the gentle harmony between him and the swarm of creatures most considered a menace, that allowed them to be as successful as they were.

When the _Ghost_ landed on Dagobah to meet with Kenobi after their separate missions Ezra immediately bounded out of the ship in search of the Sith Lord only to be stopped by Cody, the clone adamant that Obi-Wan was in communion with the Force deep inside a cave where the Dark Side was strong, a cold nexus strong enough to even mask the powerful presence of the tiny Jedi Grandmaster that lived in isolation within the swamps. With a defeated sigh, Ezra dragged his feet across the damp, loamy ground, resolved to ask Kanan to train with him instead when he caught sight of someone he had been itching to get to know better ever since he first saw him fly.

The _Gemini_ Agents.

Or, at least one of them. The boy, Luke, he recalled from their brief, _rushed_ introduction on Lothal, was clad in highly valued armor of blue and gold, his helmet resting on the wing of his starfighter, a black X-Wing accented with lines of bright green running along the ship's length, his golden blond hair in a state of slight disarray as he quietly tended to Kenobi's massive rancor. Ezra could feel himself grinning, and before he knew it, he was stomping toward the blond boy, the opportunity to get to know the young talent too good to pass up, to say nothing of the excitement he felt for getting a chance to spent time with another boy roughly his age. The chance he had before, the few days spent in _Phoenix Home_ after their successful theft of the Hammerhead Corvettes, he had only seen Luke in passing, despite his best efforts, and always in the presence of Obi-Wan, which didn't give Ezra the freedom he wanted to talk with the young pilot. But _now_...

"Hey, Luke!" Ezra called, the boy swiftly turning to face him and holding his hands behind his back as if he were hiding something, and Ezra couldn't keep himself from laughing. He wasn't _sure_ what the relationship between Luke and Kenobi was, but he couldn't even begin to imagine what it was like for this quiet, skittish boy to work beside the commanding, frightening Lord of the Sith. With a deep breath, Luke smiled softly, his shoulders relaxing as the other teenager drew closer, his hands returning to the rancor and dragging the rag in his grasp over it's horns to polish them.

"Hello, Ezra..." Luke said softly, almost shy, his eyes averted while he worked, and he sighed heavily when the rancor snarled, rolled on to his belly, and pushed up to sit upon his strong hind legs when Ezra drew too near.

"What're you doing? Ezra asked in a singsong voice, beaming when Luke glanced up at him with a look that said it should have been _obvious_ what he was doing, but he was too polite to speak his irritation out loud.

"Trying to tend to Yoda..." Luke mumbled, stroking the rancor on the flank in an attempt to soothe him, but the beast was having nothing of it. "It's one of the things the Shadow King demanded of Leia and I as part of the terms for being allowed to travel with him, but apparently Yoda wasn't consulted on the matter because he's being _fussy_."

"Oh yeah?" Ezra asked, his head tilted at he observed the frustrated boy. "So...where is she?"

"...Leia's a bit wilder than me," Luke mumbled, though he couldn't keep the slight smile of his face. "She's no doubt thought of some clever way to avoid working. She's probably taking advantage of being here on Dagoba to _misinterpret_ our directions and sneak some training time in with _the_ Yoda." Luke laughed, a strange mixture of bitter and amused. " _Whaaaaat_?!" he said, his voice a high-pitched mockery of Leia's. "I'm _so_ sorry! I thought you meant Yoda the _Jedi_ , not Yoda the _rancor_. My mistake, it won't happen again!" He paused, the mocking amusement dropping from his face to leave a slight, displeased scowl on his lips. "And then it will happen again..." he drawled, and Ezra couldn't help but laugh.

"Sounds like something I would do..." Ezra said with a cocky smirk. "Sounds like little miss princess and I have something in common. Hey! Do you-"

"Don't even think about it," Luke snapped tiredly, like he had done this a hundred times before and was sick of it, shaking the rag in his hand admonishingly at Ezra. "You might think yourself a rebel, or a bad boy or _whatever_ , but you aren't even _close_ to the sort of scoundrels my sister is attracted to."

"N-no!" Ezra gasped, his face flushing a deep red as he desperately tried to backpedal. "I didn't mean...I mean, I was going to ask..." He sighed heavily, his fingers threading through his hair and averting his gaze when Luke's eyebrow arched skeptically. "I got distracted. What I _meant_ to say was...do you need any help?"

Luke sighed, his shoulders slumping slightly. "Yeah, that'd be great..." he muttered quietly, the shyest smile touching his lips for just a moment before he looked up at tense, snarling Yoda and _frowned_. "If we can even get him to cooperate, he's been fussy and difficult since we returned from Moraband."

"Why?" Ezra asked, his hands held before him as he approached the rancor slowly as if to calm him, the bearing of the creature's teeth a good indication that it wasn't working. "Was the mission that bad? I asked Kanan about it, but he just said Moraband is a place where a Jedi should never, _ever_ go and wouldn't say anything else."

"He's right..." Luke muttered absently, his gaze seeming to drift somewhere far away as he stared out into the swamp. "Your Master sounds wise. I hope I may learn something from him one day..."

"You have the Force?" Ezra asked slowly, _gently_ as though the question may turn the already quiet, mysterious boy away from talking to him at all. He knew that having the Force was something of a death sentence these days, but he had assumed, perhaps wrongly, that having the gift as well could help him open up, but Luke said nothing, only appeared more distant than before. _Of course_ he was wary. Ezra could have kicked himself for asking. "Kanan said you might be," Ezra muttered in explanation, trying to recover the groung he had thought he lost with the other teen. "I never felt anything to suggest it, but-"

"He's right," Luke said, his voice flat and distant before he snapped back to attention with a soft gasp, his eyes flicking to Ezra for a moment and smiling gently before he returned to staring at the ground, the rag wringing in his hands. "Most people can't feel our connection. Our Father-" Luke stopped suddenly, his eyes wide with surprise as his gaze darted up to look at Ezra. He chewed on his bottom lip, a crease forming on his brow as he thought and observed the obviously confused Spectre, and with a heavy sigh, Luke hung his head, his cheeks flushed pink with embarrassment. "Our Father taught us how to make ourselves nearly invisible in the Force. I'm...not so good at it as Leia is. She's always been more cunning than me, I suppose..."

"Obi-Wan?" Ezra asked, and Luke winced at the mention of the name. "Your Father is _Obi-Wan_?"

"...I've never been much for lying either..." Luke grumbled. "Yet another talent Leia possesses that I do not, it's no wonder she's taken to politics so well..." A slight, resigned smile passed over Luke's lips when he saw how wide Ezra was beaming. "Yes...I'm Luke Kenobi. Obi-Wan is my Father."

"That's _so cool_!" Ezra nearly shouted, yelping and jumping back when the rancor barked a vicious warning and swiped at him with a large, dangerous claw. "Does that make you a Prince?" Ezra asked, much quieter than before, nervously eying the snarling rancor.

"N-no, our situation is...complicated," Luke muttered, his hand out to calm the rancor, but Yoda was having none of it. With a confident smile, Ezra stood beside Luke, his hand extended before him and his eyes closed in focus. He could feel the rancor in the Force, a tight and trembling ball of tension and rage deeply corrupted by the Dark Side, and when he reached out to it, it drew back, hissing in rage, and feeling the dark thrum that ran through the creature, Ezra tapped into his own darkness, his secret feelings of anger, selfishness, fear and loneliness held deep and safe within him. He could feel the rancor's attention drawn toward him, the massive, dark eyes staring intently at him with interest and understanding. Slowly, _slowly_ , the rancor lowered himself to the ground, laying upon his belly, and with a deep, reverberating groan, the beast rolled on to his side.

Ezra flashed a bright grin when he saw Luke, slack-jawed, wide eyed and deeply impressed, running a hand through his ruffled hair and slowly approaching the rancor, and the beast didn't budge when he laid his hand upon his head, its breathing deep and even in its relaxation. "You have a gift, Ezra," Luke said softly as he returned to polishing Yoda's horns. "It's little wonder Father has taken an interest in you."

"Has he?" Ezra asked with a laugh. "You wouldn't know it with how hard he is on me, nothing I ever do is good enough for him."

"He sees your potential," Luke said, a smile on his lips as he ran his hands over the sweeping horns on the rancor's head, feeling for rough spots that still needed attention. "If he did not take a keen interest in your progress..." He shrugged. "He simply wouldn't care. Father doesn't waste his time on things he believes are unworthy of his attention, and in your case, it's obvious what he sees." When Ezra didn't answer, Luke sighed and gestured to the other teen. "You have a talent for understanding creatures beyond the comprehension of most others. The way you connected with the rancor... _nobody_ does that, he's been bound to Father since before I was born." He frowned slightly. "Did Father teach you?"

"No," Ezra said swiftly. "I learned about opening myself up and connecting with others from Kanan, but on my last mission..." Ezra took a deep breath and shook his head slightly, a smile on his lips as he thought about his time with the Purrgil. "I don't know. There was a creature there, the biggest I've ever seen, a whole swarm of them. They... _spoke_ to me. I can't explain it."

"You opened yourself up to them, and you came to understand them," Luke said, smiling brightly and his voice filled with wonder. "My Father...he controls beasts as well, but it is harsh, commanding. He demands submission and obedience, he overrides their desires, their needs, their will and supplants his own in its place. His is a brutal command, but _you_..." Luke closed his eyes and breathed deeply as he felt at the Force. "Yours is a mutual connection. You open yourself to them and they respond in kind. It's harmony, and it's _beautiful_."

"I-it's not _that_ impressive..." Ezra whispered modestly, his face burning fiercely, and he found he couldn't look at the other boy when he turned gentle eyes on him.

"It is," Luke gently insisted. "This galaxy is dark enough. We could stand to have a bit more light."

Ezra _tried_ to find something to say to that, but no matter how valiant his attempts, he only found himself tripping over his tongue like some idiot as he watched the blond teen and his relaxed smile as he dutifully and carefully tended his Father's rancor. He couldn't comprehend how this boy, this son of a Lord of the Sith, could be so firmly rooted in the Light and allowed to remain so. He wanted to learn _everything_ about how this Not Prince came to live in harmony beside a Sith, how he fit in with the unquestionably odd family he was a part of, what had led him here to them, _everything_...

Ezra wasn't sure why. He just felt it was important.

But instead of any of the hundreds of deep, meaningful, profound questions Ezra had, all he managed to stammer was, "Why's the rancor named Yoda?" He tightened his fist to keep himself from slapping himself in the face, though Luke's face seemed to light up as he tenderly stroked the rancor's head.

"That was before I was born," Luke said, a light laugh lining his words. "Knowing Father, it was most likely a mockery of the Jedi, but Master Yoda certainly didn't take it that way. He _loves_ this rancor." Luke's eyes roved over the tense, uncomfortable boy, and he smiled sympathetically when he felt how awkward the other teen had suddenly become. Leaning against the rancor and putting aside his work for the time being, he decided to save Ezra any further embarrassment and quietly asked, "How long have you been training to use the Force? You are considerably skilled, so either a very long time, or you are just uniquely talented." The intention had been to make the boy _less_ uncomfortable, but the beat red shade of Ezra's face suggested he'd done quite the opposite, though Luke couldn't find it in himself to regret it. At the very least, the tense silence had been broken.

"You're just trying to flatter me or something..." Ezra muttered, his voice a bit too tense and high pitched, and he had to clear his throat to make himself feel like less of a fool. "Kanan found me when I was fifteen, so two years, I guess. I started working with Kenobi about a year ago."

"So you're just talented," Luke said with a wry smirk, watching with extreme amusement as Ezra practically squirmed where he stood. He would have felt bad about teasing the other boy, it was, after all, exactly the sort of thing he regularly admonished his cunning, manipulative twin for, but Luke found himself to be actually enjoying watching the other boy grow flushed and flustered. It was little wonder Leia did it so often.

"I'm _not_ -" Ezra started, exhaling sharply, not in annoyance, but in embarrassed frustration. "Look, I don't know what I am, but if Kenobi is to be believed, I'm a hopeless case." He locked eyes with his amused interrogator, eager to change the focus of the conversation, since he was worried about changing the subject to something as completely vapid as the one he had stupidly sputtered before. "What about you? You're his son, right? You must have been training your whole life, but I've known Kenobi for two years, and I've only ever seen you once, and that was from a distance."

"As I said, my living arrangement has been complicated," Luke said with a shrug as he brushed the light dusting from the rancor's horns off the fine, elegant armor he wore. "But yes, I have been training all my life. If not with Father, than with several other teachers. Master Yoda, Ahsoka, Qui-Gon, some of the particularly talented of the Jedi Father saved. They've all had a hand in my education."

"So you must be _very_ good," Ezra said, trying to sound sly and teasing as the other boy had been, but he only managed to come across as awed and impressed. Luke simply shrugged and smiled modestly.

"Not so good as my sister, and I am as nothing next to my Father, but he says the path I am on is...slower. More patient and gentle than the path he and Leia walk upon. My progress takes time, but it is no less worthy."

"...but he's _Sith_ ," Ezra said, his brow drawing together in confusion. "Doesn't he urge you to use the Dark Side like him?"

"Father has never pushed me or Leia toward the darkness," Luke almost whispered, looking up into the sky and absently scratching around the softly growling rancor's tiny ear. "He taught us the Force, taught us how to feel it, touch it, move it, taught us about the light and the dark and everything in between. He armed us with knowledge so that we may forge our own path. Leia chose to follow him. I did not."

"That's...not what I expected from him," Ezra said, drawing closer to the other boy. "Kanan said the Sith-"

"The Jedi had a very limited understanding of the Sith, and they died for it," Luke quickly cut in. "No two Sith are alike, just as there were differing views among the Jedi. Just as you and I cannot possibly see eye to eye on all matters. Our experiences inform our opinions, our beliefs, our actions, and no two being has experienced life in the same way." Luke closed his eye and took a deep breath, felt the sudden tension in his shoulders release. "My Father is not Darth Sidious, nor any one of his Sith apprentices. He should not be held too the standard they have set."

"I-I'm sorry..." Ezra muttered. "I didn't mean to insult your Father. I _like_ Obi-Wan, I didn't mean to make it seem-"

"No, no, you've nothing to apologize for..." Luke said with a heavy sigh. "I'm the one who should be sorry. I didn't mean to..." He huffed in irritation, his fingers raking through his hair. "My Father doesn't need defending, but I...can't seem to help myself, not after..." Luke stopped, was still for a moment, and slowly shook his head. "It isn't important. Yes, my Father let me choose my own path. The way of the Dark Side is filled with pain and loss and loneliness. Power and pleasure as well, it could not be so seductive if it weren't, but there is always a cost, and that cost is high. All must eventually pay for it, and it is not a path my Father would ever impose upon anyone, having suffered for it himself."

"I understand..." Ezra said quietly, returning Luke's shy, modest smile. "But you didn't answer the question. Are you _good_?" For just a moment, Luke's eyes widened, his focus darting back and forth between some unseen objets for a moment before he drew up to his full height, which was not terribly tall, his chest swelling ever so slightly with pride, though he never seemed to appear cocky or arrogant. No, his pride looked _earned_.

"I am still a student and will remain so for a long time yet," Luke said confidently. "But, if I must say so, I am _quite_ skilled with a lightsaber. I'd be more than happy to train with you at a later date and show you what I know."

"I would _love_ that."

For just a moment, the swamp felt still, peaceful, _silent_ , not the awkward sort that had hung above them earlier, but something serene and comfortable that made Ezra feel as though he had always know Luke, like they were old friends who had never been separated, and in that moment, he could feel _something_ , something strong and bright and powerful that lived secretly tucked away inside the other teenager. Luke was _powerful_ , more than Ezra knew, and he only just had a glimpse of it now.

The moment was _ruined_ when Leia came bounding into their area, sliding under Luke's X-Wing and skidding to a stop between them. She leapt up quickly, snatched the rag from Luke's hands, and grabbed hold of one of the rancor's horns to swing up upon its head, where she immediately set to swiftly polishing the ivory horn.

" _Shhhh_!" she hissed when the two teenage boys looked at her curiously. "I've been here helping the _whole time_!" When Luke arched an eyebrow and calked his hip, the girl only glared at him and defiantly scrubbed at the horn faster. " _Father's coming_!" she hissed to her unmoved brother, and Luke simply rolled his eyes.

"If you had been here helping earlier, Father being here wouldn't send you into a panic," Luke lazily drawled. "I'm not covering for you."

"Luke, _please_!"

"No," he said firmly. "Not again, not anymore."

Leia glared at him, raised her hand, and passed it in the air before her. "You _will_ tell Father I was here," she said in a flat, commanding monotone, and Luke simply barked a harsh laugh, much to his sister's disapproving stare.

"Are you trying to _mind trick me_?" Luke scoffed. "Give it up, Leia, you aren't Father."

"Not yet..." she muttered under her breath, her gaze slowly drifting toward Ezra, and a slow, wicked grin spread across her face. "Oh, _hello_ , Ezra..."

"Oh, _no_!" Luke said firmly between clenched teeth. "No, you do _not_ get to corrupt Ezra with your...with your _mind magic_!"

"I wasn't _going to_ , Luke!" Leia snapped back with her hands firmly upon her hips. "I was going to _seduce him_ , it's different, but since you're _so worried_ about your _boyfriend_ , Luke, I'll be nice!" When Luke flushed a bright shade of red and sputtered incoherently, a sly, triumphant grin spread across Leia's clever face. "But if you tell Father I'm not helping, _I'm_ going to tell him how strong, _handsome_ Spectre Six has your heart _fluttering_."

"It is _nothing like that_!" Luke shouted, though his voice was muffled by the hands that covered his face to hide the flush on his pale skin. "Father would _never_ believe you!" There was a brief pause, Luke staring intently at his sister through his fingers. " _Fine_!" he snapped in resignation. "Fine, Leia, _you win_..."

Before Leia could begin gloating and mercilessly teasing her brother and the stunned, _confused_ Ezra, a loud, furious scream echoed across the swamp, the avians in the trees taking to the air in fright and the rancor swiftly rising to his sit on his haunches, knocking Leia off of him with an inelegant squeak. The rancor's head swivelled, its nose working at the air to discern anything unusual in the area as thick lines of viscous drool dripped from its jagged fangs. The massive claws began pawing at the soft earth as Yoda barked, short and loud, and his stubby tail began wagging ferociously as he set his eyes on the _Ghost_ and the Sith Lord that walked off the boarding ramp, hands in his pockets and whistling happily.

Behind Obi-Wan, held by the legs with the Force and dragged upon the ground, was Kanan Jarrus, bare chested and in a considerable state of disarray, shouting for Kenobi to stop as his fingers dug deep furrows into the swampy ground, futile efforts since the Sith Lord showed no indication of stopping or letting him go. The teenagers stood beside the rancor, staring slack-jawed at the two men and trying to decied if it was wise to intervene on poor Kanan's behalf, since it was very likely that the unassuming Jedi hadn't done anything to deserve treatment like this, though in the end, they collectively decided that it was safer to stay out of the way.

" _Damn it, Kenobi, let me go_!" Kanan snapped over his shoulder at the Sith, the expression on his face furious, and a moment later he was granted his wish when, with a wide, sweeping gesture of his hand, Obi-Wan sent Kanan flying up into the air, only to come crashing down in the middle of one of the swamp's many murky lakes. The Jedi emerged in a flurry of splashing and sputtering as he swiftly made his way back to land, hopelessly drenched in the swamp's grimy water and looking like a Loth-cat caught in a rainstorm, and no less angry than one.

" _Well_ ," Obi-Wan drawled, gazing at the Jedi's frustrated visage with a look of infinite amusement. "I do think that's enough fun for one day. Don't you?"

"Do you have _any idea_ how difficult it is for Hear and I to have a moment alone?!" Kanan snapped, his voice high and tense with borderline mania. "Between the missions and the kids and the _kriffing Empire_ , we are lucky to find ourselves even a _moment_ alone!" He was silent for a moment, his breathing little more than heavy panting, and despite his best attempts, he couldn't find it in him to take the calming breaths he needed. "I _need this_ , Kenobi..." Kanan growled between clenched teeth as he drew closer to the amused Sith. " _Months_ of close quarters and _moments_ between us and finding a minute to slip away only to be _interrupted_..."

"Oh no!" Obi-Wan gasped, dramatically laying his hands on his cheeks. "That is _awful_!"

" _It's because of you_!" Kanan shouted as he stepped up to the Sith Lord and loomed over him. "You know, it's not just me that's suffering! Hera needs this too! _You're pissing off Hera, Kenobi_! Do you _really_ want to be on that woman's bad side?!"

"Sith Hells, Kanan, you're _so_ uptight!" Obi-Wan chided, smacking the man on his bare chest. "Sounds to me like you need to get laid."

" _I'm kriffing trying to_!"

"And since you're _not_ , I think it's time to get back to work," Hera said as she came out of the _Ghost_ and purposefully strode toward the two men, setting a small holoprojector on the ground and activating it as she thrust Kanan's hastily discarded shirt and armor against his chest. For as flustered and disheveled as Kanan was Hera was equally cool and collected, the very image of calm and composure, as if she and her lover hadn't had their impassioned embrace disrupted by a vengeful and malicious Lord of the Sith, and Obi-Wan couldn't help but think that had Hera the gift of the Force, she would have been an ideal Jedi for how quickly she could set aside her emotions to focus on something larger than herself.

"Our last transport run ended badly," Hera said quietly, her fingers flicking across her datapad as she pulled up the relevant information to be displayed in the holographic field. "We managed to get the cargo we were after, but Imperial pursuit made sure we suffered heavy losses for it. Six starfighters and their pilots are gone, and Fulcrum repots more losses everyday. We're losing more starfighters and pilots than we can reasonably replace. Phoenix Squadron is rapidly shrinking." She sighed heavily as she watched the others of her team and the crew aboard the _Umbra_ slowly drift toward them from where they had been training or practicing or simply relaxing around the clearing in the swamp to stand in a wide circle around her, Kanan, and Obi-Wan. "We need a base."

"Maybe we'd have one of _Kenobi_ didn't spend all his free time waiting to drag me off on impromptu training sessions the _moment_ I had a second to myself..." Kanan muttered bitterly, and the Sith Lords simply grinned, his hands folding behind his back as he rocked on his heels.

"Yes, well, those moments _aren't_ spent by yourself, and that's rather the point, isn't it?"

" _I said I was sorry_! How was I supposed to know that you and _Moff Bo-Katan_ were getting ready to-"

"Boys, _please_ ," Hera quickly cut in, silencing her lover with a swift glare, which was enough to keep the others gathered from getting as distracted as the Jedi and the Sith Lord. "All of this can be discussed when we aren't busy trying to save this rebellion! We need a base, which I _understand_ is a difficult thing to find!" she said pointedly when it appeared as though Obi-Wan would speak. "Fulcrum received your suggestions, Kenobi, and I thank you for your efforts, which have been...surprisingly helpful this past week." She looked at him skeptically, waiting for the Sith to say something, but he remained silent. "None of them have panned out, but we'll keep looking."

"We have a list of possible bases, and we can't use _any_ of them?" Kanan asked. "Not even temporarily?"

"It doesn't solve our immediate problem," Hera quickly dismissed. "If the Empire finds us, be it in space or in a temporary location, we _still_ have to run, and our forces are scattered. It makes them easy to pick off." She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, steeling the nerves that were making her lekku gently squirm. "We need a carrier ship to consolidate our forces. One that's large enough to have the shields to protect us long enough to get to hyperspace."

"You can't just _get_ a ship like that," Leia said, and every eye turned to the commanding young Princess. Ezra slowly backed away from her to stand closer to Luke, who was shaking his head in dismay. "Not too long ago, you needed ships, and Alderaan sent you what we could spare. Ships the size you're looking for just aren't something we have access too, and even if they were, they're not exactly easy to hide. Ships like that go missing and people notice."

"I am aware of the difficulties involved, Princess," Hera said, respectful and calm. "But I wasn't planning on _asking_ for these ships." Silence hung heavy around them as they each came to understand what the daring pilot was suggesting, but it was Luke that finally gave voice to what everyone was thinking.

"You want to _steal_ the ships?" Luke gasped. "From who, the Empire? _How_. A ship the size you're talking about is-"

"No trouble at all for the galaxy's greatest ship thief," Hera finished, her eyes drifting slowly to look at the Sith Lord, who didn't appear to be paying attention at all before her gaze flicked back to the teenager. "Or have you forgotten that your Father's speciality is commandeering ships from their captains?" There was a brief moment of shock and discomfort from the twins as all eyes fell upon them, including Kenobi's hard, searching stare, and Hera scoffed with irritation. She had no time for this. "Oh, _stop it_ , how long are we going to pretend? We're all a family here, so get over yourselves. We all have secrets, but this shouldn't be one of them."

Before any of them, the sputtering twins or the tight-jawed Sith Lord had a chance to respond, Hera threw the image of a large ship from her datapad into the holoprojection. The ship was a massive, triangular construction, not the long, sharp knife blade of the Imperial Star Destroyer, but a much broader ship, more cumbersome, to be sure, and not nearly so long, with four separate hangar bays in a long row beneath the ship for quick deployment of their fighters, should the need arise. It wasn't an ideal ship for combat, but it was perfect for their needs, and could serve nicely as a temporary mobile base until they found something more permanent.

"This is Quasar Fire-class carrier-cruiser," Hera said, pointing to the ship in the projection. "This particular ship is current in orbit over Ryloth, and _we're_ going to steal it."

"Why?" Obi-Wan asked, crossing his arms over his chest and meeting Hera's gaze when she glared at him. "Ryloth is a heavily occupied Imperial territory. If you're going to steal from the Ryloth blockade, why not go big and go for one of the Star Destroyers they have in orbit?"

"Because that's _insane_ ," Hera drawled and was met with a quick, dismissive scoff.

"No more insane than stealing a Quasar cruiser. They're both big ships, I _think_ they're going to notice it's being stolen." Obi-Wan shrugged almost indifferently. "So why not just upgrade and go for the Destroyer? It's a bigger ship with just as much space to carry starfighters with the additional benefits of greater speed and firepower. It's not like I _haven't_ stolen a Star Destroyer before."

"He has..." Kanan said flatly. "In one of the first battles of the Clone Wars, and he _continued_ to steal ships throughout the war. It was a serious problem, we had to take all kinds of precautions when we deployed for the surface, but we always knew it was never enough."

"What stopped you from stealing more?" Ezra asked, the Sith Lord looking at him out of the corner of his eye. "What's stopping you from stealing them now?"

"Before, it was my Master," Obi-Wan quietly replied, his eyes drifting to look at Cody and Rex, the two clones standing close together at the edge of the circle. "Don't forget that the Clone Wars was the product of Sidious' machinations. There was only ever one side in that conflict, and he often had to hold me back. The Jedi were fair game, but when it came to winning battles, we had very strict directives when we could and could not be involved." He waved his hand dismissively. "Now, it's a matter of discretion, and Bail Organa has been very diligent about keeping my activities at a minimum. There is no rebellion if the Empire destroys it before it begins, and we never had the numbers or the need for ships of that size or magnitude." Obi-Wan tapped his finger against his chin. "But we have need of it now, and soon enough, there will be no reason for me to hold back..."

"I'm not sure we could use a Star Destroyer even now, Kenobi," Hera said with a shake of her head. "We just don't have the personnel to staff a ship that large."

"We won't need it," the Sith Lord growled softly. "Give me a few days, Captain Syndulla, and every Imperial on that ship will be committed to our cause..."

"You said you wouldn't keep slaves anymore, Obi-Wan..." Kanan softly warned as he and several others shifted uncomfortably where they stood. "You cannot make slaves of every Imperial on that ship, there are _thousands_ of men and woman aboard."

"Who said anything about slaves?" the Sith said, smooth and even and chilling despite the lightness of his tone. "Slaves are ultimately useless, mind broken fools capable of _so_ little. I merely aim to make them understand my purpose, and when they see, they will join my cause."

"We'll...continue to discuss this," Hera said after a moment of careful consideration, throwing up an image of the Star Destroyer over Ryloth next to the Quasar cruiser. "Do we have any questions? This plan is still in the making and nothing is set yet, so if anyone has anything helpful to add, now would be the time." There was a soft cascade of muttering, though nobody seemed to have anything else to add. Nodding her approval, Hera shut off her datapad, the hologram going dark with the loss of input. "Very well. We'll be departing in the next few hours after we assess our resources and solidify the plan. Make your necessary preparations." Immediately, they began to drift away, muttering quickly to each other with offers to train or to check their gear or run ship maintenance, or in the case of Ezra and Luke, quickly parting to avoid the immediate, relentless teasing of his twin sister.

"Kanan, Kenobi," Hera said quickly, and the Jedi and the Sith stopped and turned to regard the pilot. "A word in private, if you will." They didn't respond, only nodded as they fell in step behind the woman and followed her across the clearing and up the ramp into the _Ghost_ and stayed silent until she pushed them into her room and locked the door behind her.

"Is this _finally_ going to happen?" Obi-Wan asked, his eyebrow quirked and a sly, cocky grin sliding across his lips when Kanan buried his face in his hands and muttered curses under his breath. "Have I finally wore the indomitable captain down?" He laughed softly when a tense smile curled the edge of the Twi'lek's lips. "I knew it was only a matter of time before you and I became lovers."

"Well, you _do_ know best, my Lord..." Hera drawled, stepping closer to the Sith, the cocky, teasing expression dropped in favor of stunned shock, a look that Kanan echoed when she ran a light, suggestive hand down Obi-Wan's chest. He swallowed hard when the hand drifted lower, a barely audible whimper in his throat when the beautiful woman's hand traced a slow circle around the crotch of his pants before she flashed the Sith a wicked grin and gripped him _hard_ through the soft, black fabric. Obi-Wan's eyes widened in pain, his breath held as he swallowed a hard gasp as he stared at the devilish woman who _literally_ had him by the balls. Even Kanan backed away from the pair, his hands in the air in an attempt to distance himself from the unfortunate Sith and the wrath of his lover.

"Listen up, you lascivious bastard..." Hera chirped cheerfully through clenched teeth, her grip tightening and twisting slightly to wring a strangled gasp out of the man. "I don't take shit from _anyone_. Not from the Empire, not from scoundrels, and not from _Sith Lords_. One more look in my direction I don't like, _one more_ attempt to get me to go to bed with you, _once more_ , Kenobi, and I will make you _eat your genitals_." She fleshed him a bright, manic grin. "Do I make myself clear, my dear, sweet Obi-Wan?"

" _Crystal_ ," Kenobi squeaked, and he breathed a deep sigh of relief when Hera released him.

"...I am _so_ turned on right now," Kanan muttered from his place pressed against the opposite wall, and a swift, warning glare from the Twi'lek made him swallow hard and nervously chuckle, both he and the Sith sharing a swift, sympathetic look when Hera turned her back on them.

"Commander Sato thought it prudent to contact Ryloth's rebel movement for help in this matter," Hera said, turning back to the two men and holding a small comlink in her hand, her fingers grasping it tightly and her body more tense than either Obi-Wan or Kanan had ever seen her. "The Free Ryloth Movement," she said almost bitterly, and Kenobi's eyes widened in understanding.

"Led by Cham Syndulla," the Sith said softly, the Jedi's eyes filling with knowing concern as he looked at the Twi'lek as she grimly nodded.

"My father, yes," Hera almost whispered, her voice weak, almost vulnerable before she cleared her throat and shook her head as if to banish the thoughts that ran through her mind. "We've been estranged for years. Our relationship is _very_ complicated, but to simplify, he disagrees with my devotion to the rebellion, and _I_ disagree with his methods, among other things." She scoffed and tossed the comlink to Kanan. "I'm telling you this because I _did_ contact him, and he's willing to meet with us to discuss the plan, and I didn't want you two blind sided." She shrugged. "And I understand that you and my father have worked together before, Obi-Wan."

"If you consider blatantly throwing every suggestion I made back in my face in a foolish attempt to succeed in a task doomed from the start to fail, than _yes_ , we worked together," Obi-Wan drawled. "The fool expended every resource and every soldier he had in a bid to kill Darth Vader and the Emperor, and he was too blind by his own idiocy to listen when I told him that it was _allowed_ to happen. It was an obvious trap set specifically to end his little opposition before it even began." He shrugged almost indifferently. "From what I understand, the trap was a success. Cham lost everything and all he had to show for it was a few hundred dead Imperials and one less Star Destroyer in the skies above Ryloth...which inevitably brought _more_ Star Destroyers."

"Nobody's arguing that my father's short-sighted actions are the cause of the severity of Ryloth's occupation and sanctions," Hera muttered. "If you don't mind me asking, what is it that put you in contact with him?"

"Fulcrum," Obi-Wan said quietly with a wave of his hand. "Bail Organa, the rebellion as a whole. Ahsoka fought on Ryloth during the Clone Wars, she remembered Cham as having a substantial fighting force against the occupying Confederate army."

" _Your_ army," Hera said in a tone that was almost an accusation, and Obi-Wan couldn't help but laugh.

"Our campaigns on Ryloth were early in the war, before I took over the leadership, so no, not _my_ army, though I was there." The Sith Lord shrugged almost indifferently. "Regardless, Ahsoka remembered being impressed with his rebels. Fighting against centuries of oppression is no easy feat, and his people fought well. When she assumed the mantle of Fulcrum, she thought he may still be fighting. The oppressor has taken many forms throughout Ryloth's history, as you well know, and Cham seemed intent to fight against them all. Turns out she was right."

"Father always _did_ love his causes..." Hera sighed. "So you went to him on behalf of the rebellion?"

"I did," Obi-Wan swiftly confirmed. "In the early days, I was often sent out for recruitment purposes. They didn't call me the Negotiator for nothing, and not _all_ my successes were the result of my ability to mentally influence. I have been _very_ successful in recruiting people to our cause, though..." He sighed and shook his head. "Your father was not one of them."

"I imagine not," Hera grumbled. "The only thing that ever mattered to him was Ryloth, he cares nothing for the rest of the galaxy. Let the galaxy burn, so long as Ryloth is free."

"The source of your contention, from the sound of it," Obi-Wan said gently, and Hera nodded curtly.

"At least a part of it..." the Twi'lek sighed. "Damn it, I was hoping that your presence would help make dealing with my father easier."

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, Hera, truly, I am," Obi-Wan softly apologized. "My working relationship with your father was very, _very_ brief, long enough only to discuss joining forces, and then watch as he sent his men to die against Vader and Maul and Sidious, despite my urging for patience and to turn back while he still had a chance, which he stubbornly refused to do."

"Sounds just like him..." Hera growled angrily, and Kanan lay a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Maybe he learned from his errors," the Jedi hopefully suggested. "It's been a long time since then, right? Working your whole life for something, only to lose it all in a moment...it changes you," he said quietly, looking at the Sith Lord opposite him. "You know that as well as I."

"I do..." Obi-Wan agreed. "Hera, do you believe he will sabotage your plans for this ship?"

"It's a possibility I've considered, yes," she said, laying her hand over Kanan's, a faint smile on her lips as she intertwined her fingers with his. "He brought down one ship over Ryloth before, and it's exactly the sort of grand, _idiot_ show of strength that he loves, and he has _always_ loved his symbols. Nothing sends quite a message like an Imperial ship burning as it's destroyed in the atmosphere...

"And _nothing_ closes the Empire's fist quite like it either," Kanan muttered to Hera's silent agreement. "He must see that is the case. If he's done it before, he _knows_ the cost of such actions."

"I'm certain he knows, but not certain he cares," Hera said firmly, her voice betraying none of the anger that burned in her bright green eyes. "Making the Empire appear weak by bringing down one of their ships sends a powerful message, and the violence that comes from their retaliation may be exactly what he's hoping will finally spur the people of Ryloth to rise in greater numbers against their oppressors."

"You know as well as I that will not happen," the Sith said slowly, almost careful as the pilot turned her angry gaze upon him. "Many Twi'lek accept the rule of the oppressor and the bonds of slavery. You come from a slave race, Hera, it is a part of your culture. People like you and your father are the exception, not the rule." A slight, sardonic smile touched his lips when he felt the Force ripple with Hera's rage. "Ride the storm rather than defeat it, as your people say, and even if things get worse, your people _will_ ride it out. Cham will never get the uprising he seeks, not from Ryloth."

"They are _not slaves_ , Kenobi!" Kanan snarled, instinctively pulling Hera closer, and the woman soothed her lover's temper by laying a hand upon his chest.

"I hate it, Kanan, but he's right," Hera whispered, a small, sad smile on her lips as she ran her fingers along his jaw. "It's _awful_ , but my people's place in the galaxy has amounted to little else than pleasure slaves for the influential. To free Ryloth, we _must_ save the galaxy. There is no other way."

"Let's hope your father sees it that way," Kanan said as he kissed the top of her head. "You worked with him, Obi-Wan. I know it didn't go well, but do you think you can make him see reason?"

"Honestly, Hera has a better shot at that than I," the Sith Lord said quietly. "When last we spoke, I abandoned him to his fate. One cannot save a fool committed to his own destruction, though I'm certain Cham doe not see it that way, even though I gave him every opportunity to abandon his idiot mission and save his men."

"We'll just have to see where he stands when we meet with him," Hera said with a heavy sigh, her hand running absently over one of her squirming lekku. "Thank you, Obi-Wan. I know we didn't get anywhere, but it was still good to discuss it. I feel more informed than I did before."

"I _could_ just try and steal this ship myself, Hera," the Sith Lord suggested. "I've done it before, more than once."

"But never _completely_ alone, I'm willing to bet," she said with a faint smirk. "You've no doubt had distractions in the past to aid you, and you're part of a team now, Kenobi. I can't let you go alone."

"You should," Kenobi said flatly. "This isn't how I end..."

"Just because you've seen the future doesn't mean it ends that way," the Twi'lek said firmly. "You could die before then, and I won't have it be because I was careless enough to send you alone on a mission we should be undertaking together. I'm in no hurry to have your death on my conscience." Obi-Wan said nothing, but bit his lip and nodded stiffly, and with a gentle smile, she plucked her comlink from Kanan's hand and tossed it to the Sith Lord. "My conversation with my father is saved to that, along with the information he sent me about the ships in orbit over Ryloth. I'd like for you to review it before we leave."

"It would be best if we reviewed this together," Obi-Wan said, his brow knitting together in confusion when Hera flashed him a tight smile.

"I need some time alone with Kanan," she said smoothly, her fingers hooking around the Jedi's belt and the man gasped softly with the sudden and intense swell of unfulfilled desire. "I _know_ you have some idiot score to settle, but you've interrupted us one too many times. Don't forget, dear, you aren't just keeping Kanan from release, you're keeping _me_ from it."

"An unfortunate side effect," Obi-Wan growled, "but-"

"But nothing, dear, I need this," Hera said in a tone that left no room for argument. " _Especially_ if we mean to face my father. This debt you seem to believe Kanan owes you has been settled, and the next time you have a chance with Bo-Katan, you have my word that _nobody_ will interrupt you." She grinned devilishly. "Unless, of course, you _want_ an endless stream of curious teenagers keeping you from having her..."

"...your point is well made," Kenobi quickly muttered with a tight bow. "I'll see to it that you're left alone." He slammed his hand on the door release and stepped out into the hall just as the Twi'lek's wandering hand drew a desperate, keening moan from her Jedi lover. "Have fun, kids," he called, and slammed the door closed on the pair, allowing them to _finally_ have some peace.

* * *

Kanan was, in short, a nervous wreck, pacing madly back and forth across the hold, smoothing back his hair, smoothing the folds in his clothes and repeatedly making sure the rest of the crew looked sharp and neat and clean, much to Ezra's irritation. Part of him hoped that he'd be thrown on the _Umbra_ where he could wait with Luke and Leia for the mission to begin, but he was also very keen on meeting Hera's father, a man that Sabine had spoken about at great length and with great respect as a famed military leader and hero during the Clone Wars. Though he suspected that meeting the man was _exactly_ the source of Kanan's restlessness.

"You keep pacing like that, Kanan," Obi-Wan drawled, laying lazily on the curved seat of the couch in the _Ghost_ 's small converted lounge, "and you'll wear a hole in the hull, exposing us all to the cold of space, and the subsequent horrible death that comes from it."

"You don't understand," Kanan growled, shooting the Sith a glare witch lost some of it's effect, as Kenobi's head was dropped back over the edge of the couch so that he may look upside down at the Jedi. "Cham-"

" _I_ don't understand?" Obi-Wan scoffed. " _Of course_ I understand your frankly ridiculous need to prove yourself to your lover's father, but he is just a man, and an _idiot_ , like any other man. You're making a big deal out of nothing."

"It's not nothing, Obi-Wan!" Kanan sighed in exasperation. "Cham Syndulla is-"

"A lousy father, that's all you should care about," Hera grumbled from her place by the wall, a scowl on her face and her arms crossed tightly over her chest. "He's been observing the Empire's occupation of Ryloth for a long time now and we need his information to make this go as smoothly as possible. He's here because we need him, and _that's it_. You shouldn't care about what he thinks about you because _I_ certainly don't care what he thinks about you. I've never needed his permission for anything I've ever done, and I'm not going to start suddenly caring now."

"You don't get it, Hera," Kanan muttered. "It's a...it's a..." He drew up tall, bit down on his lower lip, and nodded resolutely, pleased with some conclusion he had reached. "It's a _man_ thing."

"Sith Hells, _this_ is why I only get romantically involved with women that don't have parents..." Obi-Wan grumbled as he sat up, his elbow on the table and his head resting against his palm. "Ezra, Apprentice, _take note_. Sabine has parents. Luke and Leia have a _very violently protective parent_ ," he snarled, his hand extended and using the Force to drag the suddenly terrified Ezra to him, the Sith's fingers curling into a fist in the boy's collar. Ezra swallowed hard, closed his eyes when he could feel the golden gaze burning deep in his mind and exposing _all_ his secrets to him, could feel the sudden panic overtake him as the Sith pawed at the sudden spark of new feelings within him, things he had yet to truly understand. The hand suddenly loosened, the eyes grew more gentle, less accusatory, and he pat the boy on the head and pointed toward the Lasat across the room. "...Zeb doesn't have parents. Zeb is safe."

"Zeb is _not interested_!" the Lasat snarled. "You humans _reek_!"

"You two share a room!" Obi-Wan protested. "It's _completely_ ideal!"

"Yeah, don't remind me..." Zeb grumbled as he sniffed at the sleeve of his shirt. "I'll never get his stench out of my things..."

"Wait, _I_ smell?!" Ezra said incredulously with a disbelieving laugh. "Do you have _any_ idea what it's like to be in the same room as _you_?!" He pointed an accusing finger at Kanan. "Here's an idea. Maybe you and _Hera_ could share a room so I could have my own! It would solve _all our problems_!"

"Hey, they're here!" Sabine said quickly, pointing at the console on the wall that scrolled with the approaching ship's codes requesting permission to dock, and the Mandalorian swiftly sent the access codes as Kanan renewed his fretting and his pacing, snapping at Ezra to stand straighter lest he make him look bad. The Jedi only grew more tense, more nervous as they heard the ship docking with theirs, his teeth grinding as the minutes ticked by, and all the while, Hera continued to grow more and more irritated with the need to contact her father, and began to regret not simply letting the Sith Lord Lumis loose on the hapless Imperials. She looked back at the lounging Sith Lord who, in typical fashion, had refused to move from his place on the couch. Sure, it was dangerous and probably nearly suicidal, but Kenobi had survived worse.

They didn't need to wait long, but to nervous Kanan, it seemed to take an eternity for the airlock to slide open and for two Twi'lek, young adults, a man and a woman, blue and teal respectively, to step through the hatch, eyeing the gathered rebels warily and gripping their blasters close to them. Behind them, tall and proud, almost regal in his bearing, came Cham Syndulla, his eyes critically examining each of them in turn. Kanan stiffened and drew up straight when the Twi'lek looked at him, his mouth pressed into a thin, nervous line and hoping, _praying_ that he didn't look like a fool, that his hair was neat, that Hera's father would like him.

"It's been a long time, Father..." Hera said as she stepped forward, eyeing the man almost cautiously, a look which the older Twi'lek returned, his red eyes examining, analyzing quickly before his gaze drifted away from his daughter and to the anxious Jedi behind her. His thin lips split into a knowing smirk, revealing filed, sharpened canines.

"Ah..." Cham said softly, effectively ignoring his much more suspicious daughter and smirking as Kanan stood up taller, straighter, and nudged the teenager at his side to do the same. "You must be the Jedi I have heard about."

"J-Jarrus!" Kanan stammered, stepping forward to stand beside Hera and nervously bowing as if uncertain of the best way to treat the man with proper respect, and, deciding that it was _too_ much, he quickly righted himself. Beside him, Hera rolled her eyes. "Kanan Jarrus, I've..." The Jedi swiftly cleared his throat when he heard his usually deep tones to be uncomfortably higher, not at all the sort of man he wished to present himself as. "I've heard a lot about you too," he said, calmed this time. A lie, yes, but not a malicious one, and suddenly nervous about the untruth he had told, he swiftly bowed his head again, convinced that yes, the bowing before had been _good_.

Silence followed as Cham once again looked the crew over, and unable to take what he considered to be a tense, uncomfortable, _awkward_ quiet, Kanan drew up tall, stood at attention, and without looking, very incorrectly introduced the remainder of his crew, Ezra's nose wrinkling when the Jedi laid his hand upon his shoulder and proudly told the Twi'lek freedom fighter that his name was Zeb. And in the corner of the room, still lounging upon the couch, Darth Lumis decided that he too, had enough of this uncomfortable reunion. He stood from the couch and casually strode toward them, Cham looking at him once, twice, and on the third take, his eyes widened and he swiftly backed up toward the airlock, only to find it being slammed shut and locked tight.

"Don't just stand there, _shoot him_!" Cham shouted at his men, and no sooner had the weapons been pointed at the Sith were they torn from their hands to fly into Kenobi's waiting grasp. The Twi'lek's backed against the wall, and the Spectres parted to make way for the Sith, Kanan pinching the bridge of his nose as he muttered quiet curses under his breath.

"Now, now, Cham..." Obi-Wan drawled, spinning the blasters in his hands and pointing them menacingly at the Twi'leks. "That's no way to act toward an old friend, is it?"

"You are no friend of mine, _Kenobi_!" Cham snarled, his gaze darting to look accusingly at Hera as he pointed a long finger at the Sith Lord. "You would have _that_ on your ship? As a part of your crew?! You disappoint me, Hera, that man is a _Separatist_!"

"There _aren't_ Separatists anymore, Father!" Hera snapped back, and Cham only scoffed as if she were a fool.

"You are too young to remember the Clone Wars, but _I_ do!" he snapped. "They killed our people, _enslaved_ them! Much like the Empire does now, he is no better than them!"

"That seemed to matter to you less when you were ready to join forces with me before..." Obi-Wan drawled, looking at the blasters in hand with disdain and casually tossing them over his shoulder.

"And I was rewarded for that folly with betrayal!" Cham snarled, and Obi-Wan couldn't help but roll his eyes and exchange a tired look with Hera. "You could have helped us, and you left us to die!"

"Oh, _please_ , like you even intended to join our cause, you only meant to use us for your own benefit and leave when it no longer suited you," Obi-Wan drawled, bored out of his mind and already fed up with the self-righteous Twi'lek. "And I _did_ warn you to pull back after you _stupidly_ attacked an Imperial Star Destroyer and after I warned you it was a _trap_. Your resources may have been expended before I even got there, but your men were still alive. And _what_ did you do with my warning, Cham?" Obi-Wan asked harshly, pointing a stern, accusatory finger at the fuming man. "You _hung up on me_. You only have your own stubbornness to blame for the deaths of your men."

" _That's enough_!" Hera snapped, stepping defiantly before her father when it seemed as though the outraged Twi'lek may do something stupid like move against the Lord of the Sith. "We didn't come here to discuss the past and how wronged we were! _Yes_ , Obi-Wan committed atrocities during the Clone Wars, and _yes_ , you're an _idiot_ , Father." Hera glared at the two men, the Sith shrugging in quiet acceptance, and the Twi'lek crossing his arms in denial. She turned her furious eyes on Cham, her fists on her hips, and dared him to speak up. He didn't. "What matters now is _today_ , and we have a lot to discuss, so let's get moving." Without another word, Hera turned her back on them and walked swiftly to the holotable, Obi-Wan shooting Cham a cocky grin as he followed the pilot to the table.

"The Empire has several ships stationed over Ryloth," Hera said as she dimmed the lights and quickly activated the holotable to display the image of the planet and ships in question. Slowly, the Spectres and Cham's soldiers moved in, eying each other warily and standing on opposite sides of the table from each other. When Obi-Wan moved to stand beside Hera so that both he and Kanan protectively flanked her, the Jedi leaned over to give the Sith Lord a small, grateful look. "Six light cruisers, two heavy cruisers, a light carrier and a Star Destroyer by the name of..." Hera paused, squinted as she peered closer to the datapad, and frowned. "The _Subjugator_."

Obi-Wan burst into helpless laughter, earning himself disdainful glares from the Free Ryloth rebels, and heavy sighs from the Spectres. Kenobi didn't seem to notice, and if he did, he certainly didn't care.

"Say what you want about the Imperials, those are a bunch of funny sons of bitches!" Lumis said between his gasps for air. "Oh, the _Subjugator_ over Ryloth...because the Twi'lek have _always_ been subjugated...oh, that's _funny_..." He leaned over to read Hera's datapad over her shoulder, ignoring the ferocious glares from Cham and his soldiers. "Does it say who assigned this particular Star Destroyer to Ryloth? Was it Thrawn? Oh, I _bet_ it was Thrawn..."

"Intel from Fulcrum suggests that Thrawn has no command over the _Subjugator_ ," Hera said, smacking the Sith's hand away when he reached for the datapad. "It isn't part of a task force, so far as we can tell, which means it was likely put there by the Naval High Command when the need to closely watch Ryloth arose," Hera said as she glared through the hologram at Cham. "That should be good news for us. An isolated force will make reenforcements slower to arrive, which will make that carrier easier to steal. If we divide into two teams-"

"No." Hera was still for a moment, her gaze trained on the table and her lip caught firmly between her teeth before she slowly looked coldly at Cham Syndulla.

" _Excuse me_?"

"No," Cham firmly repeated. "That carrier houses hundreds of ships and weapons that have rained death upon Ryloth and her people. It's not enough that it simply _vanish_." His hand cut across the air in a gesture of finality. "No, my people _need_ to see it fall from the sky in flames as a symbol of our strength!"

"Yes, because that worked _so well_ for you the first time..." Obi-Wan drawled, Cham grimacing and glaring at the aloof, _mocking_ Sith Lord. "Let us not forget that the Imperial fist closed around Ryloth because you destroyed a Star Destroyer in a pitiful assassination attempt."

"That would have been successful had _you_ intervened!" Cham spat, and Obi-Wan barked a harsh laugh.

"Or my story would have ended prematurely on Ryloth, as would the rebellion." He shook his head. "No, it was too great a risk, and you left me little choice. Unlike you, _I_ would sacrifice Ryloth to save the galaxy. Your world isn't worth hundreds of thousands."

"It is to me!" Cham snarled, slamming his hands on the holotable and causing the image to flicker. "We are changing the plan, we are destroying that carrier! Without our surveillance, our timetables, our schedules, you would have _nothing_ to go on, Hera. I have weapons, and I have bombers, and I know when the ship is most vulnerable."

"And if you could have destroyed it, you would have done so already," Hera said, crossing her arms in front of her chest, the woman more frustrated than angry, and Cham, lekku squirming in agitation, was forced to relent. "You need us, obviously, and _we_ need that carrier."

"We need each other," Kanan said, diplomatically stepping in when he felt the tension rise between the stubborn father and his headstrong daughter. "We have no chance without Cham's intel, Hera. That's _a lot_ of ships out there, way more than our combined efforts can handle. _And_ ," he said, looking over at Cham, "Hera's plan is ultimately what works best for all of us. If we destroy that ship, things will only get worse on Ryloth, like what Kenobi said happened after the last time."

"Like what happened with Lothal," Ezra added morosely, and Kanan nodded in agreement.

"We make the ship vanish, and Ryloth loses one of its tormentors, Imperial eyes in the sector start looking outwards for rebels instead of inwards at your isolated movement, and we get our carrier." Kanan shrugged and grinned broadly. "This is what works best for both of us. We can all win in this situation."

For a moment, Cham quietly conferred with his warriors, the three whispering in their native tongue, their lekku twisting and waving in non-verbal communication, and Hera leaned in, her eyes narrowed, and couldn't find it in herself to trust her father. Her gaze flicked up to the hologram floating above them, and she couldn't help but wonder if this was what was actually best.

"Very well," Cham said lightly, a smile on his lips. "With a Jedi on our side, how can we fail?"

" _No_." This time, all eyes turned to Hera, wide and shocked and so, so still, the crew wondering if their fearless pilot had somehow lost her mind entirely. She drew up, shoulders back and head held high, her arms over her chest and a clever, _coy_ smirk on her lips. "The plan has changed. We won't be going after the carrier after all." Never losing eye contact with Cham, that smirk never leaving her face, she pointed at the holographic representation of the Star Destroyer. "We're going to steal the _Subjugator_."

"Oh, _yes_!" Obi-Wan groaned, closing his eyes and moaning softly as his shoulders slumped with relief. "Oh, I am _so_ turned on right now. Hera Syndulla, you're a woman after my own heart. You're a lucky man, Kanan." He laughed, sharp and excited as he leaned in to look at the targeted ship. "Oh, _what a woman_!"

"We don't have the resources for such a thing!" Cham protested, his eyes quickly darting between his smug daughter and the triumphant Sith at her side. "Kenobi, you know well what it took for us to bring the first one down! All of the resources I had gathered over the years since before the Clone Wars started, everything I had went into bringing that ship down, and I have so much less now!"

"Mm, we aren't talking about destroying the _Subjugator_ , Father," Hera slowly drawled, laying her hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder. "We're talking about _stealing_ it, and as it so happens, we happen to have the galaxy's greatest ship thief as a member of our crew."

"I don't have good surveillance on the Destroyer!" Cham hissed in protest once again. "For the carrier, we have a complete schedule, we can predict their movements, where they go, what they do and for how long. We know when it is most vulnerable and more importantly, we know _how_ to attack it! I have no such thing for the _Subjugator_!"

"And how do you suppose we steal that carrier with that Destroyer and all those cruisers in orbit?" Hera scoffed. "It's a joke to believe that the carrier is _ever_ vulnerable, but if we can take that Star Destroyer...the combined efforts of all those ships couldn't keep us from getting away." She patted the Sith's shoulder. "Kenobi says he can do it. Go big or go home, isn't that right?"

"Just so, Captain..." Obi-Wan said absently, his eyes still darting over the information displayed in the holographic field.

Cham hissed a string of curses under his breath as he closed his eyes tight and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Do you...have any sort of a _plan_ for this madness?" The Twi'lek managed to grind out between clenched teeth, and a sly smirk spread across Hera's lips.

"I am _so_ glad you asked." Hera quickly snatched up her datapad and began running her finger over the screen, the holographic projection before them altering as the Twi'lek drew up the plan. "We'll be using your TIE Bomber as you proposed to get on the carrier," she said swiftly. "If your intel is good and the carrier is as vulnerable during this time as you suggest, we should be able to hold the hangar and cause a big enough scene to draw the attention of the other ships." She tapped her fingers on the table. "We're a distraction. While the Imperials are tied up dealing with us, Kenobi should be able to slip on to the _Subjugator_ and do what he does best. Correct?"

Obi-Wan nodded curtly. "Yes. Once I assume command of the bridge, the entire ship is mine. I'll recall the troops and issue new directives to the cruisers, and the confusion should be enough to give you an opening to escape. It won't take them long to figure out the Destroyer was the target."

"Which...could give us the opening we need to take the carrier too!" Ezra said with mounting excitement. "Right?!"

"Let's not get overly ambitious," Kanan quietly warned. "Too many objectives and we may find ourselves struggling to meet them."

"We'll keep the option open..." Hera muttered, her fingers held to her chin as she considered the plan laid out before her. She nodded slightly after she made a few slight adjustments. "Familiarize yourselves with the plan. We'll meet at rendevous delta after we've managed to escape. Kenobi, you-"

"I'll be in touch, but I can't meet you at the rendevous, the ship is too big, and I'll need time to make the necessary adjustments." Obi-Wan frowned as he looked at the image, raised his hand, and made the whole thing zoom out to a full view of the galaxy. "I'll send for my own team to follow me in the _Umbra_ to speed the process along, but I'm probably going to have to take her to the Unknown Regions."

"Dangerous..." Hera said with a frown and a look of concern, and a faint, cocky smirk crossed Kenobi's lips.

"Not if you have the right guide."

"I'll trust your judgement," Hera said softly before deactivating the holotable. "We'll set a course and be at our destination within a few hours. Take the time to prepare yourselves. Make sure you're ready." They all nodded and muttered their agreement and slowly began to drift away, chatting quietly with each other and reviewing the plan on their datapads, but Obi-Wan didn't move, only stared at Cham and his two soldiers as they turned to leave, looking at them less with his eyes than with the Force.

"Syndulla." It was harsh, a commanding summons more than anything else, and while Hera quickly turned to face him, it was clear that Kenobi was after the attention of her father, his eyes nearly seeming to burn holes in the Twi'lek's back as he slowly turned to meet his gaze. "I have, in the last few years, grown to be quite fond of your daughter and her crew. If you betray us, there is nothing in this galaxy that will protect you from me." With a vicious sneer, Cham Syndulla turned away and walked with his soldiers out of the room.

* * *

Hera had spent most of her time alone in the cockpit reviewing the intel, their strategy, the hasty plan she made on a whim, and couldn't decide if it was a stroke of genius or a fool's errand. She felt like an emotional idiot, impulsive and defiant for the sake of frustrating her father like some rebellious teenager, something she had always professed to be above. She usually was. Contacting Cham in the first place had taken some time to swallow her pride, but she had done it for the rebellion. She brushed off Kanan more often than she would have liked to, kept herself distant more than two people who have been together as long as they have been should be, and though it wounded her because she _knew_ it wounded him, she did it anyway because the rebellion was more important than either one of them.

And now, she felt like she had compromised a careful plan because she was proud and defiant, like she had put her own ill feelings for her father before her work.

She felt _stupid_.

With a heavy sigh, she checked the navicomputer and the hyperspace coordinates and removed herself from her seat, stretched, and walked into the hallway, ducking back into the maintenance corridor to grab some needed tools from one of the storage rooms so that she could run her usual upkeep on Chopper so the little droid could be running smooth for the mission. She frowned when she heard loud laughter from down the hall, Kanan prattling on with Cham as he attempted to make a good impression that ultimately nobody but him would care about, and despite her irritation with the matter, she couldn't help but be pleased that between the two of them, at least _one_ of them was willing to be the adult and smooth things over with volatile Cham Syndulla. Kanan had always been good for that, for covering her weaknesses when she faltered. She'd have to make sure her lover was properly appreciated for it later. She didn't wish to dissuade him in the future from taking a stand she wouldn't take. It helped keep her balanced, helped keep her mind open to seeing things in a new way, and she needed him for it.

So talking about her concerns with Kanan was out, for the time being. It would have to wait until later, after the mission was over, with any luck. She pressed her hand to the button beside the door and stepped inside when it slid open with a hiss, and the woman nearly jumped when she looked up from her thoughts to see Obi-Wan sitting upon one of the sturdy seats beside a workstation, his face lathered in white foam and a sleek razor in hand as he carefully shaved.

"You know..." Hera drawled in amusement, leaning against the doorway and smirking when the Sith Lord stared at her, nearly as surprised to see her there as she was to see him. "We _have_ a 'fresher for this sort of thing."

"Garazeb has been in there for the last hour," Obi-Wan muttered, dipping the razor into a bowl of water he had sitting on the workbench in front of him and dragging the blade across his jaw line. "Not only does that beast smell _terribly_ , but he sheds _everywhere_. The last time I used the facilities after him, I had to take a chemical bath to get the stench off of me and spent the next week picking purple fur out of my robes. I've learned my lesson. _Never again_."

"Well, do you mind if I intrude upon your solitude and sit with you?" Hera asked quietly, the Sith Lord looking over her carefully in silence for a moment before nodding slightly.

"Not at all," he said, gesturing to the seat beside him, and Hera swiftly took it, quietly watching as Kenobi returned to shaving his beard, smooth, hairless skin left in the razor's wake.

"Have I made a mistake?" Hera asked after a long, surprisingly comfortable silence had passed between them, the Sith looking at her out of the corner of his eye as he carefully scraped the razor under his nose. "Did I make a stupid, _spiteful_ decision out there to go after the Star Destroyer instead of the carrier as we were supposed to?"

"You made a decision..." Obi-Wan said slowly as he considered each word. "I'm not the one to say if it was spiteful, though I could hardly fault you if it was. Your father is a difficult man."

"I should be better than this," the Twi'lek said with a bitter laugh. "The rebellion may ask things of me that will be harder than this, but I will still have to do them. I can't go acting selfishly when so much is at stake..."

"Hera dear, you were willing to leave Kanan behind on Lothal in the hands of the Empire for the sake of your mission. I _think_ it's safe to say that being selfish isn't your problem." He dipped the razor in the water and brought it to his other cheek. "In any case, what's done is done. I didn't know there was such a large force over Ryloth, their rebel activity these days is hardly even worth attention. Stealing the carrier from a heavily armed force of that size may not have been possible. From where I was standing, it seemed as though our commander was simply adapting our mission parameters to adhere to a more significant threat. I would have done the same." A sly smirk curled Obi-Wan's lips, a usually devious thing that only served to look comical with a half shaven beard and patches of foam upon his face. "Subjugating the _Subjugator_ is the most logical course of action."

"You've just been _waiting_ to say that, haven't you?"

"Yes, but since Garazeb's been in the 'fresher, I haven't had a mirror to practice in front of." He frowned and eyed the Twi'lek. "Did it sound alright?"

"You're delivery could use a little work," Hera said sternly, but just for a moment, unable to keep the smile off her face as Obi-Wan rolled his eyes and resumed shaving. "Do you think we can do this? You really think we can get away with stealing a Star Destroyer?"

"I wouldn't have suggested it earlier if I didn't think it was a possibility," Obi-Wan said absently as he finished, a hand running over his cheeks and chin and correcting any spots he had missed. "And with the plan you have put in place, I believe our chances of success are rather high." He placed the razor on the workbench and ran his hands over his face, picked up the neatly folded black jacket of an officer in the Starfighter Corps on the bench beside him and shrugging it on before he turned to face the Twi'lek. "So? How do I look?"

"Like an absolute child. Honestly, it should be a crime." She tilted her head as she looked around him, examining him with a critical eye. "And this is enough to get you where you need to be?"

"Just this by itself?" Kenobi scoffed as he brushed off the shoulders and adjusted his rank plaque. "Don't be ridiculous. Loathe as I am to admit it, I have never stolen a ship this size on my own before. I may be strong in the Force, but I can still be killed, and the army of hostile people aboard a ship like that is enough to kill just about anyone, were they to throw enough people at the problem, and the Imperials would. They have a frankly disgusting attitude toward their human resources."

"Of all the things you could criticize the Empire for, I wouldn't have expected you to care about that," Hera said, and Obi-Wan reflexively rolled his eyes.

"Think about it, Syndulla. The dead are of no use to us. Loss of life is unavoidable in wars, but senseless loss is just wasteful." Obi-Wan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I was taught to fight smart and to fight careful. Sidious once believed that before he saw the revenge of the Sith fulfilled. I will not make the same mistakes he has. I will not crush my enemies with overwhelming might, I will do so by being _smarter_." He looked at her quickly, a small smile on his lips before he quickly looked away to smooth out the Imperial uniform he wore. "I'm digressing again, you should have stopped me."

"Maybe I like hearing you talk," she said with a shrug and Obi-Wan chuckled softly, a modest smile on his lips.

"Destroying and disabling a ship is one thing, but capturing one is a whole different matter. My theft of the Republic Star Destroyers back during the Clone Wars was always done during battle when I had a suitable distraction that allowed me to bypass their security. Chaos and confusion have always been the conditions under which I operate best," Kenobi quietly explained. "Too many things can go wrong without it, and while I can make myself nearly invisible to those around me with the Dark Side, it doesn't fool droids and security cameras. With your plan in action, yes, simply looking like an Imperial officer with something important to do is enough. The rest..." He shrugged. "Simple suggestion. A panicked mind is not a guarded one."

"We'll do our best to make as big a mess as possible," Hera said with a nod. "If it's safe, maybe they should try to steal the carrier as well, as we originally intended."

"That would certainly cause the necessary chaos I need. Ezra's suggestion was a fair one. You should do it." The gold eyes narrowed slightly, his mouth twisting into a concentrated frown as he pointed a warning finger at the Twi'lek. "Keep an eye on your father, Hera. He cannot be trusted, and he agreed to this mission far too quickly."

"I'm well aware of my Father's priorities, Kenobi, and I know he's willing to stoop to incredible lows to get his way. Don't worry. I'll be careful." Hera sighed heavily, felt the lekku droop limply down her back like they hadn't since the moment this all began. "Thank you, Obi-Wan. I...feel much better about all of this. It was good to talk about it."

"Always happy to be of service, Captain," Obi-Wan said softly, inclining his head toward the woman, and with a soft smile, Hera picked up the Sith Lord's discarded robes and swiftly folded them into a neat bundle. The door behind them hissed open, and the two quickly looked to see Cham Syndulla standing in the doorway, his face impassive, though the corner of his mouth twitched in disapproval. Hera took a deep breath and held it, could feel herself physically bristling at being closed in like this until Kenobi's hand rested reassuring and protective upon her shoulder.

"It's almost time," Cham said quietly, drawing up and clasping his hands tightly behind his back, the very image of command as he examined his daughter and the Sith Lord. "We should be heading out soon on this..." He flicked his hand dismissively in the air with a sneer. "With this foolhardy, impulsive mission. It's not too late to revert to the original plan, Hera."

"And, which plan is that?" Hera asked, her arms crossed over her chest. "The plan where we try to steal a ship under the guard of a Star Destroyer? Or the one where we blow up the carrier we're trying to steal?"

"Targeting the Star Destroyer isn't the best course of action, Cham, it's the _only_ course of action," Kenobi said quietly, though his tone was warning, challenging, and left no room for argument. "We will succeed in this."

"Destroying the ship is easier and less of a risk to _us_!" Cham snarled, and Hera scoffed dismissively as she rolled her eyes and looked impatiently at her father.

"Destroying the ship is short-sighted, a temporary victory that will not last," Hera snapped, and Obi-Wan recoiled slightly, her usual gentle words suddenly cold and harsh and _heavily_ accented with the thick dialect of the Twi'leks, a thing he had _never_ heard in her voice before. "You would win a battle to lose the war, Father!"

"If you gave me _half_ the attention you gave this...this _Separatist scum_ ," Cham snapped, pointing a rigid, accusatory finger at Obi-Wan, "we'd have liberated Ryloth by now!"

"Don't you bring him into this," she growled as she stepped forward. "He has _nothing_ to do with what's between us!"

"And _this_ is exactly what is wrong with you, child!" he scolded, his tone haughty and patronizing, and within a moment, Hera's fiery anger seemed to freeze into ice. This was a conversation they had many times before. "You hold on to the wrong things, things that shouldn't matter to you! You devote your time to lost causes." He scoffed in disgust and crossed his arms, his red eyes flicking between the silently seething Hera and the dispassionate Sith Lord at her side. "What a waste..."

"I am _not_ wasting my life!" Hera seethed, her hands balling into fists by her said as she glared at her father, and while she had always wished that Cham would one day see reason, she couldn't help but hate herself for rising to his taunts, knowing full well that it wasn't worth it. "I _help_ people! I lead ships into battle, I am part of something bigger than just myself and my people!"

"I would have thought by now you'd have learned that you can _never_ trust outsiders!" Cham hissed, his pointed teeth bared as he met the fury of his daughter. "And now I find you here cavorting with one of the leaders of the Separatist army! One of the people that attacked and invaded Ryloth! We trusted the Republic, and look what happened! They helped liberate us from _them_ , only to turn around and enslave us the moment they became the Empire!"

"The same thing is happening all across the galaxy, we are fighting to free _everyone_!" Hera said almost pleadingly, and Cham's hand cut across the air to silence her.

"I do not care about the rest of the galaxy! I care _only_ about Ryloth!"

"So I've noticed..." Hera said quietly, _bitterly_ , her heavy accent gone as if it were never there to begin with, her presence calm and focused once again.

With a sneer, the Twi'lek turned away from Hera and began to stalk away when he was stopped by Kenobi's swift call of "Cham, wait." The muscled in his back tensed as he turned to face the Sith Lord, his eyes narrowed and angry, his teeth grinding together as he observed the calm, dispassionate man. "No one planet alone can defeat the Empire," Obi-Wan said quietly. "Individual rebel cells have risen and fallen, and the Empire relies on us being too disorganized and self-interested to unite. It's how they have maintained such a strong hold for so long. Resistance is met with destruction and enslavement, you know that."

"They have not stopped me yet!" Cham snapped, and Obi-Wan laughed softly and shook his head.

"No, they haven't. But your people aren't fighting, and they aren't rising up, and no ship burning in the sky is going to do that when the very next day they are looking up at a fleet of Star Destroyers and an orbital bombardment. Not when there is no chance of victory, and without help, you know where your path leads."

"I _will_ free Ryloth."

"Yes..." Obi-Wan whispered. "But not so long as the Empire rules." With a sneer of contempt, Cham stalked away, leaving Hera and Obi-Wan to stare at the spot the angry man had until recently occupied.

"Stubborn, small-minded fool..." Hera muttered under her breath. "He always has been."

"I bet he's thinking the same thing about you."

"You're probably right..." she sighed, her lekku twisting in agitation as she looked up at the Sith's face and ran her fingers over the clean shaven cheek. "You missed a spot."

"Damn it, I never had this much trouble when I was a Padawan..." he muttered, snatching up the razor and swiftly dragging it over the spots that Hera was indicating. "At least we know where Cham stands."

"One to be watched, as you said," she said quietly. "It seems like you and I have work to do before the mission begins."

"Seems like it." Smiling at the woman when she decided that his grooming was finally done, Obi-Wan tucked his things under his arm and pushed the button to open the door, gesturing for her to go through. "After you, dear. I'll follow your lead, as always."

* * *

"I miss the _Umbra_ ," K-2SO bemoaned as he lumbered at an accelerated pace beside Obi-Wan, the man dressed sharply in full Starfighter officer uniform and his command cap pulled down low over his face to at least partially concealed his glowing golden eyes, the first and surest thing that something was wrong, _off_ about the man. He quietly cursed his inability to mask that particular sign of Dark Side corruption as Sidious and Dooku had been able to, but he simply lacked the knack for it, as Sidious was devoid of the talent to steal Force energy from the living and task it to heal the weathering of age. It was an irritation and an inconvenience, but little more than that, and soon enough, it wouldn't matter anyway. When he was Emperor, he would have nothing to hide.

"Who's going to fly her?" K-2SO continued to wail after they had passed quickly by a squad of Stormtroopers rushing for their battle stations, not giving the pair even the slightest glance in their direction. "Who's going to make certain the systems are running at optimal levels? Master, in precisely...forty three minutes, she is due for her routine main processor defragmentation, and she is _very_ picky about it! The last time I missed one, she threw a proper fit and slaved my functions to her central database for nearly a week!"

"I don't need to know about your personal life, K2," Kenobi muttered. "Some things are meant to stay in the bedroom, and this sounds like one of those things."

" _Well_ ," the droid scoffed with great offense, swiftly plugging into a wall terminal beside an elevator when Obi-Wan stopped and indicated toward it. "I can assure you that this is a serious matter, Master. Who is to do any of this if I don't?"

"Cody's been flying her since before you were manufactured," Obi-Wan said when the elevator slid open, his arm holding the door as the droid disengaged from the wall and they both stepped inside together. "Believe me, that clone is more than capable of satisfying the bitch."

"Not the way she needs, Master," K2 said with a dismissive electronic chortle, his visual receptors looking over the suddenly beaming Sith Lord, and he drew back, a low groaning whir deep in his mechanical chest. "Wait. Are we even talking about the same thing?"

"In a way, I suspect we are," Obi-Wan drawled, pulling down the command cap and taking a few deep breaths as the elevator rapidly climbed through the floors. "Do try to focus, dear. I know the _Umbra_ is a sexy thing, but you mustn't be distracted. You'll be back to plugging inside her in no time at all!"

"I see what you're doing there, Master," K2 droned in the most flat, unimpressed way possible. "And I am not amused. The interactions between myself and the _Umbra's_ interface are far more dignified and much less messy than the organic _mess_ you are insinuating to."

"I don't know, K2..." Obi-Wan drawled, his eyes focused on the elevator's display as the numbers climbed upwards toward their destination on the command deck, K2's entered codes giving them the clearance necessary to access it. "There was that one time a few weeks ago, you got oil _all over_ the-"

" _That was one time_!" K2 cried indignantly. "And I apologized. _Many times_. When are you going to stop bringing that up?!"

"I don't know, when you do something more embarrassing I can use against you," Kenobi said with a shrug and he swiftly rapped his knuckles on the droid's armored chest. "Look alive, we're almost there."

The door slid open, and Obi-Wan dashed out into the halls, the alarms blaring around them with a monotonous cadence and frantic officers and technicians running to command posts and to deliver messages and updates on the battle that was happening just outside. With his own quick pace and the Imperial droid at his side, Obi-Wan fit right in, and as he suspected, the chaos and confusion of the mess upon the carrier made certain that he wasn't questioned and rose no suspicions. The stakes had been raised significantly when Hera had the inspired idea to put Kanan in Obi-Wan's armor, and while the Jedi was a fair bit larger than Obi-Wan and the armor didn't fit quite right, the fear and panic that it inspired would be enough to send the Imperials into chaos, which was _exactly_ what had happened.

With every Imperial around Ryloth certain they were dealing with the Shadow King, there was a hard push to surround and capture the carrier, which was putting a great deal of pressure on the Spectres and Cham's group as Imperial forces converged upon the carrier's main hangar. The stress, the tension was palpable, could be tasted in the very air, and Obi-Wan thrived on it. Every Imperial here in the command center knew _exactly_ what they were dealing with, knew how dangerous the situation, knew the stakes involved, the rewards of success and the inevitable punishment for failure.

They were frightened and uncertain, used to small attacks by Cham's movement on the ground, not the crippling attacks from the Empire's most dangerous criminal and so many of the men and women he saw were _so young_ , petty officers right out of the academy looking for glory in bringing stability to unstable Ryloth. They hadn't been ready to deal with distant Lothal's rebel cell, and certainly not prepared to deal with the Force sensitive nightmare that was the Shadow King. It was pitiable, really, and as Obi-Wan slowed his jog to a fast walk, he reached out with the Force to gauge the tumultuous emotions, to revel in their fear, their confusion, their desperation. These people would not be difficult to turn, especially not when faced with the thing they feared and an ultimatum. Especially not when he kills their commanders.

A subtle wiggle of his fingers and a soft command convinces the Stormtrooper guards outside the bridge that they have important business elsewhere, and after they rush off, K-2SO plugs into the wall, inputs the necessary clearance codes to gain access to the bridge, and the heavy doors slide open. They step on to a command bridge that is just as tense as the rest of the ship, less panicked because they know the entirety of the situation upon the carrier, but more fearful because of it, the fearful, shouting holographic relief of the carrier's commander projected before the command chair where the _Subjugator_ 's Admiral sat issuing terse commands to the bridge crew.

Gesturing to K2 to seal the door, Obi-Wan drew up tall and strode purposefully forward, the bridge crew ignoring his presence, but the officers on the deck quickly turning to face him and glare expectantly. Kenobi lowered his eyes and saluted, the heels of his shiny black boots snapping together at attention. "Hello, Officers!" Obi-Wan chirped, grinning when he heard K2's electronic purr of satisfaction as the door's locking mechanisms whirred into place. "I have new orders for all of you."

"W-what?!" the Admiral sputtered in outrage as he rose from his seat, his face growing redder by the moment as he looked the impertinent young officer over. "Just because we are in the middle of a crisis, _Lieutenant_ ," he spat, glancing quickly at the rank plaque on his chest, "doesn't mean that you get to throw protocol and procedure out the airlock! You _will_ address us properly!"

"But of course..." Obi-Wan muttered contritely. "My apologies, Admiral."

"Do not think that you can escape punishment for this transgression with a simple apology!" he growled, his tension shifting targets away from the uncomfortable situation on the carrier and to the much more comfortable, more familiar reprimanding of inferior officers. "What are they teaching these _children_ at the Academy these days?!" His ruddy face reddened with rage as a small, amused smirk touched the officer's lips, and the Admiral's eyes darted momentarily out the viewport to see the fleet of cruisers converging upon the compromised carrier, bringing him back to the moment. " _What orders_?!" he barked. "From whom?!"

"K2, please cut all outgoing communications and transmissions," Obi-Wan quietly ordered, and the droid inclined his head and set to work, the communications officers quickly rising from their seats as their stations went dark and pulling their blasters when they felt something seriously wrong. Obi-Wan breathed deeply and reached out with the Force, felt the swiftly mounting tension and fear, the confusion, the desperate need to be told what to do in this strange and unusual circumstance, but their leaders weren't answering. Their emotions lay bare, raw, spread out before him like a swirling picture of red rage and blue fear and uncertainty rippling green across the Force, and through it all rushed the Dark Side, laughing and triumphant as it pierced through every mind, every body, every will, leaving all but the strongest among them filled with black dread and despair. He had them, and there was nothing they could do about it.

"Droid, what are you doing!?" the Admiral shouted as he drew his blaster and pointed it at Kenobi's chest. "Countermand that order at once!"

K2 looked blankly at the Admiral, back to the wall where his arm was plugged into the access port, and then back to the Admiral. "Master said I had to," the droid droned, and the Admiral grit his teeth, looked back at the insolent officer, and felt his chest seize in fear when he found himself gazing into glowing golden eyes.

"The order came from me," Obi-Wan drawled, removing the command cap from his head with a sneer of disdain and dropping it upon the floor and ruffling his golden hair, the slightest gesture from his other hand causing the scrambling bridge officers to cease moving, caught mid-action by a wordless command and a compulsion to obey. Only a few still moved, gasps of effort and panic torn from constricted throats as they fought against themselves. A wicked grin spread across the Sith Lord's face as fear filled the Admiral's eyes, his hand shaking as he tried to pull the trigger when he realized what was happening, but his finger floated just above it, almost as if a magnetic field repelled his attempts to press down, pushing back harder the closer he got to it.

"I'm now in charge of this vessel," the Sith said, loud and firm as K-2SO disengaged by the wall and navigated carefully through the maze of petrified officers to reach his side. "K2, open the shipboard communications channel to the entire ship. I need to speak with my crew."

"It must be nice to make demands all the time..." the droid mused, slowly making his way to the communications station and carefully stepping over a high ranking officer on his hands and knees and panting with pain as he fought with the Sith's silent commands. "I wish _I_ could make demands..." He grabbed hold of the twitching communications officer by the back of her gray collar and moved her out of the way, the frozen woman collapsing in a heap upon the ground as K2 plugged in. His visual receptors ran over an officer beside him, an older man's eyes wide with fear and not even attempting to fight his paralysis. K2 looked back quickly at the Sith Lord when he spotted the weapon on the officer's hip. "Master! Can I have a blaster? HK-45 gets a blaster and he _never_ lets me use it because he is programmed to be a selfish child."

"Sure, why not..." Obi-Wan said with a shrug, and K2 gleefully drew the blaster from the officer's holster.

"Shipwide communications are open, Master," K2 said, looking over the weapon in his hand. "Ready to broadcast at your command."

With a curt nod and a deep breath, Obi-Wan stepped up to the communications hub, gave the droid a signal that he was ready, and waited for the display before him to flicker as the audio picked up. "This is your Captain speaking. The rebel threat has been neutralized. All deployed units are to be recalled and all personnel is expected to return to their duties posthaste." The display lit up with the swift acknowledgment of the orders from the commanders throughout the ship, the switchboards on the opposite side of the command deck flashing with red and green lights as TIE Fighters returned and were locked back into their places in the hangars and weapon systems were taken offline. Some of the officers around the deck struggled, some managed to move or lurch forward or cry out in pain and outrage as they watched the light and heavy cruisers slowly begin to follow the _Subjugator_ 's lead and back away from the carrier.

"My orders, officers," Obi-Wan drawled, a pleased smile on his face as he slowly strode toward the command chair and sat upon it, his ankle crossing over his knee as he looked at the men and women on the deck, the Admiral jerking unnaturally against a will not his own as he aimed the blaster at the Sith, but failed to fire. " _Kneel_."

They all obeyed. Some swiftly, as if their legs lost the ability to keep them standing, some slowly as their stubborn wills struggled to obey the command, but in the end, every man and woman on the command deck was kneeling before the Sith Lord, each and every one slaved to Lumis' will. Lumis tapped his fingers on the arm of the command chair, carefully observing the hazy eyes of those awaiting his orders and those who defiantly glared at him as they fought bodies they no longer had control over, though there were very few of those. It was no matter. The ship was his regardless.

The com on his wrist began to beep, and he absently answered it, his eyes locked on the Admiral as he stifled screams of pain and grabbed at his wrist as he tried to force the blaster to point at the Sith, his attempts to struggle against the forces that controlled him only sending the fangs of the Dark Side tearing deeper within him.

"It took you long enough!" Hera said over the com, her voice tense and stressed and angry, but there was an undercurrent of relief within her. "I thought you were an expert, I thought _stealing ships was your speciality_!" she drawled in a mockery of Kenobi's accent, and he couldn't help but chuckle softly, his gaze drifting to watch K2 wander around the deck and curiously prod at the kneeling Imperials with the barrel of his appropriated blaster.

"I'm out of practice, Hera, my apologies..." he muttered, silently commanding the officers at the helm to return to their posts and plot a course for hyperspace and gesturing for K2 to join them and input the coordinates for their rendevous with the _Umbra_. "I have command of the ship, and I'm ready to cover your escape." He gestured for the officers at the weapon's stations to return to their positions, all but one mindlessly obeying the order.

"Yeah, well you're going to have to wait on that, Kenobi," Hera growled, and Obi-Wan could hear the rapid sound of the woman's fingers on a switchboard and a heavy sigh. "We're in position to steal the carrier."

" _Hera_..."

"Kenobi, your HK unit cleared out the entire ship!" Hera said with marked agitation. "I thought he would just be a good way to keep us alive, but that homicidal droid scanned the entire ship for life forms and didn't stop until they were all dead!"

"I told you, he's _very_ thorough..." Obi-Wan drawled, smoothing out the creases in his uniform and gesturing for the Admiral to come closer. The man rose slowly and with stiff, jerky motions, he made his way before the Sith, the blaster shaking in his hand slowly rising to point again at the man in his chair. "And Cham?"

"Betrayed us, as we correctly suspected," Hera said flatly, and Obi-Wan could practically feel the woman bristle. "He shot us with stun blasts and restrained me in the ship..." She laughed softly. "I mean, I knew it was going to happen, just...not quite like that. Though I'll tell you, it was _really_ satisfying to watch him _seethe_ when he found out we stole his explosives."

"That was a good call," Obi-Wan said softly. "Hopefully Cham was not much trouble after that."

"There was little choice but for him to help us," Hera quickly dismissed. "It was either help us, or fail entirely, and my father is too proud to allow the Empire even a small victory, as you well know. Though I have to say, he sulked the _entire_ time."

"Certainly something you had no trouble in dealing with. You deal with moody teenagers _all_ the time."

"Yes, well..." Hera chuckled softly, but abruptly stopped, the com silent for a moment before she quickly said, "Sabine and Zeb got the hyperdrive back online, Kenobi, we're ready to fly. Cover us?"

"Always. I'll see you all in a few days with the Destroyer." The com cut, and with a satisfied smirk, Obi-Wan leaned back in his seat, his hands folded in his lap as his gaze swept over the deck. "Alright, my people, we have a ship to defend. Open fire on any cruisers that harass that carrier. If they release TIEs, send our own to engage them. The moment they jump to hyperspace, we jump to our own coordinates." The monotone affirmatives droned across the command center as the officers set to work, leaving only a few behind suffering on the floor as they continued to resist, their motions becoming slower and sluggish as they broke upon Lumis' unyielding control. All but the Admiral, who continued to glare defiantly at him, his jaw tight as the blaster shook in his hands in his failed efforts to shoot.

" _Shadow King_ ," the Admiral snarled. "You won't succeed..."

"I already have, fool," Lumis scoffed, rolling his eyes and looking over the manned stations. "Look around you. Your ship is mine, your men obey my every command." His gaze landed on a slight woman, her hair tied tightly at the nape of her neck, and with a wolfish grin, he grabbed hold of her with the Force to get her attention. "Come here, beautiful..." he drawled, the woman rising obediently and staggering to his side to sink to her knees beside him, moaning softly when the Sith's hand rested upon her head.

"We will _never_ serve you," the Admiral snapped, revulsion and disgust playing across his face when the Sith Lord laughed, a gentle tap to the woman's forehead quickening her breath and sending a deep flush to her face as she softly moaned and her pupils dilated.

"But they do, and they _will_ when they understand what I mean to accomplish." He hooked his fingers under the panting woman's chin. "This one will be servicing me _very_ soon..." Lumis sighed heavily. "But you are correct in one respect. You will never serve me, so I fear you are of no use." Lumis drew a large, lazy circle in the air with his finger. "Put your blaster to your head." Fear finally filled the Admiral's eyes as his hand stopped shaking and smoothly, quickly moved to do as the Sith Lord commanded, the barrel pressed firm against his temple. "Last words, Admiral?" Lumis asked in a low, deep voice.

"P-please..." the officer stammered. "I-"

The blaster fired, the sound loud and heavy in the silent stillness of the command deck. A moment later, a second shot rang out when K-2SO, never one to be left out, discharged his blaster into one of the struggling officer's heads, swiftly looked over his shoulder at the Sith that stared at him, and shrugged. With a contented smile on his face, Lumis looked out the viewport as the carrier made the jump to hyperspace, and a moment later, with the moaning woman climbing into his lap as she shed her coat and the other officers silently and diligently at work at their stations and the droid plugging in to strip the ship of identifiers, Lumis shut his eyes and sighed in contentment as his Star Destroyer jumped to hyperspace. There was still work to be done, thousands of soldiers to lull into his service, a capital ship to convert for his personal use, but that was work for another day.


	52. The Honorable Ones

**AN:** **Oh my god I'm back...  
**

 **HEY GUYS! A lot of you have been wondering where I've been. That's a really good question. As a matter of fact, Life Happened. Stupidly so, and it's made writing very difficult. Also, this chapter gave me hell every time I sat down to write it. Mostly because I lost this chapter with computer crashes. TWICE. I ended up with something totally different than what I had originally, but trust me, it's better than it was. Regular updates should continue from here on out, but going into the holidays, you know how things can get. The good news is that the next four chapters, I know EXACTLY what's happening, and I've been planning them out for a long time now, and I am SO excited to be writing them. I should get this baby updated weekly from now on, two weeks at the absolute max. The next chapter's easy, but the one after that is super intricate and starts to tie a lot of shit together. I don't want to post it until it's absolutely right.**

 **Anyway, sorry about the delay! Onward with your regularly scheduled entertainment, and thank you to all those of you who were concerned. I promise you, I'm alright and not dead!**

 _Chapter 52: The Honorable Ones_

It was a greater undertaking than Lumis had anticipated. He had, naturally, been aboard several Star Destroyers, even owned a few during his earlier years, but he was quickly discovering that there was a chasm of difference between his own _Liberator_ , the Venator class Star Destroyer he had made a second home during the Clone Wars, and the might of the Imperial II class Star Destroyer that was the _Subjugator_. Fifty percent bigger and more akin to a city than a ship, the Imperial Star Destroyers could house just over forty thousand Imperial officers, crew and soldiers, the ships needing a bare minimum of five thousand just to keep the massive vessel flying.

These weren't the clone soldiers he had stolen from the Republic, fervently devoted to their cause until Lumis had discovered exactly how to make them serve, the process aided by the biochip deep inside their brains that, when activated, made the act of turning them against the Republic a simple thing. No, there were _people_ , _his_ people, ones indoctrinated into believing in Imperial might, or seeking glory in the defense of their Empire, or simple men and woman just looking for a steady job. His people that would one day serve _his Empire_. Breaking their minds, destroying their will until they knew nothing but the need to serve was almost redundant. They just needed the slightest push to shit their allegiance from an absent, aloof Emperor to one that fought beside them...

The advantage Lumis found himself having, however, was his ability to lock down the entire ship, divide it up into neat, orderly sectors, and deal with a much smaller population, and if that wasn't enough, Imperial soldiers were trained and expected to obey orders, so when he had ordered one of his slaved bridge officers to command that all crew return to their quarters due to some convoluted emergency protocol, they all did as they were told. If nothing else, the Imperial system was neat and orderly, and it made his conquest not so difficult as it was tedious. The process was made even easier when K-2SO managed to slave the entire ship to his command, breaking in and coding it to the Sith Lord's preferred specifications and streamlining it in a way that matched the _Umbra_ 's interface. It was made easier still when, soon after they had arrived at their rendevous in the air above the wound in the Force that was burning, boiling Ord Mantell, the _Umbra_ flew in to meet them, carrying a crew that was uniquely suited to the task at hand.

Now, nearly a week later and after countless, sleepless hours logged into dealing with the crew of the _Subjugator_ , they had hit the halfway point, and Obi-Wan was taking a much needed break, lounging on the ship's command chair and drifting in and out of light sleep as Vitios and Vehemis attended to him. It was, all things considered, going rather well. He had recorded a message that was broadcast throughout the ship at regular intervals denouncing Palpatine as a corrupt, selfish relic of the ineffectual Republic who brought those same problems with him as he became Emperor, but praised the virtues of an Empire to maintain peace and order in the galaxy, and detailed his own Imperial ambitions.

By the time he reached the isolated Imperials in their sectors, the subtle influence of his presence and the dreams of a new, better Empire was enough to make most of the Imperials willing to kneel before him. Without their commanders, without the orders from up top to tell them what to do, they were lost, and in the presence of the commanding Sith Lord, the powerful would-be Emperor that would fight beside them for what he believed was his, it was easy for them to shift allegiances, still Imperial, but no longer supporting the aloof, largely absent Palpatine, but the charismatic, very present Lumis. Not all came willingly, and those that fought were forced to submit, the Sith Lord silently entering their minds and replacing the rebellious streak with mindless obedience. It made it easier for those inclined to resist to fall in line, especially with the knowledge that their commanders on the bridge had also knelt before the Sith Lord, and soon enough, sector after sector of Imperials aboard the _Subjugator_ pledged themselves to Darth Lumis.

But the work was _time consuming_.

"This is taking _so long_..." Leia groaned from her workstation, and Lumis slowly opened his eyes, his gaze drifting lazily over the empty command deck where the twins sat with K2 and Luke's astromech, R2-D2 as they made alterations to the Imperial programs to optimize it for their use. The HK unit sat toward the back of the bridge, using a vacant console as a workbench as he optimized his blaster rifles, and at the front of the bridge stood Cody and the Chiss, the two leaning close together as they whispered and watched ten thousand Imperials on the ground of the uninhabited planet they landed on far out in the Unknown Regions, the location provided to them by Kenobi's Chiss navigator. At the viewport, the rancor stood on his stubby hind legs and slowly licked at an Imperial soldier working on the other side of the transparisteel.

They had landed the _Subjugator_ on this uncharted, remote world to give them time away from the eyes of the Empire to fix the ship up to the Sith's exacting standards, performing what maintenance they could while updating all the systems to respond to the new coding and servicing the ship's aesthetics, which included lifting the Imperial restriction on harsh starkness and painting the hull in Lumis' black and red. It was far from finished, but allowing the crew more freedom significantly boosted morale and resulted in many Stormtroopers painting their armor with stripes and designs and symbols and a significant increase in the quality of the work the crew did. While they still adhered to the strict order the Sith Lord imposed, Imperial protocol was no longer crushing them, striking a fine balance between the order they all craved and the freedom needed for the laws of the Sith to take hold, allowing for the passion and the desires that made real progress possible.

"We are _never_ going to get done at this rate!" Leia continued as she threw her hands up dramatically and spun in her chair. "I don't know why you're even bothering with all this, you could just wave your hand and people are compelled to obey you."

"For a short while," Lumis said with a sigh, breathing deeply as he shut his eyes and relaxed into Vehemis' touch as she rubbed his shoulders. "I don't need them for a short while, I need them forever, and to exert control of that strength would destroy their ability to act independently. They would be of little use to me."

"Like our former Grand Inquisitor," Vitios said quietly, gently kneading the wiry muscles of the Sith Lord's forearm and gently kissing his hand, a slight smirk coming to Lumis' face.

"Just so, dearest."

"Well, I'm glad that you're choosing to do it this way, Father," Luke said, leaning back in his chair and smiling at the Sith Lord as he lounged under the touch of his acolytes. "This is the right way to do things. Just like Kanan and Hera are always talking about! This is why your Empire is going to be-"

"You _do_ know that those who don't willingly submit are made to submit, don't you, Luke?" Leia asked mockingly, a sly smirk on her face as she put her feet up on the console before her. "Submit or be enslaved. Serve or die." She grinned when Luke paled. "My, my...now _that_ isn't much of a choice, now is it?"

"Do you _have_ to make everything sound awful?!" Luke snapped, standing up from his seat and crossing his arms over his chest. "Father did a _good thing_ , Leia, it's not all...darkness and pain and emptiness and cruelty and murder!"

"Correction: there were only seventeen executions over the past five days," HK-45 said from the back of the room, emitting a low, electronic hum that sounded nearly like a mournful wail. "The is just over three murders a day, and not a single one done in the open! Where everyone could see! To be made an example of!"

"It's _just_ like Master Yoda and Qui-Gon said," Luke firmly stated with an emphatic nod of his head. "There is light in Father. It's just like we saw on Moraband!"

"Don't read too much into that, Luke..." Obi-Wan quietly warned. "I'm not a good man."

"But you saved us," the boy insisted. "You stood against an ancient Lord of the Sith and threw away the power you needed to..." Luke trailed off, unwilling to bring up how tightly they could feel the Emperor, Maul, _Vader_ closing in on Lumis, and what it meant to have thrown away the chance to change his fate if only he had ended their lives. Ultimate power and everything he ever wanted for the murder of his children, not even children related to him by blood. "...I know what it means to do as you have done, Father," Luke whispered as he swallowed the lump in his throat. "It was not lost on me."

"Don't make this something it isn't, Luke," Leia said with a scoff, but from the soft waver in her voice, he could tell it was half-hearted. She didn't want to show it, but the things they saw on Moraband had scarred her, effected her perhaps even more than it had effected Luke, who always knew to look for the light in all things, had always seen the light within their father as separate from his encompassing dark side. Unlike Leia, who knew him as Sith, saw him as one being of passion, who saw the visions of his bleak future and saw a side of darkness she had never seen before. In that moment, she had seen the path she had chosen to walk, had seen where her own future may lead. And it frightened her.

"Do you think..." Luke said softly, his voice distant and thoughtful. "Do you think that maybe...maybe even our father has light in him?"

"Luke," Leia said with a roll of her eyes, "you _just said_ -"

"Not that father."

The room fell silent, deathly so. Even the beeping and the whirring of the numerous consoles on the command deck seemed to stop as Luke felt all eyes on him. He bit his lip and looked up to meet Darth Lumis' eyes, knowing he couldn't bear to look at what he knew was horror and betrayal and fear in his sister's gaze.

"Luke..." Leia admonished softly, her tone tense and tight with fear and apprehension, as if saying his name could summon the man himself. "How can you even say that?! After what he did, after what he became..."

"You saw what I did on Moraband, Leia," Luke said quickly. "Our father walks the path of darkness, he has done _terrible_ things, and there is light in him still!"

"Don't you dare compare our father to the man that sired us!" Leia snapped at her twin. "It's an _insult_!"

"Peace, Leia, it's alright..." Obi-Wan said quietly, leaning back in his seat in a brief moment of contemplation. "I confess that I never considered it. I...suppose it's possible, yes."

"Do you think..." Luke timidly ventured. "Do you think maybe he can be saved?"

"Don't go equating those things, Luke," Obi-Wan said firmly. "Just because there's light in someone doesn't mean they can be saved. Sometimes, the things a person does can't be forgiven, no matter how bright the light within them is. Vader cannot be saved anymore than I can be." His eyes drifted away from the twins to stare out the viewport, looking far past the Imperial forces and the forests of the planet. "There just isn't any forgiveness for people like us..."

"Great job, _Luke_ ," Leia hissed under her breath, punching her brother hard in the arm. "You've upset Father. Now he's going to sit there and stare and think about all the people he's lost and it's all your fault." She scoffed at her brother's look of indignation and crossed her arms over her chest, refusing to look away. "As if Father needs forgiveness. An Emperor takes what's his, he doesn't need to be saved!"

"He's already been saved, Leia," Luke whispered, glancing over her shoulder to look at the Sith Lord in the command chair and the two women who carefully tended to him. "You saw what happened. You saw what he could have become. He could have killed the Emperor and ruled it all, and he still chose to face the fate the Force laid out for him. He chose _us_ , Leia."

"He's always chosen us!" she hissed back. " _Vader_ didn't. Vader would see us slaughtered to sate his vengeance."

"Vader doesn't know us," Luke countered, and Leia looked at him with disgust.

"And I hope he _never_ does!" she spat, her voice raising slightly before she looked over her shoulder at the Sith Lord, but he hadn't moved, lost to the Force, as he so often was, searching for answers or guidance that Leia knew he would not find. As Luke had said, Darth Lumis had made his choice. "He had his chance before we were born, and that chance was enough. If you want to betray our Father, our _real_ father and go running to your death, than suit yourself! Just make sure you do it after the Emperor kills him, because it would break his heart to lose you!"

"Leia..." Luke said with a heavy sigh. "Look, I didn't mean..." He caught movement on the console out of the corner of his eye, his attention immediately diverted to look at the screen. There was something on the scanners, something approaching the uninhabited planet when there should have been nothing, not even by chance. "Um..." Luke muttered, looking nervously over his shoulder at the command chair and quickly back at his console. "R2, I think there's a glitch in the system, I'm getting a reading I shouldn't. Run the checks again."

A few short beeps and whistles from the R2 unit made K2 swiftly draw up from where he stood plugged into the central computer. "Oh, well, if you think I did such a bad job programming the ship, maybe you should give it a go, you walking garbage can!" the droid said indignantly, tugging his arm to free it from the access port, only to find himself firmly locked in. He bowed his head with an electronic groan. The _Umbra_ would be completely unmanageable after this.

Luke got impatient when the droids began arguing and ran the tests himself, his eyes running over the readouts and frowning when the swiftly approaching spacecraft did not disappear as the data was corrected. "Father!" Luke called in alarm, swallowing hard as he looked at the unmoving man. "There's a ship incoming, there shouldn't be-"

"Ahsoka..." Lumis whispered, his tone impassive, distant, spoken from deep within the Force. Luke and Leia looked questioningly at their father, but the Sith said nothing more, didn't move, still lost to whatever tide he drifted upon.

"...did Ahsoka know we would be here?" Luke asked Leia, and the girl simply shrugged.

"You know how she is..." It wasn't an answer at all, but it was a good enough explanation for Luke, who knew Ahsoka Tano to be the finest tracker in the galaxy, grown only more skilled during her tenure as the Rebellion's premier Fulcrum agent. The Force had a way of bringing Ahsoka and Darth Lumis together, time and time again. That must have had something to do with it.

It wasn't until after the incoming ship had made its approach and docked in one of the Destroyer's hangars that Obi-Wan slipped out of the Force, stood from his command seat, and turned just in time to see the bridge doors slide open, allowing Ahsoka to step through, her strides long and urgent, her posture making it seem as if she owned the place. She greeted the Sith Lord with a smile that was almost warm, though it didn't reach her eyes, but flashed the twins a more friendly grin when they rushed to meet her, bombarding the Togruta with questions about how she got there, how she knew where they were, how things were going with the rebellion in their absence, what she was doing there to begin with, though they never gave the woman the chance to actually answer.

"I suppose I should congratulate you on the successful capture of this ship," Ahsoka drawled when the twins stopped talking at their father's approach, a sly smirk on her face to match the one Kenobi wore. "During the war, I never thought I'd actually appreciate your inclination to steal capital ships."

"I suspect that may be because my first theft was the ship commanded by your Master," Obi-Wan said, the unmistakable touch of sadness on his face, while Ahsoka's grin just became wider in remembrance of her Master during a time before things were turned to the grim path they ended walking. "The _Liberator_ served me well. I considered naming this ship after her. Or _Negotiator_ , I always loved that ship, but _Subjugator_ just feels so...appropriate for my purposes."

"Your purpose?" Ahsoka asked, her voice lowering slightly in challenge, her eyes never leaving the Sith Lord's. "Or the rebellion's?"

"Ahsoka..." Obi-Wan gently chided, though the sharp edge in his eyes did not go unnoticed by the Togruta. "Are those things not the same? We fight the same enemy."

"A common cause doesn't mean a common goal," Ahsoka said dryly, and Obi-Wan scoffed and rolled his eyes, his arms crossing over his chest.

"I will not stand in the way of your efforts to revive the Republic," the Sith said stiffly. "You know well where I stand on the matter. Is that why you've come to me? To make certain I haven't made off with a Star Destroyer and an army of Imperial soldiers so that I might bring them to bear against the rebellion that I helped to create?"

Ahsoka sighed heavily, finally breaking eye contact with the man as she shook her head. "You know I've never doubted you, Obi-Wan, but the time is coming when we will be in open war against the Empire. We need a cause to rally behind if we are to remain strong, and I'm not so certain that our High Command knows of your Imperial ambitions." A sly smirk touched the woman's lips. "Besides, 'Restore the Republic' just sounds better than 'Overthrow the Empire and Replace it With a New One.'"

"I was thinking more along the lines of, 'The Alliance to Install Me as Emperor,' but I can be flexible on the matter."

"Just know you're going to have a fight on your hands when all the rebel cells come together," Ahsoka cautioned, not unkindly as she took a step closer to the man. "The rebellion is made up of people who want to overthrow the Empire. They will not fight for us just to remain an Empire."

"Maybe not, but _Imperials_ will," Obi-Wan said, gesturing out the viewport to the thousands of soldiers and technicians working outside on the ship. "And I assure you, Ahsoka, there are a great many people in this galaxy who believe in the strength of the Empire, and our cause will be all the stronger if our soldiers come from the Empire itself."

"I don't disagree with you, you know that," the Togruta said quietly. "Just keep it in mind. We cannot afford to be divided now when we are so close to the end. And speaking of drawing strength from the Empire..." she said, an excited smirk crossing her face. "I have for you perhaps our most valuable Imperial resource to date." She leaned in, a wide grin on her face. "Galen Walton Erso."

"...what, the head researcher on the Empire's secret project?" Obi-Wan asked, his jaw slack as he stared stupidly at her for a moment before he found his voice again. "You have him in custody?!"

"Not exactly..." Ahsoka said with a contemplative shake of her head. "But we did some digging following a suggestion of yours a while back, and after looking at all the data and information you've collected that is even tangentially related to this project, we're starting to see a pattern in the numbers, something that would easily slip through the cracks of Imperial procedure and nearly impossible to detect, since the Empire has had to be ridiculously roundabout to keep a project of this magnitude secret. And that might slip past the Imperial bureaucracy, but it's not getting past me."

Obi-Wan was silent for a moment as he stroked the stubble on his chin, his beard still growing back, and carefully examined her face. He inhaled sharply a second later when he understood the implications of what she had said. "You think Erso is a traitor to the Empire."

"I believe he well may be. Some of the delays that have occurred in the project since he became involved are perhaps a bit too convenient. They almost look intentional."

"Acts of quiet sabotage..." Obi-Wan muttered, nodding firmly when his quick mind swiftly connected everything he had learned. "We need to get hold of this man. If he's working from the inside against the Empire, at some point, he needs to be extracted so we can know what he has done."

"Which is why I'm here," Ahsoka said triumphantly, holding up a small datacard in her hand. "My scouts have finally managed to locate Erso's kyber refinery on Eadu. I was just headed there to case the place before I send in people to infiltrate, and I need solid back-up." The golden eyes glowed as she stepped closer, a devious smirk on her face that reminded Obi-Wan so much of her Master Quinlan. "You in?"

"Do you even need to ask?"

* * *

"The Force is disturbed..." Obi-Wan muttered under his breath as he wiped his rain soaked hair away from his forehead and peered at the Imperial facility. "No..." he corrected. "More than disturbed, there's a wound here. This entire place feels... _wrong_."

"Can you hear the screams?" Ahsoka asked, and the Sith Lord absently nodded.

"Kyber crystals. This isn't the song being corrupted, it's being destroyed." Obi-Wan growled and rubbed at his temple. "Not even the Dark Side has use for this. I wonder if they even have any idea what they're doing."

"If they cannot feel the Force, I doubt it..."

Obi-Wan hissed in disapproval, his eye scanning the facility as he peered through a pair of macrobinoculars at the considerable defenses. "I feel like my connection to the Force is disrupted in this place. It's very dangerous here for us, Ahsoka, I can't focus. This is not a place we can trust in the Force to see us through, we may as well be wearing suppression collars."

"Well, well..." Ahsoka drawled, sending a sly gaze toward the Sith Lord. "Who would have thought that all it would take to cull the Lord of the Sith are the screams of a few kyber crystals?"

"Yes, yes, have your fun now, Fulcrum..." Obi-Wan growled through grit teeth as he shoved the macrobinoculars back to the snickering Togruta. "We'll see who's laughing when your scouts can't infiltrate the facility."

"My scouts _can_ infiltrate the facility," Ahsoka said with a roll of her eyes. " _We_ can't. Who ever thought that Force sensitivity could be a hindrance?"

"I wonder if this was intentionally done," Obi-Wan grumbled, leaning over the rock ledge they sat upon to look deep into the canyon below. "It's certainly an effective way to keep us out."

"Sending you in was never the intention..." Ahsoka muttered as she looked through the macrobinoculars. "In a facility like that, too much could go wrong too quickly. We'd have to make a mess, and that defeats the purpose of an infiltration. Today is for research."

"How about that over there?" Obi-Wan said, pointing at the opposite canyon wall where a barely visible ladder stretched from the ground far below up to right underneath the research facility, the Togruta nodding and making a quick note of it. "I'm not sure it can get you in, but it can certainly get you up there."

"That's quite a long climb to be left so vulnerable..." she mumbled as she rapidly took notes on the datapad, the screen slick with the heavily falling rain despite shielding the device from the worst of it. "But it may be our only option. If we can have an idea of the delivery schedules and troop movements in and out of this place, we should be able to get someone in. Might take a few weeks, though."

"We've been after this secret project for years. I think we can wait a few more weeks if it means getting hold of Galen Erso." The com on Kenobi's wrist began to chime, and cursing under his breath as he covered the device to muffle the sound, he turned the volume down, checked the number, and answered. "Spectre One. Can't get enough of me, can you?"

"You know I can't," Kanan responded, the playful tone of his voice undermined by tension. "Listen, I know you're busy with that ship, but we need your help."

"Well, aren't you popular..." Ahsoka said with a soft chuckle that earner her a glare from the Lord of the Sith.

"What seems to be the problem?" Obi-Wan asked, grabbing Ahsoka's datapad from her hands and rubbing his temple, trying to clear his mind from the sound of the Force as it screamed, but it was no good.

"We were following up a lead," Kanan said almost hesitantly, like he was doing something he shouldn't have been, and Obi-Wan frowned in anticipation. "Rebel intelligence was right. The Empire was building something over Geonosis. Something big. But it's gone now. All that's left are the construction modules."

"Big, how big?" Obi-Wan asked, his attention drawn away from the datapad as he focused on Kanan. When last he had gone to Geonosis, he found nothing but dead Geonosians, the entire race exterminated by toxic gas he knew to be the work of Grand Moff Tarkin. But he certainly didn't find any signs of construction. Whatever it was the Spectres found, it must have drifted into orbit over the past few years.

"Well, whatever it was, they were building it in orbit, so _massive_ ," Kanan said, lowering his voice enough that Obi-Wan had to turn up the volume on his comlink. "And Geonosis is already a huge planet. If whatever it is that the Empire is building can't be built on Geonosis-"

"The magnitude of this weapon is unthinkable..." Obi-Wan muttered, his eyes drifting back to the research facility. "We knew it was big, but this is beginning to sound more and more impossible. How are they hiding a project this large?! There are laborers, mechanics, technicians, scientists, the bare minimum just to build the frame, let alone research the weapon systems, to say nothing of funding the project..." Obi-Wan groaned, his fingers to his temples as he shut his eyes against the massive headache the interference with the Force was causing him. "Half the Empire must be involved in its construction, how can they have kept it such a well guarded secret?"

"A good question for another day," Ahsoka said gravely as she returned the datapad to the pouch on her belt. "The more pressing matter is the purpose of that facility."

"I think you and I are of the same mind," Obi-Wan growled. "They're trying to weaponize kyber crystals for their secret project."

"Is that even possible?" Ahsoka whispered, nervousness tightening her chest, her focus drifting back to the facility. "Kyber crystals are unstable, they can only find harmony when they're balanced just right. The bigger they are, the more unstable they become. To power a weapon for something as large as you're describing..." She shook her head. "It's impossible, isn't it?"

"I don't know..." Obi-Wan muttered. "I...can't see anything in the Force. But something strange is happening here. I don't like it. You need to get people in here as quickly as possible. Friend or foe, we must reach Galen Erso."

"I'll make sure it happens, Kenobi."

"Alright, that's disturbing as all hell," Kanan said over the com, and both Ahsoka and Obi-Wan turned their gazes to the device, having forgotten that they were connected with the Jedi. "But that isn't why I called. We went aboard the construction module so we could investigate and maybe find out what was being built, but we were ambushed by Kallus and his men. We lost Zeb."

"...you _what_!?" Obi-Wan hissed, his teeth grinding together as he stared at the hateful comlink on his wrist. "Lost him, what do you mean you lost him?! Is he dead? Misplaced?! Damn it, Kanan, you need to be more specific in your word choice!"

"Lost as in _lost_ , Kenobi!" Kanan snapped back. "He got away in an escape pod, but we don't know where it landed and there's no signs of life on Geonosis! Rex thinks the chances of surviving entry into Geonosis' atmosphere are slim, but we can't give up on him. We need your help to search before Imperial reenforcements arrive."

"Can you feel him in the Force?" Obi-Wan asked, his hand wrapping around Ahsoka's arm and dragging her back to the ship.

"No..." Kanan said quietly. "I've been trying, Kenobi, but-"

"Keep trying," Obi-Wan quickly interrupted, walking up the _Shadow_ 's ramp and pointing Ahsoka toward the cockpit, the Togruta running to start powering on the ship. "Keep scanning, broaden your search parameters. I'm not too far away from Geonosis, we shouldn't be more than a few hours away. Keep your eyes open for Imperials, I don't know if I'll make it before them."

"Thanks, Kenobi..." Kanan said with a heavy sigh, and Obi-Wan cut the com as he dropped into the pilot's seat, snarling curses under his breath as he activated the stealth drive and took off up into the atmosphere.

"Did you at least get everything you needed?" the Sith asked quietly when they passed through the turbulent storm clouds that covered the planet.

"More than I expected," she said, taking out her datapad and laying it in her lap as she began sifting through the information. "Truthfully, confirming the facility's location was the only thing I hoped for. We lost a lot of people just looking for it, the coordinates were costly."

"Put what you learned to good use..." Obi-Wan said absently, running his hand through his hair as he looked at the woman next to him. "Contact the _Subjugator_. We need someone to head for Geonosis immediately, and this seems like a job for Luke and Leia."

* * *

It was _cold_. The air so frigid he could see his breath in the air, and even with his coat of fur, his hairs were standing on end, the cold penetrating through even that. Through the hole in the thick sheet of ice high above him, caused by his escape pod when he had crashed, Zeb could see the sun in the sky above, and for how cold it was during daylight, it didn't bode well for the inevitable fall of night.

It had been an ill-conceived idea to begin with, and they all knew it. He had said so. Kanan had said so, had even told Hera to keep the _Ghost_ running and ready to go in the hangar should they be in need of a quick escape, as these situations so often needed. They all knew that it felt like a trap, but the lure of learning what the Empire was up to was far too great, and they had walked willing into it, only to be met by the ISB's Agent Kallus and his men. Zeb had stayed behind to give the others a chance to escape, but hadn't been able to make it to the _Ghost_ himself and fled from the Imperials in an escape pod.

But not before Agent Kallus had brought their fight to him inside the escape vessel, trapping the two adversaries together as the pod was shot off course by stray Imperial fire, sending them careening toward the planet below.

With a heavy sigh, the Lasat looked over his shoulder at his unwanted companion. Agent Kallus leaned back against their wrecked escape pod, his breath coming in hard, fast puffs that frosted the air, his face flushed and sweating despite the cold, his eyes glassy with pain, and a shaking hand resting gingerly on his right thigh, his leg stretched out before him. Below the knee, even through his pants, it was obvious that the leg was hopelessly broken, an odd, sharp lump rasing from halfway down his lower leg and soaking his pants through with blood that pooled beneath his boot. Even without seeing the actual injury, it was obvious to Zeb that the bone had snapped and pierced through muscle and skin. The cold may have been helping to slow the blood flow and numb the pain, but the injury needed real medical attention if Kallus had any hope for survival.

Which he didn't. Neither of them did. Kallus may die from his injury, but the cold, or whatever predators he could hear roaring in the tunnels within this frozen waste would claim Zeb the moment night fell.

With a growl, Zeb turned from the opening above him and trudged back toward the escape pod, a quick glance at Kallus revealing that, despite the pain that glazed his eyes, the ISB Agent was following his every movement, a shaking hand reaching for the blaster on his hip that Zeb had removed just after the crash. The Lasat cast an irritated glance at the other man, his lips curling up in a snarl that exposed his long, sharp canines as he past by him and climbed into the wreckage of the escape pod. Of all the people in all the galaxy to be trapped with in this frozen hole, Zeb didn't understand why it had to be one of the men responsible for the fall of Lasan. He knew of course now that there were millions of his people living on the Lasat homeworld of Lira San out in Wild Space, but that didn't take away from the years he had believed himself to be the last of his species, all because of the Empire and men like Agent Kallus who made the bloody extermination possible.

With a growl of effort, Zeb began tearing the paneling out of the inside of the escape pod to expose the innards of the wrecked ship, his clawed hands rifling through the mess of melted wires and frayed components for something that might be of use. Like most things in the pod, the small central console was entirely destroyed, but he managed to remove the mostly undamaged transponder and a few components that hadn't melted so he could perhaps fix it. With a functioning transponder, he could get a signal out to the _Ghost_ , and he knew they were looking for him. Hera would be here as soon as she knew where he was. It was a long shot, but there was at least some hope that he could get off this freezing rock.

Gathering up his components and the heavy survival pack that was stored in the overhead compartment of every escape pod, Zeb crawled out of the wreckage, dropped his materials on the ground as he sat upon a rock, and kept one wary eye on Kallus as he opened the emergency equipment. It was filled with the expected bare minimum equipment for survival, a basic medkit with some bandages, a cold compress, antibacterial spray and a small tube of bacta, a few breathers in case the air was toxic or unbreathable, a folding tent and a thermal blanket and a small space heater for survival in the cold.

Zeb immediately unwrapped the blanket and the tent, and growled when, almost laughably predictable, the Imperial grade supplies was wholly insufficient, the tent failing to deploy as intended and instead tearing upon opening when one of the supports broke, and the blanket little more than a flimsy shred of foil that threatened to blow away with each gust of freezing wind that tore through the tunnels. With a growl of frustration, Zeb stuffed the blanket and the tent back into the bag and powered on the space heater, breathing a sigh of relief when at least that seemed to work, though the battery life he didn't suspect would last terribly long. He set the heater between himself and Kallus, and groaning as he rose, he walked toward the injured agent, medkit in hand.

"S-stay away!" Kallus gasped, his voice slurred and thick with pain, his one good leg pushing and sliding uselessly against the icy ground in an effort to get away from the Lasat, though the escape pod at his back and the slippery conditions ensured he didn't move at all. He reached blindly to his side, his fingers brushing through the snow and ice for a weapon, but found nothing, a small, frightened whimper falling from his lips when the growling Lasat knelt before him and wrapped his large hand around the thigh of his injured leg. Kallus' struggle ended when a swift kick of his broken leg sent pain lancing through his entire body, his head swimming and his stomach flipping with nausea as he pitched sideways and vomited on the ground.

"Karabast, hold still, you idiot!" Zeb snarled, grabbing the Imperial's leg so hard the man went still, quiet groans of pain with every breath and his eyes wide and hazy as he watched the Lasat grab the agent's pant leg and carefully pull it up to reveal the man's injury. Zeb hissed as he looked upon it, jagged bits of bone breaking through skin that had turned black and purple with cold and bruising. He looked at the small tube of bacta in the medkit, and felt unbelievably foolish as he unscrewed the cap to squeeze the contents into the injury. It wasn't even close to enough. Kallus needed a medcenter, not a couple bandages and a dab of bacta.

His eyes darting briefly to look at the Imperial's face, Zeb took a deep breath, laid his large hand over the place the tubes of bone protruded from the skin, and gritting his teeth, he pressed down hard. Panicked, agonized screams echoed in the cavern and through the tunnels to amplify the horrid noise in Zeb's already sensitive ears as the shards of bone were forced back into the Imperial's leg. Resting his knee on Kallus' thigh to keep him still, he grabbed hold of the lower leg to move and manipulate it until he felt the two halves of the bone roughly line up, and he looked quickly to Kallus' face when the screaming stopped to find the man's eyes staring sightlessly into nothing. With the swift rise and fall of the agent's chest, Zeb returned to his work when he was satisfied that he wasn't dead, and he squeezed the bacta gel into the wound, pressing hard on the small tube to empty it.

When the wound was as covered as Zeb was going to get it, he reached into the medpack and removed the bandages, tightly wrapping them around the injury until he was satisfied that it was stable enough to hold the leg together, he pulled the black pant leg down, stuffed the unused equipment back into his bag, and returned to his rock to begin work on the broken transponder, briefly looking at Kallus to make certain the man was still breathing. Zeb was no medic, and he had done what he could, though he was uncertain as to why. It would have been easier to simply leave the Imperial to suffer and most certainly die from his wounds. It was the least Kallus deserved for his part in the extermination of the Lasat on Lasan.

Maybe years ago, Zeb would have done just that. Years ago, when he was bitter and angry and alone in the galaxy, the last of his kind, the Captain of Lasan's Honor Guard who had failed his people so badly just by surviving. It was no small thing to kill an Imperial when just looking at them brought the flood of memories crashing upon him of his homeworld on fire as his people screamed and died under the Empire's assault. But that was before Hera and Kanan and the _Ghost_ , before grumpy Chopper and the eccentric Sabine, before mischievous Ezra came to be like a much younger brother to him. They killed Imperials, of course, many of them, always when necessary, though it often was. But an unarmed man too wounded to fight? They never would. They couldn't. The Empire did things like that, and they had to be better than the Empire. They _were_ better than it.

Kallus was badly wounded and couldn't very well be considered a threat in his state. But beyond that, the situation they found themselves in was perilous, and they were almost certainly going to die. They were most likely to survive if they worked together, though if Kallus wasn't wounded, it was unlikely he would share the sentiment. No, it seemed more plausible that the Imperial would simply continue the fight, and they would both be dead. Just as they were already dead now, if Zeb couldn't repair the transponder. He was certain his friends were looking for him, but without knowing where to look, the chances of them finding him before nightfall were impossibly slim.

Zeb snapped the spare components into the transponder to replace the broken and melted parts, his shoulders hunched in concentration as he manipulated the small pieces with hands that were too large for such precise work. It made him wish Sabine was there, the skillful Mandalorian able to accomplish such a task with ease while Zeb struggled to grasp the pieces between his claws to get them into the smaller spaces. If she were here, the transponder would already be fixed and would probably have been rigged to fire explosives at oncoming threats. If Kanan and Ezra were here, those threats would already have been contained, either killed or tamed, as the Jedi were apt to do. Or if Chopper were here, the transponder would be unnecessary, as the little droid could have just contacted Hera and had her here for rescue in no time.

Zeb sighed heavily. He missed his team.

"Nobody is coming for us..." Kallus said in a thin, weak voice from where he lay upon the ground, and Zeb glared at him from where he sat, his temper quickly rising. It was easier to deal with Kallus when he was unconscious.

"Maybe nobody's coming for _you_ ," Zeb growled, "but my team is coming for me. I'm not some nameless, faceless Imperial. I can't just be replaced like you."

Kallus scoffed and gave the Lasat a dismissive shrug. "Even if they are looking for you, they'll never find you. Presumably they'd be looking for you on Geonosis, and this is clearly not Geonosis."

"Which is why I'm fixing this," Zeb snarled, holding up the transponder so Kallus could see before he growled and turned his eyes away from the agent. "If you're not going to be helpful, keep your mouth shut!" To his surprise, Kallus did shut up, but the Imperial never stopped looking at him, and with a growl, Zeb returned to his work, putting aside the smaller pieces he was struggling it and began monitoring the Imperial device, removing pieces and components that would allow the transmitted signal to be picked up by anyone instead of just the Imperial ships it was coded for. The work was far easier than the fine precision work that was actually required for fixing the device, but one way or another, Zeb would succeed. Yes, the transponder's signal may alter the Empire to their presence, but Zeb was certain that the Empire wasn't so much as looking for the missing ISB agent, and he knew that the SPectres were, without a doubt, looking for him. They would be here before the Empire. He just needed to get the signal out.

When he looked back up at his companion, Kallus' gaze was fixed out the hole above them toward the quickly darkening sky, the man closing his eyes after a moment and shifting to wipe the sweat off his pale forehead. "You can see Geonosis from here..." Kallus muttered weakly, his shaking hand pointing up toward the sky, and with a frown, Zeb leaned over to look out into the sky from Kallus' angle to see the impossibly large glowing orange of Geonosis rising in the sky. "We're on a moon," the agent continued. "Bahryn, most like. Be sure to put that in the transmission if you ever get that damn thing fixed..."

"Oh, I'll be sure to keep that in mind, _sir_!" Zeb snarled, his hand tightening around the transponder and the tiny components slipping between his claws to land with a tiny clack upon the ice. Zeb roared in irritation scooping up the component to try again when a tired sigh snapped him out of his rage, and he looked up to see Kallus, his hand extended out toward him, Zeb eyed him cautiously for a moment, bearing his teeth as he looked at the Imperial, before he dropped the transponder and the components into the agent's hand. Kallus quietly bent to work, his smaller fingers able to work the components better than Zeb even though his hands shook terribly with the shock and the pain. Slowly, Zeb scooted closer to the Imperial, watching as the man worked and pulling the space heater closer to them, the slightest smile on Kallus' lips with the feel of the additional warmth.

"Why did you help me?" Kallus whispered when he managed to successfully fix one of the three components to the transponder, his eyes flicking briefly to the thick lump on his leg where Zeb had tightly wrapped the bandages around the break. "You could have just as easily killed me."

"I'd rather you live and heal so you and I can have a fair fight," Zeb growled quietly, his eyes on the transponder instead of on the man he spoke to. "There's no honor in killing a wounded opponent. I'm no Imperial."

"You can't judge all Imperials the same, Lasat," Kallus said coldly as he twisted the next component into place, and Zeb scoffed beside him, a soft, warning growl in his chest.

"After what your Empire did to my people on Lasan, you damn well better believe I can!" Zeb snapped, his eyes narrowing dangerously as he glared at the unconcerned Imperial, and the lack of a rise out of Kallus quickly snuffed out Zeb's anger. "You had a bo-rifle," Zeb said, his tone hard and accusing, and Kallus slowly nodded.

"That your Shadow King stole from me, if I recall," Kallus muttered bitterly. "No doubt it found its way back into your possession."

"Where it belongs!" Zeb growled, his hand reflexively reaching for his own bo-rifle that was strapped to his back. "It doesn't belong in the hands of some Imperial like some trophy to commemorate the fall of Lasan!"

"I didn't take that weapon as a trophy," Kallus said quietly as he gently slid the final piece into place and twisted it to lock it into position. "The Guardsman I faced fought well and died honorably, and gave me the weapon before he died." With a heavy breath, Kallus pushed the repaired transponder into Zeb's hand and met the confused rebel's gaze. "It _wasn't_ a trophy," he repeated firmly.

"The Boosahn Keeraw..." Zeb muttered absently, his attention drifting elsewhere for a moment before he looked back to Kallus, his brow furrowed with a lack of understanding. "The Lasat Warrior way," he quietly explained. "When defeated by a superior foe, he gives him his weapon. It's...a sign of respect." Zeb sighed heavily and took his own bo-rifle into his hands, the transponder resting upon his leg suddenly less important than the horror that linked the two men. "If that's in fact the way the weapon came to you, then I have no business with it."

"I was just doing my duty," Kallus said quietly into the heavy, awkward silence between them. "It wasn't anything personal."

"Yeah, well it was personal to me," Zeb growled, but the bitter anger he so often felt when he thought about that day wasn't there, the knowledge that he was not the last doing nothing to cure the pain of the memory, but soothed him enough to face it. "I will never forget what the Empire did on Lasan."

"We all have things we will never forget..." Kallus whispered, his breathing beginning to shake as his eyes slid out of focus. He could feel a cold chill creep up upon him, and he wasn't certain if it was simply the cold that came with night, or the shill of death reaching out to touch at him, the dull throb in his leg becoming sharp, searing pain with every beat of his heart. He wasn't sure if it was the recognition of his approaching death or the delirium of his shock-addled mind that loosened his tongue, but Kallus wasn't sure it mattered. This Lasat rebel wasn't the company he would have chosen, but he was likely the last company he would have, and when he glanced toward the much larger creature, Kallus found him listening intently. They may have been enemies, but they were stranded together, and in this, however temporary, they were comrades, and to Kallus, who didn't wish to die but knew his outlook was grim, that was good enough.

"My first unit was deployed to Onderon to bring peace and security to the civilians there caught in the middle of the violent actions of a seditious and dangerous rebel insurgency," Kallus quietly explained when he swallowed the pain creeping up his chest and focused. "One of your friends, perhaps. Saw Gerrera. You may have heard of him, he's been linked to the actions of the Shadow King in the past."

"I've heard the name, yeah," Zeb said quietly. "Can't say I've met him. Maybe the Shadow King has, but I'm not responsible for what he does. That guy's nuts."

"I suppose it doesn't matter..." Kallus grumbled, setting aside his instincts to dig for more information aside. "We were on a routine patrol when Gerrera's terrorists attacked and detonated a bomb in the middle of a crowded marketplace. Hundreds were caught in the blast and wounded or killed, including my patrol, but it was mostly innocent civilians." Kallus laughed uncomfortably, his arms crossing over his chest as he shivered from the horror of the memory. "I was lucky, I guess. The first explosion threw me out of range of the second. When I regained consciousness, it was chaos, and I was trapped beneath a pile of rubble and rendered immobile, and that's when I saw them," the agent said darkly. "The terrorists responsible for all that death, all that chaos, all those innocent lives destroyed. I watched them calmly walk through smoke and fire and death to finish my unit off one by one. They never had a chance."

"But you survived..." Zeb quietly interjected, the sympathy in his chest making him desperate to say something, anything at all to somehow lessen the blow of the senseless violence of these other rebels. Zeb often forgot that most who fought against the Empire weren't so principled or merciful as the _Ghost_ and her crew. Most of them didn't have the honor of being led by people like Hera Syndulla and Kanan Jarrus.

"And every single day I wake up and ask myself why..." Kallus said, his voice distant as he slowly lost himself in his memories. A sharp and sudden pain shot through him and quickly drew him back to the present, and he tore his eyes away from the Lasat's sympathetic gaze. "This should hardly surprise you," Kallus said bitterly. "Not when your insurgency is working hand in hand with the Shadow King himself. There is no greater murderer in the entire galaxy. How many has he killed for your cause? How many innocent lives has he destroyed in his fight against the Empire? How much chaos and destruction has he brought to bear just to destabilize the peace and security that the Empire has brought to the galaxy?" Kallus scoffed in disgust. "You rebels are terrorists and murderers. Nothing more."

"How can you say that when the Empire has done _so_ much worse?" Zeb snarled, baring his teeth at the wounded Imperial. "You leave a line of ruined worlds in your wake, entire planets and populations used for your purposes until there is nothing left! People are crushed beneath the wright of Imperial restrictions, entire species wiped out and destroyed for defying your Emperor!"

"What else do you expect us to do when we are fighting violent terrorists?" Kallus growled in return, pain and cold and frustration making his own temper begin to rise. "We impose and enforce peace and order, and you rebels attack us, disrupt the peace, and we are forced to enforce stricter rules to make seditious activities harder to carry out so the civilians can be _safe_!"

"What, so all the evil the Empire does is for the good of the people?" Zeb scoffed. "Is that why the Lasat were massacred? Is that why there is no more life on Geonosis?" he asked, pointing to the planet hanging large above them, and Kallus' immediate retort was caught in his throat as he stuttered, suddenly at a loss.

"I...don't know what happened on Geonosis..." Kallus muttered. "I know a few years ago, dead Geonosians fell from the sky over Coruscant. Hundreds of thousands of bodies during one of the Empire Day celebrations. Maybe you should ask your Shadow King about that," Kallus said darkly. "The attack was attributed to him."

"Anything to absolve your precious Empire, right?" Zeb mocked, a wry smirk on his face when anger flashed in the agent's eyes.

"We keep the galaxy safe, we keep the people safe," Kallus insisted. "Even if you and I die here, the Empire will continue on, and rebels like you will be brought to justice."

"And yet, every single day, more and more people become fed up with the Empire and join with the rebels you so despise." Zeb grinned widely. "Why do you think that is? If the people are fighting the Empire, just what is it that you are fighting to protect if not the people?"

Kallus didn't say anything, only leaned back against the escape pod, his eyes on dead Geonosis high above him as he listened to the Lesat fiddle with the transponder and laugh triumphantly with the high-pitched whine of the transmitting signal, his mind echoing over and over with the question the rebel had posed. He had served the Empire for so long, had done his duty, had kept the peace, had never asked questions when told not to, and now that he found himself asking, he felt a knot of apprehension and unease deep in his gut.

"It's getting colder..." Kallus muttered under his breath after a moment of silence. "The space heater is going to freeze, it's not meant for severe cold."

"Typical..." Zeb grumbled under his breath. "What's the point of a heater if it stops working when it gets cold?"

"Probably the same as a transponder that cannot transmit a signal..." Kallus said, pointing to the device in the Lesat's hand, a small red indicator lighting up when the smooth transmission signal became increasingly high-pitched with effort. Frowning, he looked up, distracted for a moment by the heaviness of the frost his breath created in the air before he squinted to look at their surroundings. "The thickness of the ice may be interfering with the signal strength."

Zeb growled and looked at the device in his hands before he began eyeballing the steep, icy slopes of the walls that made the steep climb toward the hole above them, a climb that he hadn't even considered attempting until now. "So you're saying I need to climb out of here to get this guy to the surface for a shot at a clear signal..." Zeb mused, looking back at the agent to find a look of careful consideration upon his face.

"You certainly could..." Kallus quietly admitted. "But I thought it might be safer if you just threw it up there."

"The transponder could break," Zeb said with an arch of his eyebrow, which was met by the same expression on Kallus' face.

"You could slip and die in the fall." He gestured toward his leg. "Or you could break a limb, and we no longer have the supplies to even begin treating it."

Zeb considered for a moment, shrugged, and rose to his feet, carefully gripping the ice with his feet as he walked to stand beneath the hole in the ice and rock, and threw the transponder in a wide arc, the device sailing effortlessly out of the tunnels and disappearing on the surface. "I didn't know you cared, Agent Kallus," Zeb drawled mockingly as he settled back down next to the Imperial, Kallus rolling his eyes as he did so, though a faint smirk tugged at the edge of his lips.

"I don't..." the Imperial drawled. "But our chances of survival are low enough as they are. If you're injured as well, our odds are so low we may as well be dead. I know that my survival is entirely dependent on you."

"And don't you hate that," Zeb said, exposing his fangs as he grinned. "I bet you're glad that I'm not like you."

"You're right, I am," Kallus muttered quietly. "Although I may have surprised you."

"I sincerely doubt that," Zeb scoffed. "I know how Imperial justice works."

"Do you?" Kallus asked, sighing as he leaned back against the escape pod and clutched his arms tightly around himself to keep warm. "When the Empire comes for us, if you surrender peacefully, you'll be given a fair trial. You'll see."

"Oh, I know Imperial justice for Lasat," Zeb growled softly as he leaned back and relaxed as well. "I'd rather take my chances with the cold and whatever beasts are lurking in the tunnels."

"You might just get that wish..." Kallus said, frowning as he watched the orange glow of the space heater flicker into nothing. "The heat went out."

" _Perfect_..." Zeb growled, his eyes darting to the Imperial, to the dead heater, to the hole high above them, and back to the Imperial. With a heavy sigh, Zeb scooted closer to Kallus, ignoring the wary glances on the agent's face as he stopped right beside him, the much smaller man's shivering body pressed against the Lasat. "If we make it out of here, and you breathe a word of this to anyone _ever_ , I'll kill you, got it?" Chuckling softly, Kallus closed his eyes and leaned against the rebel.

"Won't say a word..."

* * *

"You need to calm down, Ezra," Luke said gently, his soft voice somehow still heard over the hum of the W-Wing, and Ezra leaned back against the seat, closed his eyes, and smiled. The entire day had been a mess with Zeb missing, and with a limit on how long they had to freely search until the Empire sent reenforcements, the crew of the _Ghost_ was in a state of crisis as they searched for their lost teammate. That didn't mean they weren't calm. Kanan and Hera, stalwart leaders that they were, were calm as could be, putting aside their feelings in order to get to business. Sabine had been fairly collected as well, which left Ezra, and he was anything but calm.

Early searches over Geonosis yielded nothing, scans of the planet revealed no life, and the longer they searched, the more it seemed to Ezra that his roommate and friend was dead. He hadn't been calm since Zeb went missing and the longer they searched, the less calm Ezra became. When he and Sabine had returned from their second sweep in the _Phantom_ , the young Jedi was on the brink of a panic attack which was made marginally better when he heard that Kanan had called in Kenobi. Ezra wasn't certain what the Sith Lord could do that they hadn't already done, but having extra people on the job made him feel significantly better, and the crew of Kenobi's _Umbra_ would more than double the eyes they had looking for Zeb.

When he and Sabine returned from their third sweep, Kenobi wasn't there and had sent word that he was on the way, but may not be there before Imperial reenforcements arrived, but he had sent help ahead in the hopes that they would arrive before the Empire. Just as he and Sabine were about to go out again, that help arrived in two black X-Wings, and despite the urgency of their search, Ezra couldn't keep the grin off his face. Kenobi had sent them the Gemini Agents, and Ezra was certain that with their help, they would find Zeb. They had divided up quickly to begin their search, and never one to waste an opportunity, Ezra had volunteered to fly with Luke, and even though the X-Wing was a single-passenger starfighter, amicable Luke agreed that while it would be tight, the two of them could certainly fit, and he welcomed the company.

Calm down, Luke had said. Ezra hadn't felt so calm since this day began. Luke was just a calming, soothing influence, his presence in the Force temperate and gentle, nothing at all like the wild, fierce tempest of his sister or the cold, silent fury of his father. Luke was entrenched in the Light, an impressive thing for being surrounded by so much darkness, and in his presence, even the darkness that Ezra felt seemed to flee, his anger and restlessness subsiding, leaving him peaceful and calm and focused, even in the face of the fear he felt for Zeb and the stress of the limited time they had to find him before they had to leave.

"If you aren't calm," Luke continued, sitting as far forward in his seat as he could to give the other boy room behind him, "things aren't so clear in the Force. It makes it murky, harder to see." He bit his lip in concentration as he leaned forward, his eyes roving over Geonosis beneath them. "We can find your friend. We just need to let go and surrender ourselves to the Force..."

"I know you don't know me well yet, Luke, but this is about as calm as I get..." Ezra said s he looked over the other boy's shoulder to look at the radar display on the console, and frowned when he saw nothing. "Kenobi says the senses are sharpened by emotions."

Luke exhaled in a low hiss, his shoulders bunching into tight knots with frustration. This was a conversation he had many times before. "Father isn't wrong..." Luke said slowly. "Harnessing emotions as the Sith are taught to do can make you very powerful, but it can also lead you astray, makes it easier to misread the signs the Force gives you, or misinterpret what you sense to fit what you wish to be." Luke took a deep breath as he nodded to himself. "No, clearing your mind and calming your emotions will give you perspective you wouldn't have had before. Allows you to see a wider scope." Luke turned his head to look over his shoulder and smile brightly at the boy behind him. "Just what we need to find your friend."

"I hope so..." Ezra muttered. "Because I don't feel anything..."

"...yeah, neither do I," Luke said, frowning as he pressed a button on his display. "R2, I'm not picking up anything. Are you seeing anything I'm missing?" There were a series of sharp whistles and beeps from the astromech in the back of the starfighter, and Luke scoffed softly and rolled his eyes. "No, I know Geonosis is a dead planet, but that should make it easier for you to find something if it's there." More short, curt beeps, and Ezra quickly got the idea that, like Chopper, this astromech had an attitude. Luke frowned when the droid chirped and whistled almost cheerfully. "No, that's not how the Force works, and you know it. Just expand the search radius and let's see what we come up with."

When the droid whistled in compliance, Luke pulled back on the yoke, the nose of the X-Wing angling away from Geonosis and out into space, leaving a confused Ezra to press his face against the side of the cockpit shielding as the planet disappeared from view. He felt his stomach begin to twist into knots with the sudden spike of anxiety, swallowing hard as he looked out and scanned the space before them for the Star Destroyers that he knew were coming. A warm, gentle hand rested on his leg, and the sharp edges of his worry were smoothed, the feel of calm flooding him when Luke turned and smiled back at him.

"Sabine and Hera are searching Geonosis," Luke quietly explained, his hands back on the yoke as he directed them toward the construction modules that hung in orbit and the planet's scattered moons. "There's going to be little to this search you and I can add that hasn't already been done or isn't currently being done."

"What about Leia?" Ezra ventured, the rest of his question silenced by a definitive head shake from Luke.

"No, Leia has the same idea I do..." Luke muttered absently as he checked the readings on his display. "There's no life on Geonosis. With the way you have been searching, any activity down there would have lit up your scanners, you would have found him by now. No, if Zeb is alive, and I believe he is, he isn't on Geonosis."

"Sabine said the gravitational pull from a planet that large would practically guarantee that something like an escape pod be pulled into its atmosphere," Ezra said, his heart beating suddenly faster when a slight, restrained smile tugged at the corner of Luke's lips and his warm blue eyes gazed excitedly at him.

" _Practically_ guarantee, Ezra, does not mean it is impossible for something otherwise to occur."

" _Practically_ impossible," Ezra drawled, and Luke's mischievous grin grew wider.

"Exactly the sort of odds my Father favors. Impossible is nothing with the power of the Force." Luke's fingers tapped effortlessly over his console, activating the ship's transmitter, which didn't crackle with static as the one on the _Ghost_ , but started with a smooth hum, and for the first time since Luke had slid into the cockpit to occupy the lone seat with the other teenager, Ezra took his attention away from the captivating Luke and took note of the quality of the ship he flew in. "Leia, what's your status?" Luke asked into the empty air, and was quickly met with a smooth hiss of irritation from the com speakers by his head.

"Just clearing the rings of the planet now," Leia muttered, her voice laced with annoyed focus that made Ezra's stomach uncomfortably churn with the pull of darkness, a thing that he often felt, but only now was realizing how cold it made him feel. "Geonosis has fifteen moons, only four of which are even remotely large. Since our preliminary scans didn't turn up anything, it's a good bet that he isn't on any of the smaller ones, we would have already located him if that were the case."

"So four search areas," Luke said with a nod. "That's good, much more manageable. Can you sense if he's alive?" Again, that hiss of irritation.

"I don't think I'm going to be much use to you here," Leia reluctantly muttered. "The Force here is stained with the slaughter of billions, all I can feel is death, I can't see past it. I...can't sense any life at all, from anywhere. I'm sorry, Luke. If he's alive, I won't be the one to see it. That's going to have to come from you." There was a brief moment of tense, angry silence, a swift chill through the Force that made Ezra's hair stand on end. "Father would be able to sense it," she ground out bitterly. "Father could cut through all the darkness like it was nothing and find him in an instant. He should be here instead of us."

"Father couldn't get here fast enough, and he sent you and I for a reason, Leia," Luke quietly reassured her. "You and I have what is necessary to help, or he would have sent Vitios and Vehemis. We can do this."

"But I can't-"

"Don't worry about it, Leia," Luke quickly dismissed. "If he's alive out here, Ezra and I will find him."

"Mm, I have no doubt you and your little boyfriend can get the job done..." Leia said in a slow, teasing drawl, and while Ezra could feel his face and ears begin to burn, Luke simply scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"How many times do I have to tell you, Leia, he's not my boyfriend," Luke said with a roll of his eyes, which was met with a swift, decisive bark of laughter from his twin.

"Not yet!" Leia chirped. "But I bet it's _awfully_ cozy in there. Feeling a bit hot, Bridger?"

"H-how did you..." Ezra stammered, his face flushing further and only becoming worse when Luke put his hand on his shoulder to silence him.

"Enough, Leia, or I'll tell Father about what you were doing when we stopped on Rajtiri the other week," Luke said firmly. "That place is crawling with smugglers, and he already doesn't like your affinity for scoundrels. I don't know _what_ he'd think..."

"Stop playing around and get to work, Luke!" Leia snapped. "Sith Hells, we have a man to save, this is no time for talk like that!" The com cut before anyone had a chance to respond, and with a satisfied smile, Luke banked the ship hard and brought them around to fly swiftly toward one the cluster of Geonosis' moons in the distance.

"She's right, isn't she?" Ezra asked quietly as they sped toward the distant moons. "Kenobi would have found him in a second."

"You're probably right," Luke said quietly. "Father's very powerful, and he has a gift for seeing things clearly in the Force." The boy stuttered for a moment, his breath hitching as his hands tightened around the yoke with distress, and Ezra reflexively reached out and laid a comforting hand on his shoulder, Luke quickly looking behind him at the other teen and smiling tightly. "Sorry..." he muttered under his breath. "Even my Father isn't infinitely powerful. He can get things wrong, and not even his foresight is perfect, especially not these days...I'll wager he sent Leia and I because he can't trust the things he sees..."

"Because of what happened on Moraband?" Ezra gently asked, watching as Luke's jaw tightened at the mention. "I don't know what happened, but you guys came back pretty shaken..."

"No, not because of Moraband..." Luke whispered, a sad, genuine smile on his lips as he turned to look at the other teen. "It's because of what you saw, Ezra."

"M-me?" Ezra stammered, the sudden crestfallen look on Luke's face distracting him from thinking of what vision he was talking about.

"On Lothal, in the Temple," Luke quietly clarified. "The one with the Sith Master and the dark shadows, the one where Father was defeated..." He sighed heavily, his fingers drifting absently over the console before him and leaning back, his back brushing against Ezra's chest. "Father has been meditating on it often, it's all he sees in the Force...he thinks it's throwing off his senses, and he thinks it's drawing closer."

"It was just a vision, right? A warning?" Ezra asked, concern suddenly tightening hard in his chest. "I mean, it doesn't _have_ to happen."

"Father thinks it will..." Luke muttered, that forlorn smile coming to his lips again that made Ezra's chest ache. "And he thinks it will happen soon. After he finishes with the Star Destroyer, he's going back to the Temple on Lothal. It's where the vision was first seen, he thinks maybe he can learn something new if he goes there." Luke sighed softly, the smile on his lips becoming more genuine as he looked at the other boy. "Perhaps you can go with us. It would be nice to have the support."

"Y-you think he'd let me?" Ezra asked, clearing his throat when he felt his voice cracking, the feeling only getting worse when Luke seemed to light up as he chuckled softly.

"I can't imagine why not. You _are_ the one who first had the vision." He shrugged and turned back around, brushing his feathery blond hair out of his face, his shoulders relaxed as he took hold of the yoke. "And I'd like to have you there."

Ezra sputtered, tried to find something say, anything to keep away the feel of the heat rising in his face and the realization of how cramped it was in the X-Wing's cockpit, how hot two bodies made the small space, how he was so close to the other teen that he could smell him, like sun and wind and sand. Try as he might, Ezra couldn't find his voice, and couldn't anyways find anything to say that didn't make him sound like an idiot in his mind. The silence was only broken when the moons they were heading to came within scanning range, luminous orbs in the viewport that seemed almost as if he could reach out and grasp the largest in his hand.

"We're coming up on our first search zone," Luke said quietly. "Clear your mind and reach into the Force with me. If your friend is here, we'll find him."

Taking a deep breath, Ezra closed his eyes and focused on Zeb, could feel Luke's presence warm and calm beside him and allowed the other teen to take the lead, allowing him to guide their search deep into the easy stream of light and life that surrounded them. It was overwhelming, the Force infinite in a way that Ezra hadn't experienced before, the breath of life ghosting across his skin and ruffling his hair, and he clung to Luke to make certain he wasn't lost in the depths. Slowly, he could feel Luke's calm focus narrow, taking Ezra with him as the galaxy seemed smaller, one star, not billions, one planet a black void in the Force, one moon small and cold and bright with life that called to Ezra the way life always seemed to call to him.

"There," Ezra said, pointing to a silver-white moon, one of the larger ones, but not the one they were headed towards. "There's life down there, Luke, we need to go."

"Is it your friend?" Luke asked, not waiting for the boy to answer before he banked hard to port and began flying fast toward the icy moon.

Ezra quickly shook his head. "I don't feel Zeb, just...life. It's more than I've felt since we began looking." The sharp, shrill whistles and beeps of the astromech blurted from the speakers by Ezra's head, and Luke straightened up, quickly flicked his fingers over the console, his eyes on his scanner as he pulled back hard on the acceleration, the sudden force of their rapidly gained speed sending Ezra pushing hard against the back of the seat and Luke pressing hard against him as they shot full-speed toward the moon.

"R2 agrees, he's picking up a weak signal," Luke quickly explained, his hands racing over the console. " _Penumbra, Phantom_ , and _Ghost_ , this is _Antumbra_ on approach vector to Geonosis 5, Bahryn. I think we found Spectre Four."

"Copy that, _Antumbra_ ," Hera said swiftly, her voice tight with what Ezra recognized as her contained hopeful excitement. "We're locking on and on the way." Luke muttered a quick affirmative before he cut the connection and focused on flying in fast toward the moon, cutting low in the atmosphere and flying close to the ground as the droid guided them toward the source of the signal. They could feel Zeb in the Force before they arrived at his location, more dull than his usual vibrance, but still strong, beside another that Luke could not recognize, a small, faded wisp that almost seemed as though it would blow away should the wind chance to kick up.

The sharp, excited whistles from R2 announced their arrival at the signal's source, and Luke pulled back on the yoke, the X-Wing shooting up into the sky and circling around to survey the area, and they quickly located the small hole in the ice, Luke bringing the starfighter spinning downwards quickly toward the ground, leveling off when he saw the X-Wing was too big to fit through the entrance into the subterranean tunnels. Luke set the ship down upon the ice beside the wide hole and snatched his helmet from under the seat, shoved it on his head, and unlatched the cockpit shielding, and vaulted from the ship when the cockpit opened, Ezra close on his heels as they sprinted toward the hole in the ice.

They skidded to a quick stop and scrambled on their hands and knees toward the edge, Ezra's teeth chattering and looking enviously at the insulated Mandalorian armor that Luke comfortably wore. Ezra peered down inside the icy tunnel, his eyes slowly adjusting to the dim lighting until he could make out the torn and dented gray hull of an escape pod and the shape of two beings huddled closely together.

"Zeb!" Ezra cried excitedly, his voice echoing through the tunnels, and two sharp feline ears flicked up in his direction, the soft green glow of the Lasat's eyes in the low lighting peering up at him, and Ezra could see his friend grin.

"I knew you'd come..." Zeb said, groaning as he stood and padded carefully across the ice to stand beneath the opening. "What took you so long?!"

"You gave us bad directions, you told us you'd be on Geonosis!" Ezra called back, grinning like an idiot when Zeb laughed and shook his head, the smile dropping from his face when he took a look at the second stranded man. "Zeb, is that _Agent Kallus_?!"

"Yeah..." Zeb looked over his shoulder and scratched the back of his head. "He's badly hurt. We can't leave him."

"Uh, yes we can."

"We won't," Luke promised, rubbing his hands together as he stood. "We're going to get you two out. Hold still."

"How?!" Zeb called up at the two. "It's too dangerous to climb out, and I don't think Kallus can move!" Before Zeb had a chance to say another word, the Mandalorian had gently lifted his hand in the air, and the Lasat's feet left the ground as he began to rise upwards. With an agitated, startled snarl, Zeb began to flail, grasping for a hold on anything at all, though there was none within reach as he was lifted higher into the air. Sighing in irritation, Zeb went still as he gave up, scowling as he looked over to see a startled Kallus rising in the air beside him, his eyes wide, but still for the pain in his leg. All Zeb could do was roll his eyes and offer a quietly growled "Jedi..." as an explanation.

Zeb and Kallus were gently lowered to the ground just as the sound of ships reverberated in the frigid air, the distant shape of the _Ghost_ and it's X-Wing escort cutting swiftly through the air right toward their location. Weariness finally settled heavy over Zeb, the Lasat shuffling toward where the _Ghost_ was setting down before he stopped and turned to face his fellow stranded companion, the Agent wincing as he piled snow atop his wounded leg.

"You could come with us," Zeb offered with a wry smile, watching as Luke ran swiftly to his X-Wing, jumped inside, and took off, falling in beside his sister as they shot up into the sky. "We'd treat you fairly."

"I think I'd rather take my chances with the Empire..." Kallus said quietly. "I know too well the meaning of rebel justice."

"You sure your boys are even coming for you?" Zeb asked, and the Imperial crossed his arms over his chest to ward against the cold.

"I'll take my chances."

"What's the hold-up, Zeb?!" Kanan called to the other Spectre as he ran urgently from the ship, a grin on his face despite the tension in his shoulders. "Don't tell me you like this icy rock."

"I don't know, smells a whole lot better than Ezra here," Zeb growled, nudging the teenager hard enough for him to slip on the ice and snow.

"See if I ever rescue you again..." Ezra muttered as he stood and brushed himself off.

"When we were coming in, we picked up three incoming Star Destroyers," Kanan said swiftly. "Our X-Wing pilots went to cause a distraction, but we've got to go."

"Looks like you'll get your wish," Zeb muttered to Kallus. "Hope they know where to find you."

"Imperial sweeps happen to be very thorough," Kallus said, pointing across the ice bank to where the transponder they had thrown lay, it's lights beeping as it hummed with the signal it was transmitting. "I'm sure that will lead them right to me. I won't be waiting long."

Zeb nodded, gave the Imperial a final look before turning away from him, greeting Kanan with a grateful clap on the back and ruffling Ezra's hair as he bounded beside him and chatting as swiftly as he was able. Kallus watched them leave, and wondered if the Empire had even been looking for him.


	53. Shroud of Darkness

**AN: This chapter is infinitely long, which is why it took so long to get done. Also, the holidays. Also, I got sick. Please enjoy. I need a nap.**

 _Chapter 53: Shroud of Darkness_

"You _idiots_!" Obi-Wan shouted, the gold nearly gone in his eyes as they surrendered to the blood red of the Dark Side, his every muscle bunched and tight, his hands clenched so hard they glowed a faint blue with the telltale warning of lightning crackling under his skin and through his veins. Before him stood Luke and Ezra, their heads bowed and their faces' red, Ezra's from the embarrassment of being yelled at in front of basically everybody, and Luke from sniffling back the tears he was trying desperately to keep from falling. Leia stood back with the rest of the crews of the _Ghost_ and the _Umbra_ , and swore that in all her life, she had never seen her father so angry.

It had been five days since Zeb had been rescued from the moon of Geonosis, five days until they had evaded pursuing Imperials long enough to make it to their rendevous at the edge of Wild Space, five days before they met up with the Star Destroyer _Subjugator_ and the _Umbra_. Obi-Wan had gotten word that Zeb had been found before he had reached the Arkanis sector and had promptly dropped his ships out of hyperspace to change course for the rendevous. He had spent the remainder of that time hard at work converting the rest of the Imperials, and by the time the _Ghost_ arrived, the crew of the _Subjugator_ served the Shadow King. When they had met on the _Umbra_ for the mission debriefing, Obi-Wan was, in a word, _displeased_.

"I have spent my life defending you and your sister!" the Sith Lord snarled as he paced before the teenagers. "Your whole lives, everything I have ever done has been to keep you safe and hidden so the Emperor and Vader could never find you, could never discover who you are. And what do you do?" Hard, glowing red eyes glared at the two boys as if daring them to say anything. Neither of them did, and it only seemed to make Lord Lumis angrier. "Ruin it in a moment by letting an ISB Agent get a good look at an _unidentified Force user_!" He paused, his jaw clenched tightly, the silence oppressive, and when Ezra chanced a look up and found himself staring right into the Sith Lord's gaze, he was certain death was incoming. " _And then you let him live to return to the Empire_!"

"We couldn't kill him, Father, he needed help!" Luke finally protested, boldly standing his ground when the Sith Lord's gaze pierced right through him, seemingly impervious to the thrashing darkness that Ezra too keenly felt. "He was injured and unarmed. That's _murder_."

"So what?!" Lumis snapped, and Luke drew up to his full height, still a good deal shorter than his father, but looking just as strong for the strength of his convictions, a blinding light in a tide of darkness.

"I will not murder an unarmed man, he wasn't a threat!"

"There are many ways a man can be a threat, Luke!" Lumis snarled. "And one of those ways is allowing a high ranking Imperial Agent to return to the Empire with the knowledge of the existence of a rogue Force sensitive they have no previous knowledge of!" He fumed for a moment, growing more frustrated with Luke's obstinance, and ran his hand through his hair, hissing in irritation. "If you were unwilling to kill him, you should have captured him!"

The briefest break in Luke's stalwart confidence and the knowing wince Ezra gave was enough to stoke the flames of the Sith's rage, his furious glowing eyes looking quickly over the Spectres, to his daughter, to Cody shaking his head in the corner, to Ahsoka leaning against the wall with her arms crossed and her eyes closed in thought. His teeth grinding together in rage, Lumis growled in barely controlled fury and turned from them to stalk to long viewport in the training room where they had gathered, his arm resting on the transparisteel as he gazed out across the blackness of space to look at the Star Destroyer _Subjugator_ , the new black and red finish upon her hull almost seeming to make her blend in with the dark of space like a silent predator.

"Did not a _single_ one of you think that maybe you should capture the Imperial?" Lumis growled, looking over his shoulder at the people in the room, and the tension within Ezra finally became too great for him to handle as he took a step forward, stuttering for a moment before he found his tongue.

"We didn't have time, the Imperials were coming!" the teenager said frantically, his heart only beating faster when her felt the weight of the Force begin to lay heavy upon him, his tongue suddenly thick in his mouth.

"He was _injured_ ," the Sith Lord hissed dangerously. "And unarmed and unable to fight back. Do not even _pretend_ that you did not have the time to throw that man on the _Ghost_! And _you_!" he snapped, turning away from the viewport to reel upon the hapless Zeb. "You don't have an excuse! You were stranded with him for _hours!_ You love killing Imperials, and what's more, he aided in the purge of your home world! You had every motive and opportunity to do the sensible thing and kill him!"

"Not exactly honorable to kill a wounded man, is it?" Zeb growled defiantly, his arms crossed over his chest, and Lumis stared at him for a long moment, his eyes wide and his jaw slack in disbelief.

"Honor?" Kenobi scoffed. "Who said anything about honor?! Were the roles reversed, he wouldn't have hesitated to murder you! _And_ for the record!" he snapped, turning away from the defiant Lesat to reel on Ezra. "I expect Luke to stay his hand when it comes to doing what must be done as quickly and effectively as possible, but from you, _apprentice_ , I expect better! It should have been a small thing for you to slay the man where he lay!"

"That's murder, Father," Luke said coldly, the Sith's attention snapping back to his son, and for just the flash of a moment, Luke thought he saw fear in the gold of his Father's eyes. "We have to be principled, we have to be better than the regime we are replacing or we cannot hope to win."

"This isn't about the Empire, this is about _you_!" Obi-Wan shouted, the rage in his voice breaking away to reveal fear and desperation like Luke had never seen, and silence fell over the room with the sudden tide of such raw emotions. "This is about keeping you and your sister safe from the people that would harm you! All these years of keeping you hidden, only to have you expose yourself in a pointless, _foolish_ act of nobility!" The corner of Obi-Wan's lip twitched as he repressed the expression of whatever emotion he was feeling from sliding across his face, which made the sneer he settled upon seem less than genuine. "I won't be around forever!" he snapped harshly, bitterly, so much so that the Force seemed to bite at the people who could feel it. "My time is coming much faster than I'd like, and it won't be long before I'm not around to protect you! If you aren't hidden, Luke, if they know to look for you and I'm not there to defend you anymore..."

Obi-Wan choked, a hard knot of emotion swelling in his throat and preventing any further words from slipping past his lips, the furious red that stained his eyes receding to reveal wounded, glowing gold. The twins whimpered softly, both reticent Luke and imperious Leia swiftly stepping forward to go to their Father, only to be stopped when he raised a hand, the gesture saying in no uncertain terms to keep away.

"Father..." Luke whimpered, his voice cracking with the pain in his chest of seeing the Sith Lord's usually concealed fears laid bare, a wide would open and bleeding with no hope of healing it. "Father, I'm sorry. I-I wasn't thinking of myself when-"

"Do you ever?" Obi-Wan growled, his eyes narrowing as he looked at the others in the room and gestured dismissively in the air. "This meeting is over," he snapped. "Leave me."

For a moment, nobody moved, as though they meant to defy the Sith Lord, then slowly, they drew closer together, whispering softly amongst each other for a moment before Hera nodded, reached up to lay a lingering touch on Kanan's cheek before she beaconed for the others to follow her, Sabine, Zeb, and Rex following her out of the room to return to the _Ghost_. Following the Twi'lek's lead, Cody, snapped his fingers, gesturing for the _Umbra_ 's crew to leave and return to their duties, and with a quick, sympathetic look at the three teenagers, he patted Kanan on the shoulder and gave Ahsoka a weary look on his way out. For a long while, it was silent, the six Force sensitive occupants in the room feeling the quivering strain of the Force pulled taut with emotion, the Dark Side growling and snarling and hungering to be set loose.

The tension released when Obi-Wan's shoulders slumped and he leaned back against the wall to slid to the ground, his hand running over his face as he cursed under his breath in Ancient Sith. The Dark Side coiled tightly around him, hissing and angry and warning those present to stay far, far away, though Luke didn't move, remained standing in the center of the room even ad Leia and Kanan moved to join him and the silent Ezra at his side.

"Five days..." Obi-Wan hissed through his clenched teeth, turning his head to look out the viewport at his Star Destroyer. "Five days back with the Empire, more than enough time to share what he had seen..." His fingers drummed absently on the ground as he closed is eyes and slowed his breathing, the fiery wrath of the Dark Side freezing into cold, still anger as the Sith regained control. "Sidious may know by now there is a third Force sensitive associated with the Lothal insurgents. He may know now the description of two unidentified X-Wing pilots. Even if you aren't there, when they hunt the _Ghost_ , your absence will be noted and they will be looking for you.,.." Obi-Wan sighed heavily and hung his head. "One step away from your discovery...so very far away from the complete secrecy you had five days ago..."

"Can we be certain Kallus told his superiors?" Kanan asked, stepping beside the children and gently nudging them to stand behind him. "He was badly injured. Perhaps he's been in bacta since he was rescued. Maybe he hasn't filed his reports yet." Kanan shrugged. "Maybe he didn't _want_ to. From everything Zeb told us, it sounded like they connected. Maybe he will say nothing out of respect for the rebel that saved his life."

"I'm of the same opinion," Ahsoka said softly from her place by the wall, all gazes on her as she slowly made her way toward them, her datapad in hand, and tapped the device to a small podium near the circular patter on the ground indicating the limits of the full body holoprojector.

"Even if that's true, he is a threat and a liability," Obi-Wan hissed. "He must be neutralized. And if he _doesn't_ have this streak of honor you and Kanan are so inclined to attribute to him, I can't murder my way out of this problem, killing him will not make the people he has told unlearn what they have been told. The damage has been done."

"I agree he must be dealt with," Ahsoka said absently, her fingers running over her datapad and syncing it to the podium, the holoprojector blinking to life with the soft blue glow of the transmission field, the lights around them dimming, and she turned to the others, a smile on her lips as she motioned for silence. The projection field jumped with static for a moment as Ahsoka's encrypted security was applied, the image of Fulcrum appearing before them as the Togruta assumed control of the _Umbra's_ communications, and after a moment, she placed her call. They only had to wait a moment, the Fulcrum symbol slowly spinning as the call went through, and it faded into a burst of pixels, reshaping and reforming into the image of a young man, his face stern and his demeanor serous, sporting a brown Corellian-cut field jacket and a versatile A280-CFE blaster in the sniper configuration slung over his shoulder.

"Fulcrum," he said, saluting swiftly and standing at attention. "This transmission and my location are secure."

"I'm glad to hear it, Captain Andor," Ahsoka said calmly, her datapad on the podium running her voice and image through the program that would distort her voice and conceal her identity, and Kanan leaned over to look at the display, a slight smirk on his face as he watched the Togruta work. It felt good to finally be on the other side of the mysterious Fulcrum transmissions. "Did you complete your mission?"

The stoic expression on the Captain's face faltered for a moment before he stood up tall, his shoulders back and his head held high, like he was bracing himself for a reprimand. "There were...complications. The Imperial freighter was in the F'tzner system, as you said, but I...failed to acquire the supplies."

"We needed that cargo, Captain," Ahsoka said with a frown, and Andor stiffened, sudden anger flashing across his face.

"Well the cargo the ship was listed to be carrying _wasn't_ there, Fulcrum," he snapped, exhaling hard through his nose, his brow drawing together in frustration. "Our intel was bad, or something was switched, or more likely, the Empire forged the shipping manifest to hide what they were _actually_ transporting!" He was still for a moment as he silently fumed, and Ahsoka leaned in, watching her agent's face carefully. It was unlike stoic, stalwart Cassian Andor to show such strong emotion. He was angry, but not at her. This was about the mission, and Ahsoka stayed silent to give the man a chance to process and silently seethe. "They were transporting Wookies," Andor finally said quietly. "Slaves, Fulcrum."

Ahsoka quickly looked over to Obi-Wan, the Sith Lord having risen from his spot to draw closer, the same knowing look on his face that she knew she had on hers. Behind her, she could hear Kanan gasp, a quick look shared with his Padawan as his jaw clenched tight and grim realization on his face. They had, in their own way, all arrived at the same conclusion. This was no accident, no misunderstanding, no one time event. These Wookies were slaves, just a few of many, and in light of the Empire's major, secret project, the construction modules around Geonosis, the extermination of the Geonosian people...it suddenly became much more clear exactly how the Empire was keeping this project secret. Built on the backs of slaves meant no payment, no labor costs to alert the Senate, no discrepancies in the accounting.

They were drawing closer, so close that Ahsoka could almost see it now.

"Did you manage to liberate them, Captain?" Ahsoka asked somberly, and the hologram shifted from foot to foot, readjusting the strap of his blaster.

"Yeah. Brought them to one of the moons we've been scouting for a base," Andor said quietly. "I'd have gone to Kashyyyk, but...you know what a hell that is." She did know. The forested, beautiful homeworld of the Wookies had been utterly destroyed by the Empire, and they maintained a hold on the system so strong that even the most reckless of the rebellion's agents would venture near. It made sense now. If the Empire was drawing a slave labor force out of Kashyyyk, of course the system would be locked down to keep it secret.

"Good work, Captain," Ahsoka said softly, her fingers running over her datapad as she took notes and keeping an eye on Kanan. She's have to ask him what he knew, what he had seen, to allow him to reach the same conclusion she and Obi-Wan had. "I have another mission for you. One of the utmost importance."

"I'm ready, Fulcrum," Cassian said tersely, fishing for his own datapad and swiping his fingers across it to prime it for receiving the information package from his informant, which Ahsoka quickly sent to him.

"This," Ahsoka said as Captain Andor received and opened the files, "is ISB-021, Agent Alexsandr Kallus. He is currently stationed at the Imperial headquarters on Lothal and is tasked with hunting the rebels of the Lothal insurgency. We believe he may potentially be sympathetic to the rebel cause."

"Are you kidding me?" Cassian asked, his eyes widening as he looked up from his datapad. "This is a recruitment mission?"

"It is," Ahsoka said with a nod. "I don't need to tell you what an advantage it would be for us to have a high ranking Imperial Agent working as a Fulcrum agent. Be careful, be thorough, and be certain."

"I will," Andor promised, frowning as he flipped through the information on his datapad. "The file on this guy is really light. I can still do it, but it makes it more difficult. It'll make this take longer."

"I would suggest you speak to Minister Tua," Ahsoka said swiftly, her fingers moving over her own datapad. "She worked closely with Agent Kallus for some time, she should be able to fill you in on any of the details you feel you may need, and then some. She is a valuable resource. I suggest you use it."

"I'll do just that, Fulcrum," Cassian said, making a quick note on his datapad before he closed it and tucked the device into a pocket in the lining of his jacket. "And if this Agent Kallus isn't receptive?" he asked, and Ahsoka was silent for a moment, her eyes drifting between Obi-Wan and the three teenagers standing close together.

"He has come into possession of some very incriminating information," she said slowly. "If you are unable to recruit him, kill him."

"I'll do my best to secure this agent for you," Cassian said with a nod.

"Tread carefully, Captain," Ahsoka said softly, her hand on the podium controls. "Fulcrum out." She shut off the holoprojector, the image of the Captain flickering off as the lights in the room brightened. "If he's already spoken, there's nothing we can do," she said quietly to Obi–Wan. "But if he hasn't, we'll get him before he does. Cassian is one of the best of my agents. With any luck, we can turn this around to our advantage."

"Last year, we intercepted an Imperial freighter transporting Wookie prisoners," Kanan muttered, his voice low and serious as he stared at Ahsoka and Obi-Wan. "I didn't think too much of it at the time, but with what we know now, and with this second ship filled with Wookies..." Kanan shook his head. "This is no coincidence. The Empire is pressing Wookies into slavery."

"You're right, they are," Obi-Wan said absently, his hand stroking his chin as he stared at the ground in contemplation, a sneer on his face as he hissed and brought his attention up to the others in the room. "Have we made contact with Nightswan yet? He is on this trail as well, is he not?"

"That's what we understand, yes," Ahsoka said quietly. "We've traced his insurgency to Scrim Island on Batonn, there's an Imperial garrison there that they've taken over, and it seems like they're gearing up for a major assault." Ahsoka sighed heavily. "But Nightswan wasn't there. I still believe his headquarters are located on Batonn, but he's keeping himself well hidden, or he has an alternate base off-world. I'm close, Kenobi, but I'm not certain his rebel cell will join with us. They are distrustful to the point of paranoia."

"I don't care if they join our cause, I care about finding out what information he has," Obi-Wan said. "Together, we may have enough to find the damn thing." The Sith growled deeply, his teeth clenched tightly together as he shook his head. "Sith Hells, I haven't been so blind since I was a Padawan, the Force has never been so uncertain. I need my vision back, I need clarity..." He sighed, his focus drifting to gaze out into space. "I need more time, there is so much I have yet to do..."

"You said we'd go to Lothal..." Leia quietly ventured, finally breaking her long silence and stepping forward, her twin and Ezra at her heels. "You said you may find your answers there."

"I very well may, yes. There is...something. Something there that keeps drawing us back. For some time now, our paths have begun and ended on Lothal, all our roads lead us right back..." Obi-Wan sighed and shot the teenagers a suspicious, hard glare. "If there are answers to be had, I may well find them there. And given how dangerous Lothal may be to you two right now, you are no longer going to be accompanying me."

"What?!" Leia gasped in outrage, looking back at her brother with hopeless betrayal written on her face, and she scoffed as she looked back at the Sith Lord. "Father, just because Luke is _soft_ and won't murder a man doesn't mean I should suffer! At least take me with you!"

"You shouldn't go alone, Father," Luke quietly agreed as he stood beside Leia. "It's dangerous, as you said, and with the visions you've been having, you should have back-up just in case."

"See?!" Leia said firmly. "Even Luke thinks I should go with you!"

"I didn't say that..." Luke said flatly, glaring at his twin. "I think you should take Kanan and Ahsoka."

"Kanan and Ahsoka..." Leia repeated, her voice tight and angry as she glared at her brother. Luke was unaffected by her displeasure, nodding curtly and keeping his eyes on his father.

"And Ezra," Luke added. "He's the one that first had the vision. It would be a mistake not to bring him along."

"We'd be happy to go with you," Kanan said, laying his hand on his Padawan's shoulder. "Though, if I may, Obi-Wan, I think you might want to take the kids with you." The Sith Lord glared at the Jedi, a wide, bright grin on Kanan's face as he laid his hands on Luke and Leia's heads. "The trouble started because your kids are brash, irresponsible and shortsighted."

"Hey!" Leia snapped, batting the Jedi's hand off her head and glaring at him. Kanan merely shrugged.

"Like Ezra," Kanan added in his lazy drawl, a smirk tugging at his lips when the Padawan crossed his arms over his chest defiantly. "The point is, maybe they're not ready to be sent out on their own, but more than that, if the Empire thinks there's another Jedi associated with our group, they're going to dispatch the Inquisitors."

"All two that remain," Kenobi grumbled. "More likely than not, they would send a Sith Lord with them."

"Even better," Kanan mumbled. "They can sense us in the Force. So long as there are Inquisitors and Sith Lords serving the Empire, the Jedi in our ranks puts our rebel cell at risk. We attract them, and they know where to look for us. That's why you started hunting them, isn't it?"

"It is..." Obi-Wan said suspiciously. "But that seems to me like more cause to keep my children behind. They are an uncertain element, but the Inquisitors know exactly how to find you and your Padawan, and the Sith are _always_ hunting me."

"True," Kanan agreed, "but I think that no matter what's on your tail, the safest place in the entire galaxy is right next to you."

"Until it is not..." Obi-Wan ground out bitterly. "Until Sidious comes for me and makes that vision a reality, and I don't know when or where that will happen. Do you not trust that my children will be safe in Hera's care?"

"Oh, _please_..." Kanan scoffed. "There isn't any place in the galaxy safer for kids than with Hera. My question for you, oh mighty Lord of the Sith, is if your kids will _stay_ with Hera. I half suspect them to run off on their own, and then where will you be?" Kenobi's eyes darted quickly to the twins, wide-eyed and smiling innocently, and he scowled, his lips curling up in a sneer as he looked back at Kanan.

"If it is a matter of sensing them in the Force, than staying close to you will draw the Inquisitors to them. Luke and Leia are practically invisible in the Force."

"Is that a chance you're willing to take?" Kanan asked gravely. "Do you really want to chance that they won't be sensed by Maul? By Vader?" Obi-Wan was still for a moment, his breath held as he stared down the Jedi, and he reached out through the Force to find the waters dark and murky when they had once been so clear. His gaze drifted to the twins, their eyes wide with fear and apprehension, to Ezra, who couldn't keep the concern off his face when he looked at Luke, to Ahsoka, ever the silent observer, and finally back to Kanan, confident and certain, so like the Jedi Knight he never became.

"Alright..." Kenobi sighed, running a hand over his tired eyes ans smiling ever so slightly when he watched the twins quietly celebrate with Ezra. It would be good to be with them as often as he could, now that the end was so near. "Perhaps they may learn something as well. But if something happens," he said firmly, pointing a finger at the twins and then at Ahsoka by the wall, "you will obey my orders without question. If I say run, you do it. Ahsoka, if Sidious, or Vader, or any of them ever show up, you are to leave me and take them to safety."

"Father, no!" Leia said, giving voice to the moment of panic that passed between her and her brother. "We can't just leave you to die if-"

"You can and you will," the Sith said firmly, his voice holding no room to contest his orders. "This is not up for debate. You two will come with me on all my missions from now on, you will stay close, and I will keep you safe, and sometimes, that means staying behind so I may shield you while you run. In that event, Ahsoka will become your guardian, and you will do as she says."

"They will not come to harm with me," Ahsoka said somberly, giving the Sith a respectful nod before she looked at the twins. "You have my word, Obi-Wan. No matter what, they will come to no harm under my protection."

"I know they won't, it's why I asked you," Obi-Wan said, sighing as he sat cross-legged on the floor, his hands settling on his knees as he closed his eyes. "Someone please tell K2 to set course for Lothal. I have much to meditate on before we arrive. Be certain you are ready by the time we reach Lothal."

They muttered their acceptance of the orders they were given, and Ahsoka and Kanan gently herded the excited teens from the room, leaving Obi-Wan alone to delve deep into the Force and try to make sense of the shadowed, blurry images that he could barely see.

* * *

"The last time I was here, I was so drunk I could barely stand..." Obi-Wan said as he looked up at the high stone ceiling carved from the rock that stretched high up into Lothal's sky, just another stone in another rocky outcrop that became so much more to those with the talent who knew where to look. This place had seemed untouched, unchanging from the way they had left it the last time they were here over a year ago. Tracks still lay cut on the dusty ground from where the drunken Sith Lord had been unceremoniously dragged, footsteps still stood evidence of Kanan's nervous pacing, and everything else just as they left it, down to the grim skeletons of former Jedi that lay within.

"Last time I was here, Grandmaster Yoda appeared to us," Kanan said, his voice low to keep the sound from echoing. "Do you think he will again?"

" _He certainly could_ ," the deep, ghostly voice of Qui-Gon echoed around them, the Force spirit materializing in the air before them, and the Sith Lord groaned, giving a hard roll of his eyes as he shoved his thumbs into his belt and stalked away, muttering curses under his breath loud enough to be certain that those present heard his displeasure. " _The Force here is clear. Strong. Ideal for even the living to transcend their mortal shells."_

"Does that mean there's no danger here?" Luke asked the spirit quietly, stepping up toward the ghost with a light, easy smile on his face.

" _There is always dangers in places like this_ ," Qui-Gon said quietly with a slight shake of his head. " _Just because this place is of the Light doesn't mean it is without perils. The Force is always testing us. They would not be tests if there were not risks._ "

"But no Sith Lords," Leia said, and Qui-Gon smiled at the girl as he nodded.

" _Other than the one in the room...no._ "

"The Sith need not be here to be present, _Jedi_ ," Kenobi said scornfully, glaring at the spirit before he turned away and looked through the door that led deeper into the Temple. "I shouldn't have to remind you that it was here that Ezra saw Darth Sidious in his visions, and from the way he tells it, Sidious saw him too."

"But if you believed this place to be so dangerous, you wouldn't have brought Luke and Leia with you," Ahsoka gently pointed out, and Kenobi stiffened, his jaw tightening as he curtly nodded.

"You're right, it isn't the place," Obi-Wan muttered, his gaze drifting back down the darkened hallways beyond. "In theory, Sidious could see them from anywhere. I don't know how he found Ezra, or what it was that drew his attention to him. But in all these years, so far as I know, the Force has protected Luke and Leia. They haven't been seen. If they had, Vader would have been relentlessly hunting them."

"But if Kallus reports what he saw..." Kanan said quietly, and the Sith's hand clenched tightly, the smooth, warm flow of the Force suddenly becoming bitterly cold with his anger.

"It won't matter where they are..." Kenobi muttered.

"But he knows you," Ezra ventured nervously when Luke tensed beside him. "You were his student, right? He knows what you feel like, he knows how you find you, and he hasn't."

"Hasn't he?!" the SIth Lord snapped, the teenager drawing back slightly with the sudden surge of anger. Kenobi sighed, ran his hand over his face, and leaned back against the wall. "My apologies..." he muttered softly. "You're right, of course. Sidious does not have perfect sight, or all would have been lost long ago. The Force remains a mystery, even to those who have long ago been called Masters, and never forget that I am considered a Master myself, and I have learned concealment from the best, and I have taught Luke and Leia how to slide through the waters of the Force without causing so much as a ripple upon its surface."

"So...what are you worried about?" Ezra asked innocently, and a small, sad smile touched Obi-Wan's lips as he looked at the three teenagers.

"It is one thing to move silently when nobody know you are there, but an entirely different matter to do so when the hunter knows there's prey about. Even those who move with perfect stealth leave their trace upon the Force, even if it is slight." He sighed heavily, his hand running through his hair as he pushed off the wall and slowly strode to join the rest of them, his hands clasped tightly behind his back. "I will, of course, do everything in my power to keep out presence undetected. I am not an easy man to detect in the Force, and my sphere of influence is not insignificant."

"And we do not know if we are being hunted," Ahsoka said quietly. "If Agent Kallus hasn't shared what he has seen, it's unlikely that they would be anymore vigilant than they have been in the past." She shrugged. "And even still, I doubt Sidious would concern himself with a single unidentified Force sensitive when he has you to contend with. It's been over fifteen years, and we haven't been discovered. Power may have made him arrogant. We may seem insignificant next to the power he commands."

"...let us hope that is the case," Obi-Wan muttered, drawing up and taking a deep breath. "Alright, here's the plan. We're here for answers. Keep your minds open, because the answers we seek may not be the answers the Force gives us. If we are vigilant, we may learn a great deal here."

"I'll stay behind," Ahsoka volunteered, taking out her datapad and sitting cross-legged on the dusty ground. "I have work to do, and it would serve us well to keep a guard just in case."

"Very well," Obi-Wan said softly. "Kanan and I are going inside to meditate on the vision and see if we can't find anything that was missed the first time."

"We are?" Kanan asked, and the Sith tersely nodded.

"The Force is so unclear to me, and there is so much of the Light in this place I feel nearly blind. I need a second set of eyes." Kanan nodded, shifted to stand closer to the Sith, and Obi-Wan looked at the three teenagers, fidgeting and waiting expectantly for their orders. "Ezra." The boy straightened up, his posture stiff and his hands at his side at attention. "You have overcome a trial in this place before. You are to stay together with Luke and Leia. Feel the Force, follow where it leads, and learn what it has to teach you."

"Yes sir!" Ezra said sharply. "I won't disappoint you!"

"See that you don't..." Kenobi grumbled, gesturing with a lazy hand at Qui-Gon. "Because the Force spirit is going with you, and he's going to tell me everything you do."

" _I am_?" Qui-Gon asked, an aloof smirk on his lips when the Sith Lord glared at him.

"You are..." Obi-Wan repeated. "If you're going to haunt me, you may as well make yourself useful."

" _The Force may have other uses for your friend Kanan,_ " Qui-Gon said softly. " _If you find yourself blind in this place, I am a better guide than most._ "

"And I have walked the Force for many, _many_ years," the Sith Lord snarled. "Blind as I may be, the Force is no stranger to me. The children are in more need of guidance than I, especially if the Force means to test them."

" _Very well_..." Qui-Gon muttered, the ethereal body wavering in the air for a moment before it vanished, the hall beyond suddenly lighting up when flames sparked in torches along the walls. With a deep breath, Obi-Wan walked forward into the hall beyond, Kanan falling in beside him and the teenagers scrambling after them. When they had all passed the threshold, the heavy stone door slammed closed, leaving Ahsoka alone in the rounded chamber, and with a sigh, she leaned back against one of the towering pillars, her datapad resting on her knees, and quietly read over the information scrolling across the screen.

It was still too early to have heard anything about Kallus from Captain Andor, the man only having just reported in that he had spoken to Minister Tua and received all the information that the informant package had been missing, including the Star Destroyer he was assigned to and the exact location of his offices within Lothal's Imperial headquarters. It was a good start, and Cassian Andor was a fine agent, but even he couldn't move so quickly. It would likely take months for Cassian to establish contact with the ISB Agent, and even longer than that to see any results. These things took time, and while Ahsoka was aware of the urgent nature of the matter, she knew there were other risks than just the discovery of Luke and Leia, but also other options that Kenobi hadn't considered.

They had a legion of Force sensitive Mandalorians, all of who could be at risk were Kallus to come forward, and the discovery of children that had survived Vader's slaughter in the Jedi Temple was the last thing the rebellion needed. But any one of them would have been proud to step forward and reveal themselves if it meant drawing attention away from the others. It was not a course of action she wished to take, but Ahsoka slowly began sifting through the list of names she could call upon for that duty were it to come to that. She made her selections, narrowed the list down to twenty candidates who she would ask to die for the rebellion, and she felt cold in the pit of stomach every time she knew she was sending an agent to a likely death.

Ahsoka quickly minimized the files when she had made her selections. There was little to be done about Agent Kallus now, and little point on continuing to study it when she had done all she could and set the proper wheels in motion, not when there was os much other work to be done. In truth, Agent Kallus was but one of many problems that Ahsoka had to attend to, only a small part of a much greater whole in the fight against Sidious' Empire, and of all the missions she was managing, all the battles she was keeping an eye on, all the rebel factions associated or independent of their cause, all the potential spies and allies, the Kallus file was far from the most concerning. It was in Cassian Andor's more than competent hands, and while failure in this mission could prove to be potentially devastating, she trusted the Captain to succeed.

She sifted through all the new intel she was always receiving from her contacts throughout the galaxy, the agents in her employ that served as her eyes and ears on Imperial and rebel activity, and there was always new information, new leads, new atrocities. Increased Imperial activity around Kessel. A new surge of rebel activity out of Mon Cala. Hundreds of other smaller reports on potential informants, on Imperial schedules, on possible bases, but what caught Ahsoka's attention more than anything was news of a large movement of Imperial forces against rebel insurgency not very far away from Lothal.

The Batonn sector had been in Ahsoka's sights for quite some time, the insurgency groups there clever and creative and extremely good at staying several steps ahead of the Imperials that hunted them, mostly because they were led by the elusive Nightswan, a man who had been on her radar for years now. But the Nightswan was secretive and mistrustful, not uncommon for rebel leaders, and all attempts to contact him had been met with silence and the man disappearing from sight. Over the past few weeks, she had narrowed the location of his base of operations to the planet Batonn, but where, she had yet to discover. Now, with the recent reports, it seemed as though the Imperials were closing in as well.

Not just Batonn, but the entire Batonn sector was alight with the blasts of ion fire from the Star Destroyers as they purged the area of rebel activity. Over Denash, the 125th Imperial Task Force chased the occupying rebels from the system, the insurgents there opting to flee instead of stay behind and fight. Over Batonn, the 103rd attacked the rebel occupied base on Scrim Island, one of the possible locations Ahsoka had pegged as Nightswan's current base of operations, which was further supported by word that the insurgent force was actually managing to keep control of the island as they dealt heavy damage to the Imperial forces in orbit. But most disturbing of all was the 96th task force over Sammun, the rebels there providing very little challenge for the Imperials to capture or destroy, which came as very little surprise when Ahsoka saw the Star Destroyer in command of the force, the distinctive engraving of the mythological beast the ship was named after carved on its hull.

The presence of the _Chimera_ meant Thrawn was there, and with the Imperial forces closing in, it could only mean that Nightswan would soon be at his end. If they were to save him, to recruit him, to learn what he knew about the Empire's secret project, they needed to get to him, and they needed to get there now before it was too late, if it wasn't already. She quickly opened the files, looked through the details of the battles at Sammun, Denash and Scrim Island, looked at the movements of both the rebel and Imperial fleets. The _Chimera_ was heading toward Batonn, no doubt to assist the struggling Imperials there, the fleeing rebel ships from Scrim Island and Denash splitting off in several directions, though from the look of it, it seemed as though their vectors were all converging on a singular location, the initial spread more than likely an attempt to confuse their Imperial pursuers.

There was one major city on Batonn, Paeragosto City, and just outside of that, the Creekpath Mining Facility, the place where all the escaped rebel vessels seemed to be converging upon. If Nightswan was still alive, and Ahsoka suspected that he was, than this would be where he was located. This would be the final stand of the Batonn Insurgency. They needed to get there before it was too late.

Ahsoka snapped her datapad closed, stood quickly, and was immediately struck with a wave of dizziness and nausea, her entire world spinning as she shut her eyes and grabbed her head as she staggered where she stood for a moment before dropping to her knees. She could hear cruel, malicious laughing, the spark of Force lightning, Luke and Leia screams echoing all around her, deep, rhythmic breathing through a respirator, the blazing thrum of lightsabers, the hiss as they clashed and the sickening sizzle as they cut through flesh. Her palms slammed on the ground when she thought she was going to wretch, her shoulders heaving as she felt her hands sliding in a pool of hot, thick liquid she didn't need to see to know it was blood. A flash of bright light exploded behind her eyes, and a chorus of screams erupted around her as she felt herself falling.

Her eyes flew open when she thought she hit the ground, her heart racing and her breathing hard and fast as she looked at her surroundings to find herself no longer in the safety of the Temple, but instead in a place bathed in red light, a cold mist hanging low and heavy in the air. Ahsoka's breath froze in the air as she looked around, the faint echo of screams and the sound of her own heart pounding in her ears. When nothing happened, nothing moved, nothing caught her attention, she slowly stepped forward, aware that the Force had brought her to this place for a reason, and all too keenly away of what this place was. It was confirmed when she saw them, the three shadowy figures of the Sith Lords standing still and silent in the distance, and steeling herself, Ahsoka slowly approached.

While Ahsoka had never seen the vision before, she had heard enough about it to know it when she saw it, but what she saw was nothing like what she had expected. She certainly felt the cold dread in the pit of her stomach, could feel the chill of the Dark Side creeping up her spine, but it was not the horror she was expecting. She heard tales of pale yellow eyes peering through the darkness across space to look into her very soul, the sound of malicious laughter and the feel of certain death, but when she drew closer to the three spectres, she saw none of that. No glowing eyes, no illusion of life, no feeling as if they could actually see her. Rather, the shadowy visages seemed lifeless and hollow, shoulders slumped and heads bowed like avatars without their pilots. It was unnerving, disturbing, and only became more so when the shadow of the Zabrak Darth Maul began to unnaturally spasm and twitch, his hands rising to grasp at the horns that rose from his head.

She passed her hand through the dark figures, easily passing through with the wisps of shadows clinging to her fingers as if she stirred the mist that formed them. Frowning, she looked around her to find the image of Obi-Wan, the figure she knew to be defeated and rendered little more than a hollow vessel in the vision, but she saw no body, only a burned marks scoring the ground and a puddle of smeared blood upon the ground with thick, heavy drops leading away from the shadows. She looked down at her hands, remembering what she had felt before she woke up within this place, and found them covered in blood, though it was from no injury of hers, or at least from none she could see, and she couldn't help but wonder if somehow, the Obi-Wan's grim future had changed, and if she was somehow part of it.

She slowly turned to face the shadows again, the twitching Maul, the small, almost frail image of Sidious, the imposing Vader, and she slowly walked near them once again, the fear she had felt before turning hot with rage as she looked upon the shadow of the man that had murdered her Master so long ago. She stepped up to him, her jaw tight and her fist clenched, the shadow looming tall above her, far taller than she ever remembered him standing even though she had grown so much taller than when she had seen him last.

A small part of her wondered and desperately hoped that somehow this was not the person she knew him to be, that somehow Darth Vader was some grotesque monster and not her friend Anakin Skywalker. That _somehow_ , the last few weeks of the Clone Wars was some terrible nightmare, that the murder of Asajj Ventress, Plo Koon, and Quinlan Vos aboard the _Enigma_ never happened, that she wasn't hunted on a cold, barren planet as the last witness to his crimes, that the Jedi Temple wasn't attacked and the Jedi within slaughtered like animals by their best and brightest. She wished, but Ahsoka knew well what had happened. She could never forget it, and it was because of the shadow standing before her.

"Anakin..." she hissed through clenched teeth as she looked up into the skull-like visage of the mask made of shadows. "The time is coming when we shall meet again, and when we do, I _will_ have vengeance for my Master..."

"So easy, is it?" a small, raspy voice said from behind her, and despite the chill and the menace of the shadows before her, Ahsoka couldn't help but smile, turning her back on the dark visages to face the small form of the Jedi Grandmaster. "Destroy Darth Vader, will you?" Yoda asked with a sage, knowing smile, watching as Ahsoka looked over her shoulder at the shadow behind her.

"I will," she quietly promised. "And if I can't, I will die trying."

"So little, does your life mean?" Yoda gently scoffed. "Waste your life, will you, for your revenge?"

"You didn't see what I saw, Master..." Ahsoka whispered. "You didn't see what Anakin did to Master Plo and Ventress and Quinlan." She closed her eyes, her jaw tight as she relived that awful moment again, as she had done so many times before. Helpless and afraid and grief stricken, trapped in an escape pod as she watched Quinlan Vos die upon Vader's red blade, the memory as fresh as the day it happened. "I need vengeance for them. My Master deserves it. I don't think his spirit can rest until the monster that killed him is gone."

"Gave his life for you, Quinlan Vos did," Yoda said softly, hobbling up to stand beside the mournful Togruta. "Rests, his spirit does, because alive, you are. Life, he wished for you, Ahsoka. Lives, he does, so long as you do." Yoda shuffled up to the woman as she bowed her head, quickly wiping her eyes with the back of her hand to hide the tears that threatened to fall. He reached up and took her hand gently in his own. "Miss him too, do I."

"I-I know..." Ahsoka whispered, her gaze drifting up to stare hard at the shadow of Vader. "I just hate that this is a galaxy where Quinlan's murder can walk free."

"Oh?" Yoda questioned. "Free, is he?"

"You know what I mean..." Ahsoka said grimly. "Vader needs to die. For Quinlan and Master Plo and Ventress, for everyone he has ever murdered in cold blood..." She sighed, a pain deep in her chest as she looked at the shadow and for just a moment, thought she saw a faint yellow glow within the eyes of the mask. "...and for Anakin too. Anakin deserved better than what he became. My friend did not deserve this endless darkness...if I end Vader, maybe Anakin can finally be at peace as well."

"Your duty, this is?" Yoda asked, the odd, knowing voice enough t make the Togruta take her eyes from the shadows and look at the tiny Jedi at her side. "Be you, must it, that destroys Darth Vader?" He chuckled, his eyes closing as his ears lowered in calm resignation. "I think not. Elsewhere, your destiny lies. Belongs to another, the fight against Vader does."

"Who?!" Ahsoka asked, her temper flaring for a moment before she quickly wrested it back under her control, though her hand was still tightly clenched. "Who has more cause than me to kill him? Obi-Wan?!" She scoffed and shook her head. "No, I don't think so. They may be linked in the Force, they may have been battling with each other since before I even knew, but nobody has cause to hate him more than me!" Ahsoka hissed in pain when a swift, sharp smack of Yoda's stick struck her across her shins, and she knelt down to rub at the tender flesh where a bruise was quickly forming and wondered how, in the embrace of the Force, she could still be struck by the little Jedi.

"Failed, Anakin did, to destroy the Sith, because to darkness he too fell," Yoda said firmly. "In anger, in hate, in revenge, beat the Sith, you cannot." He nodded resolutely and pointed to her forehead with one of his fingers. "Your fight, this is not. A task have you already, Ahsoka Tano. Confront Vader, and succeed, you will not."

She started to say something, started to argue, and found she had nothing she could say, understood the truth of the matter deep inside her, as much as she wished it was not so. She curtly nodded her understanding, her eyes cast at the ground, and felt the warm, comforting hand of the Grandmaster on her head, soothing away the anger she felt and giving her focus once again. She wasn't certain if it would stay this way, wasn't sure if she could maintain this focus in the presence of the actual Darth Vader, but she supposed she'd know when the time came. If it ever did. _When_ it did. The confrontation was inevitable, and it was coming sooner than she would have liked. She only hoped she saw the wisdom of turning away when that day was upon her.

"This vision..." Ahsoka said softly, gesturing to their surroundings. "This isn't how Kenobi described it. Has it changed? Has he done something to alter his fate, has he been successful?"

"Different, this is," Yoda calmly agreed. "A different point of view, you have, Ahsoka. Different, your focus is, from Obi-Wan's. From mine."

"Yes, but Ezra and Kanan saw the same thing that Kenobi did," the Togruta muttered. "That's the actual vision, that's the one that's going to happen."

"The real vision, is it?" Yoda asked with a wry chuckle, lightly tapping Ahsoka on the chest with his stick. "Know you what is real within the Force?" He tapped his stick on the ground, his eyes drifting to the still and silent figures in black. "Less real, is this, because seen it, only you and I have, hmm?"

"...n-no," she stuttered, sighing heavily as she ran her hands over tired eyes. "No, I suppose not." Her gaze shifted back to the tall, imposing form of Darth Vader. "But what does it mean?"

"Know that, I do not," Yoda grumbled. "But know what to do, you will, when the time comes."

"...do you know what to do?" Ahsoka asked, and Yoda turned his eyes upon her, looked her over closely, and slowly inclined his head.

"I do," he whispered, a wave of his hand in the air causing the shadowy figures to writhe and waver, the piercing sound of screams filling the air as the spectral Sith Lords were blown away like smoke on the wind, the ominous red surroundings falling away like a tower crumbling. "As do you. Your mission, Ahsoka. Forget it not."

She tried to grasp for him, but fell forward, the Jedi disappearing along with everything else in a flash of blinding light, and when Ahsoka opened her eyes again, she was laying face first upon the dusty floor of Lothal's Jedi Temple, dizzy and disoriented as she pushed herself off the ground and to her knees, groaning as she rubbed her head. She looked around to get her bearings, felt the warmth of the Force, smelled the dusty, stagnant air, and sighed with relief when she knew she was back in the comforts of reality. She reached for the datapad that lay upon the ground, the device slipping from her when she had fallen so suddenly into the Force, and she powered it on to look at the data, and couldn't help but smile.

She wasn't certain if any of that was real, if her visions were a warning or meant to mislead, if Yoda had actually spoken to her or was a figment of her imagination, but she did know one thing for certain. She knew _exactly_ what t do, and she always had. She needed to tell Lumis about Nightswan and Thrawn, and as important as the Force was, as vital as it was to learn what he could about the visions he saw, what was happening over Batonn was real, and it was right now, and they would never again have this opportunity. This came first over a future that may or may not happen.

Ahsoka rose quickly with the intent of rushing in and grabbing the Sith and the Jedi from their meditations, only to wince when she got to her feet, frowning as she looked to the origin of pain on her legs, and knelt down to gingerly press at the spot, her brow drawing together in confusion when she could have sworn she felt at a bruise across her shins in the outline of a walking stick.

* * *

"Kenobi..." Kanan hissed between his clenched teeth. "I don't-"

"You don't see anything because you aren't _focused_ ," Lumis said between clenched teeth, his eyes opening to look with irritation at the man that knelt with him upon the floor if a chamber deep within the Temple, the Force here clear and strong like nowhere else he had felt within the subterranean tunnels. "Clear your mind and open yourself to the Force." He stopped, a frown marring his face. "Am I, a Lord of the Sith, really about to tell you, a _kriffing Jedi_ , to have patience?"

"You wouldn't be the first..." Kanan grumbled, shifting where he knelt, his knees dragging lines in the dust with his movements. "And I was never a Jedi, just a student..."

"You should be thankful for that," Lumis said in a low, satisfied voice, his eyes closing as he settled back once again to his meditations. "The life of a Jedi wouldn't have suited you."

"And a life of a Sith would?' Kanan asked sarcastically, frowning when he failed to draw any sort of rise out of the man sitting opposite him, only a slight, knowing smirk.

"With the way you chase pleasure, with the way you drink, with the way you love..." Lumis drawled. "No, I think not. The Jedi never suited you, not the way they were. They would have ruined you, Kanan, just as they ruined so many."

"I could have been great," Kanan challenged, and the Sith Lord looked at him once again, a hard edge in his golden eyes.

"You _are_ great," Kenobi said firmly. "The Jedi would have stifled you. You, on your own, enduring the hardships you have at the hands of Sidious' Empire, have become more than the Jedi ever could have made you. Your attachments have made you strong, and have kept you steadfast on the path you have chosen to follow. Never forget that."

For a moment, Kanan gawked at the Sith Lord, uncertain how to take such high praise from a man who rarely told him anything but how poor his form was, how badly he had messed up, how he must do it again but better. "You know..." he finally said when he found his voice once again. "You could have made a fine Jedi Master."

"You could have made a slightly less than adequate Sith Apprentice." Lumis scowled and closed his eyes once again. " _Maybe_. Silence now, Jarrus. Meditate."

"As you say, _Master_ ," Kanan drawled, grinning broadly when an irritated twitch began at the corner of the Sith Lord's eye, and satisfied with his work, he shut his eyes, breathed deeply, and meditated.

But not for long. Kanan quickly grew restless, unable to get comfortable or sit still, every sound in the quiet Temple magnified and loud in his ears, each echo down the long corridors, the sound of every movement, every groan, every creak drawing himself away from his focus. He squinted his eyes open, pretending to keep them closed as he looked at the Sith Lord, half expecting him to be looking at him in irritation for his inability to find his center, but Kenobi was still, silent, meditative, just like Kanan should have been. With a growl of irritation, Kanan shut his eyes tightly, willing himself to focus his distracted mind, but his thoughts continued to wander aimlessly, to Ezra, to Hera, to the fight against the Empire, to where he would be when it was over if he even made it, to the things that had led him to this point...

 _Caleb_.

Kanan's eyes flew open, his breath held as he looked frantically around the Temple room, his hand reaching up to brush at his ear that still tingled with the ghosting of breath that whispered his old name, what the foolish Padawan had once been called so long ago. Nobody was there. No person, no presence, no trick of the light, no feel of another in the Force but the Sith Lord in the room with him. But he was certain he heard something, he knew he did. Kanan was silent and still, a shiver running up his spine as he sat vigilant and waited for sign of what had spoken. But there was nothing.

"Kenobi," the Jedi whispered, scooting closer to the Sith Lord, close enough to reach out and touch him. The Sith Lord didn't move, didn't so much as respond, and Kanan reached out to lay a hand on his shoulder and shook him. "Kenobi!" he hissed again. "I heard something!" Still, the Sith didn't respond, was so deep in his own meditations that were it not for the slow, even rise and fall of his chest, Kanan would have thought the man dead. He frowned, grumbling under his breath as he settled down and closed his eyes. If Darth Lumis, so deep in the Force as he was, hadn't been alerted to something, then it was likely nothing, a figment of Kanan's restless mind and nothing more.

 _Caleb_.

Kanan's eyes flew open once again, his breath held and his heart frozen in his chest, that time, he was _certain_ he heard something, and even now, could feel the Force like a warm spring breeze gently wafting across his brow, directing his attention to one of the long, dark hallways that led from the room. He looked at Obi-Wan, still and silent and unmoving, and with a deep breath, Kanan rose to his feet and turned toward the tunnel. If Kenobi couldn't hear the voice, still ringing clear in kanan's ears, than it wasn't meant for him. The voice, the Force, _whatever_ it was, called for Kanan, and he would be a fool not to answer.

He walked slowly through the Temple's corridors, the dark hallways seeming to light his way as he approached, the gentle pull of the Force leading him, and when he felt he lost his way, the warm, familiar call of his name showed him where he needed to go. He wasn't sure how long it took, how deep he walked, how far away he was from his friends, but within the Force, he could feel no touch of darkness, none of the unnatural pull that Kenobi exerted upon the tides, none of Ezra's empathy or Ahsoka's steadfastness or the rising and setting suns that were Luke and Leia. All he felt was warmth and peace, the Force still and calm and bright as he once remembered it in a time when the Jedi lived to protect the galaxy.

He came to the end of a long corridor, a stone door at the very end that rumbled and shifted at his approach, dust and dirt from a thousand years without use falling to the ground as the door slid away, and Kanan had to shield his eyes at the bright light that poured in from beyond. Breathing deep, Kanan heard the soft call of his voice coming from the room bathed in light, and steeling himself to follow the call, he closed his eyes, centered himself, and walked into the warm, blinding light of the room beyond.

For a moment, he couldn't see, his eyes squinting against light so harsh he could see nothing but the bright white center of a flash frozen in time. Slowly his vision adjusted as shapes cut themselves from the light, forming into a room of soft white stone walls that seemed strangely familiar to Kanan, though he didn't know where he knew this place from. The answer came to him as his vision continued to sharpen, his gaze running over weapons racks with training swords and an assortment of lightsabers hung upon the walls, his feet shifting not on stone but the soft, fine dirt of a training ring, and for a moment, he felt right at home, just a boy back in the Jedi Temple as he prepared for his lessons.

As if summoned by the very thought of them, when Kanan opened his eyes, he saw Jedi Temple Guardians, their robes crisp and formal, their masks hiding their faces and emotions, standing vigil along the walls, their double bladed sabers held unlit in their hands before them. Kanan stared, rubbed his eyes, and looked once again, bit the figures still stood tall and proud, unmoving in their place, still enough that he would have thought them statues had he not sworn he could feel their warm, faint presence in he Force. Swallowing hard, Kanan shook his head, the sudden chill of fear knotting his stomach and sending dread creeping through his limbs as he anticipated something horrific and dreadful, something he had seen in his dreams many times over the years. In his nightmares, the Jedi always fell, always died, were always slaughtered as they were taken by surprise by overwhelming evil and left to rot in pools of blood. Always there were screams, the sounds of lightsabers and blasters, the shouts of the clones as they turned traitor and murdered the Jedi they had fought beside for so long. Always, always, _always_...

 _Caleb_.

Kanan spun around, the voice so near, so _real_ he was certain it could not have been a dream, and he sprinted for the door, only to find the entrance gone, four solid walls sealing him inside the room with no way out. Trapped and with nowhere to go, Kanan slowly turned, swallowing hard and reaching through the Force to find the source of the voice, his eyes carefully examining each of the silent Temple Guardians, hoping to find a sign of which had spoken to him, to get a sense of which it was that felt so distantly familiar, but the harder he looked, the more certain he became that none of them had breathed a word.

"Who are you?!" Kanan called into the room, his gaze darting quickly around to look for a sign of his hidden speaker. "Where are you! Show yourself, I mean you no harm!"

"Have you forgotten so quickly, Caleb?" the voice said again, spoken from everywhere and nowhere, and Kanan felt his chest tighten with hope and despair and love and heartache, so many emotions at once that he nearly fell to his knees. "Have you become blind in your time away from the Jedi? Has it been so long that even I have been forgotten?"

"Master..." Kanan gasped, hardly able to breathe and his eyes wide as he watched a woman slowly walk toward him, her arms folded in the wide sleeves of her dark brown robe, her face patient and gentle, just as he had remembered, and he nearly sobbed when she stopped before him, and he found himself looking once again at Depa Billaba, the Master who had died to save him so long ago.

"It has been a long time, Caleb," she said softly, the small, knowing smile on her face that Kanan recognized so well. "But then, it has been a very long time since you have gone by that name."

"Yes..." Kanan choked, his usually deep, even voice trembling and weak, and he ran the back of his hand across his face to wipe the tears from his eyes. "Master, I am _so_ sorry," he whimpered, reaching for the hem of her robe and almost laughing with comfort and relief when he felt the soft fabric beneath his fingers. "I shouldn't have left you. I should have stayed and fought beside you instead of running like a coward."

"You would have only stayed to die beside me," the Master said gently. "I ordered you to run, Caleb, and you obeyed, as any good Padawan would have done."

"You don't know what it was like," Kanan said, bowing his head. "To live in the galaxy after the Jedi were killed, to be hunted down like some animal. The things I have had to do to survive..."

"A great many things, I know," she said slowly, almost cold and distant as she took a few steps away from the kneeling man. "Including separating yourself from the Force, renouncing the Jedi ways, abandoning your name..." They were accusations, each one hitting harder than Kanan cared to admit because of the truth her words held. "And even now, allying yourself with a Lord of the Sith..." Her dark eyes hardened as she shook her head. "How far you have fallen. I am _disappointed_ in you, Caleb. I taught you better than this."

"W-what?" Kanan gasped, his eyes wide with disbelief as he looked at the figure of his Master, the numb shock of hurt and betrayal sinking deep into the pit of him. This was not what he expected, this was not what his Master would think. Understanding and compassion were the way of the Jedi, not _this_. "You don't understand..." he said slowly. "Every single day was a fight to survive. I had to lurk in alleyways and eat out of dumpsters, I could barely sleep because Kaller was _crawling_ with clone troopers that were hunting for me, and I didn't have anyone to tell me what I should do!"

"You failed when you abandoned the Jedi Way," the Master said sternly, and the admonishment made a flash of anger rush through Kanan, his eyes narrowing as he looked upon the Jedi.

"The Jedi Way doesn't help you survive!" he snapped harshly, a low growl in his chest as he rose to his feet, his superior height allowing him to loom over the woman, and all around him, he could heard the thrum of ignition from the Temple Guardians' lightsabers. He didn't care. None of this was real. It _couldn't_ be real. "I managed to steal a ship, Master, I heard the beacon calling us home, and like a good Jedi, I followed it back to Coruscant, and I was met with a fleet just _waiting_ to kill Jedi that returned!" He took a deep breath to try and calm himself when he felt his hand shaking, but the tension never left his chest. "Master Luminara sent a message with the beacon that I didn't get in time to warn me away from Coruscant," Kanan muttered, almost as an explanation to himself. "I was directionless, I needed guidance, and she gave it." He scoffed almost bitterly. "Avoid detection, she said...follow the Force, even when it leads you to the unexpected. But all the Force ever did was lead the Jedi to their deaths."

"And you have avoided detection by becoming _this_ ," the Jedi sneered, gesturing to the man before her and glancing at him with a critical eye. "A selfish vagabond, cut off from the Force for years until the Dark Side drew you back in."

" _The Force is a death sentence_!" Kanan shouted, his voice echoing off the stone walls around him. "I found my way once again when I heard it calling to me, when Ezra needed my instruction, when this rebellion needed a Jedi to help guide their way!"

"A Jedi..." the Master scoffed. "You, _Kanan_ , are no Jedi, not when you ally yourself with our enemy!" She gave him a hard look as she stepped away, a disappointed scowl on her face. "A _Sith Lord_. Not just any Sith Lord, but the one that destroyed us. The one that destroyed _me_!"

"That Sith Lord has done more for me than the Jedi ever did!" Kanan growled defensively. "He's out here fighting with us, he helped save the Jedi yonglings that escaped the slaughter at the Jedi Temple, he's helped train me to fight, helped make me a worthy Master for my student!"

"A student of the Dark Side," the Jedi spat with disgust. "Destined to fall, like all those who walk in darkness."

"No, _no_!" Kanan snapped, cold, creeping fear spreading through his chest as he took a step back. "I won't let that happen. Ezra is good and kind and strong. He isn't perfect, no, but he doesn't need to be. He may fail, _I_ may fail, as I have done so much in the past, but I will not fail him. He will be a Jedi. I swear it."

" _How_ ," Master Billaba asked, slowly beginning to circle her student, and Kanan almost felt like prey. "Who is there to teach your student the Way of the Jedi? You walk beside a Lord of the Sith, Kanan," she said grimly, his name like a curse upon her lips. "You are no Jedi."

"Yeah, well, maybe the Jedi were wrong," Kanan said firmly, his conviction unwavering, the anger and fear he had felt before giving way to clear, defined purpose. " _Maybe_ if they Jedi Way was the right one, they would have sensed the darkness that was rising to claim us instead of being completely blind-sided by it." His eyes followed the Jedi as she glared at him, hard and accusing, but the point had struck home.

"There were _thousands_ of us," Kanan continued. "The strongest Force wielders in the galaxy, all gathered together in our High Council, and you sensed _nothing_ , you had _no idea_ the Sith had returned until they wanted us to know it, you couldn't feel that the Force had shifted into the darkness until night had already fallen. If the Force was with the Jedi, if the Jedi Way was right, we would have known, we would have been given a chance to fight." He sighed deeply and hung his head, a small, bitter laugh on his lips. "Maybe it was the will of the Force that the Jedi died. Maybe we were more lost than we thought. Maybe...the Jedi need to find a new way."

There was silence for a moment, Master and Padawan staring each other down, both stalwart and firm in their beliefs, both refusing to budge from their place. In the air around him, Kanan could hear the low, even thrum of the lightsabers, could see the distinctive yellow blades burning at the edge of his vision. He still wasn't sure what this was, if it be a bad dream, a vision within the Force, or some horrible reality, but it felt real enough. Everything was clear and detailed, and he could smell the mustiness in the air, could taste how dry and dusty it was in the depths of the Temple. He'd never known a dream or vision to be so real, and yet, he had _seen_ Depa Billaba die, and here she now walked before him as if her clone troopers had never gunned her down, as if she hadn't died to give him a chance to run and save himself. No, his Master would have been proud her sacrifice was not in vain, that he had managed to live despite the odds. He wasn't certain what this thing was, but this was _not_ his Master.

"You have lost your way, Caleb," the Master said sadly. "You have chosen a path shrouded in darkness, and you have been _blinded_!"

Her move was so fast, so sudden that Kanan hadn't seen it coming, only saw the green flash of her lightsaber's blade as the Jedi lashed out with her weapon and struck him across the face, the man screaming as he felt nothing but searing pain that burned the vision from his eyes. Kanan dropped to the ground, his hands flying to cover his face, his fingers gingerly feeling at the raw, blistered line of the saber's strike across his face, and he recoiled in horror when he felt at the depression of his eye socket and found it hollow. His eyes were _gone_ , burned from him by his Master's blade, and where before he was certain that this was some illusion, some test of the Force, this pain was all too real.

"Come, Caleb!" he could hear the Master say as he felt for his lightsaber at his belt and ignited it, the pleasant, comforting vibration of the hilt in his hand a warm, familiar presence in the cold, dark world he had been violently plunged into. "Defend this dark path you so blindly walk, show me the conviction of your new way for the Jedi!" She sneered, her eyes narrowing as she looked at her former student kneeling upon the ground, the bloody, empty holes where his eyes should have been seeming to stare at nothing and everything all at once.

His breaths came in fast, shivering pants rough and ragged from pain, the lightsaber tight in his grasp wavering as he tried to steady himself. He could barely tell which way was up, what direction he was facing, his head feeling as though the room was spinning even though he couldn't see his surroundings. He could hear the thrum of lightsabers from all around him, his head whipping back and forth when the pitch of the hum shifted and changed, but he couldn't tell where the sound was specifically coming from. His mouth became dry as panic slowly began to set in, and reaching a shaking hand out before him, he slowly touched the ground, never more grateful to feel the cold touch of hard dirt beneath his fingertips.

With his hand upon solid ground, his senses quickly stopped reeling, the roar in his ears dulling as all sound was muffled, only the pounding of his heartbeat and the hard gasps of his breathing remaining, everything else seeming indistinct and slow like it was underwater and so very far away. The room felt more still, more secure with his hand upon the dirt, and he began to orient himself, this way up, this way down, his saber pointed directly ahead. Clearing his mind and focusing, time seemed to stand still as he remembered his training with Lumis, every painful lesson, every insight the Sith Lord has about the Force and his place within it, every hard truth he had come to understand while working with his dark friend.

He thought of Ezra, the student that depended upon him for guidance to keep himself from slipping from the dangerous line he walked into the darkness of his fears and anger. He thought of the Spectres, the crew that trusted him to lead them into battle with the Empire and steer them back to safety when their mission had been complete. He thought of the growing rebellion and his place within it, not a vital component but one small piece of something far greater than just himself. He thought of Hera, sweet, lovely Hera, and the love for her that he was never supposed to have, would never have had if he became a Jedi like he was supposed to, and now that he felt it, now that he knew what it was like, he would never, _ever_ give it up.

All these emotions, all these things churning inside him, all the things that made him Kanan Jarrus, not Caleb Dume, the things that as a Jedi he was meant to give up he now grabbed tightly hold of, felt it within him as he held his lightsaber, and used it to fuel him. Emotions make you powerful, Kenobi had always said, hate and pain and rage driving the Sith Lord to incredible feats of strength, but love too was an emotion, and Kanan was quickly learning that not all emotion led to the Dark Side.

Kanan reached out and grabbed hold of the Force, the gentle stream bubbling up quickly inside him and flooding his senses with heat and power, the warmth of the whipping wind caressing his skin and taking the pain from the searing burn across his face until he felt nothing at all, heard nothing but the whispers of the Force. He felt calm, focused, powerful, more one with the Force than he had ever been with his heart beating for the people that depended on him and the people he loved.

His senses sharpened, the silence in his ears breaking with the sharp thrum of a lightsaber as it descended upon him, and his blade swiftly rose to meet it, Kanan rising up to one knee as he rapidly met blow after blow. Though he no longer had his eyes, he saw clearly through the vibrations of the blade in the air, the rising and falling of the thrum in his ears, the hiss of plasma striking the ground, the soft swish of feet as they danced across the dusty arena, and that old, familiar feeling of his Master within the Force. He didn't need his eyes. He knew _exactly_ where his opponent was.

Kanan quickly dodged out of the way as he heard his Master's green blade spinning and circling around to strike at him once again, rolling just by Jedi's legs as plasma struck the ground where he once stood and quickly rising to his feet behind her, his saber whipping around to block the flurry of strikes as she recovered. He backed up quickly, his feet sliding through the dirt as he fell into the defensive stances that Kenobi had refined from his days as a Jedi Padawan, his wrist movements small and circular, his blade only moving just enough to redirect his opponent's weapon.

A swift stab from the Jedi, and Kanan could feel the heat of the blade upon his skin, his own saber only just barely deflecting the stab, and he ducked underneath the blades when he felt the presence of the Temple Guardians close behind him. When Depa spun to strike at him once again, Kanan was ready, his saber meeting hers just as she slashed at him and sliding along the length of her blade to counter her attack. A gasp of surprise and a sharp hiss of pain was enough for Kanan to press forward with a hard offense, his movements swift and tight and leaving no room for the Jedi to recover. She had been hit, but the blow was glancing, not enough to hinder her and certainly not enough to make her stop.

"Is this the future of the Jedi?!" the Master snapped, retreating as Kanan struck hard and fast at her, her blade barely able to keep up with her former student. "Trained by Sith Lords, the Jedi Code lost and forgotten?! Is _this_ what you see for the generations of Jedi to come? Allies of the Sith?!"

" _Yes_ ," Kanan growled, his saber moving quickly to redirect the Master's blade as she tried to take the offensive, but Kanan's swift bladework wouldn't allow it, his blue circling around greet to maintain the offensive. "How long have the Jedi and Sith been fighting? How long has the light and the dark been senselessly been trying to destroy the other when the Force has always been both, when it could never truly be in balance without the other!? There can be harmony between Jedi and Sith, between light and dark! If the Jedi are to survive, that is the way forward!"

"You are blind, Kanan Jarrus," the Jedi spat, swiftly twisting her body to the side as Kanan's blade slid forward along hers. "There is no peace to be had with the Sith, there is no harmony in darkness. You are being deceived, and you will die for it. The rebellion will be destroyed, all will fall before the tide of darkness. You will die, my Padawan, and your student will become a servant of the Dark Side. It is inevitable. You have felt the Dark Side pulling at him. It calls to him, and he will be consumed by it. You have doomed him by allowing that Sith Lord to teach him the ways of the dark."

"I won't allow that to happen!" Kanan growled, the sudden swell of fierce protective emotions making him move faster, harder, stronger than before, and the Jedi Master was forced to retreat. "Nothing good ever came from ignorance! The Jedi were once so blind to the darkness that they didn't recognize it when it came for them, and now they're all dead! I will not allow Ezra to fall into the same trap. He will learn about the Dark Side, and it will prepare him to deal with it."

"There is no dealing with the Dark Side," the Jedi hissed. "The boy must be eliminated before he embraces the darkness, and if you would walk the path you are on side by side with a Lord of the Sith, you must be destroyed as well." The steady thrum of the lightsabers all around him suddenly rose in pitch as the Temple Guardians stepped forward, their sabers spinning to readiness, and Kanan backed off his assault on his old Master, turning and holding his weapon ready and defensive before him as the new sounds confused his senses.

All around him, he felt deadly resolve, could hear the sharp, biting thrum of lightsabers ready to strike, and he suddenly had no idea where his Master was, where _any_ of his opponents were. Swallowing hard, Kanan dug his feet into the dirt, his blade poised and ready like Kenobi had taught him as he pushed aside his fear and focused and desperately wished that he could see, the pain of the strike that had taken his sight creeping back across his face.

The first strike came from behind him, and Kanan quickly angled his blade over his shoulder, the hard impact sending jolts up his arms, and he ducked when he heard the thrum of another blade, felt it slice just over his head, and he spun out of the way, his saber moving swiftly before him as he blocked what felt like a thousand strikes. There were too many, his senses too clouded, one saber strike indistinguishable from the other, and when Kanan heard movement behind him, he touched the ground with the tip of his blade and swiftly lashed out as he spun, a sharp cry muffled by a mask sounding his hit. Reaching out his hand, Kanan called for the wounded Guardian's lightsaber, hoping that the man had dropped it in the process, and Kanan was rewarded by the cold feel of the elongated lightsaber hilt striking his palm. He switched the saber on, heard the clear, crisp hum of the new weapon and the sound of the others quietly stepping back to regroup.

Kanan took the moment of reprieve to refocus himself, feeling for each of his opponents in the Force, taking note of where they stood and making guesses as to how far away they were. It didn't take long for him to find his Master, his more solid footing in the Force allowing him to pick the feel of her out from the group. She wasn't the only threat. She wasn't even the greatest threat, but without his eyes, Kanan needed something to focus on, and he knew the feel of his Master in the Force. The Guardians were too similar, too unfamiliar, blended together into a singular massive, moving presence in the Force, but Depa Billaba, he could see clearly, and that was all he needed.

Spinning the two lightsabers in his hands, Kanan ducked beneath one of the Guardian blades swung at him, the yellow blade scraping against his blue as he lashed out with his secondary weapon, the saber slicing up the Guardian's back, the cry of pain reverberating through the Force as Kanan rushed forward to meet the next one. Keeping his focus on his Master, Kanan's spinning blades almost effortlessly parried the strikes of the Guardians that intercepted him, dodging out of the way to spin and cut at another by his side, the feel of them in the Force growing smaller and smaller as he fought until he could finally feel them in the Force not as a group, but as individuals. Two Guardians remained, flanking the Jedi Master, and feeling as one with the Force and fueled by his need to defend those he loved, Kanan rushed forward to engage his remaining foes.

The Jedi Master stepped forward, her blade raised as her student charged, her hand extended out before her, and Kanan slammed hard into a wave of the Force, the impact sending him skidding backwards and reeling to catch his balance. He pitched sideways when he felt his Master's presence, flipping in the air just as the sizzling hum of her lightsaber sliced right by his head, his own blades held close and defensive as he fell to catch the strikes of the two remaining guardians. He crouched on the ground, unable to stand as his arms strained to keep the sabers at bay, his jaw clenched tightly with the effort until the wind was knocked out of him when Depa's foot slammed hard into his chest.

Coughing on the ground, Kanan rolled swiftly out of the way when he heard the sabers descending, the plasma hissing furiously as they struck the ground, and he lashed out with both blades as he rose to his knee, his weapons connecting with nothing when he was certain his Master was there only a second before. He felt her too late, the woman having jumped over his strike, and her foot connected with his head, sending pain shooting through him right to the vacant spaces where his eyes once were to send him sliding across the ground, stopping only when he struck the wall.

He reached out his hand to feel around him for the lightsabers he had lost, and when he couldn't find them, he called upon them with the Force. A pained grin touched his lips when he heard the sound of his saber spinning in the air to answer his call, only for it to swiftly stop, the hilt snatched out of the air by the Jedi Master that stood before him. His saber powered on with that all too familiar thrum, and before the blade could fall upon him, Kanan planted his hands on the ground and swung his feet around, the Master before him giving a startled cry as his heel connected with her leg and took her feet out from under her. Kanan rose to his knee as she fell flat on her back, his hand extended to catch his lightsaber as it left the Master's palm, and spinning the blade, Kanan pointed the tip of the burning blue plasma saber at the pit of Depa's throat.

He flicked his hand in the air, her fallen saber flying far out of reach, and when he felt the Temple Guardians rushing toward him, Kanan extended his hand, a blast of the Force sending them flying backwards to hit hard against the far walls. The Force shuddered as it swallowed the feel of the Guardians, and then there was only him and his Master, the room still and quiet and calm, the Force a warm, gentle breeze in the eye of a storm. The pain in the hollows of his lost eyes was intense, the feeling spiking deep into his skull and lighting his nerves on fire, but despite this, Kanan held the blade still, fingers in the air waving to call Depa's fallen green blade to his grasp, and the metal cylinder still warm from her grasp touched his palm a moment later.

"The servants of the Dark Side will come for your student, Caleb," Depa whispered, her voice calm and even despite the blades at her throat. "You may have defeated me, but you will not be able to save him."

"You may be right about that," Kanan muttered quietly. "I'm not always going to be able to defend Ezra, especially not from himself. All I can do is what I've already done."

"Deliver him to a Sith Lord," the Jedi said, more curious than accusatory. "You have left him wide open to the Dark Side."

"I have taught him how to defend himself," Kanan growled, drawing the saber closer to the Jedi's neck. "He cannot fight what he does not know, and that Sith Lord you so fear has taught him the feel of the Dark Side, and I have taught him how to shield himself from it. Ezra is a good person. He knows the dark, he doesn't hide from it like the Jedi did, and when night falls, he won't lose his way."

"And this is the future you see for the Jedi?" she asked. "A future walking side by side with the Sith?"

"If we are ever to have peace and balance, this is how we do it," Kanan said firmly, switching off his sabers and clipping them to his belt, his hand extended to help his Master to her feet. "Since the beginning, the Jedi have always fought the Sith, on and on, destroying each other and seeking revenge by wiping the others out until it starts all over again, and it will never end, Master. Not unless we end it. I see a future where we exist in balance with the Sith. There can be no light without the dark. I think it's time we remembered that."

"The Sith will betray you," Depa said, and Kanan simply shrugged.

"Maybe so, but it's a chance I'm willing to take. I have to take it. All lives have value," Kanan said as he laid his hand upon the Jedi's shoulder. "You taught me that once."

"Back when you had less wisdom than I..." Depa said softly, gently taking Kanan's lightsaber from his belt and igniting it, the blue blade humming softly in the air between them. "Even blind, you see more than I. You've become a fine man, Caleb Dume, and a greater Jedi than I ever was, and that is all I have ever wanted for you, my precious student." She reached up and touched his cheek, a soft smile on her face as she pressed his lightsaber into his hand. "I believe in your vision for the Jedi, Kanan Jarrus, Jedi Knight. May the Force be with you."

"Master..." Kanan said, choking on the emotion that tightened his chest as he reached out to where he knew the Jedi stood, only to have his hand touch nothing when he knew he should have touched her, and with a sharp gasp, Kanan felt himself pitch forward as he began to fall into darkness. He reached out for the Force to guide him, to allow him to see without the eyes he had lost, but the Force did not come to his aid, showed him nothing at all but to void his blindness wrought. Pain in the hollows of his face spiked through his head, and Kanan covered the wound with his hands, his fingers shaking as he touched the burned flesh across his face, and with a cry of pain, he went tumbling into nothingness.

Kanan inhaled sharply when he slammed into the ground, his eyes flying open as he scrambled to his feet, his lightsaber already in his hand as he quickly scanned the unfamiliar room. The walls were dusty and rough and gray, hewn from the stony ground of Lothal's earth, and with a startled gasp, Kanan dropped his saber, his hands flying to his face to feel at his eyes. Swallowing hard, he groaned in relief, his shaking legs going weak and he sunk to the ground. He could see, his eyes very present and undamaged, and Kanan couldn't keep himself from laughing. It was a vision, a test of the Force. Of course it was. His Master was long dead, and he felt foolish for having believed it was real.

With a groan, Kanan rose to his feet, calling his dropped saber to his hand and powering it off. Kenobi was nowhere to be seen, he must have wandered off while he was in the grip of the Force, and he wasn't looking forward to the lecture he was certain to get from the Sith Lord for being so foolish. Dear Darth Lumis had a way of making him feel like a child again, and Kanan already felt foolish enough for believing that the visions shown to him were real. It seemed so obvious now.

Brushing himself off, Kanan clipped his lightsaber on his belt and froze, his fingers stroking along the length of a second saber that inexplicably hung at his hip. Swallowing hard, he unclipped the unfamiliar saber and held it up before him, feeling the blood drain from his face as he studied the familiar hilt, his shaking finger touching the ignition and powering on a vibrant green blade. As he stared at the blade his Master once wielded, Kanan felt a creeping, burning sensation across his face, and he quickly looked around the room once again, suddenly uncertain if it had been a vision at all when he swore he could hear his Master's voice whispering in the air around him.

* * *

No matter how hard he tried, Obi-Wan couldn't see the vision of his defeat, couldn't see the Sith Lords or the Temple, never felt the growing dread of his end that drew closer and closer with each breath until he could almost feel Sidious breathing behind him. Instead, each time he touched the Force, the Temple faded away, the walls crumbling around him and leaving him in the sands of Tatooine, the twin suns beating down upon him as he sat on top of a dune and looked down upon Luke and Leia, eight years old and playing together, their hands passing through the air and gesturing wildly as they commanded the Force to lift the sand and fashion it into castles and ships.

He knew what he needed to do, knew he had come to Lothal for a purpose and a reason, but as he watched the vision of his children, young and innocent, back before they had grown, Obi-Wan found he couldn't bring himself to look away from them. He didn't want to, despite his impending end, or perhaps because of it, he wasn't sure, but he knew that the more he watched them, the less important learning about Sidious became. That was coming anyway, no matter what he did. It was the path he had chosen back on Moraband, and as he watched young Luke and Leia play together, it was the path he chose now.

And so he sat there in the sand, a faint smile on his face as he watched the children play and felt the warmth of the suns on his skin, their harshness dulled by memory and the feeling of tranquility beating in his chest. Their lives have always meant more than his, and that was no different now. Obi-Wan Kenobi had been dead for a long time, slain bit by bit over time by betrayal and bitterness and jealousy, by the Sith and the Dark Side, by the red lightsaber that had slain the only woman he ever loved and his unborn son, by Vader when he killed his best friend, by a hundred other horrid things that he had done himself in his quest for power. All that was left was Darth Lumis, and the Force had long ago abandoned him, had burned the heart out of him until there was nothing left to burn, and now, the little use he had was coming to an end.

He had guided Luke and Leia to adulthood, just as he had been meant to do, just as he had always known was his purpose since the moment they were conceived in response to Sidious' greed and ambition. They were still children to him, and they would always be, but they had grown, had become powerful, and now, with the threat of their discovery looming over him, he was no longer needed, his twins now powerful enough to defend themselves. They would continue to grow, of course, would continue to learn and develop their powers, but as their father, he may no longer have been needed, his desire to defend them getting in the way of what they were meant to be. And so the Force tossed him aside, and now, without a purpose or place, he was simply a loose end for Sidious to tie up. His end was coming, and as he watched his children play, Darth Lumis couldn't find it within him to fight it.

He had to let go. A disgustingly Jedi notion, but he had been fighting for so long, and he was _so_ tired. Luke and Leia were strong, and over the years, Obi-Wan had built a network of friends and allies who would guide them in his absence. Ahsoka would never abandon them. Kanan had a great deal he could teach them. Until his dying breath, Cody would watch after them. The Spectres treated them like family, and they would always have a home to return to on Alderaan and Tatooine. Even the dead guided them, and long after Obi-Wan was gone, Qui-Gon Jinn would continue to protect the path they walked upon. Luke and Leia's story was just beginning, and Obi-Wan's only regret was that he wouldn't be around to see more of it play out. It was certain to be spectacular.

The Force shifted around him, gently moved and brushed against him like a gentle wind, his eyes never once leaving the twins as he felt the twin suns at his back cast a shadow over him. Sighing heavily, he dragged his fingers absently through the sand with the sudden ache of guilt within his chest. He knew the feel of the person behind him, felt it often as he lay in bed staring at the ceiling in his reluctance to sleep. Sleep only brought nightmares and pain and heartache far worse than pangs of guilt, the horror of knowing he was responsible for the loss of those he loved far worse than the ache of doing what had to be done. But regret still hurt, and it hurt now as he felt the presence behind him, still and silent and waiting, just as he was, and as certain as he was that nothing was truly there, the Force worked in ways that were mysterious even to him.

"Every single day, she looks more and more like you, Padmé..." Obi-Wan whispered, a slight smile on his face as he felt the presence behind him shift, the breeze blowing gently across his face for just a moment before the young Queen sat down in the sand beside him, her knees drawn to her chest as she looked down at the twins she had birthed so long ago. "And Luke has your temperament. He is calm and grounded, he knows right from wrong and never strays from the path he knows is right. He sees the good in everyone..." Lumis' gaze fell, sand slipping through his fingers as he ran them absently through the sand. "Like you saw in Vader long past the point you should have. Like you saw in me after all I had done to destroy the things you loved..."

"You proved me right, didn't you?" Padmé asked softly, and Lumis shivered at the sound of her voice, his gaze flicking to look at the woman's small smile and big brown eyes, and despite the pain in his chest, he couldn't look away. "You were willing to raise my children even though they were not yours."

"They could have been," Obi-Wan said quietly, a slight, suggestive smirk on his lips that made the young queen punch his arm.

"But they _weren't_ ," Padmé said firmly, the gravity of her tone wiping the smirk from the Sith Lord's face, and he couldn't help but look away from her and back to the playing twins as they laughed and struck their sabers together. "Leia is drawn to darkness. She walks the same path as you and her father have done before her. And my Luke is the very image of his father when he was young, but he also looks a great deal like you." Padmé reached out and ran her delicate hand along the Sith Lord's jaw line, her fingers hooking under his chin to turn his face toward her. "Either of those things, Anakin would have killed them for," Padmé said somberly, her voice touched with sadness. "The slightest hint of your touch upon them, and he would have murdered his own children."

"I wouldn't allow it..." Obi-Wan whispered reflexively, and the queen smiled and gently stroked his cheek.

"I know you wouldn't," Padmé said. "You haven't. Luke and Leia are alive and safe because of you. You have trained them and guided them and loved them like your own children, and I could never have hoped for anything more for them." Her fingers threaded through his hair when he tried to look away, the Sith's eyes closing as he shivered and almost desperately held his hand over hers. "You raised them well, Obi-Wan," Padmé said gently. "You've been a good father to my children."

"It should have been you," Lumis choked, shutting his eyes and swallowing the sudden surge of emotion, his hand tightening around the woman's. "After all you suffered for them, it should have been you that was here to raise them. Luke and Leia are such good children and have grown to be such amazing people. I was never worthy of them, but you..." Obi-Wan shook his head and laughed sadly. "You deserved to be a mother to them."

"I wish I could have been," Padmé sighed softly, carefully eying the man next to her when the Force trembled.

"I'm sorry..." Lumis said quietly, his voice trembling and barely a whisper as his shoulder tightened. "I did what I had to do to protect Luke and Leia, it was the only way I could see at the time. I...didn't know how to save you without drawing Vader's attention." Obi-Wan sighed, his fingers dragging through the sand to grasp Padmé's hand. "After all these years, after all I have done, the only life I ever regretted taking was yours, Padmé..."

"Stop, Obi-Wan," the woman said softly, stroking the back of the Sith Lord's hand with her fingers. "Given the choice between my children's lives and mine, I'd sacrifice myself again and again without a second thought. Luke and Leia are who they are today because of you." Padmé smiled as she slipped her hand into his hair and brought his head down to her chest, the Sith exhaling a shuddering breath as he relaxed in her embrace. "I forgave you a long time ago for taking my life, Obi-Wan, because you gave Luke and Leia a chance to live theirs."

"I can't protect them anymore," Lumis whispered as he watched the children below, the suns behind him casting their shadows upon the dunes, not the shadows of the children he saw, but in the image of the teenagers they had become, tall and strong and proud. "My end is coming faster than I'd like, and I haven't found a way to stop it."

"You've done all you can," Padmé gently reassured him. "You trained them to fight, they know the Force, and you taught them how to be careful. Like I had to do so long ago, Obi-Wan, you must let go."

"You sound like a Jedi..." Lumis scoffed, and Padmé rolled her eyes, kissed the Sith Lord's forehead, and pointed down at the twins, no longer the children that they had appeared to be before, but the armored teens he had so carefully raised, the two with lightsabers in hand and moving gracefully through their forms in perfect unison, their feet leaving light trails in the sand.

"You have no choice," Padmé said sadly. "If this is the end for you, the only way you can still protect them is through the lessons you have already taught them. You haven't failed them. They'll be alright. You made certain of that."

"And it's not like they will be alone," a lazy drawl said from behind them, another shadow falling over the Sith Lord that made him shiver. He knew the voice well, and as glad as he was to hear it after so many years, it hurt all the same. Cursing beneath his breath, Lumis untangled himself from Padmé and rose to face Quinlan Vos, a wry smirk upon the Kiffar's lips as he casually shrugged. "Ahsoka will watch after them."

"Tave qy'kash ziaurus kia'nesti tu kia'nun..." Lumis muttered under his breath, but he couldn't keep the faint smile off his face as he looked at his old friend. "What could the Force possibly want from me to bring you to me?"

"As you said, Kenobi, the Force is cruel," Quinlan said flippantly, a smirk on his lips as he draped his arm over the Sith Lord's shoulders. "Pain is the path of the Dark Side, after all." Vos grinned wider when Lumis hung his head, a mix of a chuckle and a sob falling from his lips as his shoulders began to shake. "Or maybe that's not it at all. Maybe it's just trying to sooth you so your death is easier to face."

"Which is even more cruel, isn't it..." Lumis muttered, and Vos laughed lightly as he patted his friend on his back.

"Oh, _please_ , don't even pretend you don't like it," Vos said in a low, seductive voice, his hand laying teasingly on the Sith Lord's chest. "There are very few people you like looking at more than me, you sexy thing..."

"It's true I have missed you..." Obi-Wan whispered, his eyes drifting down to Quinlan's chest to stare as the black hole in his chest where his heart should have been, and he reached out a shaking hand to gently touch at the charred skin. Quinlan quickly batted his hand away.

"You look well, Kenobi," Vos said with a smirk and a shrug. "For an old guy, in any case. I'd still let you bend me over a desk and have your way with me." The Kiffar grinned when Obi-Wan hung his head and laughed, his eyes flicking briefly to Padmé, the woman relaxed and calm as she watched her lover finally relax. "I wanted to thank you, Kenobi," Quinlan muttered a bit awkwardly, scratching the back of his head as he looked away from the Sith Lord. "For watching after Ahsoka."

"I didn't do anything for Ahsoka," Obi-Wan quickly dismissed. "Before we found each other, she had killed an Inquisitor on her own. You trained her well, Quin. She would have been fine without me."

"Of course she would have been alright!" Vos scoffed, rolling his eyes and punching the Sith Lord's shoulder. "She was _my_ student, and I was, like, the _greatest_ Jedi Master. _Ever_." Quinlan stared at the unimpressed expression on Obi-Wan's face, his own expression serious for just a moment before he dissolved into helpless laughter. "Ahsoka could always care for herself," Quinlan said proudly when he had caught his breath. "She is intelligent and talented and cunning. The girl even got the drop on you, Kenobi..." the Kiffar said, reaching behind the Sith Lord to touch at the scar he knew rested on his lower back. "The first of the Jedi to wound you."

"By stabbing me in the back," Obi-Wan muttered. "How _very_ Sith of her."

"And yet, my girl never followed me down that path," Quinlan sighed. "Nor did she follow you. She was always better than me. I wouldn't have given my life to save her if I didn't think she'd be alright. I always believed in her. She's _damn_ good." The Kiffar absently rubbed at the pale scars that circled his wrists, scars that Obi-Wan had put there himself so very long ago. "Either way, no matter how capable she is, I'm glad you were there to keep an eye on her."

"Your Padawan, Quin," Lumis said with a small, sad smile. "How could I not?"

"...it's not your fault I died, Kenobi," Vos said quietly, and the Sith Lord's eyes narrowed, his jaw tightening as he looked at the hole in his friend's chest.

"No, it's Vader's," Obi-Wan growled, rage tightening his body for a moment before he sighed, shoulders slumped as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "But I helped create him, and in doing so, I lost you, and it wasn't worth it, Quin."

"You great big idiot..." Vos said, that carefree grin upon his face as he looked down into the dunes below at the twins at their practice, a third shadow cast on the dunes behind them, the silhouette of a Togruta female moving in perfect unison beside them. "I died so Ahsoka could live, so she could expose Anakin Skywalker for what he had become. Anakin didn't kill me, I chose to die when I did, the way I did, so I could save my student." Quinlan's chest puffed with pride, and Lumis felt his throat tighten, unable to look away from the hole where his heart should have been. "And look what came of it. Hundreds of Jedi younglings saved from the slaughter of the Temple, all because my Ahsoka lived." Quinlan laughed triumphantly, putting his hand on Obi-Wan's head and ruffling his hair, grinning when the Sith Lord hissed in irritation and batted him away. "That bastard never took anything from me. You weren't there, Obi, you didn't see how I died, but you would have been so proud."

"You didn't need to die for me to be proud of you, Quin..." Obi-Wan choked "I have _always_ been proud of you, my friend. Always."

"...I know," Quinlan said quietly, lazily draping his arm across the Sith Lord's shoulders once again. "Ahsoka will watch over your children, Obi-Wan. They will be safe in her care. If this is it, if this is the end...at least you won't need to worry about them."

"I'll always worry about them, Quin..." the Sith Lord whispered. "No matter how powerful they become, no matter how old they get. They're still my children." His gaze drifted back down to Luke and Leia for a moment before he looked back at Padmé, the former Queen watching him his her soft, sympathetic eyes, and to Quinlan, the friend he had missed so much, and he shut his eyes tightly when the ache in his chest became too much. "The Force is cruel..." Lumis said between clenched teeth. "I came here for answers, I didn't come here to be soothed into accepting my death!"

Obi-Wan could feel a light, gentle touch run across his back, felt Quinlan's arm drop away from him as the Kiffar stepped back, and the Sith Lord shivered when tears finally slipped from his eyes, the warmth of the touch upon him so achingly familiar even though it had been so long since he had felt it. Still, he knew it as well as he knew himself, like he had felt it every single day for as long as he could remember. Time had never faded the memory, not with all the dreams and nightmares that plagued him, not with all the visions of things that never were straining his consciousness, not with his mind constantly wandering back to a time when she was by his side. So when Obi-Wan opened his eyes and saw the ice blue eyes, the sharp, angular cheekbones, the pale blond hair, the beautiful face of Satine Kryze, the woman he loved and had always held his heart in her delicate hands, he couldn't stop his helpless sobs as he grabbed hold of her and didn't let go.

"You aren't real..." the Sith Lord muttered in the crook of her neck. "None of this is real. It's all just pulled out of my memories like it has been every single day since I lost you." He took a deep, shuddering breath as he inhaled the crisp, floral scent of her hair, his senses assaulted with the feel of her, and he held her tighter to him. "It's impossible for any of you to manifest yourselves within the Force so...why does this feel so different? Why does this seem so real..."

"It's unlike you to be so conflicted, my love..." Satine said softly, her long fingers threading through Obi-Wan's hair as she kissed his cheek. "For as long as I have known you, the Force has been your ally. Even when you didn't understand the things you saw, you trusted in the path the Force guided you upon. And now..." She shifted in his tight embrace, her hands cupping his cheeks and drawing his head off her shoulder so she could look into his eyes. "The Force is cruel and there are no answers to be found within it. These are not the words of _my_ Obi-Wan. What happened?"

"You died..." the Sith Lord whimpered, closing his eyes when her thumb dragged over the wet trail upon his cheeks and he leaned into her touch, reveling in the sound of her voice and the painful thrill of her touch upon him. "You died, our son died. And I _saw it_ , Satine, I saw our son in the visions the Force gave to me, and it was all a lie."

"Was it?" the Duchess asked, smiling softly at the Sith Lord when he opened his eyes and looked at her, and taking his hands from her waist, she kissed his palms and interlocked her fingers with his and gently pulled him to the edge of the dune to look down at the twins below. "You're the one that told me visions are difficult to interpret correctly, that the Force is vague and mysterious even to those who are called Masters and have studied it for years. Even you, my love, have said that your point of view is limited, but you will see in time what your visions mean." She watched Obi-Wan as he looked at Luke and Leia, a mixture of pain and pride on his face, and Satine drew closer to him and laid her head upon his chest. "Is it so hard to believe that your visions were never about our son?

"I _saw_ him, Satine..." the Sith Lord said firmly, his hand tightening around hers as he held her close and rested his chin upon her head. "In all my visions, our son..."

"Who would have looked so very much like _your_ son," she said, pointing down at Luke and sighing sweetly when the Sith wrapped his arms around her and held on like she would disappear if he did not. "You never imagined a future without me, I know, and it had colored your visions, prevented you from seeing the truth..." The Duchess ran her hands soothingly over Obi-Wan's back when his shoulders began shaking, quietly shushing him when a strained, pained whimper slipped between his lips. "This story was never about you and I."

"It should have been..." Obi-Wan ground out bitterly, and in his arms, Satine softly laughed.

"Yes..." she quietly agreed. "And my story was about nothing but you since I was sixteen years old. You were my everything, Obi," Satine whispered into his ear. "But you were always meant for something greater."

"Something greater..." Kenobi spat bitterly, his hold on the woman loosening as he hooked his fingers under her chin and drank in the sight of her. "You and I, Satine, could have ruled the galaxy together. We could have brought peace and order and progress to the corruption and excess that plagues those in power. There is no greater calling than that, and you helped me see it. You were my greatest calling, Satine..." Obi-Wan muttered as he pressed his lips to hers, a low, wanting moan in his chest as she pulled him closer, the kiss quickly becoming hungry and devouring, and they didn't part until Obi-Wan heard Quinlan Vos began whistling and calling for them to get naked. The Sith Lord glared at his grinning friend, at the laughing queen by his side, his arms tightening around the woman that melted against him, and for just a moment, the gaping, bloody hole where his heart should have been had mended, the pain he always felt sitting sharp in his chest faded to nothing. For just a moment, he was truly happy, and Obi-Wan felt at peace.

"Damn it..." Lumis muttered under his breath, the tension in his muscles releasing as weariness overcame him. "You say I am meant for something greater, but my path is ending," he said, a small, sad smile on his lips as he brushed Satine's hair away from her face and tucked it behind her ear. "This is it. My purpose is complete. Luke and Leia have grown up, they have people to protect them when I am gone, and I am no longer needed. And if this is what awaits me..." he whispered, his gaze flicking to Quinlan and Padmé before returning to his lover. "Maybe it won't be so bad to finally rest, and I have been _so_ tired, Satine, I'm so tired of fighting..."

"Is that what you think this is? You believe this is the Force making it easier for you to accept your death?" Satine scoffed, a look of pity and disbelief on her face for a moment before she laid her hand over his heart. "My Obi-Wan would _never_ accept this," she said softly, firmly, a fire in her light blue eyes that made the Sith's heart race. "When faced with his death, _my_ Obi would fight until the bitter end, he would find a way to live, and when the road he was set upon seemed to end, he would cut a new path, not simply walk blindly to its end and wait for the inevitable."

"I have _tried_ to change it, but the Force is no longer my ally!" Kenobi gasped desperately. "I have done everything in my power to alter the vision, but no matter what I do, the vision stays the same. It's the only thing I see within the Force!"

"And yet, the Force has sent you me," Satine said, a soft smirk on her lips as she smoothed out the creases in his robes. "The Force's answer to your distress at what awaits you."

"It's attempts to sooth me," Obi-Wan said flatly. "To make me accept my death."

"Is that what you believe?" Satine asked wryly, laughing softly as she touched his cheek and pressed a swift kiss to his lips. "You cannot see the forest for the trees, my love, there is _always_ a way, and if I know you, and I _do_ ," she said as she patted his chest, "you will find it. Just as you couldn't see it was Luke in your visions and not our son, there is something here you cannot see. Just because you cannot see it doesn't mean the Force is not your ally, my love." She stood up on her toes, her arms wrapping around his neck as she pressed his lips to his, the Sith Lord's hands resting upon her hips and drawing her closer as he melted under her touch.

"My Obi-Wan," she whispered when they parted, her forehead pressed against his, a smile on her lips when she felt her lover's shuddering breath against her face. "You will find a way to live, do you hear me? There is so much still you have to do, and there are people here that need you. You will fight, and you will find a way. You and I sacrificed too much for the Empire you will build, and I will not have it be for nothing."

"I'm sorry..." Lumis whispered, his voice trembling as his grip on her tightened. "It's my fault you died. If it wasn't for me, if I was stronger, you would-"

" _Hush_ ," Satine said sharply, and the Sith Lord swiftly fell silent. "Even knowing how I died, Obi, I wouldn't have changed a thing if it meant I could not love you the way I did. I spent my life loving you, and I loved every second of it. My death cannot take that from me, and it can't take it from you either." She smiled softly when the Sith Lord's breath hitched and gently cupped his bearded cheek, the man leaning eagerly into her touch. "The Force is not yet done with you, Obi-Wan Kenobi. There is still work you have left to do."

"I almost wish the Force _was_ done with me..." Obi-Wan said sadly, the pain in his chest returning as he looked around at the people he had loved and lost and missed so very dearly. "How long must I wait before you and I are reunited?"

"Reunited?" Satine quietly asked, a look of confusion on her face for a moment before it melted into a bright, easy smile. "We cannot be reunited, my love," the Duchess said, her delicate hand laying over his heart as it began to beat faster. "I never left you."

With a soft, desperate whimper, Obi-Wan pulled Satine into a tight embrace, the feel of her so real it was like she had never left his side. He knew she was dead and gone, like Quinlan, like Padmé, like so, so many others, but from their memory, he drew his strength, and in doing so, they made him powerful. She was right. So long as he lived, they would always be with him. Scooping the Duchess up in his arms, Obi-Wan made his way over to where Padmé and Quinlan sat upon the dune, and he plunked down between them, settling his lover in his lap, and together, they watched Luke and Leia practice. They still had so much to learn, and Obi-Wan would be there to guide them. He was sure of it.

* * *

"You see, in places like this," Ezra explained proudly, gesturing to the large room they found themselves in, "the Force unusually strong, and if you're not careful, it's hard to tell what's real and what isn't." He looked behind him and grinned at his captive audience. Luke, a soft smile on his face as he listened attentively, the Force spirit of Qui-Gon Jinn nodding sagely at the young Jedi's explanations, and Leia, who was making no effort to conceal her vast irritation and boredom. Ezra ignored her. The attention of Luke and the Force ghost was enough to keep him talking, and he was glad to do so despite Leia's exaggerated rolling eyes.

"The last time I was here," Ezra continued, "I got pulled into a Force vision without even knowing it. It's part of the Force testing people, so if it happens to you, don't be afraid! Just keep your wits about you and-"

"Yes, yes, we know _all_ about Force visions, Ezra," Leia interrupted curtly, her gaze drifting down the branching hallways as they passed them and pointedly avoiding the glare her brother was sending her. "This isn't our first Jedi Temple. Only amateurs get pulled into the Force unawares, we know when we walk the Force."

"Leia!" Luke hissed under his breath. "There's no need to be rude!"

"Just because you're trying to be on your best behavior to make your little boyfriend feel _special_ doesn't mean _I_ have to put up with it!" Leia shot back, her twin frowning and crossing his arms while Ezra seemed to choke on the very air he was breathing. "Are we here to listen to him ramble, or are we here to help Father?"

"Ezra _can_ help Father!" Luke said firmly, laying his hand on the flushing boy's shoulder. "Or have you forgotten that Ezra was the one that first had the vision of the Emperor and Father's defeat?"

"A vision that Father has already seen more than he could ever possibly want!" Leia countered, hooking her thumbs under the straps of the backpack that she wore and hoisting it higher upon her own back. "If there was anything more to glean from his vision, Father would have already seen it."

"Ezra had the vision first," Luke said calmly, smiling gently at the flushed and flustered boy, a gesture meant to be reassuring that only seemed to make Ezra squirm more. "Perhaps he will see changes and variations here that Father cannot see."

"Then what are we doing, Luke?" Leia huffed, her lips pursing together in frustration. "Are we just wandering the halls and hoping that the Force will drag the three of us into a shared vision? We don't need this museum tour for that, we'd be better off meditating, and you know it."

Luke frowned, crossing his arms defiantly as he stared stubbornly at his equally stubborn sibling. "Going deeper inside the Temple might-"

"No it won't, you _know_ it won't!" Leia interrupted. "You can reach the Force from anywhere, we don't have to _go somewhere_ to make this vision happen! And even if we _did_ ," she said, pointing a finger at her brother, seeming to challenge the boy to argue with her, "I don't think we have anything to gain from a vision that may have been caused by _kriffing Darth Sidious_. So go ahead, Luke, follow Ezra around, listen to him talk, make out with him in the hallways, for all I care." She pointed down one of the branching hallways, her other hand tightening around the strap of her pack. "I'm going this way."

" _We need to stay together, Leia_ ," Qui-Gon said quietly, and the precocious twin flashed him a tight smile.

"Well, I guess you boys better follow me, then," she said as she turned on her heel and marched down the dusty corridor, and with a heavy sigh, the Force spirit gestured for Luke and Ezra to follow the commanding girl.

"I don't get it..." Ezra whispered to Luke as they followed a few paces behind Leia. "If she doesn't think we'll find anything by exploring the Temple, why are we exploring the Temple instead of heading back? Does she think the Force is stronger this way, or..."

"Leia just likes being in charge..." Luke said with a roll of his eyes, earning him a derisive snort from his sister.

"We're here to help Father," Leia said quietly. "The Force clearly isn't interested in giving us answers, or it would have already. So we're trying something new," she muttered, stepping from the corridor into a larger room, and looking around, Leia nodded approvingly and shrugged the pack from her shoulders, setting it upon the ground, and opening it, she fished through it and produced a water bottle and two ration bars she tossed to her twin.

"And...we need to be here to do it?" Ezra asked as he took the ration bar Luke offered him. "How is this any different from where I was taking us?"

"The _where_ doesn't matter," Leia muttered almost absently as she dug through her pack. "I just wanted to be far away from the others." The strange aloofness in her tone made Luke stop just as he put the water bottle to his lips, his eyes darting quickly to meet Qui-Gon's, the Force spirit looking as concerned and unsettled as he suddenly felt. There was something, _something_ in Leia's demeanor that felt mischievous as it so usually did when she was doing something she shouldn't have been, an easy enough thing to recognize because of how often it happened.

"Leia..." Luke said slowly as he screwed the cap back on the water bottle. "What are you planning? What have you done?" Leia's gaze flicked up to meet Luke's, a strange, pale glow in her dark eyes, and a slow, devious grin spread across her face as she carefully lifted something out of the pack, Luke's breath catching in his throat as he stared wide-eyed at an object he had only seen a few times, but recognized all too well. Beside him, he could feel the presence of the Force spirit tremble and ripple through the Force, the calm, easy warmth shaken by the sudden chill.

"Darth Nihilus' mask?" Luke asked breathlessly as his twin held the artifact in her hands. "Leia, you _stole_ Father's artifact?! That thing is dangerous, he told you that you couldn't touch it, he forbid you from it!"

" _An object of death and evil_ ," Qui-Gon said, moving closer to the girl. " _A dangerous thing to most people, but in your hands, with your talent, it's particularly dangerous. Put it down, Leia_."

"No," Leia said firmly, glaring at her brother and the spirit, her hands clenching around the bone-white mask. "Father went out of his way to acquire this mask because he thought it could help him change his fate! He's gotten nothing useful out of it, but _I_ can! I can see the history of this mask, I can learn where his holocron is, which is what Father was looking for to begin with!"

" _Delving into the past of a thing so seeped in darkness is a bad idea_ ," Qui-Gon said firmly, horrified that the girl was even considering such, so thrown off balance that his usual steady image wavered in the air. " _Your Father forbid you from touching the mask for a reason. I do not take that lightly and neither should you_."

"The answer to his problems have been in front of us the entire time!" Leia snapped, her frustration tensing the line of her shoulders, her gaze tearing from the Force spirit to look pleadingly at her twin. "I have the power to get those answers, and Father might be afraid to reach for them, but I'm not. He stood against an ancient Sith Lord for us, he sacrificed everything to keep us safe, he chose our lives over his. That means something to me, Luke, and if he's willing to sacrifice himself for us, I am more than willing to put myself in danger if it meant I could help him."

"How did you even manage to get that thing in here without anyone knowing?" Ezra asked as he stepped past a contemplative Luke. "I thought things like that could be felt in the Force."

"From the day of our birth, my brother and I have been taught to conceal our presence by Darth Lumis himself," Leia said proudly, an arrogant smirk on her lips as she looked at the horrified spirit of the Jedi before her. "A living vergence in the Force, a nexus of Dark Side energy that the most powerful Jedi could never detect. Hiding this," she said as she held up the mask, "was easy. And it's not like the Jedi could ever really sense the Dark Side..."

" _Enough, Leia_ ," Qui-Gon said firmly, his eyes cold and hard and his image unwavering as he centered himself in the Force once again. " _I promised your Father I would keep you safe. I will not allow you to toy with things beyond your understanding._ "

"This isn't your choice to make!" Leia snapped. "If you want to protect me, Qui-Gon, be there to guide me while I delve into Darth Nihilus' memories so I don't become lost within them." Biting on her lower lip, her eyes cast at the ground for a moment, she stepped forward toward the spirit and looked at him with wide, pleading eyes. "You've always been there to teach us and protect us, Qui-Gon, and for that I will always be grateful, but _please_. Help me now to save my Father."

"I agree with Leia..." Luke whispered, looking apologetically at the spirit for a moment before he stepped beside his sister and gently took the mask from her hands, his thumb gingerly running over the red markings above the mask's empty eyes. "Time isn't on our side, and if the mask can lead us to the answers Father has been seeking, we have to do it."

" _You know well the Dark Side is deceptive_ ," Qui-Gon cautioned. " _The answers you find in the history of that thing may not be the answers you seek_."

"Maybe not..." Luke quietly agreed. "But if there's even a chance, we have to try it. Finding that holocron could save our Father, and this could lead us right to it." A slight, confident smile touched Luke's lips as he stepped closer to the Force spirit, the mask held close to his chest. "And this is the best time to do it. You won't let anything bad happen to Leia, Ghost Uncle Qui-Gon. I trust in you."

The spirit exhaled sharply, an irritated look upon his face as he looked between the twins, his jaw clenched as he considered the willful teens and knew well he couldn't stop them. " _Your Father could guide you through this better than I_ ," he advised stiffly, and Leia quickly shook her head.

"Like you said, Father would never allow it. He'd rather die than see us take this risk to save himself. And besides..." she drawled sweetly as she edged closer to the spirit, a wry smirk upon her lips. "You're one with the Force, Qui-Gon. Who better to guide me than you?"

" _You are becoming the sort of woman fathers warn their sons about_..." the spirit grumbled, his arms crossed tightly over his chest as he glared at the grinning, innocent-looking Leia. " _Obi-Wan is going to be so proud..._ "

"So you'll help?" Luke asked hopefully, his hands clasped before him as he turned large blue eyes on the spirit, and Qui-Gon hung his head with a heavy sigh.

" _You two have left me little choice, since you have made it clear you will do this foolish thing regardless of what I say_ ," the spirit said firmly, clearly displeased. " _You know, regardless of if I tell him or not,_ _your father will hear of this_. _He will feel it in the Force the moment you delve into the mask_."

"Then we'll need to work quickly," Leia said as she knelt, settling herself on the dusty ground as she made herself comfortable, and frowned when she saw the hard look Qui-Gon was giving her. "Oh, _what_!" she snapped. "Did you think do dissuade me by threatening me with my Father? I know I'm getting grounded for life! I'm alright with that so long as he's alive!" She took a deep breath and looked at her brother as he knelt before her, the mask held gently in his hands. "Sacrifices..." she muttered under her breath. "In all things, there are sacrifices, and this is mine."

Leia held her hands out before her and looked at her brother, grim determination on her face as Luke gently placed the mask in her hands. The mask felt heavy, weighed down by more than the thick, bone-white material it was crafted from, its very presence in the Force weighty with blood and stolen life and the Dark Side. With a tight, reassuring smile to her concerned brother, Leia breathed deeply as she brushed her hands over the face of the mask, closed her eyes, and plunged into its memories.

It pulled her under like a vortex, the oppressive darkness yielding to flashing images, spikes of rage, the rush of pain and unbearable hunger. She felt the hollow emptiness of an age gone by lost and forgotten, the burning anger of betrayal and defeat, the dissonant cacophony of the raging beats of war. She could see a woman kneeling before her, empty hollows where her eyes should have been, another woman seemingly woven from the light itself too bright to touch, an old woman and a broken man that reeked of the Dark Side, and an army of Mandalorians bringing the galaxy to heel. Leia did all she could to slow the visions so she could see more clearly, so she could find something, anything of use within, but the Force pulled her deeper, the Dark Side leaving her disoriented and gasping for breath as she struggled desperately for control she did not have.

It stopped suddenly with a sickening lurch, her stomach flipping with nausea as she felt herself slam hard to the ground. The Force around her felt torn and chaotic, mere tatters of what it should have been, the sea not just stormy, but torn asunder by wide, vacant gashes in space itself. It felt somehow wrong, the very air around her feeling thick and oppressive with death, the Dark Side howling in her ears, and with a groan, Leia slowly pushed herself off the ground, slowing opening her eyes to look around at what lay before her, not the disorienting memories she was expecting, but a singular image, clear and still and silent as though she were actually there. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dim lighting of the massive subterranean cavern she found herself in, the settling dust leaving the air hazy and a low, eerie hum in the air reverberated through her chest and set the hairs on her neck to standing.

The air smelled of death and ash, and as she looked around her, she found herself surrounded by statues, hundreds of thousands of them petrified reliefs of terror and agony, the very Force around them trembling with pain as if somehow the stone itself could suffer. As her vision grew sharper the more she adjusted to the chaos in the Force and the distant hum of a thousand screams, Leia could make out something in the distance, something large and monolithic and faintly glowing red, and taking a deep breath to steel her nerves, Leia navigated the maze of horrific statues in her journey toward the beaconing light.

She didn't have to journey far before she could make out the shape of the glowing structure, an enormous pyramid covered in intricate glowing symbols carved into its face, the power of the place humming in the air and making the Force sing with darkness loud enough to drown out the screams of the dead. Looking upon it, Leia could feel her own heart begin to beat faster with a thrill she could not understand, the dull ache in her chest erupting into searing agony as she felt herself being torn open, and she covered her ears when she heard a deep, snarling voice speaking in ancient Sith, the very feel of it making her feel as though her heart was being ripped out of her chest.

Slowly, the agony began to twist and turn, reshaping into something both unnatural and familiar, the pain morphing into a deep, insatiable hunger. Her mind filled with memories she knew were not her own, her ears filling with the clash of battle and the screams of the dying as something terrible was unleashed, the words of the Jedi and the Sith burning the name Malachore into the depths of her mind. In the air before her, she could see the shimmering, ethereal image of a pyramid, a small representation of the shrine before her, and as she reached out to grasp it, she could feel the dark presence behind her, the fearsome beast looking down at her from the empty hollows of his mask, and in the next moment, Leia was falling.

With a sharp gasp, Leia slammed hard into the ground, her eyes wide and unseeing, her breathing fast and ragged, and for a moment, all she could see was Qui-Gon Jinn, the spirit tightly grasping her hand, the warm breeze of his presence chasing away the bitter cold she felt deep within her. With a sob of relief, she reached out and grabbed on to him, the feel of him solid and warm and real beneath her grasp, and clinging tightly to him, she felt herself lifted in his arms and held close, the warmth of the light embracing her tightly as she was carried to safety.

Leia awoke with a groan, her head pounding as she opened bleary eyes, and she smiled softly when she saw her brother above her, relief chasing away the concern on his face as he tightly squeezed her hand between his. She could feel the presence of Qui-Gon at her side, could hear the gasps of relief from a distressed Ezra as he paced back and forth, and in the back of her mind, she could feel her Father, his presence roiling and wrathful and frightened and drawing swiftly closer, and she couldn't help but grin.

"I saw it, Luke," Leia said softly. "I know where to find Darth Nihilus' holocron."


	54. The Battle of Batonn

**AN:** **So, this one took a long time to get out. Mostly because I'm working about eighty hours a week and I just moved. I'm hoping to have more time for writing in the very near future, though, so fingers crossed, guys! Thanks for your patience. I promise I haven't abandoned this shit, I work on it every chance I get. The next two chapters...guys, they're big. Worth waiting for, I promise.**

 **Also, take time today to mourn Kanan Jarrus. Dude, I am STILL wrecked. We didn't deserve you.**

 _Chapter 54: The Battle of Batonn_

After years of chasing phantom leads, of following in his trail but never quite catching him, he finally cornered the slippery fugitive, the long game they had played finally coming to an end as the last pieces were moved into place, and now, trapped with nowhere to go, Admiral Thrawn stood face to face with Nightswan. He had learned and confirmed the identity of the rebel just days ago, a man that Thrawn had actually met early in his military career, one of the few to actually slip through the Chiss' grasp, and since then, had been periodically and quietly challenging the Admiral, a subtle thing that Thrawn had suspected for some time.

Cygni, or so he had called himself in their first meeting, was a middle aged man with dark hair and skin tanned and textured by long years of hard labor in the sun. Based on the elusive Nightswan's targeted interest in the Empire's mining and shipment of the ore Doonium, Thrawn had surmised that the man had been involved in the mining industry, a correct assumption, based on the look of him and his history of smuggling the valuable ore from under Imperial noses.

The hunt for this rebel had been casual at best until recently, Nightswan leaving little behind to go on in the past, but now, with the Imperial assault and victory at Skrim Island, the Admiral had been able to track the fleeing rebels to Nightswan's temporary base, and from there, to his more permanent location of operations in the Creekpath Mining Facility on Batonn. With the _Chimera_ in orbit over the planet and with his trap set, the time had come to finally put an end to the brilliant rebel, a man that had somehow always managed to stay one step ahead of Thrawn, a man that had taken as keen an interest in the Chiss as Thrawn had in him. But it could not be allowed to continue, not now when Thrawn had everything he needed to trap him, not when the Nightswan was smart enough to cause trouble for years to come if not caught now, not when other rebels could elevate Cygni and make him more dangerous than before should they be united.

But the value of such a cunning man was not lost on Thrawn, such a genius a precious asset that could be put to good use by the right hands, and wasting away in an Imperial prison or left for dead on the field of battle was a reprehensible waste of a rare resource. Enough for Thrawn to contact the rebel over his secure frequency, the information mined from the memory cache of a rebel ship, leaving a stunned Nightswan reeling when the Chiss had asked to meet with him, not because he desired his death or capture, but because his value was greater than he could understand. With his interest piqued and out of respect for the opponent that he had been engaging with at a distance for years, Nightswan had agreed to meet with the Imperial Admiral.

Now, standing before him in a field just outside of the Creekpath Mining Facility the rebels made their base in, Nightswan looked tense, his shoulder tight, his posture ridged, his expression wary. Beneath it all was the sort of confident curiosity that Thrawn had come to expect from a man that was not just a tactician, but a leader as well, if the insurgency of rebels at his back were any indication. But he was weary, as shown by the dark circles under his eyes and the hunched slope in his tense shoulders, though proud as the expression upon his face was. Nightswan was no fool. He knew what lay waiting in the skies above him, knew that he was well and deep inside a trap of Chiss creation, knew that there would be no escape for him this time. Bleak as his outlook was, the man seemed to accept it with quiet resignation which, Thrawn supposed, was why he had taken the risk to meet with him in the first place.

"You have lost," Thrawn said softly, and Nightswan became more tense, less cautious in the moment and more offended by the observation before his shoulders sagged with bitter resignation.

"Is this why you asked me here?" Nightswan scowled, his eyes narrowing suspiciously as he looked at the dispassionate Chiss before him. "To gloat over the defeat of an enemy? I assure you, Admiral, I am not finished yet, unless you mean to kill me here." He scoffed, gesturing to the rolling hills surrounding them, the faint lights of Creekpath glowing behind them. "It would be easy to do. No doubt you have soldiers in your shuttle, to say nothing of the ships I know you have in orbit. You could kill me in a moment."

"And yet, you still came to meet with me," Thrawn quietly pointed out, earning himself an almost indifferent shrug from the rebel.

"I was bored. Curious."

"Desperate," the Chiss cut in, his tone low and chilling. "You've nothing left to lose." Nightswan's shoulder's tensed, drawing up slightly as his chest fell still with held breath. "I am not here to kill you," the Admiral said when the rebel remained silent. "You are no use to me dead or captured."

"So you said..." Nightswan quietly mused. "I suppose then that you've come to convince me an my followers to surrender."

"That was not my intention," Thrawn said, a slight hint of amusement in his voice. "Though I confess, that would be ideal."

"That's never going to happen," Nightswan said, returning Thrawn's amusement with his own wry smirk. "Not after all the cruelty, the injustice, the _evil_ that your Empire has committed."

"Certainly, the Empire is corrupt and tyrannical," Thrawn quietly agreed, his examining gaze focused on the rebel and watching the muted surprise and confusion on the man's face at the admission. "But you are being dramatic. The Empire is a system of government like any other. It keeps billions of Imperial citizens fed and clothed and employed, despite its shortcomings."

"And billions more repressed and suffering under its heel," Nightswan shot back. "Countless worlds suffering and destroyed for the sake of the Emperor and those he chooses to elevate!"

"And you seek to replace the Empire?" Thrawn asked quietly. "What with?"

"Freedom!" Nightswan scoffed as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Justice. Mercy."

"Chaos..." the Chiss said, his tone flat and dark, his red eyes glowing in the dim light as the sun dipped below the horizon. "The Clone Wars were the natural result of the freedoms you exalt. Too many voices, too many cultural backgrounds clashing, no true leadership to unite behind."

"And you believe the Empire to be the only thing that holds back chaos?" Nightswan asked, appalled for a moment before the tension in his shoulders went slack. "Perhaps you're right. Perhaps the Republic was doomed to fail. Perhaps the galaxy needs a powerful leader to unite behind. Perhaps the insurgent groups across the galaxy are simply terrorists and agents of chaos as you are saying." Nightswan's face darkened, his jaw tightening as he looked at the Chiss. "But then there are the rumors of something nasty the Empire is building out in the middle of nowhere. Whispers of something terrifying that only those perceptive enough can truly hear."

"You speak of the Empire's secret project," Thrawn said calmly, though Nightswan could detect the sudden tightness in his voice and the flat monotone betraying the hint of interest.

"I am," Nightswan said grimly. "I don't know what it is, but I know there's something wrong about it, and all this talk about the Empire and the rebellion and chaos? He gestured dismissively in the air, a look of disgust upon his face. "None of it matters, because the Empire isn't just tyrannical, it's evil, and it must be stopped."

"I too am interested in this project," Thrawn said pensively. "I would be very interested to hear what you have learned about it. Your activities in the past suggest that you have been following it for quite some time. I am certain you have learned a great deal about it."

"I have," Nightswan said firmly, a wry smirk upon his face as he crossed his arms over his chest, relaxed in a way he hadn't been before, Thrawn realized, because he no longer anticipated an attack. "I'd be glad to tell you everything I know if you take off that uniform and come join me."

"You know well I cannot do that," Thrawn said quietly, the only response from the rebel a quiet, tired chuckle. "For many reasons, and I suspect I may be able to learn more about the project were I to remain close to the Empire than if I were to separate myself from it."

"I think you might be surprised," Nightswan said almost warmly. "Look at you. An Admiral in the Imperial Navy, and I doubt you have half the knowledge of the Emperor's project that we do. I may not know what it is, but I will soon. A few more weeks, and I'll know where it is."

"And you mean to destroy it?" Thrawn asked quietly, and Nightswan drew back slightly, his lips pressed in a thin line as he considered the question.

"I'd have to know what it was first," Nightswan finally said after a moment. "But a great many resources are going to this project, and something that big kept that secret can't be good." A wry smirk touched Nightswan's lips as he laughed softly and shook his head. "Why do you ask? You're not in charge of guarding the project, are you?"

"No."

"You probably should be," the rebel said darkly. "At least, you should be if the Empire wishes to keep it safe. Mark my word, I'm not the only one with an interest in the project."

"And you mean to share your knowledge with them?" Thrawn asked, a slight smile on his lips as he pointed up into the sky above them. "I fear that will never happen. My task force awaits my command to end this insurgency. You do not have a hope to escape. You know this."

"And you know all my resources, do you?" Nightswan asked bitterly, the weariness returning as he looked at the impassive Admiral. "How do you know I've not made contact with other rebels?" He paused, his shoulders tightening as he steeled himself. "How do you know I haven't joined my forces with the Shadow King?" That got the Chiss' attention, the red eyes narrowing slightly, his jaw tensing as his swift mind worked through every possible outcome before his body relaxed.

"You haven't," Thrawn said coldly, the confidence in his tone making the knot in Nightswan's stomach grow tighter when he realized his bluff hadn't worked. "You have approximately thirty ships to call upon that are not currently based here on Batonn. Furthermore, if you were going to join forces with the Shadow King, you would have done so already. Either you have failed to make contact, or contact has been actively avoided." Thrawn tilted his head as he observed the rebel, the Chiss' eyes detecting the man's rise in body temperature, the tension in his neck, the slight nervous twitch at the corner of his mouth, and he had his answer. " _You_ have prevented this union."

"...yes," Nightswan said tersely, trying to breath deep to calm himself but only able to draw thin, fast breaths as he felt the walls close in on him. He had known before that he wouldn't be able to escape Batonn, that this would be his last stand, and while he was not afraid to die for what he believed in, the reality of the situation was frightening none the less. "I knew he was looking for me. Not just him, but others as well."

"And you avoided these others, despite the benefits al alliance would have afforded your own movement?' Thrawn asked, more curious than anything else. "Why?"

"I once did have ambitions to unite my group with others," Nightswan quietly, almost sadly confessed. "Bring together all the active rebel cells to create an alliance formidable enough to stand against the Empire."

"What stopped you?"

"A great deal..." he said quietly, his shoulders slumping as he sighed in resignation. "It's not such an easy thing. Too much suspicion and paranoia, not knowing who to trust, the uncertainty of allowing Imperials into our ranks that could come to destroy us from the inside out." Nightswan sucked in a sharp breath, his gaze hardening as he looked at the Admiral. "And then there's the Shadow King. There are rumors about that man. He's a Jedi that survived the fall of the Republic, he's a Separatist looking for revenge, he's just a madman looking to destroy as much as he can before he's inevitably killed. Some say he's the Negotiator, which is impossible. The Empire killed him years ago."

"There is truth in all those things," Thrawn said, the flat drawl of his voice taking a moment to register with the rebel, his eyes widening with understanding when he had rolled the Chiss' words over in his mind. "The Shadow King is certainly a madman, and he was once the Separatist known as the Negotiator, and while I am uncertain as to if he was ever a Jedi, he is indeed sensitive to the Force."

"I've been trying to sort out the truth from the rumors for _years_ ," Nightswan gasped. "But for every step I took closer, he took two away. How did you come to learn about him?"

"I hunted him for some time," Thrawn said, his hands clasping behind his back as he watched the interest play across the rebel's face as he bit at his hook. "Before the Empire demanded I hunt you."

"Why!" Nightswan asked, scoffing in shock and disbelief as he shook his head. "The Shadow King is a far greater threat than I am to the Empire!"

"Yes..." Thrawn quietly agreed. "In a way, that is correct. But you know more about this secret project than he does, and were he to acquire the information you have, it could indeed prove disastrous to the integrity of the project. You may not have the means to destroy it, but the Shadow King may. He simply lacks the information."

"And you know this?"

"I have been keeping a careful watch on him, yes," Thrawn said quietly. "Just because I am not presently hunting him does not mean I have lost sight of the man. A smart tactician never takes their eyes of a predator."

"And I suppose you'll be after him again when you're done with me," Nightswan said, his voice distant and melancholy as he looked over his shoulder back toward Creekpath.

"It does not have to end here," Thrawn said, the rebel's attention drawn quickly back to him as his eyes narrowed curiously. "As I said, you are no use to me dead or captured. Order your men to surrender and I can assure you, nobody need die here today."

"And that's it?" Nightswan scoffed. "Simple as that? By your own admission, I am too dangerous to the Empire to be let go. Do you expect me to join you? Become a part of your Imperial ranks in your hunt for the Shadow King?"

"Not at all," Thrawn said dismissively. "After your actions here, you would never be allowed to join the Imperial forces. The position I am offering comes from me, not the Empire." For a moment, Nightswan was silent, the man staring dumbstruck at the Admiral as he tried to understand what the man was saying, but he came up with nothing. It didn't make sense.

"I...don't understand," he finally muttered, Thrawn drawing up taller and drawing in a deep breath as he examined the man before him.

"You seem interested in the truth about the Shadow King. I have found the fastest way to learn the truth is to get it directly from the source. Come with me, and I shall take you to him."

"You act like you personally know him," Nightswan said with a laugh, the amusement falling from his face when he saw how serious the Chiss looked, his expression making clear that somehow, he _did_ in fact know the Shadow King. "...you know where to find him," the rebel said, a statement, not a question, and Thrawn gave a swift nod of his head.

"In a sense," he said quietly. "I do not know his exact location, or from where he operates. But I do know how to lure him out, and I can do so at any time."

"And your direct orders have prevented you from doing so because you were tasked with hunting me," Nightswan said slowly, measuring his words carefully as he tried to fit together a puzzle he didn't have all the pieces for. "You don't need me to trap him, obviously, so why bring me along at all?'"

"Many reasons," Thrawn drawled, the touch of amusement coloring his otherwise flat tone. "As I said, I have an interest in the Empire's secret project, and I believe together, we possess all the information necessary to understand what it is."

"With your understanding will come ours!" Nightswan said firmly, his tone tense and frustrated. "You will be exposing Imperial secrets to a man that opposes the Empire!"

"On the contrary..." Thrawn said softly. "I believe the Shadow King is an Imperial, and like you, I too wish to know him better. A usurper, not a rebel, and I wish to know the manner of leader he would be, should he somehow manage to come into power."

"This just keeps sounding worse and worse for me..." Nightswan muttered, his brow drawing together in thought as he considered the Chiss and slowly pieced together the information he had, nearly clear enough to see, save for a vital piece. "Suppose I did agree to this insanity. What then? What happens to me after you have learned about the project? It seems to me that my use to you ends once you learn what I do."

"Not at all..." Thrawn said calmly. "Your values as a tactician and a leader cannot be understated, and it would be a terrible waste were those skills not put to use."

"For the Empire?" Nightswan scoffed, and Thrawn shook his head, a slight smirk upon his thin lips.

"No. For the Chiss Ascendancy." The look on Nightswan's face had been anticipated, his brow drawing together in confusion, his jaw tight in concentration, his swift mind almost visibly churning as pieces were slid into place, and with a gasp, the rebels eyes widened, disbelief on his face as he stared at the Admiral.

"You weren't exiled," Nightsawn softly gasped with understanding. "All my sources said your people exiled you, but you're still working for the Chiss."

"Make no mistake..." Thrawn softly cautioned. "I do serve the Empire, but I also serve the interests of the Chiss Ascendancy."

"Is that why you are so interested in the Empire's secret project?" Nightswan asked excitedly. "What if this project conflicts with Chiss interests? Who do you serve first? Would you abandon the Empire to protect your people? What would I even do for the Chiss?" For just a moment, Thrawn's brow drew together in thought, his red eyes narrowing as he considered the questions when a faint smile touched his lips, his hands sliding into his pockets, his shoulders relaxing.

"Convince your people to surrender and agree to my terms to serve the Chiss, and I shall be happy to answer any questions you may have."

"And what, leave them to Imperial mercy?" Nightswan scoffed. "I will not leave them open to retribution."

"There will be no such thing," Thrawn promised. "The people of Creekpath are Imperial resources, and they will be free to return to their homes and jobs if they lay down their arms. There will be no retribution. You have my word that I will attempt to preserve all the lives serving under your command, regardless of your decision to accept my offer. Though I should hate to see your talents wasted in the hands of the Empire when you could be helping to combat real evil with the Chiss."

For just a moment, temptation crossed the rebel's face, the man wavering for a moment as he made to move toward the Admiral before he stopped, that weary, mournful smile touching his lips once again as he stepped away. "I can't..." Nightswan whispered. "No matter how appealing it sounds, the people here depend on me. I cannot abandon them. Not now."

"You're their leader," Thrawn said with a slight nod. "I understand. My offer still stands, should you reconsider and choose to accept." The Admiral bowed slightly, and without another word, turned and walked back toward his shuttle. Nightswan watched him until the Admiral disappeared behind the hill and waited until he could hear the roar of the engines and saw the lights of the ship as it rose into the air and shot into the sky toward the trap he knew was set high about him. With a heavy sigh, Nightswan thrust his hands in his pockets and began the quiet, lonely walk back toward the lights of the city.

A cool, crisp breeze blew across the rolling hills, and in the dusk, Cygni could see the faint shimmer of the energy shield that protected Creekpath, originally set up to protect the valuable equipment on the mining facility from debris falling from the system's nearby asteroid field, but now would serve just as well to defend the town from the powerful fire of the Star Destroyers up above. The presence of the shield was the best way he had to dictate the terms of engagement, a advantage that he desperately needed when facing the tactical genius of Admiral Thrawn, and with an assault from air no longer a feasible option, the Imperials would be forced into a ground assault on territory they did not know.

It was a risky gambit, but it was their best chance for survival against this deadly foe. Despite Thrawn's promises, as honorable as they were, Cygni knew Imperial justice, and capture was worse than death. The Admiral may have been good for his word, but he held no real political power, not the sort that could uphold the promises he was making. Still, he would do his best to save as many people as he possibly could, and given Thrawn's track record, he could trust the Chiss to do the same, to try and save lives and conserve what he saw as Imperial resources to the best of his abilities. Sure, Cygni knew there would be no escape for him, but that hadn't been the point. He fought a losing battle, he knew, but it was still one that must be fought.

Unless he accept Thrawn's terms.

The thought was a tempting one, one his mind kept drifting back towards, though his followers would never accept it, would never lay down their arms in the face of their Imperial enemies, and even if they did, he knew his people well and knew they would only rise again, more frustrated, more angry, more impulsive than ever, and it would be the end of them all. In the face of real lives that depended upon him right now, some distant greater good seemed to hold less meaning. Sure, he would save those he could, make certain that his rebels remained well hidden among the citizens of Creekpath and deep in the mines they made their base, but he also knew many would stand and fight the Empire with him. And even if he accepted Thrawn's offer in an attempt to save his people, the Empire would never allow them to simply lay down their arms and walk away. There would be retribution, and Cygni would be gone, and he couldn't abandon them now.

The breeze ruffled through Cygni's hair as he drew closer to Creekpath, the sounds of people and machines drifting on the wind, the noise of a sleepy mining town, not that of an insurgency base preparing for battle against the Empire. By the time his feet hit the hard, compacted earth of the streets of town, the sun had set below the horizon and the sky was quickly darkening with the fall of night. He passed by several of his men on the way to his base, the rebels swiftly acknowledging him before continuing on their way to the barricades set up around the strategic junctures that Cygni had deemed most important. All around him, men and woman carried equipment or pushed crates of stone or supplies, rebel fighters preparing for the battle to come.

He sighed heavily as he approached the mining administrative building, converted to serve as the headquarters of his insurgency and pushed open the door, the dust swirling within as he quickly strode through the rooms where his surveillance stations were set up, briefly looking at the data stations on his way to the old, rickety staircase to the offices on the second floor. Cygni took the stairs two at a time and stopped a moment to look over the railing down at the command stations, and despite the tension that charged the air, his people were hopeful for their stand against the Imperials, and Cygni knew he made the right choice in staying.

Running his hand through his hair as he approached the office designated as his, Cygni closed his eyes and stepped inside, closing the door behind him and running his hand over his face, weary resignation settling over him once again as he thought of what waited in the skies above them. It would take a great deal of planning and tactics and a hell of a lot of luck, but if the cards he held were played right, and if he judged Thrawn correctly, he could see a way out of this, not just for him, but for all his people.

"Well, well...you're a hard man to find, Nightswan."

His shoulders tensing at the voice's fine clip, Cygni peeked through his fingers and saw a man seated at his desk, his fine black boots upon the dark wood of his work space and leaning back in the chair, a light, easy smirk on a handsome, youthful face that would have made him seem charming had his glowing, golden eyes not been so unsettling. He wore soft, black robes reminiscent of the ones the Jedi once wore, and for a moment, Cygni thought he might be the rebel Jedi operating out of Lothal, the leader of the so-called Phoenix Squadron that had caused so much trouble for the Empire.

But Kanan Jarrus was tall and dark of hair, nothing like the golden-haired man that sat before him now, and furthermore, Cygni recognized this man, a thing long ago buried deep in his memory that slowly came to surface the longer he looked at the intruder's bold, confident visage. A swift look at the blood red casing of the odd-looking protocol droid behind him, a misdirection, he realized as his eyes caught the glint of a sniper blaster strapped to the mechanical's back, and Thrawn's words came rushing back to him, a quiet confirmation of rumors Cygni had been unwilling to believe, and while he didn't wear his armor now, Cygni was certain of who it was he was dealing with.

"You're the Shadow King," Nightswan said, quiet and confident, and the other man's gold eyes widened slightly before a pleased smirk touched his lips.

"Not usually the greeting I get out of my armor," Kenobi said lightly, confirming Nightswan's deduction, and the rebel sighed tiredly, nodding in understanding as he crossed his arms over his chest and looked at his uninvited guests. "It's not exactly common knowledge. How did you come upon such information?"

"A mutual friend," Cygni said slyly, a slight smirk on his face as Kenobi dropped his feet from the desk and leaned forward attentively, the amusement gone from his golden eyes and replaced with hard-edged focus, like he somehow knew what the rebel was talking about before being told. "I recognize your face," Cygni continued when the Sith Lord said nothing. "From the war. You're Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Separatist Negotiator."

"I am..." Kenobi said coldly, the droid at his side reaching for the weapon on his back, but stopped when the Sith laid his hand upon his armored chest.

"You're supposed to be dead," Cygni said with a smirk. "More than that, you're supposed to be older. _Much_ older," he stressed, his eyes narrowing as he examined the youthful features of the man before him. "You don't look thirty years old, how did you manage such a thing? Is it the Force, does the Force make you eternally young?"

"It can, to those with the talent," Kenobi muttered, his fingers drumming upon the desk. "You didn't answer my question to my satisfaction."

"Your face is a difficult one to forget," Cygni said with a shrug. "You terrorized the Republic for years, it was hard to go a day without seeing your face all over the holonet." He gestured casually when Kenobi's hard glare did not waver. "The idea that you were the Shadow King, though, was given to me by Admiral Thrawn."

"Thrawn..." Obi-Wan whispered, leaning back in his chair and looking up at the ceiling, the tension in his shoulders tightening with every passing moment. "You spoke to him?" he asked as he turned his attention back to the rebel. "He was here?"

"Not half hour ago," Nightswan said.

"For what?" Obi-Wan asked, placing his elbows on the desk and clasping his hands before him as he leaned in toward the rebel. "To goad you? To accept your surrender? To have a chat with an old friend?"

"Bit of all of that, I suppose," Nightswan said with a shrug. "Though mostly, he came here to offer me a deal."

"Which was..." Kenobi asked, leaving the question hanging for Nightswan to fill in the rest of the information, but the rebel simply chuckled and shook his head.

"None of your business, I'm afraid," he said with a smirk. "I don't like talking business with people I don't know, Shadow King, and the Admiral said some things about you that are unsettling at best."

"If Thrawn said them, they're most likely accurate," Kenobi scoffed. "Why? What's my dear Chiss been saying about me?"

"Says you're an Imperial," Cygni said, his tone becoming hard and suspicious, his hand slowly drifting down to settle threateningly upon the blaster at his hip, and this time when the droid at Kenobi's side reached for the weapon on it's back, he didn't stop him. "Well? Are you? Are you just some power-hungry usurper looking to rule the galaxy?"

"I do support the vision of an Empire, yes," Kenobi said quietly, sighing heavily as Cygni drew his weapon and with a casual gesture of his hand, the blaster was torn out of Nightswan's grasp and flew to Kenobi's waiting palm. He stood as he examined the blaster, his eyes flicking up to look at the stunned, still rebel before he dropped the weapon on to the desk. "I fear we got off to a bad start," Kenobi said quietly, his hand on the long barrel of his droid's blaster as he lowered it away from the rebel target. "Shall we begin again with the introductions?" he asked with an easy smile, his hand laying upon his chest. "I am Obi-Wan Kenobi, former Separatist commander, currently the Shadow King of Mandalore and leader of the forming rebellion against the Empire. This is my droid," he said, patting the droid at his side on its red-hued chest plate. "HK-45. He came here with the understanding that there would be a battle and he'd get to murder some Imperial soldiers."

"If you stay long enough, you may well get that opportunity," Cygni said, his shoulders relaxing as the tension seemed to lift from the air. "I'm-"

"Nevil Cygni," Kenobi interrupted. "The Nightswan. Yes, we've been aware of you for quite some time. And before you say anything about me being an Imperial," Kenobi said, his hand raised and stopping the rebel from speaking, "I'm here on behalf of Fulcrum." At that, Cygni's eyes seemed to light up, his shoulders dropping as he stood taller and looked at the Sith Lord.

"You're working with Fulcrum?" Cygni asked quietly, and he frowned when Kenobi nodded. "And Fulcrum is aiding you? An Imperial? I thought Fulcrum's rebels were fighting for freedom, not for a different brand of tyranny!"

"Does your idea of freedom not extend to those who would choose the Empire over the Republic?" Obi-Wan asked softly, his tone cool and even, and Cygni's swift retort froze in his throat, leaving him grasping for words he could not find. "Make no mistake, Fulcrum and I share different ideals, but our goals are the same. We seek to destroy Palpatine and the Empire he has created. What comes after," he said with a shrug as he seated himself on top of the desk, "that is a bridge we have yet to cross, but I believe the galaxy is big enough to support both a Republic and an Empire. Don't you?"

"I...don't know," Cygni stuttered, his nose wrinkling as he considered the question. "I've never really thought about it. I just know that the Empire is evil, and we must fight against it."

"The immediate goal," Kenobi said quietly. "One that must be accomplished before we can begin anything else. _That_ is how Fulcrum and I have come to work together. As for what comes after, a great many people truly believe in the Empire, Nightswan. Having an Imperial refuge for those that would otherwise continue to fight will save a great many lives after the old Empire is reformed into _my_ Empire."

"I can see why Thrawn likes you," Cygni scoffed softly. "Not so sure about you myself, though."

"As I said," Obi-Wan drawled, spreading his hands out before him in a gesture of surrender. "I'm here on Fulcrum's behalf. What you think of me is irrelevant."

"Then you'd think Fulcrum would come himself."

"Fulcrum's identity is a closely guarded secret that must be maintained for the integrity of the position they occupy," Kenobi quietly explained, his nose wrinkling as he crossed his arms almost petulantly over his chest. "Also, one of our rebels is a touch _too_ rebellious and needs to be reminded of her place. Fulcrum had something to say about it, and offered to take her off my hands if I came to meet with you." Kenobi reached back and grabbed hold of Nightswan's confiscated blaster, turning it over in his hands and keenly aware of the sharp, cautious eyes upon him. "And besides," he drawled, "you are of a personal interest to me as well. We are after the same thing."

"Are we," Cygni scoffed. "And tell me, what thing is that?"

"Project Stardust," Kenobi said slowly, a wry smirk spreading across his face as he watched intensity and curiosity burn in the rebel's eyes. "You have heard of it," he whispered, a statement, not a question, and Nightswan gave a slight, imperceptible nod.

"The Empire's secret project," Cygni said softly. "Though perhaps not so secret as I thought. You aren't the first person I've dealt with today who's looking for information about it." There was a brief moment of confused silence, Kenobi's brow knitting together as he swiftly processed what the rebel had said. With a swift, shark hiss, the Sith Lord ran a hand through his hair and tapped the barrel of Nightswan's blaster against the desk.

"Thrawn?" he asked with a mixture of confusion and disbelief. "Thrawn doesn't know about the project?"

"He does," Cygni said grimly. "Just not much, so far as I could guess. He seemed interested, though. Interested enough to give up a great deal in exchange for what I know."

"This changes things..." Obi-Wan said slowly, turning over the blaster in his hands and muttering under his breath for a moment before he offered the weapon back to Cygni. Looking at him suspiciously for a moment as he tried to determine if this was somehow a trick, Nightswan reached out and took the offered weapon, a sigh of relief on his lips when Kenobi simply let him have it. "He came here to speak with you," the Sith said, pointing to the weapon in Cygni's hands. "You could have killed him. Why didn't you?"

"He's the only Imperial I know of that actually tries to save lives and limit damage," Cygni scoffed. "Why kill him when someone worse would take his place?"

"That replacement would be less effective than Thrawn," Kenobi said, drumming his fingers against the desk in what Cygni determined to be a nervous habit, something so delightfully human it was hard to imagine that the man that sat before him was the dreaded Shadow King. "Fulcrum tells me you're terribly intelligent. You have to be to stay out in front of Thrawn for all these years. You could outsmart another Imperial, get your people out of here right under their noses in a way you couldn't with that Chiss bastard in charge."

"Maybe so," Cygni agreed. "But that wouldn't save the innocent people here at Creekpath. Any other Imperial would crush them just as quickly as they would destroy my men. I won't allow the people here to be sacrifices."

With a heavy sigh, Kenobi pointed toward the ceiling, Cygni looking up where he pointed before meeting the Sith's eyes. "Do you know what lies above you?" Obi-Wan whispered. "The _Chimera_ , Thrawn's personal Star Destroyer, and three light cruisers in the most insane formation I have ever seen. None of my people can figure out what Thrawn is thinking, but the one thing we know for certain is that he has something planned. This is a trap, and you're in the middle of it."

"Is this the part you offer your help?" Cygni said tiredly. "You save the lives of my men in exchange for joining with Fulcrum?"

"...no." Obi-Wan closed his eyes, his breathing deep and even as he brushed aside the confused tension of the other man in the room, reaching through the Force trough the thousands of lives in Creekpath, the anxious rebels and the sleepy miners and the tension of the Imperials on the ground as they set up their barricades and command centers in preparation to storm the complex. It would not be long before fighting broke out and once it did, it was only a matter of time before the trap was sprung and all inside were caught. It was a dangerous game Nightswan was playing. One that, Kenobi suspected, he knew he would lose.

"No," the Sith Lord repeated, sliding off the desk to stand before the suddenly defensive rebel. "No, your cause here is a lost one. I could save you and perhaps a dozen of your men, but all of you?" Kenobi shook his head. "I only have my personal ship here. There's only so much I can do."

"But you have more," Cygni said, his voice tight with something just shy of desperation, and Kenobi sighed as he watched the rebel, so resigned before, now grasp for hope the moment he saw it. "You must. If not you, Fulcrum."

"We do," Kenobi said calmly. "A great many rebels and a great many ships ready to deploy at a moment's notice very, _very_ far from here. Certainly too far away to get here before Thrawn destroys you. And even if we could," the Sith said with a shrug, "I wouldn't call them in."

"You won't help us?" Cygni said with a disbelieving scoff, biting upon his lower lip as he stared into cold, glowing eyes.

"Do you forget who you are up against?" Obi-Wan asked evenly. "You're in the middle of a trap set by Admiral Thrawn, and I know better than to face him when he has decided the terms of engagement. He has already trapped the field, he has already moved his pieces, and he has you in checkmate, Cygni. It's over," Kenobi said, a slight, wry smirk tugging at the edge of his lips when he saw anger flash in the other man's eyes. "And you know it."

"You could help me change that," Cygni said firmly, stepping closer to the Sith as he holstered his blaster. "Thrawn's here to deal with me, not you, this trap is set for me. If you-"

"You're too smart to have gathered all your forces in one place," Kenobi swiftly interrupted. "I had a good look at this mining facility when I landed, and there is nowhere to put the amount of ships that fled from Skrim Island, and I seriously doubt that was the entirety of your force." Obi-Wan chuckled softly when Cygni held his breath, his jaw tightening in a clear confirmation of the Sith Lord's claims. "If we could puzzle that out, you know that Thrawn has. That trap he set accounts for your reenforcements and then some, regardless of where they come from." Again, Obi-Wan shook his head. "No, I will not lead my people into a trap when there is nothing to be gained."

"So that's it?" Cygni asked bitterly, heaving a heavy sigh as his shoulders drooped in resignation. "You just leave us to face Thrawn's mercy? What was even the point of you coming here if not to recruit me and my men?"

"That was Fulcrum's original intention," Obi-Wan said quietly, his hand resting on his droid's shoulder when it stepped around the desk to stand defensively beside him. "But then I arrived and saw the _Chimera_ in orbit, and the plan had to change. We knew Thrawn would be here. We were hoping to beat him. I nearly left, risking a confrontation with that kriffing Chiss is too dangerous without knowing exactly the nature of the game he is playing, and the last time I thought I had a shot at him, I rushed in and played right into his hands. Never again, I won't deal with him until I am good and ready, and I am not."

"And you still came," Cygni said tiredly, pinching the bridge of his nose and carefully examining the Sith Lord's every movement and expression. "Why?"

"The information you have is worth the risk," the Sith Lord quietly pointed out to the sneering rebel.

"But not worth the lives of my men."

"A price I would be happy to pay, were I able to," Kenobi retorted. "As I said, I may save you and some of your men, but that is the best that I can do. But _Thrawn_ ," he said with a smirk as he pointed up toward the ceiling. "Thrawn could save your men, as I am certain he told you. That _is_ what he came to see you about, yes? To make a deal with you?"

For a moment, Cygni was silent, his jaw tight as he eyed the Sith Lord and carefully considered if he could be trusted. Something was off and unsettling about the man, something Cygni couldn't quite place. Be it a trick of the Force he knew the man commanded, his Imperial sympathies, his past as a Separatist hellion, the strange way his golden eyes seemed to glow or something else entirely, Nightswan didn't know, but he for certain didn't like the Shadow King. He was dangerous, for certain, if the stories of him and his brutal rancor could be believed, though it was difficult for Cygni not to trust the man despite the threat he posed. He had been frank and honest from the moment he arrived, even when it did not benefit him to do so, and much like Thrawn, Cygni could respect this man, even if he didn't agree with him.

"Thrawn came here to offer me a job," Cygni said flatly, the slightest smirk playing on his lips when Kenobi's eyebrow arched in confused interest. "He wants to send me to put my talents to work for his people." Cygni grinned when the Sith's eyes widened, and he rocked back on his heels, allowing stunned silence to hang heavy between them for a moment. "For the Chiss."

"The Chiss..." Kenobi muttered under his breath, his heart almost seeming to stop beating in his chest as realization slowly sunk in, the jumbled, chaotic pieces of the enigma that was Thrawn finally sorting into a comprehensible picture. Pieces were still missing, to be sure, but he had an idea of the measure of the man where before, all he had was bewilderment. "Do you believe he is an agent for his people?" Kenobi asked, and Cygni swiftly nodded.

"I do," he said firmly. "He said so himself. He serves the interests of the Chiss as well as the interests of the Empire, though he didn't say more than that, or where his loyalties would lie were their interests ever to be in conflict."

"Oh, _Thrawn_ , you bad, _bad_ boy..." Kenobi drawled, a pleased, lopsided smirk spreading across his face as he gently hit the droid's chest. "Force help me, HK, I thought that minx and I were just flirting. I didn't know it was an actual _courtship_!"

"Sounds like true love," Cygni said wryly. "He talked about you too. He said if I accepted his deal, he would take me to you so the three of us could learn about the Empire's secret project together." At that, the amusement swiftly dropped from the Sith Lord's face, his expression becoming cold and hard, his golden eyes seeming to glow brighter, and Cygni suddenly felt as if the air became thicker, heavier, his head pounding and his chest aching as he labored to breathe.

"He knows where to find me?" Kenobi asked, his voice soft and chilling, and Cygni swallowed hard and shook his head.

"No, but he knows _how_ to find you," Cygni said, taking a few deep, even breaths as the pressure sitting on his chest lifted. "He says he can lure you to him at any time."

"Oh, _perfect_ ," Obi-Wan spat. "Just what I needed. _More_ paranoia. As if the Emperor hunting me wasn't enough." He groaned, running his fingers through his hair and his hands over his face as he collected his thoughts and brushed aside the sudden feeling of unease. "This alone was worth coming here."

"Worth getting involved?" Cygni asked hopefully, and was met by a sympathetic look from the Sith Lord.

"You want to save your men, Nightswan?" Kenobi asked, pointing a long finger at the rebel. "You know how to do it. Take Thrawn's deal, tell your men to surrender and live to fight another day." He shrugged. "And then, instead of going with Thrawn to serve the Chiss, come with me. We'll take you all to join with Fulcrum's forces."

"My men won't surrender."

"Then you aren't the leader we thought you were," Kenobi snapped, far harsher than he intended, and he sighed, running his hand over his face as he calmed himself, the nagging tension at the back of his mind refusing to relent. The fighting was about to begin. He needed to get out before it did. "I came for information about the project," Kenobi said, his voice even and measured, his fingers steepling together in a show of patience. "Learning what the Emperor is building is worth more than the value of any of our lives. If you are to die here, Nightswan, than what you know cannot die with you. I need to know."

"Who says I end here?" Cygni scoffed, his bravado deflating when Kenobi shot him a cold, hard glare.

"Your men will not surrender, and you will not abandon them," the Sith Lord said dryly. "You cannot win against Thrawn. Only one outcome remains. You face defeat here, be it through capture or death, and in either situation, what you know about Project Stardust will be lost. Do not let your efforts go to waste. Tell me what you know."

"I can't imagine I know anything you do not," Cygni muttered. "Massive amounts of doonium have gone missing from the market, as have other materials needed for the production of ships and weapons and hyperdrives. Nothing is unaccounted for out of the factories that build Imperial ships, though, so whatever it is they are building, they are assembling it on site."

"Smaller components are harder to track," Kenobi said quietly, tapping the droid on the shoulder and it's glowing optical lights grew brighter as it began recording and processing what was being said. "That's clever. Ship out completed hyperdrives and people would start asking questions."

"Exactly," Nightswan said firmly. "I have been tracking the movements of these shipments to the best of my abilities to discover the locations of the project's construction, but I haven't had any luck so far."

" _Location_ ," Kenobi said slowly, drawing out the length of each syllable for emphasis. "The project is being built on at a single location."

"Just one..." Nightswan mused quietly, scoffing slightly as he shook his head. "I thought that might be the case as well, but it seemed too impossible to be believed. If it's all being built at one location, whatever it is must be massive. How have they kept such a thing hidden?"

"Just as you said..." Kenobi said. "The small stuff slips under the radar. You can't find what you don't know to look for."

"Do you know where it is?"

"I know where it _was_ ," Obi-Wan said slowly. "They were building it out around Geonosis, but they relocated the project a few years back. I have been unable to find the new location."

"It moved?" Cygni muttered, holding his breath as his gaze drifted to the ground to stare at the cracks in the floor at the Sith Lord's feet. "A project of the massive size we are thinking it must be, and it _moved_?!" The rebel laughed tightly and shook his head in disbelief. "How could nobody have noticed _that_? Is the project mobile?"

"That seems very likely, yes."

"Well, how often does the damn thing move?!"

"Hopefully not all that often," Kenobi muttered. "But honestly, I don't know. A single, massive project drifting around the uninhabited Outer Rim could be very, very difficult to find. Hell, even if it's stationary, we'll never find it if we're searching blindly."

"I'm close to finding it," Nightswan said softly. "Very close. Or...I thought I was. If the damn thing is moving, I may not be so close as I thought. But using the missing shipments of materials, I should be able to track it."

"We have just found the location of the project's main research facility. Fulcrum is attempting to make contact with the lead scientist on the project."

"And once you do, you could know not only the nature of the project, but it's location as well," Cygni said excitedly, his heart beating rapidly in his chest as he looked as the smirking Sith Lord. "...you're damn close to finding this thing."

"Perhaps..." Kenobi drawled. "But that depends a great deal of luck. The scientists may not actually know where the project is located."

"But if you knew what I do, you might have the pieces I'm missing to find it now," Cygni said firmly, his gaze drifting to look out the window on the wall. "And I don't have the time."

"You could," Kenobi calmly offered. "If you came with me now, we could have all the time you need." The Sith Lord swiftly raised his hand for silence when offense passed over Cygni's face. "But, you will not abandon your men, I know, and you and I..." he said with a smirk when the distant sounds of blaster fire thrummed in the air. "We are out of time. Were I you, Nightswan, I would reconsider Thrawn's offer. It would give me the time I need to extract your men and the opportunity to steal you right out from under his nose, provided he doesn't kill you."

"He won't," Cygni said confidently. "I'm more valuable to him alive than dead, he said so himself."

"Then this may be our best course of action," Kenobi said as he walked toward the door, the droid close on his heels and a smirk on his face as he passed by the rebel, nearly close enough for their shoulders to brush. "You get to maintain your foolish ideals, and I get to move a valuable piece against Thrawn without his knowledge." Kenobi took a deep breath and looked the rebel over critically, his brow drawing together as he frowned. "You're certain you will not come with me now?"

"I was tempted enough when Thrawn offered. I cannot be swayed, I'm sorry." Cygni sighed and ran his hand through his hair as he turned to face the Sith Lord, a resigned smile on his lips. "I'll be seeing you again soon when you come for me, yeah?"

"You know I will," Kenobi said softly. "When I come for you. And for Thrawn." Tapping the droid on the chest, Obi-Wan gave the rebel a swift nod before he left the room, his stride long and purposeful as he walked away from the rebel leader and down the rickety wooden steps. The swift inquisitive questions by the rebels wandering about were quickly silenced into blind compliance with a wave of the Sith Lord's hand, a bitter scowl on his face as he marched out of the doors and into the streets of Creekpath, the droid marching swiftly at Kenobi's side, its head swiveling to watch two rebels armed with heavy blasters rush by.

"Inquiry: are we going to murder some fleshy organics, Master?" HK gleefully asked, the blaster rifle in its hands priming as the droid loaded the charges. He looked expectantly at the Sith Lord, the man only glowering as another group of soldiers ran by.

"We're getting out of here as quickly as possible, HK, we don't have time for murder," Obi-Wan muttered under his breath, his sharp eyes darting swiftly over the faint shimmering dome of the force field that hung over the town. "The jaws of a trap are closing, and I don't want to be here when it snaps shut."

"Confusion: Master, can't you use a trap to ensnare the one that set it?" the droid asked, the long stride shortening when Kenobi slowed to a casual walk as they passed by the rebel barricade, the two passing by like the soldiers posted there didn't even see them.

"You're right, that is ideal..." Obi-Wan muttered, running his fingers through his hair and huffing as they continued through the streets toward the distant foothills past the force field. "But in order to do so, one must know the nature of the trap they are in, and I don't understand what Thrawn is doing. Escape is the only option. My date with the Chiss needs to wait."

"Oh." HK's processors whirred in disappointment, its visual receptors roving over the empty streets, the civilians locked up inside their homes and the soldiers keeping behind their barricades, unwilling to venture past the lines. An empty street, devoid of war and death, was not what HK-45 expected when the Master asked him to come down to a hostile standoff between a rebel insurgency and Imperial forces. "Inquiry: Master, did we waste our time coming here?"

"No, HK, we didn't," Kenobi muttered, his step hesitating for a moment when he saw another barricade set up at the edge of town and a busy camp behind it. An Imperial checkpoint, from the look of it, designed to keep the rebels from escaping now that the fighting had begun on the other side of town. "I got much more than I expected."

"Observation: We failed to acquire the rebel scum Fulcrum sent us for. You, in fact, got nothing at all."

"Nothing but information, HK, a thing far more valuable than a single rebel leader, no matter how genius he may be," Kenobi said with a frown as he drew up and continued toward the Imperial barricade, his stride long and confident, the droid picking up the pace to walk beside him. "As soon as we saw the _Chimera_ , Fulcrum knew Nightswan was likely lost. It was too dangerous to extract him anyway, linking him to us just gives Thrawn another hook in our operation."

"Confusion: But we did not extract the information you needed from the meatbag, Master," HK said, his vocal modulator straining with an almost irritated grating. "Statement: We should have abducted him as I previously suggested. That way, you could have removed his brain to retrieve the data at your convenience."

"I keep telling you, that's not how it works," Kenobi said with a roll of his eyes. "In any case, I promised Fulcrum there would be no abductions, coercions, or compulsions when dealing with Nightswan, and his will is too strong for anything short of mental domination. Besides..." he drawled, taking the blaster from HK and sliding it back into the holster on the droid's back. "I wasn't just standing there hoping he'd tell me what I needed to know about the Empire's project, I sifted through his mind and learned what he knew."

"Excitement: you never fail to impress, Master!" the droid chirped, the disappointment of being forced to sheath his weapon forgotten. "Quarry: Was it useful?"

"Perhaps..." Kenobi mused. "Numbers and shipment manifests and travel vectors, thousands upon thousands of them all following certain patterns that tell the story of Project Stardust. Chapters we have not yet read and others we have committed to memory long ago, but in the telling..." Kenobi frowned. "I am uncertain how much closer to the end of the story this new information brings us. I will have to meditate on it, or bring the matter to Fulcrum. She'll see the information delivered to someone with an eye for such things."

"Statement: I could run the analysis, Master."

"K2 would be a better choice for such a thing, but I appreciate your exuberance." The sharp, outraged bleeps and whirs in the droid's untranslated binary caused a sly smirk to spread across the Sith Lord's face, sighing in amused contentment as they drew closer toward the Imperial line, the shimmer of the force field behind them coloring and distorting the rolling hills of Batonn's countryside. "Still," Kenobi continued, "it would have been nice to bring Nightswan to Fulcrum. I do so love defying her expectations. She's just going to have to settle with scooping up what's left of his men and picking him up on Csilla at a later date."

"Bemusement: When you put it that way, Master, it doesn't seem like a loss at all."

"It isn't, HK," Obi-Wan said with a satisfied sigh. "I don't suffer losses. Only setbacks."

"Quarry: and you are certain that the rebel idiot won't be murdered by the Empire?"

"I'm certain," Obi-Wan said confidently, holding his shoulders back as he walked purposefully toward the blockaded and watching the Imperials scramble and raise their weapons at the approaching pair. "That's the most valuable thing I learned from Nightswan, information on the nature of dear, sweet Thrawn..."

The Sith Lord rose his hands in the air as they approached, HK following his lead as the Imperial soldiers rushed toward them, their anxious tension abating instantly with a wave of Obi-Wan's fingers, and the Imperials slowly shuffled back to the barricade as if nothing was amiss. The touch of the Force lightly graced their minds, the men and women shuddering at the swift passing of cold through the air, and with a frown of displeasure, Obi-Wan walked past them all, his long stride carrying him past the command station and toward the barrier, both he and the droid passing effortlessly through the energy field and breathing deeply of the cool, fresh air.

"These Imperials belong to the _Shyrak_ , they've never set foot aboard the _Chimera_ and they've never so much as caught a glimpse of Thrawn..." Kenobi muttered bitterly. "If they had something, _anything_ , perhaps we could have..." His words trailed off, a soft, almost amused chuckle slipping past his lips as he shook his head. "No, I still know far too little. My Chiss, a double agent, and the little slut had a boyfriend before me. I swear, HK, the issues we have keep piling up, we're going to have a great deal to sort through if we want this romance of ours to work. Too many secrets. Not enough commitment..."

"Disappointment: Not enough murder," HK seemed to sigh mournfully, the droid looking back at the town behind the shimmering energy barrier where the fighting was occurring. "Quarry: the rebel idiot said you could be lured out by the Empire at any time. How do you suppose they can accomplish this?"

"I don't know..." Kenobi muttered, his lips pressed in a thin line as the Force suddenly tugged upon him in warning, not the cold dread of a distant threat but the burning heat of present danger. His eyes flicked up to the sky above them, the clouds lighting with flashes of green light from the ships engaged in battle just above Batonn's atmosphere. But around them, save for the distant sound of blasters being fired in Creekpath, all was calm, through the Force was raging.

"What could he possibly have that could draw me out, what could he possibly know that makes him so certain he has me..." the Sith Lord muttered, his pace slowing as he crested a hill and looked back toward the town where Nightswan fought. "Do you think he knows about Luke and Leia?"

"Bemusement: Even if he did, how could he use them to catch you?" HK asked, its vocal modulator whirring with the approximation of a dismissive chortle. "If you will remember, Master, Leia is very, _very_ grounded. Forever."

"Somehow, that girl always manages to wriggle her way into a mess, though..." Obi-Wan grumbled as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "If not them, _how_. What does he have on me, what does he know?" His train of thought was disrupted by another sharp pull of the Force, but this time, the warning screaming in his mind was accompanied by a tremor rushing through the ground and a rumbling reverberating through the air. Obi-Wan looked up swiftly as HK drew the blaster from its back, half expecting to see ion fire fired from the Star Destroyers raining down upon the compound when a bright flash of light in the corner of his eye immediately drew his attention toward Creekpath.

The blinding light came from the compound, accompanied by deafening silence and a sharp ringing in Obi-Wan's ears as he watched flames erupt from inside the town, engulfing everything in a wave of smoke and fire. He watched in horror as the explosive wave rushed toward him, only to be stopped and contained by the energy field surrounding the town, dust and debris kicked up from the contained blast billowing inside the dome and magnifying the intensity of the explosion within as the force of the blast had nowhere to escape but down into the earth. The energy shield wavered, flickered for a moment, And Obi-Wan found his footing a second later, jolted into action as he turned and ran away from the town just as the barrier shut off.

He only managed to run a few steps before HK-45 tackled him from behind, his body hitting the ground hard as the heavy droid laid on top of him just as a wave of heat slammed into the Sith Lord, his eyes shut tightly as smoke and ash and flames and broken earth crashed upon them. Despite the heat, Obi-Wan felt cold, the Force snapping with the chill of death, not a few, but thousands, an instant rending of life so sudden that Kenobi could feel a gaping wound in the fabric of the Force itself, torn open and disturbed in a way he hadn't felt in a very long time. He didn't need to see the destruction to know that everyone in Creekpath was dead, everyone caught within the Force field torn apart by the powerful blast, be they rebel, civilian, or Imperial.

When the roaring in his ears had faded into the sound of raging flames and the smell of smoke and ash on the wind, Obi-Wan nudged at HK, the droid swiftly getting off of him and helping the Sith Lord to his feet. The armored plating had been badly singed and scored and dented, the blood red coloring darkened with dirt and ash, and Obi-Wan could feel his own robes singed and torn and dirtied, could feel the dirt and ash upon his face and the bleeding cuts and searing burns upon his body that HK had failed to shield. Holding on tightly to the droid as he got his footing, Obi-Wan looked at what used to be the mining city of Creekpath, now a blazing inferno in a crater blasted deep into the ground.

"This wasn't at all what Cygni expected..." Obi-Wan muttered, his gaze drifting upward to the sky, the flashing of the ion cannons no longer visible with the smoke and dust thick in the air and the blaze of light from the flames. "This wasn't Thrawn."

"Analysis: Master, the results of my preliminary scan shows no signs of life within the perimeter the energy shield covered," HK reported. "There are no survivors. Fulcrum's rebel idiot has almost certainly been incinerated."

"I don't understand..." Kenobi gasped in frustration, pointing toward the flames as he took a few steps toward the blaze. "Thrawn wouldn't do this! This isn't _him_!" There was silence from his droid companion, though the Sith Lord didn't expect a response, his gaze again drifting up toward the sky before he turned furious eyes on HK. "Who would do this?!" Kenobi demanded, and the droid gave an indifferent shrug.

"Response: It wasn't me, Master, though I am quite upset with myself for not thinking of it."

"No, no, I had _plans_! I needed Nightswan as part of my Thrawn strategy!" Kenobi held his breath, his jaw slack for a moment before he slid his fingers into his hair and tightly grabbed fistfuls of golden strands. "Ahsoka's going to be _so pissed_!"

"Excitement: I know how to cheer you up, Master!" the droid proudly proclaimed. " _Murder_! There's an entire fleet of Imperial meatbags wearing buckets and calling it protection in the ships above us! Let's slaughter them! We could burn them alive to get even!"

"The death toll is high enough as it is," Lumis growled as he turned his back on the burning city and strode furiously out toward the foothills where the _Umbra_ was parked. "Rebels weren't the only ones that died in the blast, there were civilians and Imperial soldiers as well. Whoever did this will have hell to pay, but it won't be from me."

"Quarry: Master-"

"Not now, HK, we need to move."

There was silence between them, their pace increasing from a light job to a full sprint the further away they got from the burning city, the ash and dust fading the further out they got, though they still left trails through grass covered in soot and dirt carried on the wind from the blast. It didn't take them long to arrive at the _Umbra_ , the ship covered in a light dusting of ash that made the Sith Lord grind his teeth in irritation and settled on making Leia wash the damn ship as part of her punishment. When Obi-Wan strode into the cockpit, giving a tight, curt nod to K-2SO in the copilot's seat, and dropped into the pilot's seat with a puff of dust from his robes, he also resolved to have his wayward daughter clean the inside as well.

They were in the air in record time, the engines purring with a smooth hum as he lifted off into the sky and pulled back on the acceleration, the stealth ship cutting effortlessly up into the atmosphere and into the light of ion cannons and a swarm of TIE Fighters zipping through space to attack nearly thirty rebel ships caught between the _Chimera_ and the three light cruisers that surrounded it. The trap had closed, and the rebels were hopelessly caught, their ships severely outclassed by the much faster Imperial fighters. They would all die, just like the people on Batonn, and there was nothing that could be done about it.

As Obi-Wan punched in the hyperspace coordinates for his first jump on his way to the rendevous with the _Ghost_ and his new _Subjugator_ , the console began beeping with frantic warning, the Sith Lord and the droid both looking at the offending display to find that weapons had been locked on to the _Umbra_. Cursing under his breath, Kenobi ran a swift analysis as he checked to be certain the stealth drive was functioning, and finding everything in working order, he frowned as he looked back at the display to read the report.

"It's the _Chimera_..." Obi-Wan mumbled more to himself than to the droid at his side. "The _kriffing Chimera_ has a lock on us, and we have two minutes until we jump!"

"I told you," K2 drawled in a disaffected tone. "This was a very bad idea, and now we're all going to die. This is what you get for not listening."

"Our stealth drive is modified using Chiss technology, that damnable _asshole_ knows what to look for!" Obi-Wan snapped, his hands tightening around the controls as he turned the _Umbra_ and flew straight toward the _Chimera_ , his teeth grinding together as he dodged around the swarming TIEs that couldn't see him, both droids in the cockpit began protesting his actions, the first time in Kenobi's memory that the two ever agreed on anything.

"Is your goal to make us die faster?" K2 asked, and Obi-Wan growled as he pushed the _Umbra_ faster toward the massive Star Destroyer. "If so, this is definitely the way to do it, so keep up the good work, Master."

"We'll never get out of range in time," Kenobi said through grit teeth. "My plan is to get us so close it becomes too dangerous to shoot at us. I need to buy time for the jump to be calculated."

"...statement: you're going to die, Master."

"Take your opinions and shove them up your ass, HK, I don't need your opinions," Obi-Wan growled. "Both of you, mute your audio drives, I don't want to hear either of you." The Sith Lord breathed deeply when neither droid replied, the silent acknowledgment that his command was obeyed, slowing the _Umbra_ as he flew up to the _Chimera_ , the design carved into the hull just as he was told. It was magnificent, beautifully intimidating and delightfully individualistic for the usually uniform Imperial fleet. The display continued to flash in warning with the weapon lock on the ship despite the proximity, and Kenobi gently guided the _Umbra_ along the side of the mighty Destroyer, eying each of the cannons as he passed them and trying to decide how long he would live if he began shooting. Pushing the accelerator forward, he shot along the hull and pulled up on the yoke when he reached the nose of the ship, and he flipped the _Umbra_ around, the unrestrained HK slapping against the walls as Obi-Was pointed his ship toward the _Chimera_ 's command deck.

Obi-Wan closed his eyes, calm settling over him as he reached out and felt him almost instantly, a cold, strong command, unshakably confident, though he could feel the tension of confusion and seething anger under the veneer, the feel of the man so unique, so different from the humans that surrounded this outsider. It was Thrawn, without a shadow of a doubt, and when Obi-Wan opened his eyes, he could feel the man himself looking at him from his place on his command deck.

The warning display of the weapon's lock suddenly ceased, the _Umbra_ 's readouts all coming back clear as the Star Destroyer disengaged their weapons and pointed them elsewhere, and Obi-Wan felt the tension in his chest lift. Thrawn saw him, and the Chiss was letting him go. It was almost surreal, the closest he had ever been to his distant adversary, and it was not at all how Obi-Wan expected it to go. Yet another thing to consider when at least they met.

The navigator pinged, the jump calculated and the hyperdrive primed, and with a final look at the command deck, Obi-Wan swung the _Umbra_ around, the ship shuddering as they jumped to the safety of hyperspace.


	55. Twilight of the Apprentice

**AN:** **Soooooo...it's been a while.**

 **Part of the reason is because, starting in November last year, I had, what we like to call, Major Life Changes. I'm not going to get into all of it because it would be an essay unto itself, but things have been so laughably mad, I don't even know how I managed to get through. The OTHER part of why this thing too so long is, when I started this series, this was one of the things I had in mind that got me writing it to begin with. This one chapter here has been sitting in my brain, absolutely festering, and writing it actually became pretty intimidating. I sort of HAD to get it right, and because of that, this idiot went through a couple rewrites until I decided I was happy with it. The result is this: a god damn monster that runs over twice the length of my usual chapters. It's almost twice the length of my longest chapter to date. Like...I'm not even kidding you. But here it is, through hell and back again, just for you lovelies. And you're going to HATE me for it. BUT! Promise, there will be no seven month wait for the next chapter.**

 **Regular updates should actually continue now, though again, I work over 80 hours a week, and fanfiction don't pay the bills, so my time is limited. Still, chapters going forward aren't nearly so big and intimidating as this one was, so updates should happen more often by virtue of just being easier to write and a lot A LOT shorter. Not, like, every day fast like before because I honestly have no idea how I did that, but they will come out. I haven't abandoned this baby, I promise you. Which leads me to this...**

 **Most of you, my perfect precious lovelies, are exactly that, perfect and precious and I love you all. You've been patient and supportive and generally great. However, there is a small group of you who have been less than nice about waiting for your free entertainment, and if there's anything that makes me not want to write, it's fucking that. Please remember that I write for fun, it relaxes me, and being generally nasty is a really good way to make me find reasons to not write. Updates will happen when the chapters get done. Harassing me about it is a bad way to make them happen quickly.**

 **And that's all he wrote! Thank you all for your patience, and I hope you enjoy this absolute dumpster fire. Let's get on with it.**

 _Chapter 55: Twilight of the Apprentice_

"What do you suppose is the likelihood of the sensor beacons failing and the entire rebellion being eaten by spiders?" Vehemis asked as she flicked one of her long, red lekku over her shoulder, her eyes on the chittering arachnoid creatures scurrying about the hot desert mesa just outside of the newly established rebel base. Beside her, her Chagrian companion rolled her eyes, her forked black tongue darting out between her lips as she hissed in irritation.

"They aren't going to fail, and nobody's going to be eaten by spiders," Vitios droned, her sharp eyes scanning the ships lined out in neat rows upon the makeshift airfield before the base compound, the faint smirk touching her lips as she located the ship she was searching for fading into an irritated scowl when the Twl'lek beside her chuckled deviously.

"And why not?" Vehemis asked slyly. "I hear blaster fire has no effect on them, and they've already eaten a scouting team, including a lieutenant. If the beacons fail, who's to say they won't swarm the base and eat everyone?" She chuckled, a pleasant, delightful sound, and grinned at her unamused companion. "The entirety of Phoenix Squadron, eradicated like the rebel pests they are."

"Are you to be the one to sabotage the integrity of the sensor beacons?" the Chagrian snapped, jabbing a warning finger against the other woman's chest. "They would not fail otherwise, and I doubt our Master would be pleased to know you are even suggesting such a thing."

"N-no..." Vehemis choked quietly, clearing her throat and increasing her pace, her eyes swiftly glancing at the skittering creatures outside the safety of the beacon's range before fixing her gaze at the path before her. "No, I suppose he wouldn't. For the record, I wasn't suggesting that it _might_ happen, it was merely a hypothetical possibility..."

"A highly unlikely one..." Vitios scoffed, quickly checking one of the sensor beacons and nodding her approval when she saw it was working. "It's far more likely that our former brother and sisters of the Inquisitorius will lead Imperial forces here to annihilate them all."

"Not if our Master has anything to say about that," Vehemis said in a light, airy voice, a devious smirk upon her lips as she nudged the Chagrian and together, they walked briskly toward the main structure of the Phoenix Cell's Chopper Base. The planet of Atollon where the base was located was ideal in many ways, both remote and located within the Lothal sector, the arid planet didn't appear on Imperial starcharts, the Outer Rim territories still being mapped by Imperial survey crews. It had been found by Hera's astromech on a recent mission when the crafty droid cross-checked rebel data with Imperial mapping of the sector provided by a disillusioned protocol droid that Chopper had managed to irritate and befriend.

Phoenix Squadron was quick to establish a base on the planet when it had been deemed habitable and reasonably safe, their desperation for a center of operations driving them to completely overlook the arachnoid, flesh-eating Krykna that lived beneath the arid surface. A survey team had gone missing, and the rebels were quick to discover the creatures and even faster to set up defenses against them, securing Chopper Base from the hungry arachnoids, though they remained vigilant just in case there was something else Atollon was hiding. And there was.

There was _something_ out there, something both Vehemis and Vitios could sense, something that drew their focus out toward the wilds and pushed back every time they reached out with the Force, something that drew them toward it just as it warned them away. It felt powerful and cautious, a thing that was simultaneously both light and dark and neither of these things, both everything and nothing like life itself, like a force of nature that both created and destroyed, and nobody wished to venture out to discover what it may be. Not now, when a surge in the Force may attract the eyes of the Emperor and his Lords of the Sith. In any event, whatever it was that lay out in the wilds of Atollon was not seeking them out, and for now, that was enough.

As it was, the Phoenix Cell couldn't have asked for a better base. The atmosphere was breathable, the threats easily manageable, the terrain aiding in the defense of the compound and with Fulcrum's coding scrambling their transmissions, they may as well have been invisible. It was the safest the Phoenix Squadron had been since their inception, every asset they had collected working to ensure their security, and with the planet off of the Imperial charts, it left the Empire no reasonable way to track them.

And still it would not be enough.

"Think the Spectres will listen?" Vehemis asked, kicking a rock that skipped and rolled across the airfield, stopping only when it struck the landing strut of one of the X-Wing starfighters sitting idle as the pilot ran routine maintenance on the engines with a black and yellow R2 unit. The man looked away from his work at the interruption, and Vehemis flashed him a wide grin when his eyes landed upon her.

"The Spectres have no cause to trust us..." Vitios grumbled, turning to look behind her toward the valley below the base where the Star Destroyer _Subjugator_ had been set down, the topside exterior of the massive ship crawling with activity as the fully converted Imperial crew serviced the engines and cannons. Some of the rebel leaders objected to the presence of the Star Destroyer, just as they objected to the presence of former Inquisitors, but both Darth Lumis and Fulcrum herself dismissed the concerns, and with Hera vouching for Kenobi's word, it became difficult to say a word against them.

"The Spectres trust Master, though," Vitios continued, her attention snapping back before her and her gaze darting across the airfield to look briefly at the _Ghost_ and the _Umbra_ , the two ships standing beside each other, their droid crews standing beneath them and conversing, the fussy AP-5 appearing to become frustrated by the homicidal HK-45. "Master will tell them they can trust us."

"He already has, little good that's done..." Vehemis muttered absently, a loopy grin on her face as her purposeful stride became slower and sauntering. "In any case, the Jedi should know. Isn't that how they ran into you on Takobo? You were hunting them?"

"I was hunting for new blood, I wasn't looking for them," Vitios swiftly corrected, her arms crossing in front of her chest as she thought, he pace slowing to keep in step with her companion. "Even if they do know, it won't mean anything coming from us. It sounds like a trap when we say it. Telling them they have to leave to - Vehemis, _what_ are you doing!?" the Chagrian snapped grabbing hold of the Twi'lek by the lekku and yanking her back, the other woman chuckling softly as she gracefully regained her footing and pointed toward the pilot at the nearby X-Wing.

"See him?" she drawled in a smooth, husky voice, a devious smirk on her lips as she eyed the pilot as he fumbled his tools. "He's into me."

"You vapid idiot..." Vitios snarled under her breath, shooting her ever-pleased companion a vicious glare. "Not everyone wants you!"

"No, but he does," the Twi'lek purred pleasantly, her eyes darting toward three other rebels beneath a freighter as they unloaded cargo. "And them. _And_ Jedi Jarrus!" she said with a superior smirk as she looked at her incredulous companion. "I've been given to understand that he likes Twi'leks."

"He likes _a_ Twi'lek," Vitios growled, pushing the other woman forward when she stopped to wave at a group of mechanics. "Not you."

"You don't know that," Vehemis drawled sweetly as she matched her pace to her companion. "You should have seen how he was looking at me the other day when we arrived. He likes what he sees, I can _feel_ it."

"Sweet Force, I am telling Master you are tempted by the light." Beside the Chagrian, Vehemis scoffed, her nose turned into the air, her arms crossed over her chest and fiercely pouting.

"It is so like you to lie to Master, you just want him all to yourself..." Vehemis covertly glanced at Vitios out of the corner of her eye, waiting to gauge the serious Chagrian's response to her obvious insinuation, but her expression stayed cool and collected, entirely unaffected by the other woman's ribbing. Huffing in frustration, Vehemis stamped her feet against the dusty ground as they walked toward the command center and kicked a rock into a stack of nearby supply crates that struck with a hollow twang. "And how do you know that _I_ am not corrupting _him_?" she snapped at her contemplative companion. "Master would be so pleased if Jedi Jarrus traveled the dark path beside him!"

"He cannot be corrupted," Vitios hissed quietly as they entered the complex, her pace increasing as they headed toward the command center where the rebel leaders would be plotting their next moves against the Empire. "Master has said as much."

"Anyone can be corrupted," Vehemis snapped back, her jaw tightening when a nearby group of rebels looked toward them.

"Master doesn't want that, he needs Kanan in the light," the Chagrian whispered, grabbing hold of Vehemis' arm and leading her swiftly away toward the suspicious group. "The Clone Ward, the extermination of the entire Jedi Order, surviving in an Empire that hunted him, enduring training by a Sith Lord and the relentless pounding of the Dark Side that surrounds him...if he hasn't turned by now, he never will. His is not the dark path. The Force has something else in store for him."

"...the Force is sort of an incomprehensible little bitch, isn't it?"

"You said it, sister..." Vitios said with a roll of her eyes. "Now, if you're not going to help me think of what to tell the Spectres, can you _please_ shut up so I can concentrate on something other than your relentless vanity?"

"Oh, right," Vehemis muttered, genuinely apologetic, her yellow eye falling to the ground before her feet. "Sorry, I'll shut up." And she did, the silence between them nearly louder than the sound of their swift footsteps upon steel grating and the buzz of the rebels as they continued their efforts to bring the base to full functionality. More than once, Vehemis looked to her thoughtful companion, the silence appearing to be just as comfortable to the Chagrian as it was uncomfortable to her, the very reason why Vitios, why the Third Sister, rather, had always been paired with more emotional, erratic Inquisitors. It was too late now, of course, but had circumstances been different, Vehemis thought that the icy Chagrian could have made for a fine Jedi Knight.

"What if we just told them the truth?" Vehemis offered, and her companion groaned, rubbed at her temple and rolled her eyes.

"Were you not listening to a word I said before?" she asked tiredly. "The have no reason to believe us. They are naive, not stupid. They aren't going to accept what we have to say as truth just because we're fighting with the good guys now."

"Won't they?" Vehemis asked wryly, an almost bitter smirk on her face as she flicked her lekku behind her. "Isn't this little rebellion of theirs based on hope and trust and all that garbage? Isn't that why they feel like they get to call themselves the good guys in this fight?"

"Just because they're taking some idealistic moral high ground doesn't mean they're stupid."

"Maybe not, but isn't that how they claim to be better than the Empire?" The Twi'lek flashed Vitios a smug smirk. "Trust in place of suspicion, love in place of hate, freedom in place of oppression, mercy in place of ruthlessness..."

"All the reasons they would lose the war without us," Vitios growled softly, her head lowering as she turned down an isolated hallway and lengthened her stride, the door of the command center now in view. "But the Spectres didn't come so far by being overly trusting, and we've yet to earn their trust."

"That's because you're a standoffish, icy bitch," Vehemis chirped. "If you were more like _me_ , however, and were-"

"An insatiable, filthy slut?"

"... _friendly_ ," the Twi'lek snarled between clenched teeth, "then maybe they'd trust us by now. It's how Master did it."

"How would you know, you weren't there, he wasn't _always_ so familial with them..." the Chagrian muttered absently, stopping before the door and taking a deep, calming breath. "We may have to rely upon Master to convince the Spectres. Which may be difficult, since the Force is so clouded to him right now..."

"...it's not going to clear up," Vehemis whispered. "Not before it's too late."

"...I know. I just hope it's enough."

Nodding resolutely, the two women used the Force to open the sealed door and looked within the command center, the room lit primarily by the large blue holoprojection of the galaxy over a holotable in the center and by the green glow of a dozen monitors displaying graphs and charts and status readings on the base and the various ships it housed. Around the holotable and contemplating the map and charts on displayed were Captain Syndulla and Fulcrum, the two women engaged in active discussion of potential allies, routes through Imperial territory, their next missions and targets. Upon one of the benches surrounding the holotable was Kanan Jarrus, the Jedi laying upon his back as he held up a lightsaber between his hands, slowly turning it over and carefully examining every detail, every scratch, every design as if it contained some great mystery he could not seem to discover.

Sitting at the monitor terminals were Luke, Leia and Ezra, Luke lounging back against the chair in perfect relaxed ease as his finger traced the control nodes on the monitor's deck, a gentle smile on his face as he watched animated Ezra talk, the excitable Padawan sitting sideways in his own chair to face the blond boy. Sitting a few seats down, straddling the swiveling chair and resting her chin on her folded arms on the back of the seat, Leia sat in brooding silence, her eyes fixed upon a dark corner where Obi-Wan sat deep in meditation. Sighing in relief at the sight of their Master, Vitios and Vehemis stepped into the more confident than they had felt before, and stopped when every eye in the room swiftly looked at them, save for the Sith Master, who remained in his meditations.

"Fulcrum," Vitios said softly, clearing her throat as she took a step forward and acknowledged Hera with a quick bow of her head. "Captain Syndulla, something has come to our attention that you-"

"Hi, Kanan..." Vehemis drawled slowly, her voice low and seductive as she raised her hand and wriggled her fingers in a wave, and before the Jedi had a chance to respond, Hera sighed and rolled her eyes.

"What do you want, Inquisitors?" Hera said flatly, tired irritation on her face as she looked at the two woman, and with a glare at her companion as she swiftly smacked her upside the head, Vitios took another step forward.

"We wouldn't be disturbing you if this wasn't important," the Chagrian assured her, quickly looking at her Master for guidance or assurance, only to find his eyes still closed in meditation. "I know you have little reason to-"

"This base isn't safe," Vehemis interrupted, Vitios wincing and glaring at the casual Twi'lek. "The Empire will find it and destroy it, so long as your Jedi remain here." She smiled almost brightly as she flicked one of her lekku over her shoulder, her hand on her cocked hip as she looked at the slack faces of the Spectres. "Our former brothers and sisters can find you in the Force. You need to leave."

"You do realize the last time we even saw the Inquisitors was when _you_ attacked us, right?" Ezra lazily drawled, a smug smirk on his face as he draped his arm over the back of his seat. "Sounds to me like a trap."

"What did I tell you?!" Vitios snarled as she reeled on her companion. "I _told_ you, they've no reason to trust us, they-"

"She's speaking the truth," Obi-Wan said from his corner, the Sith Lord not having moved an inch, though golden glowing eyes now looked back at them from the shadows where he sat. "The tides of the Force have shifted, and we are in focus. Something, _someone_ is watching."

"Darth Sidious," Ahsoka said firmly, crossing her arms over her chest and looking through the hanging blue of the hologram at Kenobi. "He's been watching you for a while now. Do you think he's finally found you?"

"No," Obi-Wan swiftly dismissed, breathing deep and rising to his feet to stretch his shoulders before he strolled to the holotable, Vitios and Vehemis swiftly moving to stand at his side. "Sidious won't be interested in where I am, he's more inclined to focus on where I will be. He's always been far-sighted, and now's no different. More than that, the vision hasn't changed, that isn't what's caused this shift."

"The Sith Lords, then?" Luke squeaked from his place at the command consoles, a slight, nervous smile on his face as he looked pleadingly at his father, his fingers reflexively intertwining with Leia's when she reached out to him. "Has Vader found us?"

"If he had, he'd be here already," Obi-Wan quickly reassured the quietly nervous twins. "Either he doesn't know, or his mission is a different one. Hunting rebels is almost beneath him."

"But hunting you isn't..." Leia grumbled, a frown on her face as she looked away from the Sith Lord to stare at the ground, a tense, uncomfortable, heavy silence hanging over the room as all eyes turned to Obi-Wan.

"Yeah, safe to say he's hunting me," Kenobi whispered, his hands gripping the edge of the holotable hard enough to turn his knuckles white. "We have all seen the vision, and we know how that story ends. That...hasn't changed. More like than not, he's following Sidious' directions and laying in wait, but it's possible that he's hunting us all now." He tapped his fingers on the edge of the table with a deep, calming breath. "That could certainly explain the shift in the Force, but the fact remains that he isn't here. He doesn't know where we are. Not yet, at least."

"What you should be concerning yourselves with are the Inquisitors," Vitios quietly added, her eyes flicking toward Kanan as the Jedi rose from the bench, clipped the saber to the back of his belt, and joined the others around the holotable. "We are trained to detect Force sensitives, and Kanan and Ezra have been in our sights for a very long time."

"You really think the Inquisitors can detect us when the Lords of the Sith cannot?" Kanan asked, less skeptical than he was curious, and the tight defensiveness in the two women's chests released as the Jedi disarmed them.

"The Sith Lords have had their hands full hunting Lumis," Vehemis said. "The Inquisitorius has been tasked with hunting rogue Jedi, and quite frankly..." She hummed, rocked back on her heels as a devious smirk spread across her lips. "I was always under the impression that Lord Sidious has...discounted you and your Padawan, Jedi," Vehemis smoothly drawled as she leaned toward Kanan. "You are insignificant. A half trained Jedi hopeful is no threat to the Lords of the Sith."

"Yeah, well, this insignificant travels closely to Darth Lumis," Kanan said firmly. "You'd think that would be taken into consideration."

"It has been," Vitios stated, an almost bored edge dulling her tone. "We had been ordered to keep clear of you in the event that Lumis may be near. Our numbers have grown small because of him. There are only three left in service to the Empire, the Eighth Brother, the Fifth Brother, and the Seventh Sister. But now," she huffed, her balled fists resting on her hips. "Now, we can feel our Brothers and Sisters, and they have set their sights on you, Jedi."

"Are you certain?" Kanan asked quietly, intently looking at the two women as they drew closer together.

"We're sure," Vehemis drawled, the wry smirk upon her face and the flippant, easy tone faltering as nervousness gripped her. "We were made to compete with our Brothers and Sisters, and more often than not, our success came at the cost of another's failure. We were made to hate each other, but we bonded none the less, and those bonds aren't so easily broken. We're sure, Kanan..." she purred as the sultry, confident smirk returned. "They're coming for you and your student."

"Can they use you to find us?" Kanan asked, and the girls quickly looked at each other, both of them nervous and uncertain as they quickly turner their pleading gaze to their Master, though the Sith Lord remained silent, only arching a singular, questioning eyebrow at the pair.

"I'm...uncertain," Vitios said hesitantly. "We cannot sense where they are, not at this distance, but I suppose it's still possible they could. But it changes nothing. The fact remains that you are in danger, and your presence here will endanger the base. You and your student need to go." She shrugged. "And I suppose we must go with you."

"So why now?" Hera asked, her arms crossing over her chest as she glared at the two women. "The Inquisitors are a swiftly diminishing resource, so why would those orders be countermanded now?"

"Because of what happened on Batonn..." Obi-Wan whispered, the room falling silent as they looked at the contemplative Sith Lord move his hand through the air to zoom the holorgaphic map in on the Batonn sector. "Nightswan's rebels were an active and effective faction, and a particularly dangerous one, given what they had come to learn about the Empire's secret project." He paused, his eyes flicking over the map as he sighed. "But they're all dead. All of them. Not just on Batonn, but on Sammun and Denash as well. The entire rebel movement, gone."

"Which leaves the Phoenix cell the only rebel group active in ths part of the Outer Rim," Ahsoka said, her eyes narrowing and her mouth drawing a hard, tight line. "Kenobi's right. That could very well be the cause of the shift he's feeling. All eyes are on us."

"It's not just the Inquisitors," Obi-Wan muttered, drumming his hands on the holotable. "With Nightswan dead, the Admiral hunting him has suddenly become very available." The Sith Lord closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and slowly slid his fingers over the datapad resting before Ahsoka, the hologram flickering as the map closed and the image of a Star Destroyer hung in the air before them. "Thrawn's coming," Obi-Wan whispered. "Of that, we can be absolutely certain."

"Well, we better not give him more advantages than he already has," Ahsoka said firmly, swiping away the image of Thrawn's Star Destroyer with a wave of her hand, leaving the hologram a blank and shimmering sheet of faintly blue light. "I believe Kenobi's acolytes," she said, gesturing to the two women with a wave of her hand. "If they say the Inquisitors can track our Jedi through the Force, than it's only a matter of time before they find us, and it'll be faster if they already have eyes on Kanan and Ezra."

"Uh..." With a huff, Ezra rose to his feet and shuffled to the holotable to stand beside Kanan, his fingers absently, almost nervously drumming against the table. "This isn't our fault, you can't blame us for-"

"You and Kanan have been very active, very visible arms of the Phoenix cell," Ahsoka explained. "You aren't some unknown element. If the Inquisitors can't locate you now, they will be able to soon, and if not them, the Sith Lords certainly will. It's only a matter of time."

"Sounds to me like there's only one course of action," Kanan said resolutely. "Laying low is just giving them time to find us, so we take the fight to them."

"No, absolutely not," Hera said without a beat, crossing her arms when Kanan looked at her with the calm resolve she knew meant the Jedi wouldn't budge. "We have never been reckless, Kanan, and we're not going to start now. Now when we've just established a base."

"There won't be a base for long if we don't move now, Hera," Kanan said softly, gently running his fingers down her arm. "There won't be a Phoenix cell at all if we allow the Empire the time to close in, and Kenobi's right, his acolytes are right. Thrawn is coming, and the Inquisitors will lead him right to us if we stay here."

"We can lure them to us and destroy them," Obi-Wan said quietly, and Hera shot him a reluctant and worried look, her hand moving to close tightly around Kanan's. "But we need to move quickly, before Thrawn and his forces have a chance to move in."

"We need to move quickly before your vision has a chance to come true, Father," Leia growled, her eyes narrowed as she boldly met the Sith Lord's warning glare. "If we don't, we're going to have a hell of a lot more to worry about that a handful of Inquisitors."

"You are grounded, and you will stay silent," Lumis snarled, a thing that would have normally cowed the willful teen, but instead she rose to her feet and defiantly held her ground.

"I will do no such thing," Leia snapped, shaking off her brother when he reached up to grab her arm. "You're going to bring the fight to the Inquisitors, fine. _Good_. But while you're out there, you may as well do what you can to avert the vision of your death. Sidious has a hook in you, Father, and I have what you need to cut that line. He may be patient, he may not know where to find you yet, but how long will it be before he reels you in and the entire rebellion along with you?"

"I have spoken to you at length about the risks," Obi-Wan said with a tired sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose to combat the oncoming headache. "I do not know when or where this will occur. If our hunt for the Inquisitors and the culmination of this vision converge on a single point, Sidious will destroy us all in a single stroke."

"Just as he will do if we do nothing at all!" Leia said as she strode forward and slammed her hands upon the holotable, the cleared holographic light flickering with the impact. "I know where to find Darth Nihilus' holocron, Father, and you said that's what you needed to alter your fate. We get that, you're freed from Sidious' hold, and he will _never_ find us."

"Father..." Luke said softly as he rose from his seat and moved to stand beside his sister, his hand gently resting on the holotable as he flashed her a small, sad smile before he looked at the Sith Lord. "We should do it. I don't like that Leia's right, but she is. There isn't anything we could lose that we would save by doing nothing."

For a long moment, Obi-Wan was silent, his breath held and his shoulders tight as he looked at his twins and felt the chill of the Dark Side slowly creep up his spine. For the first time in a very, very long time, Darth Lumis was afraid. Not for his own death, which almost felt like a certainty, but for what would become of his children, the rebellion, the Spectres he had come to know as family. A thousand things he never did languished in his mind, plans he had never enacted and opportunities he never took which could have altered the vision of his fate, and a thousand things more that he did do that changed nothing. Luke and Leia were bold and brash and straining for purpose, eager to come out of hiding and fight against the Empire, and now that they had a taste of what it was like to be a part of the rebel cause, their spirit could not continue to be held. Luke and Leia had grown up, and Obi-Wan hadn't even noticed when it had happened.

"Very well..." the Sith Lord muttered, his gaze falling to his tightly clasped hands. "We will go after the holocron."

"Alright," Kanan said, swiping his hand over his hair and looking around at the group, a confident smile on his face. "We'll see if we can't lure the Inquisitors there with us when we go. Where is this holocron?"

Silently, Leia moved her hand across the holotable controls, the blue field flicking as the galactic map was brought up once again, and she swiftly zoomed in on the Outer Rim, again and again until she had isolated a remote star system in a distant sector, the image of a droll, ashen planet hanging on the field before them.

"Here," Leia said quietly, her fingers passing through the hologram as she pointed to it. "Malachor."

"Malachor..." Kanan muttered under his breath, his eyes fixated on the image of the planet before him and his unease palpable in the air around them, enough that Hera edged closer to him and took his hand beneath the holotable. "Malachor was always off-limits to Jedi. There were always stories and rumors about that place we'd tell each other when we were younglings in the Temple."

"That doesn't sound good..." Ezra said as he looked between Luke and Leia, the twins both somber and serious, though they lacked the feel of anxious worry that Kanan carried with him. "What sort of stories?"

"Ghost stories, mostly," Ahsoka said, giving the Padawan a small, comforting smile. "Things we would tell each other when we were supposed to be sleeping that would give us nightmares. Most of it was ridiculous, old legends that had been passed down since the time of the old Republic." She sighed softly, her smile faltering as she looked back at the hologram. "But there's always a bit of truth in legends. I don't know what it is we'll find there."

"Father said he'd take us after Sidious was dead, when the galaxy is safe for us," Leia said, uncomfortably shifting from foot to foot as she averted her gaze to avoid looking at the adults. "He's always said there's value to be gained in our knowledge of the past."

"Never thought I'd ever be traveling to a literal Sith hell..." Kanan muttered, staring at the map for a moment more before he looked over at Obi-Wan. "You ever been to Malachor, Kenobi?"

"No, I haven't," the Sith Lord said, clearing his throat and putting aside the apprehension he felt now that their path had been chosen. "Though Sidious talked about bringing me there early in my training as a Sith Lord once I had passed my trials on Mygeto, Kursid, and Shira. Once he was certain I was worthy." Obi-Wan shrugged. "But we never made it out there. Tensions were escalating in the Republic as the Clone Wars drew closer, and it became more difficult for my Master to get away from the Senate. Extended field trips became...difficult, to say the least."

"That's too bad," Ahsoka said thoughtfully, her fingers drumming on her arm for a moment as she examined the Sith Lord. "Surely you were taught the history of the Sith by your Master, even if you never managed to go to them. Do you know anything about Malachor?"

"Very little," Kenobi muttered bitterly. "Much of Sith history was lost to us when the Jedi nearly annihilated us, and a great deal was actively sought out and destroyed. We were left with rumors and stories and legends to fill in the gaps between the odd artifact we managed to collect." He waved his hand dismissively. "A history of myth and legend, and much of that comes from an account told by the Jedi."

"And the Jedi forbid anyone from going there," Kanan said. "So _something_ spooky must have happened there."

"Spooky, yes..." Obi-Wan said slyly, a wry smirk on his face as he eyes the unamused Jedi. "We know for certain Malachor is a nexus of the Dark Side, and has in the past been the site of a very large Sith presence. But beyond that..." He shrugged. "Rumors and myths and legends. Ghost stories that came out of the mouths of Jedi younglings. Supposedly there was a battle there between the Jedi and the Sith a very, very long time ago. Some... _nastiness_ ended the fight by massacring everyone, something so horrific that it transformed the entire planet into a Dark Side nexus." The Sith Lord smirked and gestured casually at Kanan. "The spookiness Kanan spoke of, no doubt, though what it was, I cannot imagine."

"Isn't that pleasant..." Kanan muttered under his breath. "The entire planet's some kind of messed up horror show..." Nobody said a word, the feeling in the air heavy and oppressive, and Kanan took a deep breath as he switched the hologram off. "Will what we find there be what you need to save yourself from Sidious?"

"If it's what I think it is..." Obi-Wan said, running his fingers through his hair as he exhaled the breath he didn't know he was holding. "Yes, it will."

"Well, if what the girls said is true, it's best not to linger," Kanan said, laying his hand on Ezra's shoulder and pushing him away from the holotable. "Go get ready to leave, I want to be out of here within the hour."

"I'm going with you?" Ezra asked, unable to contain the smile that crept across his face despite the somber looks of the twins beside him.

"The Inquisitors aren't just tracking me, they're tracking _us_ , and you have less training," Kanan muttered, his hand once again drifting to the lightsaber on his belt, his fingers absently, delicately running over it. "You'll be easier for them to find. The point of this to keep the base safe. You have to come."

"What about Luke and Leia?" Ezra asked excitedly, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he looked from Kanan to Kenobi. "Are they coming too?"

"Leia has seen what we're looking for, she knows where to find it," Obi-Wan said quietly, taking a deep, heavy breath as he looked up from his tightly clasped hands and gave the teenagers a tight smile. "It would be a mistake to leave her behind. She's coming. They both are."

"Unexpected..." Ahsoka muttered, glancing at the Sith Lord out of the corner of her eye and carefully examined the tightness in his jaw and the ache that simmered just behind his eyes. A quick brush of the Force against Kenobi's impressive shields found a confusing swirl of resignation and pride before those golden eyes snapped in her direction, and she once again felt nothing at all. "Given how hard you fought to keep them away from the Lothal Temple, I'd have thought you'd fight even harder to keep them from a place like Malachor. _Especially_ with them being grounded for their actions there..." she said slowly, her gaze shifting to the teens, who had very swiftly stopped talking amongst themselves to look nervously at the Togruta.

"You're coming with us, are you not?" Obi-Wan asked, a sly, knowing smirk touching his lips as Ahsoka quickly looked back at him, her brow furrowed and her eyes narrowed before she scoffed softly, rolled her eyes, and nodded. "Knowing you will be there to watch after them makes a hard, necessary decision an easy one. And besides," he said with a shrug, his voice catching with a moment's hesitation as the smirk on his lips faltered, his gaze pulling away from hers to look blankly down at the table. "They won't be children forever..."

"Kenobi..." Ahsoka softly hissed, an inquisitive spark in her blue eyes as she leaned toward the Sith Lord, a thousand things running through her mind as she looked at her old friend as if to confirm she had heard his whispered words correctly, though she had known she had. "Just what is it you saw at the Lothal Temple?"

"Nothing," Obi-Wan said swiftly, far too swiftly for Ahsoka's taste, but she had no choice but to let it go. The Sith Lord would clearly reveal nothing, not here, and not now. "You know very well I might as well be blind for all I see with Sidious' damned vision haunting me." He pointed to the teenagers, the twins and Ezra swiftly snapping to attention before Obi-Wan's hand cut through the air. "You heard Kanan. Go get yourselves ready, we're leaving within the hour."

"I'll go prepare the _Ghost_ ," Hera said, starting to follow the teenagers as they sprinted from the command center, but was stopped when Kanan wrapped his hand around her wrist. Before she even turned to look at the Jedi, she knew what she would see, but she still felt her chest ache when she looked at his face and saw resolve and regret written all over him.

"Hera..."

"No," she said swiftly, shaking her head and looking away, her lip caught between her teeth when Kanan's fingers ran along her jaw and gently directed her gaze back to him. "I don't like this mission, but I agree with it," Hera said swiftly. "If the Inquisitors can find you, they need to be stopped."

"You're needed here, Hera," Kanan said, his voice soft but firm as he answered Hera's unspoken desire to go with him, his hand tightening around her wrist when he saw her jaw clench hard and her lekku squirm with unease. "You're the Phoenix Leader. You're needed here to help run this rebellion, and now that we have a base, you're more important than ever. As much as you say otherwise, Hera, this rebel cell will fall apart without you."

"I know..." the Twi'lek swiftly cut in, laying her hand over Kanan's. "I knew before you said anything that you would be going without me. I just wish that whatever it is you'd be facing out there, we could face it together." There was the briefest moment of hesitation, the slightest tremble of his hand beneath hers and an almost imperceptible tension at the edge of his smile, but Hera saw it plain as day. Kanan, for all his skill, for all his strength, for all his confidence, was worried about this mission. "I've always trusted you to be smart and strong enough to take care of yourself," Hera said with a faint smile, her fingers tracing along Kanan's cheek as he closed his eyes and leaned into her touch. "Now is no different. Right?"

"Of course," Kanan said dismissively in his easy, carefree way, but Hera could detect that slight tension in his voice that he tried so hard to hide behind confidence. "We're going to be alright, Hera, everything's going to be fine."

"I know you well enough to be able to tell when you're lying, love," Hera whispered, a sad smile on her face as she gently stroked the Jedi's cheek, looking away from her lover's face for a moment to see Kenobi quietly talking to his Inquisitors before he dismissed them, the two women quickly leaving the command center the way they came in without a word. Nudging Ahsoka, the Sith Lord and the Togruta followed suit, leaving her alone in the room with her lover.

"I'm not lying," Kanan said swiftly, the confidence returned, though the tension remained. "But what we're facing out there could be worse than Inquisitors. It's dangerous, even for those of us trained to use the Force, and just being out there on Malachor..."

"Hush now..." Hera whispered, laying her fingers over the Jedi's lips and smiling when he reverently kissed at her fingertips. "There is no challenge you cannot face, Kanan Jarrus. I truly believe that. I may not be going with you, love," she said, dragging her fingers slowly down his neck to lay over his heart, "but you and I are always together. Always."

"I know..." Kanan scooted closer to the woman, gently ran his hand across one of her lekku to rest at the base of her neck, and drew her into a close, tight hug, laying his head on the top of her's and sighing when he felt her arms slink around him and grasp him tightly to her.

"If you don't come back safely to me, Kanan Jarrus, I will never, _ever_ forgive you..." Hera mumbled against his chest, her hands clutching to the strong muscles of his back as she listened to the even beat of his heart and the gentle hum of his deep voice reverberating in his chest as he softly hummed.

"No pressure, right?" the Jedi muttered, smirking at the woman he held and, chuckling softly, kissed her nose. "We'll see each other again," Kanan whispered, stroking her cheek as he traced her jaw line and gently directed her chin to look up at him, his lips curling into an easy smile as he closed the distance between them. "I promise."

* * *

"Something on your mind?"

Kanan quickly looked up from where he had been sitting quietly in the small crew bedroom aborad the _Umbra_ , the lightsaber he had mysteriously acquired on Lothal held gently in his hands. A small, muted smile touched his lips as his gaze fell upon Obi-Wan, the Sith Lord leaning casually, curiously in the now open doorway as he silently observed the Jedi. All around him, Kanan could feel the chill of the Sith's powerful presence, stifling and oppressive and brushing against his mind, though not dipping within it as he knew he could if Kenobi wished. Unable to help himself, Kanan could feel his lips tug into a sly, mischievous smirk, one that Kenobi quickly mirrored, so quickly and eagerly willing to shed the heavy feel in the air, and though they were unsuccessful, it felt good to pretend that things were alright.

"Aren't you a mind reader?" Kanan asked smoothly, the Sith's smirk becoming a wide grin a he stepped into the room and allowed the door to close behind him. "Work your magic, babe, what _am_ I thinking?"

"What, it that a joke?" Kenobi asked, quiet laughter in each word as he moved before the Jedi and dropped beside him on the small bed. "Kanan dear, your mind is as empty as they come. Nothing but heroic delusions and Twi'lek tits up in there."

"You got me," Kanan said with a genuine smile, the briefest moment of ease passing between them before Kanan's smile faltered, his hands tightening around the lightsaber, and he tore his gaze away from the Sith Lord to stare at the weapon. "Guess I can't shake my unease about Malachor..." the Jedi finally muttered after a moment of silence that felt far longer than it was. "I don't know. It's one thing for kids to tell ghost stories of horrific deeds in ancient hells, but another thing completely to be going to one."

"A land of the dead, nothing more," Obi-Wan quietly said. "The spirits there cannot hurt you."

"I'm not worried about the spirits," Kanan hissed between clenched teeth, his grip tightening like a vice around the saber in his hands, and Kenobi looked down at it, his eyes narrowing as he examined the weapon.

"That is not your lightsaber." A statement, not a question, and Kanan allowed the words to hang in the silence between them, hoping the Sith Lord would say something, _anything_ to withdraw the silent demand for an explanation, even as a thousand things he didn't understand rushed through his mind, begging for answers he knew Kenobi could help with.

"No, it isn't..." Kanan began quietly, turning it over in his grip for a moment before he offered the weapon to Kenobi, the Sith carefully taking it from Kanan and, opening his palm, allowed the saber to float in the air before him.

"This saber is the work of a Jedi Master," Obi-Wan said thoughtfully as he examined the floating hilt, his eyes narrowed as he looked at the black ridges at the base and grip and the tarnished silver chrome. "More than that, I am familiar with this weapon, and much more intimately familiar with a weapon much like it."

"Are you?"

"I am," Obi-Wan said firmly. "The first Jedi I ever killed wielded a lightsaber very much like this one. Sar Labooda fought like the Jedi Master she was up until the moment of her death. Sidious allowed me to keep her saber as a reminder of what I had done, though admittedly, it wasn't much of a victory by the time I turned on her."

"Doesn't bother you to talk about murdering the people that had once been your family?" Kanan asked, more sad than accusatory, and Kenobi sighed, a hand running through his hair as he turned the saber over with a flick of his wrist.

"I've killed a lot of Jedi, Kanan, and it was a very long time ago," the Sith Lord muttered. "Men and women, Masters and Padawans, young and old, some of them died easily, some of them pushed me to my limits. Master Labooda was mortally injured and weak. She was already dead before I fought her. My fight against Master Labooda may not have been fair, but the wielder of _this_ weapon..." he said almost reverently as he reached out and closed his fingers around the hilt, the slightest press of his thumb to the ignition filling the small room with a soft green glow as the hissing blade extended. "Depa Billaba was strong and fast and fierce and even through pain and suffering, both physical and emotional, still stood and fought. A worthy and formidable opponent."

"You still bested her."

"I did," Kenobi agreed quietly, closing his eyes as he listened to the gentle hum of the saber. "And still, she rose again to train you. A testament to the strength of your Master." Glancing over at the Jedi, Obi-Wan switched off the saber and held the hilt out to Kanan. "Where did you get this weapon?"

"The Temple on Lothal," Kanan said hesitantly as he took the saber from Kenobi's hands, his brow drawing together as he frowned, as if he was having trouble accepting what he had said, as if they somehow didn't feel right, even though he knew them to be true. "I...can't explain it. My Master died on Kaller, it doesn't make any sense for her saber to be there."

"How did you come by it?"

"That's the weird thing..." Kanan grumbled, his thumb running over the scratches and faults in the hilt's chrome. "I had a...vision, I guess. At least, I _think_ it was a vision. It had to be, but it felt _so real_..." Kanan glanced up at the Obi-Wan, the Sith Lord sitting quiet and attentive, and taking a deep breath, his hands clenched tighter around the saber. "I saw my Master. And Jedi Temple Guards. We...argued. She _blinded_ me. We fought, and when I woke up, I suppose, I was holding this," he said absently, tapping the saber against his palm, frowning when Kenobi began to softly chuckle.

"The more I learn about the Force, the less I understand," Obi-Wan mused as he stood and grabbed the Jedi's face between his hands and, eyes squinting, leaned in close to the sound of the Jedi's nervous laughter as he tried to squirm away.

"Just because Hera isn't here, Kenobi, doesn't mean-"

"You know, Kanan, for as many times as you and I have made sweet, _sweet_ love, it's nothing short of a cruelty that you won't let me kiss you..." Obi-Wan muttered with a wry smirk on his lips, and with a roll of his eyes, he smacked the Jedi lightly on the back of his head before once again taking hold of his face. "Be still, idiot, I want to see something."

The soft, serious tone underscoring his words was enough to make Kanan fall still, watching carefully as the Sith Lord's glowing, golden eyes ran slowly across his face and lingered on Kanan's eyes, and though he held his gaze, Kenobi appeared distant, as though he were not looking at him at all, instead focused on something very far away. Obi-Wan's thumbs slowly moved across the Jedi's cheeks before drifting up toward his temples to stroke at the high arch of his cheekbones, and with a hiss, Kanan winced and jerked back, a sudden burning sensation erupting beneath the Sith Lord's touch.

Shaking free of Kenobi's grasp, Kanan gasped in relief for only a moment before the Sith Lord grabbed hold of him once again, his fingers sliding into his brown, pulled back hair and his thumbs pressing against his cheeks, the burning sensation returning and causing Kanan to shut his eyes tight against the pain. Attempts to squirm away from Kenobi failed as the Sith Lord only moved closer, straddling the Jedi and pressing himself nearly chest to chest as intense, golden eyes raked over him, the feel of danger in the Force overriding the pain and forcing the Jedi to open his eyes to keep the predator in his sights. Kanan only stopped squirming away when he felt his back press hard against the cool bulkhead, and with nowhere left to go, he defiantly looked up at the Sith that loomed over him.

With Kanan still despite his ragged breathing, Obi-Wan's grip loosened, his fingers running ever so lightly across the Jedi's eyelids, the bridge of his nose, the high crest of his cheeks, hardly daring to breathe as he carefully examined the Jedi's teal eyes and the flecks of green within them. There, swirling just beneath the surface, moving the colors of his eyes like the undercurrent churned the surface of a river, was _fire_ , an inferno that burned in bright blue and blinding white and radiant silver, a thing beyond the Sith Lord's understanding that almost, _almost_ reminded him of Qui-Gon's blinding, immortal presence, a trait now shared with Grandmaster Yoda as well, now that he had been instructed by the persistent Force spirit.

But Kanan had no such training. His soul didn't blaze with the blinding light of the immortal, he hadn't studied the art of making his spirit manifest after his death, he hadn't grasped the mysteries of the Force between his hands and compelled it to make him whole after he had discarded his mortal form. Once, long ago on Mustafar, Darth Lumis had opened up the Dark Side and gazed into its very heart to behold the roiling chaos that surrounded the ancient leviathan beasts within, the dark soul reaching to engulf him in the black, bitter cold when he had stood before Anakin Skywalker in his infancy as Darth Vader. And now, looking at Kanan Jarrus, feeling the very real pain of an ethereal, invisible wound that sliced burns across his eyes and face, Obi-Wan saw the same thing.

It was like looking into the Force itself, a beautiful counter to the fearsome heart of the Dark Side where Lumis resided in, a gently burning blue star in the colorful, blazing stardust of a nebula instead of the consuming black hole within a stormy maelstrom. It was peaceful and serene, a warm and gentle breeze that cut through the icy dark to brush against his skin, and while the hot white inferno of Qui-Gon and Yoda blistered and burned and blinded him, Obi-Wan merely felt comfort in the beauty of Kanan's more subtle blaze, and the Sith Lord couldn't help but wonder if this was because Kanan was merely weaker than the old Masters, or if he was simply different, something new rising from the ashes of the Jedi Order.

Or perhaps, when Obi-Wan hadn't been looking, he had been the one to change.

"Magnificent..." Kenobi muttered as he released the Jedi's face and stepped away, allowing the other man the space to breathe and rub at his eyes, his brow furrowing in confusion as he gingerly felt at his face for the burning mark that the Sith Lord had touched, only to feel nothing at all. "What happened to you on Lothal, Kanan..."

"Did you see something?" Kanan asked swiftly, looking at the Sith Lord as he leaned against the wall and thoughtfully stroked his beard.

"I did..." Obi-Wan said slowly after a moment of silence, a faint smile on his face as he looked at the curious Jedi. "Nothing I understand, though, its meaning eludes me."

"Something I'm going to have to discover for myself, huh?" Kanan said with a wry, nearly bitter chuckle as he stood, stretched, and clipped the saber to his belt. "Sounds like something my Master would have said."

"I'm sorry I couldn't be more help," the Sith Lord said with a shrug. "There are too many forces at work. Your vision and the your inexplicable acquisition of your Master's blade, the saber strike that blinded you and the invisible wound you so obviously sustained, your changing presence in the Force..." Kenobi shook his head slowly, a slight, awed smirk on his lips as he looked the Jedi over. "Something has happened, that's for sure, but what it means, what it has done to you, I can only guess."

"Maybe we can find out together," Kanan ventured, pushing aside his nerves about the mission as he inched closer to the Sith Lord. "When we're done with whatever nasty business is waiting for us on Malachor."

"...I'd like that."

"So, uh..." Kanan said cheerfully, clearing his throat and changing the subject in an attempt to dispel the heavy, oppressive feel of anticipation in the air. "We've talked about me enough. What did you see in the Temple? Ahsoka seemed to think you saw something."

"Nothing..." Kenobi muttered absently, in a way that made it clear that he most certainly _did_ see something, and the disbelieving quirk of Kanan's eyebrow made the Sith laugh dismissively as he brushed it off. "Nothing worth talking about, in any case. Nothing helpful to the current situation."

"More of the same?" Kanan asked, and Kenobi's eyes drifted down to look at the ground for a moment as he thought.

"It isn't like it was when we saw it together," the Sith Lord decided after a moment. "Before, it felt as though Sidious looked through the Force and saw me, like he was _actually_ there. For a time, I would occasionally feel his presence. His shadow would fill with life, I looked into his eyes as if he were standing right before me, but now..." Obi-Wan shook his head. "Nothing. I see it laid out before me, but it feels...empty. Hollow. As if it's inactive, like a painting of an event that happened long ago..."

"Do you think that could mean you're drifting away from your fate?" Kanan asked excitedly. "Maybe Sidious can't see you anymore, maybe all you're seeing now are echos."

"I've...considered that," Kenobi contemplated. "It's certainly possible. Of course, it's just as likely that I'm just becoming increasingly blind and can't even see that anymore, so, you know..." He shrugged. "There's that pleasant notion. Uplifting, I know, especially given our destination..."

"Do you believe something's going to go wrong?" Kanan asked almost cautiously, the contemplative Sith Lord silent for a moment as he considered the question before he almost nonchalantly shrugged.

"There's always that possibility, yes." Kenobi quietly admitted. "Especially in places like Malachor, and seeing as how part of our intentions there include attracting attention, I feel as if we're inviting the opportunity for trouble."

"Well, I've said before that the safest place in the galaxy is close to you," Kanan said with an easy smile that almost instantly lifted the tension in the room, and Kenobi chuckled softly, his hand laying upon the Jedi's shoulder.

"Let us hope that remains true for the duration of the mission. We could stand to have a little bit of the Force's favor."

A sharp hiss accompanied the door smoothly sliding open and both men looked over to see Luke standing in the doorway, clad in his set of immaculate blue and silver Mandalorian armor, his helmet tucked under his arm and the slightest smile breaking through his otherwise stern expression when he looked upon the Sith Lord.

"We're here, Father," Luke said solemnly as he shifted from foot to foot, the expression of nervousness that he desperately tried to contain. "This is the place for sure. Leia can feel it even from here."

"Best not to delay then, hmm?" Kenobi drawled, his tone light and easy and carefree, an affect he adopted, Kanan knew, to make Luke feel more at ease, and from the look of it, it was working. The Sith Lord's hand laid upon the teenager's shoulder, and the nervous tension surrounding Luke released immediately with a long, exhaled breath and a comfortable, full smile on his lips. Nudging the boy out into the hall, Kenobi ambled after Luke as he rushed toward the cockpit, Kanan's long, slow stride falling into step beside the Sith Master. They were silent for a moment, Kanan smiling softly to himself as he watched Luke, the teenager running through the door ahead of them which slid closed behind him, the door once again opening to the smiling blond as he beaconed for them to hurry and rushed off once again.

"At the very least, Luke seems excited," Kanan muttered, and Kenobi shrugged, reaching out to trail his fingers along the wall as he walked.

"He's nervous," Obi-Wan whispered, his fingers drifting lightly over a control panel on the wall, opening an adjacent door and with a casual flick of his wrist, the bone white mask of Darth Nihilus was summoned to the Sith Lord's waiting hand. "We all find ways to hide it. Nobody likes to admit they're afraid."

"Are you?" Kanan asked, warily eyeing the mask in the Sith Lord's hands and flicking his gaze to study his friend's youthful face, his expression blank and thoughtful for a moment before he chuckled softly and turned an easy smile upon the Jedi.

"No, why should I be?"

A wry, knowing smirk crossed Kanan's lips, and without another word said between them, they strode down the hall, the door to the cockpit sliding open to the eerie sight of gray, grim Malachor hanging in starless space through the viewport. Occupying his usual seat at the control console was K-2SO, who was gleefully playing copilot to Ahsoka, the Togruta a great deal more polite and respectful than the belligerent Sith Lord and the insolent ship he was plugged into. In the passenger seats behind them sat Ezra and Luke, pressed close and peering over the cones of Ahsoka's montrails to get a good look at the planet while Leia on the other side of the aisle sat with her eyes closed in quiet meditation, the feel of her presence seeping through the air around them as she reached out for the pull of the Dark Side nexus before them. At the back of the cabin sat Vitios and Vehemis, the two women swiftly rising from their seats and bowing to the Sith as he strode past them, though the Twi'lek's yellow eyes looked up to meet Kanan's, and with a sly smirk, winked at him. Kanan rolled his eyes and walked past, intent on ignoring the undaunted woman.

"And there it is!" Kenobi proclaimed in the silence, tossing the mask into the air and upon catching it, held the dangerous Sith artifact out to Leia, the girl looking uncertainly at her father before she very carefully took it from him, holding it delicately in her hands. "Is it everything you ever dreamed of, Jedi?" he asked, placing one hand on the copilot's seat and the other upon Ahsoka's shoulder, pushing her back into the pilot's chair when she attempted to raise and surrender the Sith's chair back to him. "A thing from the very recesses of your darkest nightmares? As terrifying as the stories said?"

"More a riddle than some unknown terror," Ahsoka said as she leaned back in her chair and casually brushed Obi-Wan's hand from her shoulder. "The Dark Side is stronger here than I've ever felt it. Stronger than it was during the war, stronger than when I watched Anakin murder my Master, stronger than the night the Jedi died." She looked up at the Sith Lord and lightly punched his arm. "Even stronger than you, oh mighty nexus of the Dark Side. Something happened down there, and I want to know what it was."

"It was Darth Nihilus," Leia muttered, turning over the mask in her hands and staring into the black, vacant eyes in the smooth ivory. "His holocron is down there. _He_ was here, and he corrupted everything he touched."

"Can one man have the power to do _that_?" Kanan asked, pointing at the viewport toward the planet before them. "You think one man can touch a planet and irreparably corrupt it?"

"With the power of the Force, anything is possible..." Obi-Wan muttered as he leaned forward toward the viewport, his glowing eyes squinting as he examined barren Malachor. "The Sith Lords of old had more power than you could possibly imagine, Kanan, and with Nihilus' particular... _affliction_ , with the talents he possessed..." Lumis sighed, reverent and wistful, almost awed as he stared into space, far past even the dark planet that seemed to captivate him. "Yes, Jedi, it is more than possible that such a man could consume the life from an entire planet. It's more than possible that his touch could have forever corrupted the Force here." He laid his hand upon the transparisteel. "What is it you have done here, Nihilus..."

"Only one way to find out," Ahsoka said, her fingers deftly flying over the control console as she pressed buttons and flipped switches, her hand coming to rest on the acceleration lever as she looked back at the passengers in the cabin. "Is everyone ready?"

"As ready as we'll ever be," Ezra said firmly, a confident smirk upon his face as he looked at Luke and Leia, the twins sliding their helmets on their heads and nodding in agreement as Leia clutched the mask close to her chest as if to safeguard it from the darkness of their destination. Turning her gaze back toward Malachor, Ahsoka pulled back upon the acceleration, their bodies pressed back against the seats as the _Umbra_ smoothly shot toward the planet and entered its gravitational pull, the feel of the Dark Side permeating the air making it seem as though the corrupted Force had reached out to pull them in.

As they slid into Malachor's atmosphere, the previously smooth ride became rough and turbulent, even the _Umbra's_ powerful engines and stability dampeners unable to keep the ship steady, lightning arching across the sky despite there not being a cloud to be seen in the vast, gray horizon, as if they were flying into the embrace of a violent, invisible storm. The surface of the planet spread out before them like smokey glass, the lightning in the sky reflected upon the ground like cracks upon an uneven mirror, the flay expanse broken only by the occasional crater and the odd, unnatural formations rising high into the air like square pillars.

Feeling the dark pull of the roiling, wrathful Force around them, Kanan leaned forward toward the viewport, jostling his way next to Kenobi and laying his hand upon Ahsoka's shoulder as he squinted in the hopes of somehow being able to identify the source of the darkness, be it an object, a living being, or the planet itself. There was a strong likelihood that the cause was the holocron they were hunting, the ancient Sith artifact infecting the surrounding area for who knew how many centuries it had rested in this place, though Kanan had the sinking suspicion that there was something else at work.

Something flashed out of the corner of his eye and Kanan quickly looked in its direction to find...nothing. Another swift movement at the edge of his other eye drew his attention swiftly back toward the viewport and for a moment, Kanan found himself looking into the storm that none of them could see, billowing plumes of black and slate smoke churning and roiling and covering the sky like it meant to smother the planet. Spidering bolts of red and blue and purple lightning sent cracks running through the sky and lit the storm clouds with flashes of sickly green light and stained the poisoned rain.

He could see the raging wind as it stirred the storm in thick, jagged swirls of navy and black that tore the billowing clouds to painful wisps before reforming them larger and angrier than before. Deep within them, Kanan could have sworn he saw faces in the wind and smoke and rain, glowing deep with living darkness that consumed everything it touched with jealous, hateful wrath, with furious, unrelenting pain, and with simmering, violent envy. For a moment, Kanan saw life, dark and greedy and glowing all the darker for its parasitic consumption.

He blinked, and it was gone. No terrible storm, no faces in the mist, no unholy life. Just the bleak, desolate surface of cursed Malachor.

"You alright, Kanan?" Obi-Wan asked quietly as he ran an appraising eye over the man beside him, and Kanan swallowed hard, running a hand over his hair that he hadn't noticed until that moment had been shaking. "You look awfully pale."

"Didn't you..." Kanan started, his brow furrowing with confusion as he looked at the Sith Lord, a look of concerned skepticism on his face, and the Jedi found everyone else in the cabin to be looking at him with that same expression. Whatever it was that he had seen, whatever it was that had caused his eyes to sting the way they were now, he had been the only one to see it. It was enough to make him wonder if he had actually seen that brief flash of terrible, torrential color and light. He wasn't so sure anymore that he had.

"It's nothing," Kanan quietly dismissed. "I thought I saw something, that's all..."

"I wouldn't dismiss anything in this place," Ahsoka said evenly, laying her hand over Kanan's, which was tightly grasping her shoulder. "What is it you thought you saw?"

"I'm...not sure..." Kanan mumbled, huffing in irritation as he closed his eyes against the burn and tried to conjure the image he had seen, but he was having difficulty assigning words that could even begin to describe that briefest glimpse of colorful, sinister chaos. "There's something down there..." Kanan said absently, looking back out the viewport and willing himself to see what he had glimpsed before, but to no avail. Barren Malachor remained a colorless waste.

"Something?" Obi-Wan asked, a concerned frown on his lips as he stroked at his beard. "Or someone?"

"Maybe you're sensing the holocron," Leia suggested, her voice filtered through her helmet's vocal pickup, her fingers running delicately over Nihilus' mask.

"Whatever it may be, we should exercise caution..." Ahsoka muttered, flipping switches on the command console as the ship cut lower through the sky as they searched for the right place to land. "Kanan's right about one thing for sure. There's something here."

"Let's hope so," Kenobi said lightly, looking back at the teenagers in the passenger seats behind him with a sly smirk upon his lips in an effort to ease the heavy tension around them, which appeared to work immediately. "It'd be a waste of our time otherwise." He drummed his fingers against K2's shoulder. "K2, get me an analysis of the planet's surface, will you?" he asked as he looked out the viewport at Malachor's unusual surface. "We need to know if it's safe to land down there. And while you're at it, scan for life forms. If that thing Kanan sensed is alive, I want to know."

"Of course, Master, anything else?" the droid droned. "Is there anything else you need? Increased power to the stabilizers? Caf? Your misplaced morality?"

"You know what I could _really_ use?" Obi-Wan said thoughtfully before a look of disgust touched his lips and he rapped the droid's head with the back of his knuckles. " _Silence_ from the droid foundry."

"Sorry, Master," K2 said in a tone that was not sorry at all. "I can silence my vocabulator, if that is what you desire, but how will I convey the requested analysis if my functions have been muted?"

"I _hate_ droids..." Kenobi growled under his breath, glaring at K2, who somehow managed to appear smug. "This is why I _kriffing hate droids_...just cut the commentary and do as your told. Nobody here has time for your sass."

"I do," Luke said quietly from his seat, his helmet lending a metallic twang to his voice and concealing the soft, good natured smirk Kenobi knew was upon his face. K2 looked from Luke, to Ezra beside him who was unsuccessfully attempting to stifle his laughter, to the unamused, irritated Kenobi, and at the sound of the soft whir of the droid's vocabulator activating, the Sith Lord covered the droid's visual receptors with his hand and forced his head to look down at the command console.

"The analysis, K2, _focus_ ," Kenobi snapped, shooting a glare back at the infinitely amused Luke and grabbing hold of Ezra's ear, turning the teenager's hapless giggling into hisses of pain.

"Arid climate, air composition breathable, standard gravity. It would appear that the planet's surface is primarily composed of flash frozen Carbonite," K2 said after a moment of silence. "Though it seems to be an outer layer shell, we detect significant space beneath the surface."

"A cave network?" Ezra asked through grit teeth, and sighed in relief when the Sith Lord released his ear. K2's visual receptors swerved to look back at the teenagers on the passenger seats.

"I would not call it such," K2 said, his attention returning to the readouts on the console. "It is too large for that. Almost...hollow. It would seem as though the planet's true surface is beneath this shell."

"A protective barrier surrounding the entire planet..." Ahsoka mused, her hands tightening around the control yoke as she leaned closer to the viewport. "I've never heard of anything like it. What could even cause Carbonite to flash freeze like this?"

"I don't know, but I suspect we're going to find out..." Kenobi muttered as he leaned forward, squinting as he looked out the viewport at the planet's surface. "How thick is this shell?" he asked K2, his fingers drumming on the droid's shoulder with a soft, metallic twang. "I know Carbonite is durable, but can it support our weight without collapsing? Can we land the ship down there? How thick is it?"

"So many questions..." K2 grumbled, his interface arm rotating in the ship's access port as the requested analysis was uploaded into the ship's processor. "It would appear as though there is little consistency across the surface," he reported, turning his head to look at the focused Sith Lord behind his shoulder.

"Can't we just blast our way through it?" Ezra asked as he stood from his seat to get a better look out the viewport. "We don't need to worry about any of this if we just land on the _actual_ surface."

"And risk destroying everything underneath in a complete collapse?" Ahsoka asked quietly, her hands never leaving the controls and her gaze never leaving the view in front of her. "To say nothing about the devastation that would cause to any life down there." Ezra slunk back down into his seat, muttering apologies under his breath.

"You're so violent..." K2 droned. "In any case, such a thing would be quite unnecessary. In the section of one thousand square kilometers analyzed, the Carbonite thickness ranges from three centimeters to one meter thick. The molecular integrity of Carbonite, however, renders it structurally sound for load-bearing weights at thirty centimeters, and for standard human weights at six centimeters."

"Well, for once, I like our odds," Kenobi said with a smirk. "We should be able to set down on most of the terrain. "Leia,'he said firmly, turning to face the teenagers in the passenger seats, his shoulders drawn back and his hands folded behind his back, and both Luke and Leia instinctively straightened as they listened, the girl's hands tightening upon the mask held against her chest. "Use the mask to find the general area of where we should land. Don't go too deep. The Dark Side here is strong, and Qui-Gon can't reach us here. He won't be able to save you again."

"I'll do my best, Father," Leia said quietly, he fingers absently tracing the eyes of the mask and looking at her brother when Luke laid a reassuring hand upon her shoulder.

"K2, find us a good place to set down when Leia gives us a landing zone," Obi-Wan continued. "And I'm still waiting on that life scan."

"Weren't the Jedi renowned for their patience? Did you not learn anything from them?" K2 asked in an irritated drone, earning him a smack on his head by the quietly cursing Sith Lord.

"I wouldn't have left if they had anything to teach me," Obi-Wan snapped, but the anger and irritation that so usually wound its way into his voice wasn't there, his focus instead upon Leia as the Dark Side flared around her, her head bowed as she sunk into the feel of the mask in her grasp. "The life sign report, K2," he said absently. "Please."

With an electronic sigh, K2 returned to the display, disappointed that his needling hadn't drawn the ire he was hoping for out of the reactionary Sith Lord. Staring at the readouts as the _Umbra_ communicated with his central processors, the droid quietly listened to the snippy, querulous ship harangue him about the demands placed on her and his insistence for it to be done quickly. The _Umbra_ was, of course, a swift, efficient machine, and she knew it, lending the ship a prideful, boasting personality and an ego that disliked bristled at even the slightest insinuation that she was preforming below expectations. K2 had grown used to the ship's quirks, had even come to greatly appreciate them, and remained the only droid that the ship even bothered with, allowing him autonomy when she would usually slave droids to her systems to become unwilling, additional processors to her already impressive systems.

Another swift prod at the ship to hurry along the requested scan for life forms, and the _Umbra_ bit back with immediate scorn and very unpolitely suggested that K2 take a long walk out the airlock, as the requested scan was impossible. His processors freezing for a moment as the returned data from the ship failed to compute, K2 asked the _Umbra_ for confirmation, this time less of a demand than an inquisition as his visual receptors ran over the readout before him. With the more respectful tone, the ship's next response was more irritated than rude, confirming that the previous results were accurate. The life scan was impossible, not because the system was malfunctioning, but because _something_ was disrupting the sensors.

After the harsh, snapped reply to his request to run a full system scan to check for unsuspected malfunctions, K2's visual receptors swivelled up to look Kenobi, the Sith Lord intently focused on Leia as she sat silently with the mask clutched between her hands. K2 looked back at the readout and leaned in closer to the screen to get a closer look at the glitchy, static display. Quickly confirming with the _Umbra_ that all systems were optimal, and both the droid and the ship were in consensus. Be it the strange state of Malachor's unusual environment or something else entirely, something was disrupting their scanners.

"Master..." K2 said quietly, looking up that the Sith Lord, who didn't seem to even notice he had spoken, but both Kanan and Ahsoka were devoting their full attention to the droid. "The scan for life has failed," K2 said to Kanan and Ahsoka, the Togruta swiftly sliding her fingers across the command console to confirm the droid's findings and Kanan hissing a curse under his breath as he closed his eyes and extended his hand toward the viewport.

"Failed?" Obi-Wan asked, finally turning away from Leia and looking over K2's shoulder at the display. "How could the scan _fail_? All our other scans have been working just fine, there's nothing wrong with our scanners."

"I was thinking the same thing," Ahsoka said quickly. "So far as I can tell, there is no jamming signal messing with our systems, and a scan for other ships has turned up nothing."

"Could the Dark Side be disrupting the life scan?" Kanan asked as his fingers splayed before him, the Force around him warm and gentle and driving the darkness away from him.

"It's possible..." Kenobi mumbled, his fingers absently drumming on the back of the copilot's seat. "The Dark Side has always worked to obscure its children. In the presence of a nexus as powerful as this, it would be unreasonable to assume that the Force doesn't have a hand in everything."

"So what's causing our disruption?" Ahsoka asked quietly, her hands tightening on the control yoke as she pressed the ship forward. "The nexus, or the thing that Kanan sensed?"

"Could very well be one and the same," Kanan said as he opened his eyes and dropped his hand. "Whatever it was I sensed before, I can't sense it now."

"You know, Kanan, it's truly remarkable that you were able to sense anything at all..." Kenobi mused, leaning against the copilot's seat and studying the Jedi. "None of us managed to see anything, and let us not forget that the Jedi in their final years were all unable to detect the rise of Darth Sidious. And here you are..." he drawled, a smirk on his lips when Kanan looked modestly down at the floor. "The last Padawan, and barely that, able to see through what your Jedi Masters never could..."

"Stranger and stranger..." Ahsoka said as she looked over her shoulder and smiled at the fidgeting Kanan. "The Force truly works in mysterious ways. I wonder if Master Yoda could give us some insight as to why. You may have a greater purpose than any of us know."

"I _told_ you..." Ezra said as he playfully nudged Luke. "My Master is _way_ better than yours."

"He really is something, I'll give you that," Luke said, the smile in his voice heard even through the helmet's modulator, the boy for a moment reveling in the warm feel of the Force touched by stalwart, modest Kanan and excited, prideful Ezra before it was lanced through by a spear of cold. Luke quickly turned his gaze away from Kanan to look at Leia in the seat across the walkway. "She found it..." he muttered under his breath, and beside him, Ezra leaned over to look at the still, silent girl, the mask held loosely in her hands upon her lap, her head bowed in quiet meditation. Ezra looked quizzically at Luke, a frown upon his face, and his questions dying in his throat when the blond laid a calming hand upon his arm that silently asked for patience.

He did not have to wait long for the unfelt thing simmering between the twins' connection to b made visible in the sudden tightening of Leia's hands upon the mask and the shivering of her shoulders as a chill blew through the Force.

"Father!" Leia gasped quickly, her head snapping up to look at the Sith Lord, her breathing fast and ragged through the regulator of her helmet. "I found it." Swallowing hard, she stood from her seat, pointing a shaking finger out the forward viewport toward the barren expanse below at a pillar that shot skyward out of the smooth, reflexive ground. "There. Right below us. It's here, I can _feel_ it."

"Take us down, Ahsoka..." Obi-Wan said calmly as he plucked the mask out of the trembling girl's hand and pulled her against him, whispering something indistinguishable to her before he kissed the top of her helmet. The occupants of the cockpit swiftly strapped in and grabbed hold of the seats as the _Umbra_ spiraled downwards toward the ground, the ship rocking as it cut through the turbulent air currents whipped up by the furious Force. For as rough as their descent was, their landing was equally smooth, Ahsoka setting the ship down upon the ground so gently they could barely feel the _Umbra_ settle upon its landing struts. Turning command of the ship over to K2, they gathered their things and stepped out of the ship, their footsteps reverberating through the air around them as they carefully made their way toward the tall, obsidian pillar before them.

"You know..." Vehemis drawled softly, flicking one of her red lukku over her shoulder and sauntering to walk closer to Kanan. "For as rough as our entry was, I'd have expected it to be at least a _little_ windy out here." She wrinkled her nose in distaste. "It isn't even cold."

"It's far too still," Ahsoka quietly agreed. "Unnaturally so."

"I don't like it..." Kanan grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest as he eyed the pillar as they drew closer, detailed, intricate etchings that covered the surface becoming visible with each step they took. "I can't shake the feeling that someone's watching us..."

"Can a holocron really cause all this, Master?" Vitios said as she fell in step behind Obi-Wan, and the Sith Lord slowly nodded, his pace slowing as they drew close enough to the pillar to feel the power radiating from it humming in a low reverberation in the air.

"Many things can cause this..." Kenobi whispered, his hands folding behind his back and his eyes narrowing as he began to circle the pillar to inspect the writing upon it. "Could be the strength of the holocron. Could be atrocities committed here thousands of years ago." He shrugged. "Could be whatever it is that Kanan feels watching us, be it the living or the dead."

"If someone is here watching us, I want to know about it," Ahsoka said, tapping the comlink on her wrist. "K2," she said swiftly when the droid answered her call. "We're expecting company, if it's not here already. Try to get a fix on any ships in the area again, and if there's any incoming, tell us the moment you see them." After a swift affirmative from the droid, the _Umbra's_ engines powered on and the ship effortlessly lifted into the air, sliding up into the air to hover high above them to widen the scanning range.

"Sooooo..." Ezra drawled as he sauntered toward the pillar and gently bumped his shoulder against Luke's with a mischievous grin. "What exactly are we looking at here?"

"We saw pillars like this on our trip to Moraband," Luke said, his tone light and airy and filled with laughter his vocal modulator could not filter out of his voice as he walked slowly beside the grinning Ezra, his fingers gently brushing the other boy's hand to urge him closer to the obsidian obelisk.

"There wasn't any writing on those," Kenobi said softly, laying his hand on Luke and Leia's shoulders just before they stepped within arm's reach of the pillar. "They were weathered and eroded. If they were ever carved or engraved, time had long ago worn the words away. But these..." The Sith Lord took a step closer and leaned in, his eyes squinting as he peered at the writing upon the smooth, black surface. "These look as though they were carved yesterday..."

"Could the state of the Force here be preserving them?" Kanan asked, striding to stand beside the Sith Lord, a frown on his face as he studied the ancient writing. His eyes flicked to Kenobi when he received no answer, the Sith standing silent and contemplative as he stroked his beard in thought.

"There are few places in this galaxy stronger in the Dark Side than Moraband," Kenobi finally said, inching closer to the pillar and holding his hand mere inches above the smooth surface, though never touching it. "That was not enough to protect the Valley of the Dark Lords from erosion and decay. But...it is true that the Force here is different." He slowly nodded. "Yes. It's possible the Force could preserve this place from the ravages of time..."

"If that's true, we stand to find more than just a few pillars in this place," Ahsoka muttered, a frown on her face as she leaned in toward the pillar and squinted at the writing. "Can you read it?" she asked, and the Sith Lord beside her scoffed.

"Can I read it..." Kenobi growled arrogantly. "Of course I can read it, what exactly do you think I am?" He looked scornfully at the woman at his side, the insult he felt fading quickly into embarrassed revelation when he saw the teasing smirk on the Togruta's face. "Oh..." he grumbled, shooting a withering glare at the teenagers as they unsuccessfully attempted to stifle their laughter before he cleared his throat and turned his attention back to the carved, elegant script. With a frown, he quickly turned to face the others, his finger raised in warning as he looked at each of them. "Don't. Touch. _Anything_ ," Kenobi snarled, huffing softly at the murmured ascent before he turned back to the pillar.

The Sith Lord began reading the script, the ancient Sith rolling smooth and easy off his tongue, his fingers drifting above the words as he read and only stopping to translate the section for those who were silently listening and answering the periodic questions Ahsoka and Kanan raised. A brush of gentle fingers against the palm of his hand send shivers up Ezra's spine, his focus shifting to Luke as he gestured for the other boy to follow, and with a dazed smile plastered on his face, Ezra followed the twins as they slowly walked around the pillar to investigate the writings on the other side.

Ezra heard none of it, just nodded absently at the twins' quiet discussions and mindlessly followed at Luke's urging. All he could hear was the soft, hissed ancient Sith, not the words spoken by Darth Lumis, but a breathy whisper spoken on wind that wasn't there. He heard it as he felt it, a thing that made his blood rush and his bones ache, the words seeming to beacon and call him even though he didn't understand a word. His head swimming and his vision hazy, Ezra stumbled toward the pillar and laid an outstretched hand upon the cold, smooth surface.

With a gasp and a startled cry of pain, Ezra pulled his hand away as his attention returned with a startling jolt, his palm red and burning as if he had grasped heated durasteel. Swallowing hard, his breath coming in swift gasps, he looked at the pillar, the imprint of his hand glowing in red upon the black surface, the red light spreading quickly to the carved script light molten metal poured into a cast. The silence in the air was thick, heavy and awkward, and Ezra could feel the eyes upon him, confused and stunned and angry, and he kept his gaze locked on his hand print, unable to face the people behind him.

For a moment, there was nothing, then the ground began to shake as the script glowed with burning light, the reflective ground beginning to crack and split with each new tremor, the pillars far in the distance glowing with faint red light as well. His heart pounding as he jolted into action, Ezra staggered away from the pillar as the others began running. All except Obi-Wan, who, with a tired sigh, slowly looked at the panicking teen.

"I hate you..." Kenobi told Ezra wearily. "So very, very much..."

Ezra sprinted as fast as he was able as the ground began to split and crumble around him, and it became quickly apparent that he would be unable to outrun the collapse. None of them could, and the next step Ezra took fell through the splintering ground as he began tumbling through broken shards of the shattered ground and deep into the open space below. He found himself falling through the air as though he were dropped from a black sky, the ground beneath him rising quickly to meet him. As he tumbled through the air, Ezra caught flashes of the others similarly falling, and under his breath, he quietly cursed himself for falling under the sway of the whispers in the Force.

Ezra landed with a hard thud upon the ground and groaned as he pushed himself up and rubbed his head, and gasped in surprise when Kanan and Ahsoka landed nearby in a practiced, controlled crouch, standing with ease and brushing themselves off. A moment later, and a gust of wind kicked up the dust from the rocky ground as Kenobi fell, the Force catching him before he hit the ground as if the wind had risen to cradle him and gently set him down on his feet. Ezra frowned as Vitios and Vehemis ran past him toward their Master from where they had landed a little ways away, and Ezra accepted Kanan's hand to help him to his feet.

The ringing in his ears slowly faded to the low, dull roar of flames echoing in the cold, still air, and Ezra looked up to see Luke and Leia hovering high above them, the jetpacks upon their backs keeping them airborne as they flipped to turn around and flew to land at the Sith Lord's side.

"Father!" Leia gasped excitedly, clutching Nihilus' white mask tightly in her hand as she pointed ahead of them, and Ezra squinted past the settling dust in the air and his blurred vision to look at what had the twin so excited.

"I know, dear..." Kenobi said quietly, his eyes closed and a serene expression on his face as he laid a calming hand upon her shoulder. "I see it..."

"What is _that_?!" Ezra asked when his vision had cleared, his surroundings coming into sharp focus as he felt the Force surge around him, both the crashing, tumultuous waves of darkness and the shield of light that warded it away.

"That," Ahsoka said gravely, "is a Sith Temple."

"Not just any Sith Temple..." Obi-Wan whispered. "The center of power of the Sith Triumvirate, the first Sith to purge the Jedi Order to near extinction." He inhaled deeply, breathing the stale, dusty air thick with the Dark Side and listening to the sounds that echoed around him, at first only the slow, ponderous hum of the gently moving air, and then slowly filling with hissed whispers, ancient chanting and muted screams. "Leia was right," Kenobi said quietly as he pulled himself from the currents of the Force. "The holocron is here." He turned and flashed a tight smile to the group gathered behind him. "Well!" the Sith Lord chirped. "No time like the present! Come on, kids. Stay close."

They pressed close to Obi-Wan as he turned and started toward the Temple, a large stepped pyramid capped with a massive, blood red crystal that loomed over the ruins of the temple grounds and the surrounding city that encircled it. High above them, light filtered through from cracks and weaknesses in the planet's unnatural surface, dust and ash drifting in the stagnant air like heavy mist through shafts of light. Still, it was dark in the world beneath the surface, like dusk before the fall of night, with just enough light flitting from above for those unaccustomed to the dark to make out their surroundings and the shapes in the distance, but little else. It was dangerous here, the details of their environment concealed until they stood nearly directly upon it, the shadows flickering and dancing just beyond their reach and almost seeming to breathe with life and death. Anything, anyone could be laying in wait within the churning dark, and only a few eyes between them even had a chance to see them coming.

As they drew closer to the temple, walking slowly and cautiously through the ruins of the forgotten city, the Force grew thick and heavy and oppressive with the Dark Side, enough that Obi-Wan ordered them to stop and take a moment to fortify themselves while he closed his eyes, breathed deeply, and took it all in, opening himself to the flood of darkness as it filled his lungs, his blood and bones, his every pore until he could feel himself sinking deep. It was calm here, silent and dark and comforting, as it always was in the blackest depths of the abyss, and reaching out his hand, he could feel the cold, smooth scales of the leviathan as it moved to coil around him, a faint smile touching his lips at the feel of his constant companion. Even now, when all his visions turned swiftly to his demise at Sidious' hands, when he felt abandoned by that which had guided him, the Force had never left Darth Lumis.

They did not continue on until Kenobi deemed them ready, Vitios, Vehemis and Leia in peaceful synergy with the still, smooth waters of the Dark Side, Kanan, Ahsoka and Luke protected in their dense shield of light, now smaller and more compact with the oppressive, heavy darkness pressing in upon them. All but Ezra, who stood close to Luke, shielded by the presence of the light twin while his very being clawed and hammered at his chest, yearning and aching for the song in the darkness that called to him. With a sigh, Obi-Wan walked to the group, placed his hand on Ezra's back and guided him away, gesturing for the others to follow as they walked down the cracked and winding streets of the city in ruins toward the Sith Temple.

"You are conflicted," Kenobi whispered to Ezra, his hand tightening on the teen's shoulder when the boy bowed his head. "You yearn for the dark, but cling to the light. You cannot. Not here, not in this place. You must choose, or your lack of focus will see you made an easy target."

"A target by what? Ezra muttered absently, and swiftly uttered a sharp yelp when the Sith Lord grabbed him by the ear and pulled hard.

" _A target by what_!" Kenobi hissed, looking over his shoulder briefly to glare at Kanan when the Jedi had warningly called his name, and with a growl of frustration, his eyes stinging with the familiar feel of gold pierced by spears of blood red, he let go of Ezra's ear. "Do you even hear yourself, boy?" the Sith Lord said under his breath. "Have you forgotten that the holocron is not the only reason we are here?"

"I haven't forgotten..." Ezra grumbled, rubbing at his stinging ear as he eyed his Dark Side teacher. "We're trying to lure the Inquisitors."

"And if you are not _centered_ , Apprentice, you will be _dead_..." Kenobi said slowly. "The Force here is too thick, it is too easy to hide in this place, and you may be certain our enemies will do just that. Embrace the dark or cloak yourself in light, it doesn't matter, so long as you _choose_."

"Aren't you the one that's always telling me I don't have to choose? That I can walk the path in the middle?" Ezra asked, his attention drifting over his shoulder to fix on Luke. "Why do I have to choose..."

" _Because_..." Obi-Wan said through clenched teeth as patiently as he was able. "One might use light to see in the darkness, or one might grow accustomed to night by living in it, but to the creature that exists in twilight, the light is too bright and the night is too dark and they can see well in neither, and my dear, at this moment, we exists in the darkest of night, and it is _calling_ to you." Kenobi sighed, shooting Kanan a weary glance when he had sped up his stride to walk at Ezra's other side. "There is a time and a place for everything, Apprentice..." Kenobi said quietly. "But now is not the time to stride the line."

"It would be easy to lose yourself to the Force here," Kanan said quietly, laying his hand upon Ezra's shoulder, though he didn't look at the boy, his gaze instead fixed sightlessly before him, as if he were staring out at something only he could see. "It would be dangerous for you to embrace the Dark Side in this place, especially since it's calling you and you don't have the strength to fight it." Kanan finally looked at Ezra, and the teenager felt himself flush with embarrassment. "That _is_ why you touched the pillar, isn't it?"

"It's true that it would be easy to be swept up in the current here," Kenobi muttered. "This place is a nexus of the Dark Side that could have tested the will of the Jedi Masters. But..." he drawled, "your being already craves darkness, and embracing it will be easier than resisting it. I can help keep you anchored."

" _I_ can help keep the darkness at bay," Kanan said confidently, drawing up to his impressive full height, and for just a moment, Kenobi could have sworn he saw the Jedi's teal eyes almost seem to glow a pale blue, possibly a trick of one of the beams of light that filtered down from above. "We may be able to help guide you, Ezra, but the focus and resolve must come from within. You can slip through Kenobi's fingers just as easily as you can escape me if you don't have the will to remain centered. Remember what we've taught you..." Kanan said, his voice growing distant as his gaze seemed to drift off again. "Just stay vigilant..." the Jedi muttered. "There are spirits in this place..."

"No pressure, right?" Ezra grumbled nervously, his feet shuffling on the cracked and rocky ground as his pace slowed, his foot catching on one uneven stone and causing him to nearly pitch to the ground before he stumbled to catch himself. He shot a quick glance over his shoulder, hoping that the others hadn't seen, though Leia's muffled chuckling through her helmet's respirator and the glint of golden eyes staring at him dashed any hopes about going unnoticed. Beside him, Kanan chuckled and patted the teen's back.

"I've always said you learn best under pressure," Kanan said. "You've always been a survivor, and today, your life is on the line. Better yet, you've learned this lesson before. You know what to do."

Ezra frowned, his brow drawing together in concentration as he wracked his memory for the lesson Kanan spoke of, a slow smile creeping across his lips as he found it. Kanan was right. He _had_ learned this lesson once before, in circumstances so similar that he felt stupid for not realizing it earlier. It had seemed so long ago when he and Kanan had once lured the Grand Inquisitor to the asteroid belt, the place where Ezra had learned how to push past his fears, to reach out and touch the Force with a calm hand, to make himself one with the others who touched it. Through calm and understanding, he had learned how to reach kinship with animals, and through that peace, could control them, the soft merging of his will and theirs forging comradery and trust between them.

It was also here where he first touched the Dark Side, wild and savage and cold, and used it to accomplish something similar when fear and rage had over taken him. With it, he had summoned a large, vicious beast to do his bidding, not through the kinship of before, but because his rage had demanded it. It was...frightening, but so very, very powerful, and left him feeling sick and uneasy in its wake. And now here, in this place filled with oppressive cold and death and fear, they lured yet more Inquisitors to them, the last Inquisitors that remained. With Vitios and Vehemis serving Darth Lumis, and with the former Grand Inquisitor still imprisoned in the depths of the _Umbra_ , a half mad shell of the man he once was, the threat of the Empire's Inquisitorius would finally be at an end.

Again, Ezra looked back over his shoulder at Luke, the twin walking at a slow, relaxed gait beside Ahsoka, his blue and silver armor almost seeming to glow in the dim light, and a soft, longing sigh fell from Ezra's lips. He hadn't thought to look too closely at his... _fascination_ with Luke. Part of him didn't want to for fear of what he would find there, but in this moment, it was so easy to envy the twin's ease and calm confidence, even surrounded by all this darkness. That was what he wanted to be. That was what he knew he _could_ be, and before he knew it, his choice was made for him.

"I'll resist the Dark Side," Ezra said quietly, looking away from Luke to fix his gaze resolutely forward. "I remember what it was like last time to be consumed. I don't like the way it makes me feel, and we could be here a while."

"A wise choice," Kanan said with a slight smile, and Ezra looked up at him and grinned broadly.

"Just remember that there are more things than just the Dark Side that may leave you unfocused and distracted..." Obi-Wan grumbled as Ezra's gaze began to drift behind them once again, and the teenager's attention snapped to the Sith Lord, a deep, embarrassed flush upon his face for having been caught.

"I-I know that!" Ezra stuttered, trying to sound as confident as he was able, but only managed to sound panicked and defensive. "Of course I know that, you don't have to tell me..."

"Uh huh..." Kenobi said flatly, frowning as Ezra slowed his pace to slink away from the Sith Lord's critical gaze, and with a furtive glance in his Dark Side Master's direction, the teenager fell into step beside Luke, the nervousness he previously felt seeming to melt away when Luke laid his hand upon his shoulder. "Let's pick up the pace, kids," Kenobi ordered. "I want to spend as little time here as possible, this place is ripe for ambush, and I'd much rather be the one setting the traps."

With the quiet murmurs of their understanding, the group sped up their movements down the cracked and twisting streets, their steps still careful and measured as they skirted around and over the rubble that lay in their path. Each step brought the massive pyramid of the Sith Temple looming over them ever closer, the air growing colder as the Force became thicker and more opaque, the pressure pressing down upon them as if they walked in the silent calm of the bottom of a deep ocean. Cresting a hill as they wound their way through the city, the group came to a sudden halt, the breath catching in their throats as they looked out upon the ruin before them, less of a city surrounding the Temple and more of a wide, shallow crater. Here, the remains of the city were less time-decayed ruins and more rubble, the destruction before them more complete, the city section surrounding the imposing Temple nearly completely leveled, save for the eroded evidence of tall, fallen structures.

All around them echoed the soft and eerie sounds of panicked shouting and distant, agonized screaming and unsettling, barely audible voices, the air itself seeming to ripple like the broken surface of a disturbed lake as shimmering wisps of pale, ghostly mist shifted and swirled and slowly took shape. For just moments at a time, they could see people sliding through the air, vague shapes that ran or huddled for safety or swung weapons before them before they slid once again out of existence, the momentary shadows and echoes of a horror long since past.

Kanan had been right. There were spirits in this place.

"It's just like Moraband..." Luke said, his stride lengthening to catch up to his father when the Sith Lord began to lead them down the slope toward the flitting spirits before the Temple.

"What happened here?" Ezra asked as he kept in step beside Luke, a frown on his face as he looked out before him at the jagged outcropping of stones peppering the barren land before them, not random rock and rubble, he realized when he took a closer look, but statues worn by time, their edges smooth, their details long since faded, but something about the way they stood kept him from getting too close. They seemed almost frozen in time, as if whatever held them still for however many untold centuries could at any time, release them to spring back into action. They were carved in mid-run, some crouching, some as if engaged in combat with another, but the vast majority, it seemed, had thrown their hands before them, a hundred different species collectively defending themselves from some unknown horror, their faces frozen in vague, faded expressions of raw terror that could be felt in the very air through the hairs rising on the backs of their necks.

"The ground looks scorched..." Luke said, kneeling to run his fingers over the dusty, blackened ground as he stared at the looming Sith Temple, the towering pyramid almost seeming to be untouched by time and the devastation that had afflicted the rest of the city. "Nothing here makes sense..."

"What's with all the statues..." Ezra asked, squinting as he took a step closer to one of the stone figures, his eyes drifting over the closest one and widening when he spotted something on the ground. "Is that..." he gasped, bending over to pick up the dull, tarnished cylinder beside the statue's foot. "It is! Look, a lightsaber!" he said proudly, holding it up toward the group, through his eyes remained fixed on the ground. "There's another one! And another! Kriff, there's dozens of them..."

" _Idiot_!" Kenobi hissed, a flick of his wrist tearing the ancient weapon from Ezra's grasp and sending it flying in the air to float before the Sith. "Did falling from the surface teach you _nothing_ about keeping your hands to yourself?!"

"Y-yeah, but-"

"Don't. Touch. _Anything_!" Kenobi snapped, a casual gesture of his hand sending the lightsaber flying through the air, the hilt smacking Ezra on the back of the head before gently settling back down where it was found.

"Myths and rumors...Kenobi's stories were true. This was a battlefield..." Kanan said slowly, his eyes slowly scanning over the field of thousands of statues and the lightsabers scattered upon the ground, his vision sliding out of focus for a moment as he watched spirits weave in and out of existence, the pale, ghostly figures, for just a moment, seeming to come alive all at once, a hundred thousand souls trapped among the lifeless stone. "Those aren't statues..." he said firmly when he came back to himself a moment later. "They're bodies. These were _Jedi_."

"The smell of death and ash..." Leia muttered, a tension in her voice as she clutched Nihilus' mask close to her chest and moved to stand closer to Obi-Wan. "A hundred thousand petrified warriors. Father, this is the place I saw in my vision. This is the place Nihilus' mask showed me."

"Are you sure?" the Sith Lord asked quietly, and Leia vigorously nodded.

"I'm positive," she said firmly, her eyes scanning her surroundings for a moment before she shifted closer to her father when a wandering spirit drifted too close. "What could have caused this to happen?"

"I don't know," Obi-Wan muttered, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, allowing the feel of the darkness around them to pass effortlessly through him. "Did you not see it in your vision?" Leia shook her head. "Whatever it was," Kenobi said, loud enough for the rest of the group to hear, "it came from inside that temple. Nothing else can explain what we're seeing."

"So..." Ahsoka mused. "The Jedi attacked the Sith Temple here on Malachor and...what? The Sith discharged a weapon? They unleashed some Dark Side horror?"

"Knowing the Sith, it was likely a bit of both," Kenobi wryly said. "If there are answers to be had, we'll find them inside the Temple. Remember," the Sith Lord said, turning to face the group. "The spirits that haunt this place cannot harm you. They have no place in this world, so do not allow them to distract you from the living, breathing threats that _can_ harm us." He swept a warning finger at the gathered group, and ended up on Leia, frowned for a moment, and then accusingly pointed at Ezra as well. "Don't. Touch. _Anything_!" he growled once again, and Ezra had the good sense to look embarrassed.

"Don't worry, Father, I'll be careful," Leia said slyly, the smug, mischievous smirk on her face felt even though her helmet hid her expression. "And Luke will keep a tight leash on his pet, won't you, brother?"

With a heavy sigh and a shake of his head, Luke shuffled forward, nudging Ezra along with him as they once again started for the Temple. They cut a winding path through the petrified army and the ethereal spirits of the dead, the stillness of the heavy Force rippling as they silently slunk through, the dull, maddening thrum in the air seeming to become louder as they drew nearer toward their destination. It felt like eternity, like every step they took brought them no closer to their goal, as if time itself could not penetrate the depths of the Force they walked within, as if whatever horror that occurred here so very long ago had only just happened. And then, as if no time had passed at all, they were standing in the shadow of the mighty pyramid of the Sith Temple.

The seemingly sudden appearance of the Temple before them was so jarring that Ezra drew back with a sharp intake of breath, feeling as though he had started awake from a dream and somehow lost a large piece of time he knew he had experienced. A quick look at the others told him that they were similarly disoriented, confusion on their faces as they looked at their surroundings and tried to make sense of the puzzle before them, the picture confusing and the pieces not appearing to fit together at all. All but Obi-Wan and Kanan, the two men the picture of calm as they stood close together, talking in hushed tones as they examined the slope of the pyramid, the Sith Lord's fingers drifting just above the intricate carved patterns and designs that glowed with unearthly red light.

Determined to piece together what exactly had happened, Ezra turned to look behind him and immediately stopped, his breath catching in his chest as he gazed upon not the ruined waste of the battlefield he couldn't remember crossing, but the magnificence of an elegant, ancient city. Graceful archways and towering pillars lines wide streets that wound through the sprawling city, the buildings constructed from jet black stone and inlaid with bands of gold and red, the reflected light making it seem as though the entire city were glowing with ethereal light. The city felt alive, though there was not a single living being to be seen. Instead, the ghostly visages of a thousand spirits wove in and out of existence, as if breaking the surface of the Force for a breath of the living before vanishing again into the depths. It was breathtakingly beautiful, and Ezra couldn't take his eyes away from it, captivated by the allure of a city long forgotten and the sweet, gentle call of the Force that rode so effortlessly through the air.

It was also impossible.

"An illusion..." Ahsoka said, breaking the silence and jolting the others out of their transfixed examination of the city. "Don't be deceived. There is nothing but death in this place."

"I-I don't understand what happened," Ezra stammered. "I don't remember getting here, but it feels like we've been walking for hours! We just...never got closer. How can we be _here_?!"

"The Force is bending around this place," Kanan said calmly, turning to look out over the city, and Ezra sucked in a sharp breath when he saw Kanan's eyes, usually a vibrant teal, now glowing a clear, ice blue. "It's warping and twisting around itself. It's distorting our perception of time."

"You think the Force is interfering with the flow of time?" Ahsoka asked cautiously, her brow furrowing as she inched closer to the Jedi, carefully examining him, reaching out to brush him with the Force, and frowning when she found Kanan's presence almost seem to bleed into their surroundings, leaving her unable to find the usually so clear distinction of where a living being ended and the Force began.

"This place was destroyed long ago, Ahsoka," Kenobi said quietly, his eyes never leaving the etchings upon the temple's smooth, black surface as his fingers ever so lightly brushed the glowing red engravings. "What the Force chooses to show us does not change that."

"Time is irrelevant to the Force..." Kanan muttered, turning his gaze away from the city and looking at curious Ahsoka. "The past, the present, the future...all of it, occurring at once. And this place is so, so deep in the Force..."

"Time twisting around itself, as you said," Ahsoka mused, taking another step closer to the Jedi as he took a deep, shuddering breath, his eyes closed in focus. "How do you know?" Kanan opened his eyes once again and looked at her with his natural teal, no trace of the vibrant, glowing blue remaining, as if it was a trick of the light.

"I...saw it," Kanan whispered hesitantly, confusion on his face for a moment before he shook his head. "I can't explain it..."

"Mysteries to be solved for another time," Obi-Wan said shortly, the Force chilling as he looked over them with glowing eyes that swirled with molten gold and red. "Focus. The touch of the Force upon this ghost town is irrelevant. We need to get inside the Temple." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he pressed his hand flat against the smooth side of the pyramid. "The holocron is here," the Sith Lord whispered. "I can _feel_ it..."

"Sooo..." Ezra said slowly, shuffling closer to Kenobi and stopping just short of him when Luke grabbed his hand to hold him back just out of reach of the Temple. Ezra flashed him a tight, sheepish smile before he looked back at the focused Sith. "How do we get inside?"

"Things like this are always tests," Vehemis drawled, breaking her concentrated silence as she sauntered closer and flicked one of her red lekku over her shoulder. "We have temples and shrines back home on Dromund Kaas, each of them designed to test the will and ability of the Sith and the dedication to the code." She flashed Ezra a sly smirk. "Very few ever return..."

"Isn't that uplifting..." Ahsoka said flatly. "So it's a riddle. This whole planet's a riddle..."

"So we just have to solve it," Leia said with a casual shrug, casting a final look at the ghostly, mysterious city before she followed Kenobi as he began walking once again. "And from the sound of it, we have all the information we need to do so. It's a Sith Temple, so obviously we need to use our knowledge of the Dark Side to enter. _And_ ," she said coyly, "we have with us a Sith Master. There isn't anything about the Dark Side and the Sith that Father doesn't know."

"Your faith in me is inspiring, dear," Obi-Wan said with a small smile, his fingers trailing along the intricate carvings upon the side of the temple as he walked. "And I have shared my knowledge with you. Tell me, what do you believe is our solution?"

Leia bowed her head and fell silent, clutching Nihilus' mask close to her chest as she considered all she knew, and after a moment of shuffling her feet, she looked back up at thee Sith Lord. "Like Vehemis said, it's a trial of the Sith Code. Could it be a test of the Rule of Two? Only a Master and Apprentice may enter, no more, no less?"

"An interesting thought," Obi-Wan said, a small smile on his lips as he looked back at the teenager before peering around the pyramid's edge, squinting through the red tinted haze that hung heavy and low around them, a casual wave of his hand clearing the fog from his path as he continued following the pyramid's edge. "But I think not. This place predates Darth Bane and his Rule of Two. The Temple would likely not have been designed with such a rule at its heart."

"That's a relief," Ahsoka said. "I don't much like the idea of splitting up in this place."

"Nor do I..." Obi-Wan muttered, a scowl on his face as he focused on the carved symbols running beneath his fingertips. "It has been a very long time since the Rule of Two has been observed, anyway. Sidious certainly never believed in it, though...not in the way I thought." He took a deep breath and swiftly removed his hand from the pyramid's side, the carvings upon the wall glowing a brighter red with the sudden surging of the Dark Side, the eerie hum of ghostly chanting reverberating through the air. And then it was over, the tension swiftly breaking as the Sith Lord's presence was concealed once again, and he patted Leia on the shoulder. "Come now, try again."

"I...don't know what else it might be, Father," Leia said as she looked back down at the mask in her hands. "I didn't see how to get inside in the vision I had, and if the answer was there, it moved far too fast for me to see."

"You have been given everything you need to find the answer, Leia," Obi-Wan said as he stopped, eying the alcoves cut into the sloping sides of the pyramid, and took a few steps back. "Ezra here showed us earlier the key to this place."

"...I did?" Ezra asked, and a slow, sinister smirk touched the Sith Lord's lips as he looked the boy over.

"You did..." Kenobi drawled, rubbing his hands together as the veins beneath his skin began to glow blue with the lightning that ran through his blood. "In the matters of the Force, often times it is the simplest solution that is the correct one." A deep thrum reverberated through the air as unnatural wind rushed around them, swirling the mist in the air as the Dark Side rushed to the Sith Lord. With his hand extended, his muscles wound tight, the concealed obsidian wall within the alcove began to shake, engravings glowing bright red and clouds of dust falling around it as Kenobi lifted the heavy slab with the Force. The space beneath the lifted slab extended a short way into the temple, only so far as the stone was long before backing into another obsidian wall, and before anyone could say anything, Obi-Wan reached out with his other hand, his arms shaking as he rose the next wall in as well. That one too backed into yet another wall, but they realized together that the Sith was creating for them a temporary hallway, their entrance inside the Temple.

Vitios moved first, the Chagrian rushing forward into the passageway, the obsidian slabs held by the Sith through the Force perilously shaking above her under the strain of the heavy weight. Calling upon the Dark Side, she reached out for the next block of stone that blocked the path forward and lifted, the obsidian shaking as it rose, though the effort forced her to her knees, the woman unable on her own to lift it high enough to pass beneath. A sharp cry for help sent Vehemis sprinting toward her, kneeling beside her comrade and gripping the shaking slab with the Force, and together, the two women lifted the block, the task seeming nearly effortless with the two of them working together. After a moment of adjustment, the Twi'lek slowly released her grip on the Force, leaving Vitios alone to hold up the stone slab, an easier task now that she was prepared for the burden.

"It can't be that simple..." Leia said. "The touch of the Dark Side? That's it?"

"Simple doesn't mean easy, Leia," Obi-Wan snarled between clenched teeth, his arms shaking as he struggled to hold up the two stone slabs. "This is _much_ harder than it looks, what are you all waiting around for?!"

It was enough to jolt them into action, the rest of them running into the created corridor as Vehemis lifted the fourth wall of stone, no seconds thoughts spared to the safety of rushing headlong into a temple only open to them because invisible supports held the shaking ceiling up, the massive stone slabs threatening to descend upon them the moment their focus broke or their strength depleted. The moment they were through, Obi-Wan followed, lowering the first slab he held as soon as he had passed safely under it and dropping the second when he stood beside Vitios

Taking a moment to breathe and recenter himself in the Dark Side, Obi-Wan looked at Leia, the teenager hissing curses as she struggled to lift the next wall. Laying a hand on Vitios' shoulder, the Sith Lord raised his hand to ease the Chagrian's burden, which she gratefully accepted with a shuddering sigh of relief. She stood for a moment, almost seeming to bask in the rejuvenating presence of the Dark Side drawn to the Sith Master, before she jogged over to lift the next stone slab.

"Leia," Obi-Wan sharply commanded, and the girl stood quickly at attention as Vitios lifted the next wall. "This is a test of resolve, if you fear or doubt at all, you won't be able to raise them."

"I'm _trying_ , Father!" Leia snapped clutching the mask tightly in her shaking hand. "It's heavier than I thought!"

"The well of the Dark Side runs deep here," Kenobi growled, shuffling closer to Vehemis and taking hold of the stone she held, the Twi'lek sagging in relief as she let go. "You draw upon it with every breath you take, every beat of your heart should send it flowing through you as it sends blood through your veins. Your anger is a weapon, my child. _Use it_."

"Father, I don't-"

"We don't know how far we must go on like this, Leia," Obi-Wan quickly interrupted when he felt her doubt and hesitation, dropping one of the walls he held with a shaking, hissed breath.. "Vitios and Vehemis cannot go on forever, and when their strength fails, the burden will fall on me alone, and not even my strength is limitless. I too will fade, and when I do, we will all be crushed to death." Obi-Wan flashed her a wicked grin as sweat began to bead on his forehead, his molten gaze drifting to the next wall, where Kanan and Ahsoka cursed as they tried and failed to lift the heavy slab, the intricate carvings remaining dark and dull with the touch of the Light. "The pressure's on, Leia. Time to prove yourself. Are you Sith, or just some child pretender?"

"My well does not run deep like yours, Father!" Leia snapped, and her temper flared when the Sith Lord began laughing as he grabbed hold of the wall from Vitios once again.

"You don't need it," Obi-Wan said in a voice that shook with effort. "In your hands, you hold the source of all the rage and hate you will _ever_ need."

Leia looked down at the mask held in her hands, her fingers running over the smooth surface, and immediately understood. Resolving herself, she rushed past the out of breath Vitios toward the next wall. Her Father's permission was more than a test, it was trust and faith in her and her abilities, a moment where the Sith Lord saw danger and instead of shielding his children from it as he always did, he stepped aside so that she may face it on her own. Leia could feel tears prick at the corners of her eyes, and in the safety of her helmet, she let them fall down her cheeks. She felt, in this moment, that her Father looked at her and saw not a child, but a warrior, and for as long as she had itched to be an adult in her Father's eyes, now that the moment had come, it felt bittersweet, a haunting sadness hanging over the pride she felt.

Extending her hand out before her, Leia summoned the Force and commanded it to lift the next wall, her arm shaking with effort as the heavy stone hovered inches off the ground. Clutching the mask with her other hand, her fingers caressing the ivory surface, she brushed it with the Force, the deep, terrifying echo of a voice speaking ancient Sith filled her ears as she skimmed the surface of the mask's history, resisting the pull of darkness as it tried to drag her under. Centering herself, she skimmed the object in her hands for feelings, not memories and swiftly found what she was looking for. Anger and hate and wrath and hunger, _so much hunger_ , gnawing at the very core of her like a gaping void that drew the darkness in and filled her with power so raw, so wrathful that she felt she could do anything.

With a casual gesture of her hand, Leia lifted the wall, holding it high above her as if it weighed nothing at all, though her arms and legs shook with strain that she did not feel. Through her mind rushed memories she knew did not belong to her, flashes of a life lived long ago, and Leia grabbed hold of her resolve and focused on the stone slab she held, pushing the memories away as best she could so that she may remain focused. It worked, the images relegated to flickers of light at the edge of her vision, but she still _felt_ , the grief of loss, the gnawing, consuming hunger, the thirst for the Force, the blissful relief from pain as life was greedily devoured. Leia grit her teeth, gently letting go of the wall she held when her Father laid his hand upon her shoulder, and she ran forward to grab the next wall, pointedly ignoring the hollow, eerie voice that spoke to her out of the depths of the mask, though she couldn't shake the unsettled feeling it left her with.

They continued on like that, rising and lowering the heavy stone slabs, turning walls to ceiling as they delved deeper and deeper into the Temple, their pathway sloping downwards and gently curving as it twisted deeper underground. Their strength was slowly syphoned away each time they drank from the well of darkness, the weakness in their limbs driving the rage that made them stronger, and while those touched with the Light could not move the stones themselves, they stood close to the Darksiders, allowing them to draw strength from them when needed and soothing what weariness they could away when they had brief moments to rest. It was slow going, but they steadily made their way into the depths of the Temple, and when Leia raised yet another wall and saw open space behind it, they collectively sighed in relief and hurried through, Obi-Wan laying a hand on Leia's back and pushing her through to the other side as he took the slab from her and held it, a slight, proud smile on his face.

"Well!" Obi-Wan said brightly as he stepped into the opening and dropped the stone back to the ground, swiping a hand through his sweat-slicked hair as he looked at the panting, exhausted group. "That was easy!"

"That's why you're the Master..." Vitios said from where she sat slumped against a wall, taking deep breaths of the heavy, musty air to relieve the tension in her chest. "Hopefully we'll be able to find another way out of here. We're still expecting company, aren't we? I'd hate to fight them after our energy's been depleted just getting through this damn Temple."

"It wouldn't even be a fight, it'd be a massacre..." Vehemis said bitterly from where she sat. "Oh, I bet they planned it this way too, it's _so_ like the Seventh to play dirty, that bitch..."

"You girls are so _dramatic_..." Kenobi said with a roll of his eyes as he sauntered past the group, examining the room and the corridor that lay beyond. "You're giving your former brothers and sisters far more credit than they deserve. They would need to know a great deal to be able to plan this, certainly more than they are capable of knowing without perfect foresight, which we know for certain that they lack."

"Unless _they_ aren't the ones doing the planning..." Kanan muttered, a chill running through the group at the Jedi's implication.

"...we will be ready," Obi-Wan said firmly, confidently, a cocky smirk on his lips as he shrugged, as if the worst possible outcome simply wouldn't come to pass. "In any case, that won't happen. We won't be going into any fight taxed and unprepared because soon enough, we'll have that holocron." The Sith Lord closed his eyes, laying his hand flat upon the wall and breathed deeply as he felt the thrum of power beneath his fingertips, could hear the hissed whispers thick in the air around them. "It's here..." he muttered, laying his hand over his heart. "I can _feel_ it..."

"What good is a holocron to us here?" Ezra grumbled, his fingers rubbing circles on his temple in a futile to stave off the creeping headache brought on by the whispers of ancient Sith permeating everything around them. "We're not planning on staying here while you study it, are we? I know we're supposed to try and lure the Inquisitors here, but-"

"The holocron," Kenobi quickly cut in as he rolled his eyes, "is a key to the entire Temple. Once we have it, getting out won't be a problem. No more trials, no more tests, no more lifting walls to make our way through this place..." He shrugged. "Supposedly, in any case. Which should give us time to rest and rejuvenate. If there's a fight waiting for us, we'll be ready."

"Are you...sure, Father?" Leia asked weakly, shrinking under his gaze when the Sith Lord turned molten, curious eyes upon her. "I mean...about Nihilus' holocron being what you need to change the fate the Force keeps showing you..."

"It certainly can't hurt..." Kenobi muttered, silent for a moment as he watched the girl, her hands clenching tightly around the mask, and though her helmet shielded her face from view, Kenobi could read every emotion that churned within her. "Why..."

"I-I don't..." Leia began, stopping for a moment to shake her head and begin again. "I don't know. Something feels...off. _Wrong_. Like I've missed something..."

"The Force led us here, Leia," Luke said, laying a comforting hand on his sister's shoulder. "This wasn't a vision, it was a memory. The mask led us to the holocron."

"Did it?" Leia snapped, her anger undermined to the slight quiver in her voice, and despite her flash of fury, Luke didn't step away, nor take his hand from her shoulder.

"There's a holocron here..." Obi-Wan whispered. "I can feel it's power humming in the Force, I can hear it's song in the air. I don't think you were wrong, Leia, but even if you were, there is indeed _something_ here. A powerful something that I would very, _very_ much like to get my hands on."

"Standing around talking about it isn't bringing us any closer to it," Ahsoka said quietly, and the Sith Lord swiftly nodded.

"No, it isn't," Obi-Wan said, turning his back on the way forward and pointing at the two former Inquisitors. "Vehemis, Vitios, you two keep your senses sharp for your brothers and sisters. The darkness here is thick and it will be easy to hide, but you catch an inkling of them in the Force, the _slightest_ feel they might be here, I want to know about it."

"A two way street, Master..." Vitios cautioned. "If we can sense them, it's very likely they can sense us."

"Not if we're hiding better than they are..." Vehemis said smugly, a haughty smirk on her face as she eyed her more cautious comrade. "We're Darth Lumis' students. What chance does the Inquisitorius have?"

"That's my girl," Lumis drawled, flashing the Twi'lek a charming smile before he stepped under the archway and into the corridor leading deeper into the Temple, his lightsaber spinning on his palm briefly before he struck it on, bathing the area in red light. "Keep sharp, kids. The test isn't over until that holocron is in our possession."

They followed the Sith Lord into the ancient hallway, perfectly preserved carvings and statues illuminated by the saber casting dancing shadows on the wall that made it seem as though the darkness was a breathing, living entity, as if they were being watched, and while the Sith Lord and his acolytes appeared relaxed and comfortable, they rest of them felt uneasy, the chill in the air making the hairs on the back of their necks stand on edge. With a tense breath that did nothing to relieve the tightness in his chest, Kanan excused himself from Ahsoka's side at the rear of the group and jogged to catch up to the Sith Lord out in front of them.

"I've been thinking, Kenobi..." Kanan said under his breath, so quietly that Obi-Wan had to tilt his head closer to the Jedi to hear him over the thrum of the lightsaber and the echo of their footsteps. "What if this whole thing's a trap? What if the holocron's just a lure to get you here?"

"You believe the Sith Lords are behind it," Kenobi whispered, a statement, not a question, which Kanan answered with a hard look. "You mentioned as much before."

"This goes beyond the Inquisitors being dispatched to close a trap at the behest of their masters," Kanan hissed. "What if it's not the Inquisitors waiting for us, but the Lords of the Sith? What if this is the day the vision of your death comes to pass?"

Obi-Wan was quiet for a moment, the silence between them tense and heavy as he rolled the question over in his mind and decided how best to respond when there was truly no good answer. "I have considered that..." Obi-Wan said slowly. "It's a very real possibility, but no more likely than anywhere else since we don't know when or where it will happen, just that it will. But that is, in part, why we are here, isn't it? To sidestep that particular misfortune."

"But that's just it, isn't it?" Kanan said nervously. "If this is a trap, if this whole thing was planned by Sidious-"

"Taking steps to avoid my fate may very well be the thing that makes it come to pass," Obi-Wan hissed bitterly, fixing his furious golden gaze on the Jedi. "Don't believe for a second that the irony is lost on me. But I can't very well sit on my hands resigned to my fate and do _nothing_. Complacence is not the way of the Sith and I..." He stopped, his breath hitching as he choked on his own words, and with a growl and a shake of his head, Kenobi wiped his arm over his eyes and looked away from the Jedi. "I can't accept that's how I end..." Obi-Wan said, softer than before, so quiet that Kanan had to lean down to hear him. "I _won't_ accept it. Not like that..."

"So, do we have a plan?" Kanan asked after a moment of silence, watching as the Sith Lord drew up to his full height, shaking the morose weight of the sore subject from his shoulders. "We came prepared to fight Inquisitors, not Sith Lords, but if it came down to it...could we win?" Kanan waited for an answer, but was met with only silence, hard and contemplative, which was better than the swift no he had been expecting. "Three Sith Lords in the vision, and you've already beaten two of them in the past, right?"

"I have..."

"There are eight of us," Kanan continued in hushed excitement. "I kind of like the odds of three on eight."

"They have a possible six, if the Inquisitors are taken into account," Obi-Wan pointed out, a sad smile curling the edge of his lips when Kanan frowned in distaste at the rapidly shifting odds. "And that would only matter if it was a numbers game, which it is not. The eight of us could not defeat Sidious alone. Look at us. Two former Inquisitors, three children, a Jedi part-timer and a half trained Padawan..." Obi-Wan scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Hardly an inspiring lot..."

"...we have you."

"Me..." Obi-Wan scoffed bitterly. "Have you forgotten? The vision condemns me, and were it to happen now, before I find a way to circumvent it, I will face defeat."

"But-"

"Consider, Kanan," Kenobi said softly. "Perhaps there are no others in the vision because we threw our strength at the Emperor and failed. Perhaps I am alone because you all died first."

"Or maybe it's because we weren't there to fight beside you," Kanan insisted. "Maybe having us there is what you need to change your fate."

"Perhaps..." Obi-Wan quietly confessed. "But that isn't a risk I am willing to take. My death may be a certainty, but yours is not. You..." he said softly, looking over his shoulder at the group that trailed behind them, the teenagers grouped together and talking quietly among themselves. "The Fulcrum, the last Jedi, and the children we protect...far more precious than the life of a lone Lord of the Sith."

"It almost sounds like you're ready to die..." Kanan muttered, a concerned frown marring his face. "You might be a depraved son of a bitch, but we need you, Kenobi. We'll find a way to beat this thing. The thing you say you need to defeat the Emperor is just out of reach. Don't go throwing your life away."

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that," Obi-Wan said with a wry smile, the red in his eyes momentarily retreating before glowing gold with the pull of the good-natured kinship between them. "I've been careful and patient for over fifteen years. I can wait longer still. And..." He cleared his throat when he choked on his words, his chest tightening with apprehension. "And if...today is the day I go to meet my fate, I am not going down without a fight. Just remember, Kanan, we have children to care for, people we must protect, and our defense of them is a weakness our enemy can and will exploit."

"Noted..." Kanan grumbled, looking back at his student for a moment before he turned his gaze back on the path before them, the etchings and engravings glowing a brighter red the deeper they walked into the Temple, as if the carvings filled with blood the closer they got to the heart. "You've obviously given this a lot of thought. You got a plan?"

"I do," Obi-Wan said firmly. "At the first sign of a Sith Lord that isn't myself, you, Ahsoka and my acolytes will take the children and you will run as far and as fast as you can." Obi-Wan swiftly brought his finger to Kanan's lips when the Jedi began to protest, hushing him gently with the weight of the Force behind him that swiftly silenced Kanan. "You will leave this place..." Obi-Wan ordered in a firm, dangerous whisper. "You will defend them with your life, and today, defending them means running away from foes you cannot hope to overcome, am I understood? I am not willing to sacrifice them. Are you?"

"...no, I'm not willing to risk them," Kanan said somberly. "I'm not willing to risk any of us, yourself included. Can't you run with us?"

"Someone needs to stay behind to give the Sith Lord something to focus on so the rest of us can get away," Obi-Wan said, a slight, sad smile on his lips as he looked the Jedi over. "And there is nobody in the galaxy that Sidious wants within his grasp more than me. If the Force is with us, it will not come down to it, but if it does, it must be this way."

"...this is a shit deal, Kenobi."

"You said it, brother," the Sith Lord sighed. "We're getting closer, I can feel it. Keep vigilant, Kanan."

"I will..." the Jedi muttered as he slowed his pace, allowing the Sith Lord to pull out ahead of the group as he fell back, the others passing him as he once again took up his position at the rear. With a swift look and a light brush of his tense consciousness, Ahsoka slowed to fall in step beside him, the Jedi jumping when her hand laid lightly upon his arm.

"Troubled, Kanan?" she asked softly, her lips curling into a slight smirk when Kanan tensely chuckled and shook his head. "Didn't much like what our Sith Lord had to say? What were you two discussing?"

"The plan, more or less," Kanan sighed. "Worst case scenario stuff..."

"Like the realization of his vision?" she asked wryly, patting the Jedi's cheek with a smirk when he looked at her with momentary surprise, and then flashed her a tight, sheepish smile.

"I don't know why I thought I'd be the only one with the idea..." Kanan mumbled. "I mean, we're all thinking it..."

"Each day, it rises higher and higher in our thoughts," Ahsoka said quietly, grabbing Kanan's arm and stopping as the rest of the group did when the Sith Lord raised his hand and hissed for them to freeze. "We stand to lose a great deal were we to lose him," Ahsoka whispered, watching as Kenobi stepped forward, his hand outstretched as the shadows in the corridor seemed to flee before him, a writhing mass of living darkness that screeched and howled in fury and fear. Vengeful spirits, all refused the chance to give form to something more sinister by the Sith Lord that wielded full command of the Dark Side that fueled them, tricks and tests that Kenobi made clear that he had no patience for.

"So," Ahsoka said when they began to move again, slower this time as Kenobi checked the path ahead more carefully. "What did our Sith Lord have to say about his plan?"

"Nothing I like..." Kanan grumbled. "Kenobi wants us to run, leave him behind to deal with things while we get away. Not sure how I feel about that..."

"You must know that the Emperor is more than any of us can handle," Ahsoka said gravely. "Even Kenobi's afraid of him. You can't actually want to stay and fight."

"No, I don't, but..." Kanan growled, his teeth clenched hard as he rubbed his hands over his eyes. "The night the Jedi died, I ran when Master Billaba told me to. She was murdered so I could live. It didn't feel right then, and it doesn't feel right now."

"I understand..." Ahsoka said under her breath, giving a wide berth to a skeleton that lay caught in a rusty, ancient trap along the wall, one of many that protruded in jagged, twisted effigies along the walls and floors and ceilings of the corridors they walked. The outside of the Sith Temple may have been in pristine condition, but the mechanics of the traps inside had not worn the test of time nearly so well. "My Master told me to run as well. He may have fallen to the Dark Side, but Quinlan faced his death like a Jedi Master."

"We can't let that happen to Kenobi," Kanan said firmly. "I can't allow another person to die for me, not again, not so long as I can stand and fight. So...what should we do?"

"What should we do..." Ahsoka repeated softly, sighing heavily as she carefully stepped over another broken, rusted trap and another decomposing pile of bones. "We do what he says," she finally said. "We run."

"...what?"

"Some things are just beyond us, Kanan. We must be wise enough to recognize when a fight belongs to us, and when the Force intends that fight to belong to another." She smiled. "Master Yoda taught me that."

"Ahsoka, we _can't_ -"

"We can, and we will," the Torguta said firmly. "He doesn't go to face the Emperor alone without reason, and this isn't a decision he made lightly. Don't forget, this is a worst case scenario, there's no guarantee the Emperor will be here. But if he is..." She shrugged, a sly, secretive smile upon her lips. "I have a little emergency precaution in place."

"You do?" Kanan asked in a hushed, conspiratorial whisper. "What it is?" Ahsoka responded with silence. "Does Kenobi know?" Kanan tried again, and was answered with more silence. "Will it help?"

"I don't know..." Ahsoka finally responded. "It may, it may not. The plan isn't actually mine, but the one who thought of it seems fairly confident it will."

"Who-"

"We aren't the only ones searching for a solution to Kenobi's problem," Ahsoka said somberly, her step faltering when the Sith Lord shut off his lightsaber, the way ahead seeming simultaneously infinitely dark and eerily lit by glowing red as the corridor they traveled came to an end. They stood in silence for a moment, each of them breathing deep and strengthening their defenses as the Dark Side grew heavier and colder around them, so much so that Kanan could feel the strain and tension within all of them as even those steeped in the Dark Side fought to keep the oppressive darkness away, the deluge too much for even those acclimated to it to handle. Only the Sith Lord seemed unaffected, the void of his presence seeming to become even deeper as he greedily drank in the power of the Force, the vibrant glow of his eyes fading from golden to red.

The walked together out of the corridor and into a large, cavernous room, a shrine of sorts, or a place of worship, from the look of it, and in the center of the room, resting within a vertical alter of intricately and sharply cut black stone, was the beating heart that rested within the Sith Temple. A small, floating pyramid in the very image of the Temple itself, with golden capstones and intricate inlays upon smooth, glass surfaces that glowed blood red.

"That's it..." Kenobi said breathlessly, his shoulder seeming to sag with relief. "That's the holocron..." He flashed a quick smile at Leia, the girl still standing tense beside him, her fingers tightly grasping the mask to her chest. "See, dear? Nothing to be worried about, the vision you saw was a good one. You should have greater faith in your abilities."

"I-I suppose so..." Leia muttered, holding the mask out before her. "I just...I feel like I missed something, what could I have missed..."

"Maybe you missed _how_ we're supposed to get it," Ezra said with an irritated sigh, looking over the edge of where they stood and into a deep, black chasm that separated them from the alter in the center of the room. It was wide, far too wide to jump across, and if once there had been a bridge to span the void, it had long since deteriorated. As it stood now, there was no obvious way to get across to the holocron. "How are we even supposed to get to it!" Ezra said, loud enough for his voice to echo off the walls, and Kenobi shot him a disdainful look.

"It's obviously another test," Vehemis said with a roll of her eyes. "If just anyone could take it, it'd have been gone long ago."

"...you could throw me!" Ezra said excitedly as he grabbed Kanan's arm. "We do this all the time! I run and jump, and Kanan will use the Force to push me over!"

"And if you miss, you just fall forever," Luke said as he grabbed hold of Ezra's hand and pulled him away from the ledge. "Leia and I have jetpacks, we can just fly over there and take it."

"There must be safeguards against something like that," Vitios said as she quietly scanned the carvings on the wall. "Like Vehemis said, if it was that simple, it wouldn't be here." A low thrum rumbled through the air as the Force swirled around them, a high pitched, protesting whine echoing around them as the holocron shook, and a moment later, it was torn from the alter, the little pyramid slicing across the gap to float peacefully above the Sith Lord's waiting hand, a cold, irritated look in his eyes.

"Simpletons..." Kenobi said with a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose as the holocron floated before him, and his acolytes and the teenagers looked sheepishly at the ground. The holocron began to slowly spin, the capstone separating as the pyramid opened up, and the Sith Lord took a deep, long breath as he closed his eyes and felt the vibrating tension of power beat strong in his chest when the words in Ancient Sith swept through his mind as the holocron whispered its secrets to him.

The voice spoke in a cold, calculating tone, the speaker a tactician and a manipulator, one that used deception and betrayal as weapons to position for power. The words were poison, soft and confident and almost soothing to listen to, a thing that could hold easy sway over others and calmly command them to abandon what they believed in favor of this Sith's insidious views. It was filled with controversial teachings of the Force, dogmatic views on the natures of the Jedi, the Sith, and, most surprisingly, the Mandalorians, in addition to the in depth instruction on the advanced use of telekinesis as a weapon, one that could, with practice, be used to expertly wield a lightsaber, two lightsabers, three or even more with enough skill. All of this, spoken in Ancient Sith by a confident, disdainful female voice, not by the frightening roar of a wound in the Force as he had been expecting.

This was not Darth Nihilus' holocron, and the information Darth Lumis had needed and craved that seemed so close at hand was suddenly very, very far away, somewhere far beyond his reach. There was knowledge here, dangerous knowledge that he could certainly use to become stronger with study and practice, but nothing like the winning hand against Sidious he had been hoping to grasp.

"That...isn't Nihilus," Luke said quietly after the holocron had sealed shut and rested in Kenobi's palm, the Sith Lord sighing heavily as he slumped against the wall.

"No, it isn't..." Obi-Wan muttered, his eyes drifting to Leia when he felt the Force surge toward her, her hands shaking as she tightly grasped the mask and dove inside the past of the dark artifact.

"A holocron's a holocron, right?" Ezra asked hopefully. "You can still use it, can't you?"

"I can..." Obi-Wan said, his voice distant as he closely monitored Leia. "There is a great deal of knowledge to be gained from any holocron. Sometimes, the things we find aren't the thing we're searching for, but the things we need..." He chuckled softly, his hand tightening around the holocron, hard enough for the sharp edges to dig into his palm and fingers. "It would seem that this Sith Lord was blind, but could see perfectly using the Force as he vision. The things she's describing sound an awful lot like what you've been experiencing, Kanan." He held the holocron out toward the Jedi. "Perhaps the Force meant for this to be yours as well as mine."

"Maybe so," Kanan muttered. "But it's nothing I can use without you. You should hang on to it until we can have a look at it together back at the base." Obi-Wan was still a moment, the holocron humming on his palm, and he slowly closed his fingers around it and nodded.

"Father..." Leia gasped, Nihilus' mask falling from her hands, and the Sith Lord swiftly reached out and grabbed the artifact with the Force to save it from striking the ground and carefully took it from the air. "I'm sorry, I saw it wrong...this place isn't the resting place of Nihilus' holocron, it's the place where he was made. I should have known better, I should have seen-"

"An easy mistake, my child..." Kenobi whispered, his hand laid on her shoulder as he pressed the mask back into her hands. "Like visions, memories too can be warped and changed depending upon who witnesses them. And you were not wrong," he said lightly, tapping the top of her helmet. "There _was_ a holocron here."

"Not the right one," Leia grumbled. "Not the one you needed to kill the Emperor."

"Perhaps not, but I have time yet," Kenobi said flippantly with a confident smirk that put the girl at ease. "We have what we came for, let's get out of here," the Sith said, spinning the holocron in the air and slotting it into an opening in the wall. Immediately, the engravings began glowing as red light seeped through the carvings like blood, and with a deep rumbling, a hidden door beside them slowly slid open, revealing a passageway beyond lit by torches on the wall that ignited with ghostly blue flames as they drew near.

"Well, you were right about that holocron being a key to the Temple, Father!" Luke said brightly as he strode into the corridor, his hands clasped behind his back as he read the inscriptions on the wall. "It's too bad we didn't know about this passageway before, we could have saved a lot of time and energy." He paused, biting his lower lip as he thought. "Do you think your other Sith holocrons could have unlocked the temple like this one did?"

"Perhaps they could," Kenobi said with a shrug. "Perhaps, like a key, the holocron opens only one lock and the others would be ineffective. It's impossible to say."

"I'd love to find out," Luke said so brightly that Obi-Wan could feel the smile upon his son's face through the visor of his helmet. "Maybe after the galaxy is at peace, we can come back and try it. And if it doesn't work..." He shrugged. "Maybe we can find the doors your other holocrons unlock. It'll be an adventure!"

"...I'd like that," Obi-Wan said, the faintest smile playing on his face as he felt his chest swell with resolve.

"Hey, can I come too?!" Ezra asked excitedly, tugging on the hem of the Sith Lord's robe for a moment before dangerous, glowing red eyes narrowed viciously on him, and the teenager let go with a nervous laugh. Undaunted, he jogged to stride at Luke's side, a bright grin on his face. "Hey, can I come too?!" he asked again, and was this time met with a gentle hand upon his shoulder.

"Of course, if you like," Luke said warmly, earning a groan of irritation from the Sith Lord as he slammed the holocron into another opening in the wall, which only make Ezra grin wider, the swell in his chest and the deviousness he felt a strange contrast of light and dark, the Force flowing through him like the first bite of winter on a temperate autumn day. "I think you could be a great ally on a journey like that."

"Stars, I can't wait!" Ezra said as he followed the group out the newly opened doorway and found himself squinting against the light that filtered in from the cracks in the surface high above them. "Kenobi, when are you going to get this war going? How long is it gonna be before you kill the Emperor?"

"What is it do you think I've been doing for all these years, you insolent whelp?" the Sith Lord snarled, and a teasing grin spread across the teenager's face.

"Seems to me like you've been doing a lot of running and hiding..."

"All in good time, Bridger..." Kenobi said quietly, tossing his com to Kanan and commanding him to contact K2 for pickup, and the Sith stood taller as he searched the Force for disturbances. "Focus, there is nothing to be gained by fantasizing about your little date with Luke. We are not out of danger yet."

"I-it's not a date!" Ezra stammered, his face flushing bright red as he clenched his jaw and looked away from Kenobi. "It's an _adventure_! And it isn't a fantasy if it's _going_ to happen!" He flashed Luke a wild grin as he gestured back toward the Sith Temple. "I bet there are hundreds of places like this all over the galaxy! Not just Sith Temples, but old Jedi Temples too! We'll see them all!"

The Force around them was thick and heavy, the opaque waters showing no sign of ripples or waves, and over the excited pounding of his heart in his chest, Ezra did not hear the deep thrum of a lightsaber slicing through the air. His chest seizing with fear as he heard Ahsoka, Kanan and Obi-Wan shout for him to get out of the way, Ezra caught sight of a flash of red out of the corner of his eye and jumped to flip out of the way as a double-sided lightsaber spun out of the darkness toward him. He could feel the intense heat radiating off the blade as it singed the hairs at the nape of his neck, could smell burning fibers as plasma seared through loose clothing, and then there was nothing but agony as he crashed to the ground, every nerve in his body screaming in pain.

There was a brief moment of hesitation, a moment that felt insufferably long where Luke stared in disbelieving horror at his fallen friend before he rushed to his side, his hand pressed to Ezra's erratically heaving chest as he drew his blaster, the area around him lighting up with blues and greens and reds and whites as the others drew their lightsabers. Ezra's heart was beating so fast it nearly hummed as it pounded against his ribs, but a heartbeat, no matter how fast, was better than none at all. It had happened so quickly that Luke hadn't truly seen what had happened, but now that he was close enough to assess the damage, he could smell burned flesh, could see smoke rising from the cauterized wound midway up his thigh, and just out of reach, he spotted Ezra's severed leg.

Almost worse was that he hadn't sensed the attack. None of them had, and even now, as three figures wielding red lightsabers encircled them, Luke still could not feel them in the Force. With as much focus as he could muster through the panic and fear and the sinister howling laughter of the Dark Side, Luke called upon the Force to heal his friend, and though he could feel the warmth spreading through his fingers and the evening of Ezra's breath as he was soothed, it wasn't enough to sustain him for long.

"And there they are..." Kenobi said under his breath, a malicious grin on his lips as he eyed the figures that slowly circled them. "Loth Cats hunting the Terentatek...it seems as though the Inquisitors have come to play..."

"Doesn't seem like they're playing to me..." Kanan said between clenched teeth, taking quick glances over his shoulder to keep his eyes on Ezra and Luke, and the Sith Lord calmly laid his hand upon his shoulder.

"Go, be a Jedi, Kanan..." Obi-Wan whispered. "Protect the kids. We'll handle this." Kanan took a deep, calming breath, shot the Sith a tense, grateful look, and with both his blue saber and his Master's green in his hand, he cautiously backed up to stand protectively over Ezra and Luke, and with a look from her Father, Leia swiftly followed, her blaster drawn as she stood vigilant beside the Jedi.

"Is this your plan, Inquisitors?" Darth Lumis called to the Inquisitors, and the three suddenly stopped, their steps faltering as they backed up slightly. "Attack when you are severely outnumbered? Harm one of my own and...what? Wish _real hard_ and _maybe_ I wouldn't utterly destroy you?" The Sith Lord scoffed in disgust. "Have you learned nothing from your brothers and sisters who have tried exactly that and died for it?"

"I hear you've gone soft, Lord Lumis," a soft, teasing female voice called, her lightsaber spinning deftly in her hand. "Cavorting with Jedi, protecting weak, pathetic children..." She pulled up her visor, a cruel smirk on her lips as her eyes narrowed in sinister delight at the Twi'lek and the Chagrian. "Collecting weak, pitiful beaten sluts..."

"Oh, I have _had it_ with this bitch!" Vehemis snarled, striking her lightsaber against the ground and sending sarks showering up before her as she poised her blade over her shoulder. "For years, I've been dreaming of tearing your head from your shoulders, Seventh Sister..."

"A pity I've always been better than you," the Inquisitor purred, and the savage growl in Vehemis' throat was silenced when Lumis laid his hand upon her shoulder.

"Divide and conquer," he whispered to his acolytes and Ahsoka. "Do not let them come together, do not let them near our children, and _do not let them live_."

Before another word could be said, Ahsoka shot forward, her white and green blades held in a relaxed, backhanded grip as she rushed toward the female Inquisitor before her. Without wasting a moment, the Inquisitors threw their sabers at their surrounded prey, the red weapons' rapid spinning aided by the mechanics in their hilts to slice through the air in an unblockable, deadly circle, and without even so much as slowing down, Ahsoka slid under the Seventh Sister's lightsaber, skidding to swiftly change her path, and sprinted toward the smaller male off to the side. Cursing when the Togruta shot toward him, the Eighth Brother extended his hand to call his saber back to him, the screaming blade rapidly cutting a sharp turn and rotating in the air to cut vertically toward Ahsoka, the red plasma slicing an angry, molten trail in the ground on its deadly path.

Sensing the danger drawing swiftly closer, Ahsoka shut her sabers off and returned them to her belt as she ran faster, and when she felt the heat of the Inquisitor's blade burning at her heels, she kicked off the ground to flip over the weapon, the spinning saber rotating as if to follow her trajectory. As she flipped over the lightsaber, just barely leading the slicing blade, time seemed to move impossibly slow for Ahsoka, a moment of intense focus making the blades visible in their bleeding trail, and with perfect precision, she reached out and gently wrapped her fingers around the saber's hilt. Time rushed to catch up to its normal flow the moment the weapon's hilt touched her palm, and allowing the weapon to continue being pulled toward its Master, Ahsoka sprinted alongside the spinning blade the moment her feet his the ground, helpfully guiding it toward its target.

There was a moment of shock, of brief hesitation as his saber was so effortlessly snatched out of the air, and the Eighth Brother swiftly released his Force grip on the weapon and jumped only a fraction of a second before the blade sliced a molten trail through the ground where he stood. The moment Ahsoka's feet touched the ground, she spun around to put the weight of momentum into the rotating saber as she hurled it straight into the air after the Eighth Brother. The blades corkscrewed toward him in uneven ribbons of light, the spinning weapon less a deadly disk than an uneven sphere, and the Inquisitor was forced to twist his body in the air, managing to narrowly miss the erratic blade as he threw he unevenly flipped. The lightsaber cut dangerously close to his head as it shot up high into the air, and again, the Eighth Brother reached out to call the blade to his hand as he attempted to correct his off-balance spin before he landed.

The lightsaber stopped, the blades wavering in midair as it fought against the sudden stop of it's rapid spinning before obeying the call of the Inquisitor and flying toward his hand. His blade was just out of reach when the Eighth Brother heard the all too familiar thrumming hiss of two lightsabers igniting in perfect unison, felt a swift, unbearable searing pain erupt in his side and spread quickly across his torso, and for just a moment, saw the lower half of his body fly over his head just before he caught a flash of white light just out of the corner of his eye as Ahsoka severed his head from his shoulders.

Darth Lumis didn't move as the Inquisitor's spinning blades shrieked toward him, only watched Ahsoka take off toward their attackers out of the corner of his eye, a wry smirk tugging at the edge of his lips as one of the weapons was suddenly pulled off its trajectory, called back to its master so he could intercept the Togruta. It was too late, Lumis knew before Ahsoka had even managed to pluck the weapon out of the air, the Eighth Brother's threat ended before it even began. Feeling the Dark Side surge through his blood, the Sith Lord hissed for Vehemis and Vitios to still themselves when their furious tension in the Force peaked and it seemed as though they may recklessly charge toward the other Inquisitors.

Reaching his hand out toward the howling sabers, the veins in his hands and arms glowed blue with the electricity that surged through him, and with a sweeping gesture of his hands, the spinning red blades cut wide, circling around the group instead of slicing through them as the Sith Lord redirected them. Lightning shot from his fingers as the Force held the Inquisitor's weapons in a tight grip, electricity dancing up and down the blades, the bleeding trails leaving arching sparks of electricity in the air as the high pitched shriek of the charged lightsabers echoed around them as they were flung back toward their owners. With his hands upon his acolyte's shoulders, the Sith Lord hissed his orders to them as he nudged them forwards, and with lightsabers gripped tightly in their hands, they ran in the sparking trail of the Inquisitor's spinning blade toward the Seventh Sister, while he turned his sights on the towering Fifth Brother, a cruel smirk on his lips.

His fingers slowly wiggling at his side, Lumis watched as his towering target barked curses as he dodged his sparking saber, the Force lightning making it impossible to grab, and the weapon sliced past him to cleave a deep, molten trench into the ground behind him. The Inquisitor swiftly turned, his hand extended to call his saber to him when the blades sputtered off, and the hilt stopped in midair and clattered to the ground when the frigid grip of the Dark Side clamped down around him, his boots scraping the ground as the Sith Lord began pulling him back to him. Panic filled the Inquisitor, his heart jumping to pound in his chest as he began running, but for every step he took, he moved further backwards.

Gritting his teeth to bite off the strangles cry in his throat, the Fifth Brother fell to the ground as his feet were pulled out from under him, his hands clawing at the ground in a futile attempt to drag himself away, but the Force continued to pull him back, as if the Sith had him by a rope that could not be undone. Eyes wide and darting around his surroundings for any sign of salvation, the cold knot in his stomach grew as he watched the flash of a white lightsaber slice through the Eighth Brother's neck. Sharp, tortured screams echoed across the ghostly ruins, and the Fifth Brother's frightened gaze snapped to his other side to see two gracefully spinning red blades cut through an ankle, a wrist, an elbow, a knee as the Seventh Sister was slowly dismembered by the traitorous former Inquisitors.

A surge of panic and terror filled him, ran cold in his blood and seized his heart, and with it came the breath of the Dark Side, hungry and eager to feed on the fear that gripped him. With a frantic, desperate grasp for power, the Fifth Brother found it, his lightsaber flying to his hand as he thrashed free of the Sith Lord's cold grip, and he quickly knelt up as his weapon ignited in his grasp and swung around to lash out at the man behind him. A sharp, sizzling hiss filled the Inquisitor's ears as his blade collided with the Sith Lord's, drawn without the Fifth Brother even noticing, and with a snarl of terrified rage, he spun around to rise to his feet and charged at Darth Lumis.

It was a futile effort, the Inquisitor's swings wild and savage and powerful in his desperate fight for his life, using his large size to the best of his advantage, but Lu mis was lithe and swift, his movements graceful and elegant as he effortlessly blocked and dodged each strike. The Fifth Brother threw everything he had into his fight against death itself, but Lumis just seemed...bored, a look of almost impassive irritation on his face as he watched the last of the Inquisitorius struggle against the inevitable tide, and for just a moment, the Sith Lord wondered if this was what his own resistance looked like in the eyes of Darth Sidious.

An irritated scowl crossed Lumis' lips, raising his saber to block a powerful downward strike as his second saber flew from his belt to his hand, and with a flash of blue and a swift downward strike, searing pain exploded throughout the Fifth Brother's body as his legs were cut out from underneath him. The Inquisitor howled in pain as the blackened stumps of his legs slammed against the cold, ashen ground, and desperately staving off the sinking, sickening realization that his fight was at an end, he swiftly brought his saber up to catch the lazy, downward strokes of the Sith Lord's two blades, blue and red sparking and hissing against his own as his vision tunneled to focus on the cruel, molten glow of the eyes above him.

"P-please..." the Inquisitor stammered through grit teeth as Lumis pressed down harder upon him, his arms shaking as pain shot through him. "Please, I-I can pledge myself to you! Spare me, Master, and I can serve you better than those two bitches ever could!"

"I'm afraid I'm not recruiting today..." Lumis said indifferently as he leaned in closer, his eyes narrowing as he grabbed the Inquisitor's mind, so filled with pain and terror that the Sith Lord could see nothing beyond it. "Where are your Masters?"

"M-my Masters?" the Fifth Brother asked so innocently that Lumis felt his own rage spike as the Dark Side roared around him.

"Vader, Maul, _Sidious_!" the Sith snarled. " _Your Masters_! Where are they! It's _embarrassing_ that they skulk around in the dark like _rats_ instead of facing me themselves!"

For just a moment, the confusion on the Fifth Brother's face was deep and genuine, his fear forgotten as his pain-addled brain tried to understand what the Sith Lord was speaking of, and when the Inquisitor mumbled, "They sent me, my Lord, they are not here..." Lumis believed him. Or at least believed that the man truly did not know anything about his Masters. In the next moment, a sharp whine echoed through the air, and Lumis felt searing heat on his skin and the wind blow through his hair as a bolt of red plasma energy rushed past his face and struck the Inquisitor right between the eyes, killing him instantly. Lumis switched off his weapons and quickly stepped out of the way as the double sided lightsaber fell from limp hands as the large body sagged to the ground in a lifeless heap.

The silence around them was heavy and oppressive, the Force calm and still and thick with death, and quickly looking at Ahsoka, the Togruta quietly running back to the group after quickly dispatching of the Eighth Brother, and at Vitios and Vehemis, the women standing over the dismembered body of the Seventh Sister as they continued to mutilate it, Obi-Wan turned his attention to the fallen teenager and his guards. Kanan had scooped Ezra up into his arms, holding his barely conscious Padawan close to his chest, Leia standing close to the pair, her head bowed and the mask held tight in her hands, and Luke stood defensively before them, his blaster rifle propped against his shoulder, the barrel glowing red with the heat of the recent discharge.

"We need to get going," Luke said as he powered down his blaster and slung it back into the holster on his back. "Ezra needs medical attention as quickly as possible or he isn't going to make it."

"I agree, no good can come from lingering in this place..." Obi-Wan muttered. "Kanan, did you manage to get through to K2?"

"Barely..." Kanan whispered as he clutched Ezra closer to him. "The connection was very poor, I'm not sure he could hear me. I think he said the scans for life are still failing, and there have been no other ships detected."

"Kriffing no other ships..." Kenobi snarled, snatching the com device from Kanan's belt and punching in the frequency to contact the _Umbra_. "The Inquisitors were _here_ , like hell there were no other ships...K2!" he snapped into the com when a burst of static came in through the other end. "We need immediate pickup, get a bead on us and come get us." There was nothing, save for the grating sound of inconsistent static before the com shut off, the fragile connection lost entirely, and cursing under his breath, the Sith Lord pocketed his com, and with a heavy sigh, laid a gentle hand on Ezra's head.

"How could we let this happen!" Ahsoka said as she returned to the group, quickly laying her hands on Ezra's chest and back and pulsing the warmth of the Force through his body. "They came out of nowhere, how could we not have seen them coming?"

"I couldn't sense anything," Luke mumbled, his voice heavy with guilt. "There was no ripple in the Force, no warning, no sign of their presence at all. How is that even possible?"

"For them, it isn't..." Kenobi snarled, his eyes darting up toward the stone sky to look for the opening they had fallen through, some place where they could go that could perhaps make it easier for a signal to get through to the _Umbra_ , but he could see nothing at all. Either the stone had miraculously repaired itself, the Dark Side was warping their perception, or the strange folding of the Force or the labyrinthian tunnels within the Sith Temple had somehow transported them elsewhere. He looked up at the Sith Temple looming above them and wondered if this was even the same pyramid they had first entered.

"If they can't conceal their presence, how could this have happened?" Luke asked again. "Leia and I can do it, but that's only because we learned it from you, Father, and there isn't anyone who can do it like you can."

"And where do you think _I_ learned it from, Luke..." Kenobi said grimly, and Luke shivered, his hand tightening around Ezra's as his gaze drifted to the lifeless heap of the Inquisitor he killed before he swiftly averted his eyes.

"You think it likely that Sidious is here?" Ahsoka asked, and Obi-Wan hissed, muttered to himself in Ancient Sith for a moment as he dipped into the Force, as black and cold and still as ever.

"The Inquisitor didn't seem to believe so," Kenobi said, gesturing to the body on the ground. "But that doesn't mean he isn't, and _something_ concealed the Inquisitors' presence from us. Be it Sidious' power or the madness of this place, I don't want to stay here long enough to find out." The Sith Lord whistled, sharp and shrill, and Vitios and Vehemis looked up from where they stood, switched off their lightsabers, and ran as fast as they could to stand before their Master

"The Inquisitors had to arrive here somehow," the Sith Lord said firmly as he eyed his acolytes. "In the event that we can't get through to the _Umbra_ , we need a way to get off this rock. Find their ships and bring them to me. Quickly, girls, time is of the essence, but stay cautious and stay together. Something is out there, and I would be pleased if none of us find out what it is." Only taking the time to give their Master a swift bow of acknowledgment, Vitios and Vehemis sprinted out into the ruins of the city and disappeared into the darkness, and Obi-Wan let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"What are we supposed to do, Father?" Luke asked, his voice straining with fear and tension as his hand tightened around Ezra's. "We can't just stand around waiting in the hopes that they find something."

"I...might have an idea about that," Leia said quietly, holding the mask up and using it to point to the apex of the pyramid behind them. "The Temple is a weapon. If we activate it, we could use it to blast a hole in the shell so we can get a signal through, K2 can get a visual on us, and he'd have a way to get the _Umbra_ down here to get us."

"Are you sure?" Luke asked hopefully, and Leia swiftly nodded.

"I'm sure, I saw it in the mask. Everything that happened here...this weapon did all of it."

"Oh, so the Temple's just a weapon that devastated a planet..." Kanan said flatly. "We sure activating this thing's a good idea?"

"At the very least, being closer to the surface might give us a better chance of getting a signal through," Kenobi said, patting Leia on the back as he turned toward the pyramid. "Standing around isn't going to save Ezra. Let's go."

The slow jog they started at quickly became a swift run up the steps of the pyramid until they were sprinting at full speed up the zigzagging flights, the Force and the urgency of their situation driving them faster with each step. It was not long before they reached the top of the tiered pyramid, the ornate red crystal capstone looming above them just at the top of a final staircase. Taking a moment to catch his breath and make sure the others were alright, Kenobi walked over to a pedestal at the base of the stairs and slotted the holocron into the opening, the engravings etched into the black stone glowing a deep, vibrant red as the Temple seemed to come to life, the ground humming beneath their feet with the breath of power that rushed through the structure. As the Temple drank in the power of the holocron, the crystal capstone began to rise, lifting off the main structure and separating at its edges to form four points reaching high above them, the focusing point for the weapon that Leia said the Temple was.

"Everyone alright?" Kenobi asked when the rumbling had ceased and the Temple had stopped moving, reaching for his comlink to attempt to contact the _Umbra_ and a mumbled chorus of affirmatives followed as Ahsoka laid he hand upon Ezra's chest, the warmth of the Force passing through her into the wounded teen.

"He's stable enough for now," Ahsoka said quietly. "Any luck reaching K2?"

"Not yet..." Kenobi muttered, hissing as he punched in a new frequency to contact his acolytes. "Looks like we're going to have to blast through to the surface, though we might be able to use the Temple to focus and amplify the signal."

"Let's get to it," Kanan said grimly, and after quickly checking in with Vitios and Vehemis to inform them of the plan, the two women reporting no ships yet, Kenobi tossed the holocron to Luke and gestured for them all to follow him as he ran up the steps toward the alter at the top of the pyramid beneath the enormous capstone.

It was an echo of the shrine that lay deep in the heart of the Temple, the entire area stained red by the glowing crystal capstone above them, the alter in the center designed to harness and focus the power of the holocron. The intricate beauty of the place, the overwhelming power of the Force singing in the air around them, the way the Dark Side twisted and bent was lost on Darth Lumis, the Sith Lord freezing in his tracks as he stared at the black robed, hooded figure that stood before the alter as the Dark Side parted, silent and still, _waiting_ for him, pale yellow eyes glowing with cruel amusement from the shadows of his hood.

The others saw it after Kenobi did, and nobody had to be told to run for them all to swiftly turn around and sprint from where they came, only to have them skid to an abrupt halt when they found themselves staring at the tall, imposing figure of Darth Vader, standing silent at the top of the stairs, his crimson blade in hand. Beside him, Obi-Wan could hear Luke and Leia whimper pitifully through their helmets, their thin frames trembling as they stared paralyzed with fear at their biological father, their presence in the Force almost seeming to collapse in on itself into nothingness in an instinctual, desperate effort to hide. He could feel Ahsoka tense, rage and fury rushing through her as a deep, wrathful growl reverberated in her chest at the sight of her Master's slayer, her hands gripping the hilt of Quinlan's lightsaber tight as she was caught in the sway of vengeance.

From out of the corner of his eye, Obi-Wan saw another flash of red, another saber strike on from the shadows, this one held in the twitching hand of the half-crazed Maul, his presence unfocused, manic, and unpredictable, violent and dangerous in his madness, the man stalking like a beast as he guarded another side from where they could escape. As they were, fearful and enraged and dangerously protective, Kenobi knew they were in no state to fight, barely in a state to run, unbalanced as they were with the wrathful howling of the Force tearing into them, a thing which centered the Sith Lords, but would make the rest of them easy prey.

His entire being calm with resignation, his heartbeat slow and even with resolve, Obi-Wan laid his hand upon Ahsoka's shoulder, and the moment passed, the Togruta snapping out of her wrathful haze, and keeping her eyes upon the man that was once her friend Anakin Skywalker, she took her hands from her lightsabers, Yoda's words echoing in her mind as she looked at the fearful, broken children with them. He was right. This wasn't her fight.

"Darth Lumis..." Sidious said in a soft, malicious rasp that dripped with amusement and triumph, his hand passing casually through the air causing the ground to shake beneath their feet as the capstone of the pyramid began to reform and lower back to the ground. "We have been expecting you."

Not a word was said, just a single moment of understanding passing between Ahsoka and the Sith Lord as her eyes met his, the capstone descending swiftly in Sidious' efforts to seal them all in as Vader and Maul stalked closer. The Togruta tightly grabbed hold of Luke and Leia's wrists as she turned and ran for the only unguarded opening, dragging the screaming teens behind her as they struggled to pull free, desperate to run toward their father as he drew his lightsaber and stood between them and the other Sith Lords. A sudden push of the Force from Kanan as he sprinted toward them sent Luke, Leia and Ahsoka skidding across the ground underneath the closing crystal walls, and a moment later, the Jedi slid underneath to safety, Ezra clutched tightly in his arms. For just a moment, scrambling to look beneath the closing walls and screaming in desperation when they found the space too small to squeeze through, the twins saw their Father, his golden eyes upon them for what seemed like an eternity be fore he turned, lightsaber raised, to face the Lords of the Sith.

The walls closed with a deafening thud, and there was silence.


	56. Sidious

**AN:** **Happy December, you guys! Told you I wouldn't keep you waiting for too long! We're at the resolution of the act two arc, and I have to say, it's hugely satisfying. These last two chapters I've had in mind since almost the beginning of writing this entire series, and boy does it feel good to have it out. I hope you enjoy it as much as I've enjoyed writing it.**

 **We're headed into act three next chapter, and I've been itching to get to this shit for a LONG time. If you're the kids that are familiar with Rebels, you know EXACTLY where we're headed, and why I'm so stoked. But, before I get to writing the next chapter, I have some general fic housekeeping to do, namely going back and editing one of the earlier chapters. Nothing big, but I've had a few ideas that I really freaking love, and I'm going to need them going forward. For those of you unwilling to go back and comb through for changes (which should be all of you) honestly don't worry about it. It's literally just some physical descriptions that need to be adjusted for consistency.**

 **Next Chapter really shouldn't be very long, but still, give me a few weeks. Holiday shit and editing and two jobs and Life In General do take priority.**

 **LOVELIES! Do enjoy!**

 _Chapter 56: Sidious_

The Force sang, a savage, beautiful melody of triumph and cruelty overlaying a haunting undercurrent of mournful melancholy, a thing both cacophonous and oddly soothing as it sank deep to pulse within blood and reverberate bones with power, dragging every heartbeat and every breath into perfect harmony with the dark symphony humming in such sweet, chaotic wrath. Beyond the Force, the silence was thick and heavy and oppressive with tension so tight it threatened to snap if the slightest breath was out of sync with the current of the Force, the deafening void punctuated only by the low, even thrum of lightsabers, the ponderous rhythm of Vader's breathing, and the occasional, erratic manic laughter and incoherent mumbling from Maul.

Time seemed to stand still as Darth Lumis and Darth Sidious stared each other down, both men calm and composed, their impassive faces unreadable, the Dark Side around them still and silent as the beasts the Masters commanded lay in tight chains at the Sith Lords' feet. Taking a slow, deep breath, Lumis reached out with the Force to brush against Sidious' consciousness in an attempt to gauge his foe and, as he expected, felt nothing but the smooth, flawless, powerful shields that guarded the Sith Master, not a single flaw in that perfect mirror sheen, not a single crack with which he could grasp for purchase. Sidious did not return the gesture, only stood still and silent in his absolute confidence. There was no need for him to size up his opponent, not when he knew how this fight would end.

Despite all the time and the distance between them, despite their fervent opposition and the bitterness of their parting, despite the Dark Side straining and singing for death and blood and victory, in the sparking tension between the Sith Lords Lumis and Sidious, there existed more than animosity between them.

"How long do you suppose it has been since so many Sith Lords gathered in one place?" Lumis asked with a wistful sigh, breaking the heavy silence and tearing his eyes away from Sidious to let his gaze linger around the serene beauty of this sacred place, the shrine of the Dark Side humming with power and glowing with ethereal red light from the elegant dome above.

"Not since Darth Bane rose to power, certainly," Lumis continued when Sidious remained silent and still. "A thousand years at least. And now, nearly twenty years after our revenge on the Jedi was enacted, nearly twenty years of Sith rule over the galaxy, and where do we stand?" A bitter scowl crossed Lumis' face as he finally looked back at his former Master. " _Four_ of us, and you, Sidious, hide what you really are behind the mask of the Emperor...not exactly the grand revival of the Sith we had imagined, now is it?"

"Can you even call yourself Sith anymore, Lumis?" Sidious asked, the look of disgust on his wizened features mirroring the expression on his former apprentice's face. "Carousing around the galaxy with degenerates and Jedi, emerging from your hiding places to prove yourself a mild irritant and nuisance before disappearing again into your squalor like a rat..." He scoffed, his back straightening as he eyed the indignant Lumis. "I raised you to be a lord, a predator among the herd, and you make a mockery of the gifts you have been given."

"Only because you forced my hand, _Master_ , it didn't have to be this way," Lumis said tightly, anger and pain making the Dark Side thrash against its chains. "We could have ruled this Empire together, like we planned." A cocky smirk slowly spread across his lips as he looked away from the Emperor and to the towering figure of Vader off to his side. "Until you abandoned me when I became too much for you to handle. Tell me, how _is_ your new apprentice? Is dear, sweet Anakin everything you ever dreamed of?"

"Anakin Skywalker is dead," Sidious said impassively, but the sudden rush of rage coloring the Force red didn't pass by Lumis' notice, nor did the tightening of Vader's hand around his lightsaber.

"Oh, don't give me that shit..." Lumis drawled with a roll of his eyes. "We both know that beneath that mask is the same petulant asshole I watched burn on Mustafar..." A flash of anger and resentment accompanied the cruel smirk that touched Lumis' lips as old, scarred wounds were slowly pried open, the dark blood seeping and pulsing from them making the Dark Side roar and snap with wrath and hunger. "The same man I so recently utterly destroyed on Lothal. I brought you countless victories, Sidious, _I_ won battles and triumphed over every challenge thrown at me. I delivered you the Empire itself, and you betrayed me for _failure_."

"How fitting, then, that you were delivered to me by the holocron of Darth Traya, the Lord of Betrayal."

The tension between them became so thick, so heavy, so tight that the air seemed to vibrate with strain, threatening to snap into violence with even the slightest movement or ill-timed breath. The taut line between the Sith Lords grew suddenly and unexpectedly slack and limp when Lumis slumped his shoulders, the tension gone in an instant with a heavy sigh, the piercing, anticipatory screech of the Dark Side replaced with the muted hum of resignation when a weary Lumis closed his eyes.

"I didn't think you were one for poetry..."Lumis muttered, opening tired eyes as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "It was a cunning plan, I'll give you that. Tell me, did you come to this place because you knew I would be here, or did you plant the holocron here to lure me into your trap?"

"A trap..." Sidious sneered, dismissing the idea with a disgusted wave of his hand. "I am above such petty things. It was the will of the Force that brought you to me, Lumis. I did not need to do anything to see your fate come to pass."

"It hasn't happened! Not yet!" Lumis snarled, the resigned calm breaking in a snap of frozen fury violent enough to make Vader's muscles tighten and Maul resume his feral pacing, but Sidious remained still and silent, unaffected by the flash of temper. Lumis had been ready to stand between the Sith and his children without a second thought, but he was not yet ready to die, not when he had so much left to do, not when he had promised the spirit of Satine he would fight to the bitter end. When his road was at an end, forge a new path, she had said, and Lumis would do just that.

"You struggle against the inevitable," Sidious said quietly. "The harder you fight, the faster your destiny rises to meet you. You know how this ends."

"Not here, not today!" Lumis growled, his golden eyes stained blood red as he let loose the Dark Side within his veins and let it run savage within him. "It's no mistake that I found that holocron in the most _obvious_ place when a thousand years of Sith Lords hungry for power couldn't find it! Even _you_ missed it, Sidious. The Force isn't done with me yet!" Slowly, Sidious began to chuckle, a humorless, cold thing that sent a chill up Lumis' spine and left him feeling tense and unsettled, the ferocious, snarling Dark Side taking cautious pause at the other Sith's cruel amusement.

"It is true I have walked the halls of this place many times before and found nothing," Sidious said in a voice heavy with grim satisfaction. "I do not know why the temple guided to the holocron, but it doesn't matter. In delivering it to you, the Force brought you to me, and the holocron will be mine when I kill your Jedi and his rebel friends..."

"You're going to be disappointed in that..." Lumis said with a wry, knowing smirk. "I think you'll find Kanan Jarrus far more difficult to kill than you seem to believe."

"Kanan Jarrus is already dead," Sidious growled, his eyes narrowing as the hissing Dark Side coiled around him like a serpent, the slightest twitch of his hand betraying the sparks of electricity that danced between his fingers. "I have seen his death, a pitiful end consumed in the roar of flames, and you will show me where to find the rest of your insignificant band of rebels when I raze your mind. Your body will continue to serve the Empire for a very, very long time, a nexus of the Dark Side contained within an empty, hollow vessel through which the Force will freely flow."

"A tall order, even for you, Sidious," Lumis said evenly, his blade spinning in his hand as he brought it up defensively over his shoulder, his eyes darting to towering Vader and twitching Maul as both apprentices readied themselves for combat. "You're going to have to keep your dogs from killing me, and that _may_ be asking a bit much..." A nervous, manic chuckle erupted from Maul's mouth, and Lumis turned his attention to the mad Zabrak, a wolfish grin on his lips. "Oh, I haven't forgotten about you, _pet_. You be a good boy for me and wait, I'll be with you shortly..."

"You have already lost, Lumis!" Sidious snarled viciously, Vader and Maul taking a step toward their opponent at their Master's swift tug at the Force. "And your time is up. Come, meet your fate. Even your struggle against us here has been foretold. You _cannot_ win."

"Yeah, well, we'll see about that."

The crack of lightning snapped through the charged air as electricity so deep blue it appeared purple shot from Sidious' fingertips, the barrage slamming into Lumis' ready lightsaber so hard it pushed the Sith Lord backwards, his boots leaving long, black skid marks on the reflexive polish of the floor. Gritting his teeth against the crushing pressure of Sidious' Force Lightning, Lumis' golden eyes shot to Vader as the imposing man rushed toward him, and angling his saber sideways as he sidestepped the electric storm, he allowed the lightning to surge along the length of the blade, a swift spin of the weapon trapping the dancing sparks along the blazing, angry red lightsaber.

A swift slice through the air sent a wave of arching sparks toward Vader, the slightest hesitation in his step as he swept his own saber before him to dispel the electricity a clear sign that despite Vader's humiliating defeat at Lumis' hands on Lothal, Sidious had done nothing to correct the cyborg's crippling weakness to Force lightning. Catching a second volley of lightning from Sidious just as a savage, feral snarl of rage tore from Maul's throat as the Zabrak sprinted forward, Lumis captured the electricity again on his blade as he turned to face Vader, the smaller Sith Lord ducking under a heavy downward swing. Hissing in frustration as he was forced to retreat from Vader's highly aggressive assault, Lumis slid into his easy defensive, grasping his lightsaber's hilt with two hands to allow him better control over his blade as Vader's heavy strikes slammed against it.

His focus continuously pulled toward Sidious as his cruel laughter echoed over the sound of clashing lightsabers, Lumis rose his blade to catch Maul's savage strike as he joined the fight and deftly spun out of the way, allowing Maul's blade to move his and using the force of the slash to guide a now off balance Maul right into Vader's path. Snarling a wrathful curse, a brush of Vader's gloved, cybernetic hand threw Maul out of his way as he bore down upon Lumis, a heavy, cleaving slash cutting effortlessly through the ground where the renegade Sith had stood only seconds before, the man having deftly stepped out of the way to position Maul between himself and Vader once again. The hairs stood on the back of Lumis' neck as the Force surged through the air, and catching sight of Sidious out of the corner of his eye, a clear, open path between the two men, Lumis threw up his free hand just as Sidious raised his own, lightning arching through the air from both Sith Lords' fingertips to violently collide.

The deafening crack of electricity pierced the air around them as the arcs collided in coiling serpents of lightning, twisting and snapping against each other and sending Lumis skidding back as the force of the energy pushed him back. Even through the piercing ringing in his ears, he could hear Sidious' cackling laughter deep within his mind, his gaze darting between Maul and Vader as the two Sith apprentices charged at him from opposite sides. His attention divided. Lumis grit his teeth, his heart racing as he felt the surging force of Sidious' lightning overtake his, the hissing, writhing ball of electricity driving ever closer toward him, and with a deep, calming breath, Lumis let go, severing the electrical connection between himself and the Sith Master. With no barriers between them, the lightning shot toward him, and reaching out, Lumis spun out of the way, grasping hold of the snapping arcs with the Force and slinging them toward the charging Vader as he swiftly turned to face Maul, an effortless parry of the Zabrak's spinning double-sided saber putting the savage beast between Lumis and Sidious.

Rapid slashes and stabs repeatedly rained down upon Lumis as Maul athletically moved around him, spinning and flipping and pressing forward as wild and ferocious as he was able, the sharp screech of his saber weaving bleeding ribbons of red through the air as he moved, and sliding into his defensive, Lumis met his every strike. Looking quickly to Sidious, still and silent as he watched, then to Vader, howling in outrage as he was pressed back by the force of the lightning he was holding at bay with his saber, a slight smirk touched Lumis' lips as he turned his full attention on his single opponent.

Meeting each of Maul's strikes as he deftly parried and dodged out of the way, Lumis retreated to lead the Zabrak further away from Vader and Sidious to give himself more time to work. Maul's strikes were fast and unpredictable, blow after blow sparking against Lumis' raised blade without a second's pause, and with a frustrated snarl, the Zabrak spun to throw added weight behind his next strike as he slammed his weapon down upon the other Sith. The slightest angling of his blade and a deft step off to the side send Maul off-balance, the blade of his saber hissing as it cut into the polished black floor, and Lumis used the momentary pause to switch to a delicate, one-handed grip on his own weapon, his now free handed extended before him as he grabbed hold of the Force and slammed it into Maul, throwing the hissing, feral man backwards, putting him between Lumis and Sidious once again.

The moment of vulnerability passed quickly, Maul's boots screeching against the ground as he swiftly got his balance and rushed forward to meet the insufferably calm, relaxed Lumis once again, the Zabrak's lightsaber raised and ready to slay the man he confusingly loathed and longed for. His heart humming in his chest as he sprinted toward his opponent, Maul suddenly stopped when the Force slammed around him like a vice, his fragile mental walls crumbling around him and allowing the so familiar tendrils of the Dark Side to worm their way through his mind. His lightsaber fell from his hand as he dropped to his knees, his hands clutching at his cranial horns and his jaw clenched tightly as he tried to force those prying fingers out, but to no avail. Lumis knew the winding paths of his mind, had cut most of those roads himself, and he walked those trails as if he owned them.

Gasping for breath, Maul clawed at his throat as he felt the cold close like chains around his neck and wrists, the heavy cuffs and collars binding him to his Master's will, and for all he struggled against the presence savaging his mind, he could feel himself welcoming Lumis into him like an old friend. He was released the moment his shoulders slumped in submission, his body collapsing to the ground when Vader ran past him, leaving Maul to be cast aside so Lumis could deal with the more urgent threat.

As before, Vader's strikes were heavy and precise, making up for his restricted movement and agility with brute strength that made defending blocks and parries a difficult affair, each clash of their weapons sending a jolt through Lumis' arms and causing his footing to slip upon the smooth floor. Sidestepping the next two powerful, cleaving strikes, Lumis swiftly spun and cut high, his blade aiming for Vader's neck, and hissed in irritation when his saber met Vader's, a swift deflection that would have torn Lumis' saber from his hands if he hadn't flipped around with it, landing gracefully on Vader's other side and slicing out toward his legs. Vader caught that strike too, and with a powerful, heavy cybernetic leg, kicked at the Sith Lord crouched low on the ground, only just missing as Lumis rolled away.

The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end just as Lumis rose to his knees and brought his saber up to block another of Vader's cleaving blows, and he looked swiftly over his shoulder to find Sidious standing a mere ten paces behind him, his glowing eyes amused, the grin on his lips cruel, his gnarled hands raised before him as electricity surged within them. With nothing to stand as a shield between himself and the elderly Sith Master, Lumis felt his chest seize with panic, and swallowing his nerves as he looked up into Vader's expressionless mask, his arms shaking under the heavy press of Vader's saber against his, he switched his weapon off as he pivoted on his knee, the sudden loss of contact causing Vader to pitch forward, his blade slamming hard and deep into the ground right beside Lumis just as lightning flew from Sidious' fingertips.

An inhuman howl of rage roared above the crackling sound of electricity as Vader wrenched his blade out of the ground, only just managing to catch the lightning thrown at the pair, the deep blue arcs slamming into his saber with such force he was pushed back, his boots screeching upon the ground. For just a moment, there was a clear path between Lumis and Sidious, a blissful moment he could turn his full attention upon the old Master, and without wasting the precious opening given to him, the hissing red blade spinning in his hand, Lumis charge forward, electricity surging through his blood as lightning shot from his fingertips at Darth Sidious. With an effortless, casual gesture, Sidious raised his hand, his own lightning colliding with Lumis' in a snapping, hissing mess of writhing arcs, his raspy cackle rising above the sharp crack of electricity.

Feeling the push-back of Sidious' power, Lumis dipped his blade into the stream of electricity as he flipped out of the way, running at Sidious at a full sprint the moment his feet hit the ground, the arching bolts of electricity that roared just past him making his entire being sing with the surging current. His full focus on the laughing Sith Master, Lumis dodged out of the way when Sidious moved his hands, the stream of electricity redirected to follow the Master's command, and splaying his fingers as he corrected his course, Lumis threw the weight of the Force into the bolts of lightning, sending the surging arcs scattering around the enclosed shrine like an electric explosion in a shrieking roar as it struck the engraved walls and the polished floors and the ceiling high above them.

In that moment, Sidious was vulnerable, no deep blue lightning at his fingertips, no blood red lightsaber in hand. In that moment, the laughter stopped, and Lumis looked into pale yellow eyes simmering with wrath, thin lips upon a wizened face curling into an impatient sneer. In that moment, Lumis was closer to Sidious than he had been since the Clone Wars so very long ago, out if reach still, but a few more moments, a few more steps and he would be close enough for his angry red blade to sink deep into the Master's vile, black heart. In that moment, Lumis felt triumph and elation surge through him even as the horrid, persistent vision rushed before his eyes, the pitiful fate that he would now see changed.

In the next moment, a wave of the Force crashed into Lumis, so powerful that he was swept off his feet and thrown through the air. Twisting in the grasp of the Force, Lumis flipped backwards to face Sidious, his saber sweeping before him to catch the lightning thrown from the Master's gnarled hands, the impact against his blade strong enough to send him slamming hard against the ground on the other side of the room. Groaning as he pushed himself up to his knees, Lumis looked up to see Vader's imposing black figure standing between him and Sidious, all the ground he had gained lost in an instant when he had allowed his old Master to capture his full attention. Eyes flicking briefly to twitching, fearful Maul as the mad Zabrak muttered and fought with himself, Lumis snarled as he rose to his feet, hissing a curse under his breath as he raised his saber over his shoulder and faced his opponent. He knew he should have dealt with Vader first.

Taking a slow, deep breath, Lumis spun the blade in his hand and sprinted toward Vader, the saber light in his grip, and as they met, as Vader swung his saber down in a vicious, cleaving slash, Lumis gracefully stepped out of the way, his blade barely grazing Vader's and swiftly swinging around to catch the next volley of lightning Sidious threw at him. Electricity making his blade crackle with a high-pitched screech, Lumis spun and sliced downwards, the lightning arching in the gap between himself and Vader, and with an angry mechanical grown and a swift cutting swing, Vader's blade dissipated the electricity, the next few wild slashes coming fast and hard at Lumis as he dodged.

This was not at all like their fight on Lothal. Vader's strikes were still hard and fast and brutal, each strike meant to cleave, to dismember, to kill, the large, imposing figure putting a heavy weight behind each strike that could not be meant head on. But unlike before, when the full weight of Vader's swings would send the man off-balance should his strikes miss, Vader fought more reserved, more balanced, his slashes not driven by the wild wrath that fueled him before, but by deadly efficiency. Vader had learned from their previous encounter, and with Sidious ready to throw torrents of lightning at him the moment the opportunity presented itself, it limited Lumis' freedom of movement.

It was also an advantage he could use against Vader.

Keeping his steps light and agile, Lumis evaded Vader's slashes and stabs, his own saber lightly dragging along the other blade to redirect the heavy strikes in the hopes of revealing an opening, but Vader recovered too quickly, his guard to secure. Spinning to follow Lumis as he moved around the cybernetic Sith, Vader slashed down hard at the man and Lumis swiftly ducked around him, lashing out with his saber to strike across his exposed stomach, only for Vader's blade to follow Lumis' in an effortless parry. A tight smile spread across Lumis' face when he felt the surge in the air, and a second later, the crackle of lightning snapped around them. Without turning to see Sidious behind him, Lumis deflected a slash, a stab, another slash, and ducked beneath an arching slice, slipping behind Vader and grinning when his outraged, mechanical howl cut above the hiss of lightning striking his blade.

Swiftly spinning, Lumis slashed hard and fast at Vader's back with a horizontal slice, the blade hissing as it sliced through the flowing black cape and only just missing the man as Vader lurched forward into the force of the lightning. Swiftly pivoting, Vader brought his electrified blade up and over his head into a savage downward slice, so fast it left no time to dodge, and Lumis swiftly raised his blade to block, the strength of the strike so strong, so powerful, that the impact of the sparking, hissing blades sent Lumis slamming down to one knee, his arms shaking under the efforts of resisting the hard, downward press of Vader's saber against his own, the hissing blade drawing closer and closer to him with each passing second, the ponderous, rhythmic sound of Vader's breathing clearly heard as the Sith apprentice pressed his full weight down upon his opponent.

It had been the moment Lumis was waiting for.

Straining against the weight of Vader, Lumis switched off his saber, reaching for one of the hilts on his belt as he pivoted on his knee out of the way and Vader pitched forward with a startled cry. His second saber igniting, Lumis swiftly dragged the blue blade across the back of Vader's knees, the plasma blade hissing as it connected with the metal of the cybernetic legs.

In the same breath as triumph pounded in his chest, searing, agonizing pain cut sharp across Lumis' back, from one shoulder blade to the other, his arms falling limply to his side as his lightsabers fell from slack fingers to the polished ground. Sweeping to his side as he stepped out of his spin, Vader held his saber up before him, his legs cut, but not severed, the sinking realization settling in Lumis' stomach that his saber had cut across, not through Vader's legs, the durability of his cybernetics significantly upgraded since his embarrassing loss on Lothal.

Looking up from the ground, Lumis locked eyes with Sidious, a cruel, triumphant grin upon the elderly Master's face, and with hands raised before him, lightning shot from his fingers to strike Lumis in the chest, the breath sucked out of him as he was slammed backwards, the slice across his back erupting in burning pain as it struck the ground. His heels scraping against the ground, Lumis attempted to push himself off the ground, but his arms would not obey his will, the greatest effort seeing his fingers twitch, but little more, his focus too shattered by pain to grasp and hold the Dark Side in the presence of the Sith Master Sidious. It was over. For as hard as he fought, as well as he fought, in a breath, Darth Lumis had lost.

"Kill him..." a soft, broken voice muttered when the rush in the air had died into heavy, oppressive echo of Vader's breathing and silence. "Kill him!" Maul snarled as he stalked closer, pacing when he felt himself too close to the fallen Sith Lord, his crazed, furious eyes never leaving Lumis. " _Kill him_!" he screamed, his voice raspy and hoarse and his saber called to his hand, the twin blades igniting when Maul closed his fingers around the hilt. He was silenced when he was lifted into the air, his blade dropping from his hands as he clawed at his throat, Sidious' cold, callous eyes looking upon the Zabrak with disgust.

"We are not going to kill him, fool," Sidious hissed, taking slow, measured steps to stand beside Vader, a raspy chuckle in his throat as he looked down upon pain-wracked Lumis, his movements becoming slow and sluggish as the shadowed claws of Sidious' presence grasped his mind, his golden eyes becoming muted and dull as oblivion overtook him.. "This is your destiny, Darth Lumis," Sidious rasped. "As I told you, it is pointless to struggle against it." He laid a gnarled hand upon Vader's arm, the apprentice neither moving nor acknowledging his Master's attention. "Well done, my old friend."

"Are we done here?" Vader asked, his voice monotonous and hollow, and with a slight nod from his Master, he turned away from him. "I will ready the ship for our return to Coruscant."

"Take Maul with you," Sidious said dismissively, a slight flick of his hand releasing the grip on the suspended Zabrak, the man falling to the floor with a loud thud. A soft, frustrated growl sounded from Vader's respirator, but he said nothing against his Master's wishes, only walked with slow, long strides toward the far wall, the other apprentice scrambling to follow after him.

They only made it a few steps when the air filled with the low groan of rumbling, the walls and ground shaking around them, and Vader and Maul swiftly turned, lightsabers igniting as they returned to Sidious' side, the old Master still and silent, his jaw clenched tight, his pale yellow eyes focused intently on the sloping wall across the shrine as it began to rise. This was not his doing, and worse, this was something he had not anticipated, something that had not occurred in his visions. Vader turned his gaze to prone, defeated Lumis for an explanation, for perhaps a hint of what the Sith Lord had done to so subtly alter what Sidious had foreseen, but the renegade Sith was still and silent, lost deep in the recesses of his own mind. The Dark Side began to thrash, hissing wildly as it retreated to coil around the Sith Lords like shadow before a flame, and before Vader had the chance to consider what had the Dark Side so disturbed, Ahsoka Tano slid beneath the slowly rising wall, swiftly rising to her feet and standing tall and fearless in the presence of the Lords of the Sith.

"It would seem that I left something behind," Ahsoka said, her voice smooth and even, her hand extended before her to call both of Lumis' fallen sabers to her waiting grasp, the blue blade igniting with a thrumming hiss as she pointed it at Lumis laying between them. "I'll just be taking that, and I'll be on my way."

"Ahsoka Tano..." Vader growled as he stepped away from Maul and his Master, his lightsaber gripped tightly in his cybernetic hand. "We meet at last. I have been searching for you for a very long time. Since you revealed yourself on Raada."

"Since long before that," Ahsoka said scornfully, her eyes narrowing as she took a step forward, clipping Lumis' red blade onto her belt as her hand rested on the hilt of her own lightsaber. "You've been hunting me since your massacre on Stewjon, since I learned the truth of what you are, _Anakin Skywalker_."

Silence sat heavy upon them, even the Dark Side stilling as it loomed over them with hungry anticipation, but Vader did not deny the accusation, only stood and stared at his proud former friend, his even, regulated breathing seeming to fill the room as it echoed off the walls. "You were a fool to come here," Vader hissed. "This creature is not worth saving. All he has done is lead you to the slaughter."

"That so?" Ahsoka asked wryly, arching her brow as she looked over the tall, masked Sith Lord, and instead of feeling fear as his visage was intended, instead of feeling wrath for the Master she had lost by his hand, when she stood in the presence of the man that used to be her friend, all she felt was a melancholy ache. "I fought beside you in countless battles during the Clone Wars," the Togruta ventured carefully, watching as Vader's posture stiffened, his hand clenching tighter around his saber. "You achieved victory after victory, hundreds of them under your command." She shook her head, a secretive, knowing smirk upon her lips. "But every single time you have stood against Obi-Wan, you have known nothing but defeat."

"Does this look like defeat to you?!" Vader snarled, sweeping his lightsaber through the air to point menacingly at Lumis upon the ground. "I am victorious! I have beaten your _precious_ Sith Master! It is _over_!"

"We'll see about that," Ahsoka said, taking a deep breath to center herself in the Force as the turbulent, wrathful Dark Side thrashed around her, striking out toward her but never managing to get close enough to touch her.

"You are irrelevant," Sidious sneered, his eyes narrowing at the intruder. "The events that have transpired here cannot be altered, his destiny cannot be changed. Vader," she hissed, gesturing dismissively before him. "Kill this insignificant."

Vader said not a word as he cut his saber through the air and began walking toward the Togruta, the woman standing tall and fearless as he drew closer. The Dark Side shrieked in warning, shrill and piercing enough that Vader's step faltered, his breathing suddenly fast and uneven as he stopped and slowly began to retreat as a soft, muffled clacking drifted through the air, all at once familiar and horrifying, and a moment later, hobbling out from under the raised wall to stand beside Ahsoka, was Grandmaster Yoda.

Sidious drew his lightsabers, the red blades igniting with a sharp, sinister hiss.

"Master Yoda..." Sidious hissed, his voice filled with malice, his previous bemusement gone in favor of cautious murderous intent. "You survived."

"Defeat me, you cannot," Yoda said quietly as he shuffled forward, the Dark Side shrieking and howling as it retreated from the Jedi, only to be snapped back to the Sith Master's heel with a surge of his indignant anger. "Not before." Yoda tapped his stick upon the ground. "Not now."

"Your arrogance will be your downfall, just as it was for the rest of the Jedi," Sidious sneered, his lightsabers spinning in his hands as he stepped slowly forward. "I have foreseen the events that take place here. I know how this ends, and you, Master Yoda, have no role in this place. Destiny cannot be changed, not even by you."

"Mysterious, the will of the Force is," Yoda said sagely, dropping his walking stick and straightening his hunched back, his hands folding before him. "Much to learn, you have, Darth Sidious."

With a wrathful snarl, Sidious rushed forward, aided by the Dark Side and far faster than a man his age had any right to be, while Yoda remained motionless, taking a deep, calming breath as he closed his eyes and surrendered himself to the Force. Lightsabers poised high above his head, Sidious swept his blades down in a swift, savage downward arc, trails of light following his bloody blades as he slashed at the Jedi Master. The Sith's sabers connected with the tiny body, and the shrine was filled with an explosion of blinding light, consuming and searing in its intensity, bright enough to make the Dark Side scream and the Sith Lords howl with pain as they were dropped to their knees.

Vader swiftly grasped for the Force, his grip tightening as he felt the fearful Dark Side slip through his fingers and struggle and thrash against him when he held it in place. His ears were ringing, the visual output of his helmet flashing with warning lights as it malfunctioned, and somewhere behind him, he could hear Maul's cybernetic legs scrambling against the ground beneath his frantic, panicked rambling. He rose to his feet as his vision returned to him, the blinding imprint upon his eyes receding with each passing second, and he immediately regretted standing, his entire world seeming to tip upside down with nausea, his skin breaking out into a cold sweat that stung the already painful burns that covered him. He felt ill with fever, and no matter how much he willed it, the Dark Side was unable to purge the sudden sickness from his body.

With a groan of irritated effort, Vader stepped heavily toward Sidious, his saber raised defensively as he looked around the shrine, prepared for attack from the other unwelcome intruder, but he saw nothing.

 _Nothing_.

Standing beside Sidious, Vader looked down at his Master and found him just as pale and sickly looking as he felt, his eyes fixed upon the ground where Yoda's cloak lay empty, no body left behind as evidence of the life Sidious had claimed, so much like Vader had seen once before when Qui-Gon Jinn had been slain so very long ago. Looking up from the tattered robes, Vader again scanned the shrine, the walls closed once again, the air heavy and still and silent, and he absently noticed that Maul, the cowering wretch, was gone, likely having fled the scene after the agony of Yoda's spectacular sacrifice. He brushed the thought away quickly as he left Sidious' side, walking slowly across the shrine to the place where he had struck Lumis down, stopping when he arrived at the heap of the thick, heavy cloth of his severed cape and the lightly glowing gouges in the floor.

The sickening, bitter realization that he and Sidious were the only ones there sunk in slowly, the painstaking stab of untempered wrath sliding torturous and deep into him as he understood the meaning of Yoda's sacrifice.

Ahsoka and Lumis were _gone._


	57. Grand Admiral

**AN:** **Happy Eclipse Night, my lovelies! Have a chapter!**

 **Also, this is the official end of the Second Act. Got the feeling things are about to get, in a word, FUCKED?!**

 **Yeah, I got that feeling too.**

 _Chapter 57: Grand Admiral_

As soon as word of the Imperial victory at Batonn had reached Coruscant, the Emperor had summoned Thrawn to see him the moment the sector had been secured and properly investigated for any lingering threats to Imperial rule. Given the extent of the devastation incurred at the Creekpath mining facility where Nightswan and his rebel incursion had been destroyed, Thrawn had estimated it to be a week at least before the rubble was sifted through and the casualties totaled, a thing the Emperor patiently seemed to expect, giving the Chiss the time he needed to settle things to his satisfaction. Though Thrawn was far from satisfied with the outcome of this slaughter.

Colonel Yularen had said the Battle of Batonn had ranked among the most horrendous things he had seen in his military career, including many of the bloody battles of the Clone Wars, and though Thrawn had seen worse, had _caused_ worse, he was inclined to agree. The civilian casualties far outnumbered the rebels, a gross waste of life and resources that Thrawn had difficulty stomaching. His career in the Imperial Navy had been marked by outstanding, creative success that limited casualties on both sides to an extreme minimum, even though those successes rarely fell in line with the desires of the Admiralty. He strove to strengthen the Empire by preserving lives, what he viewed to be as their most valuable resource. On many days, Thrawn believed the rest of the Naval commanders strove only to crush all opposition in a show of their overwhelming power.

There was, of course, a time and place for complete and total destruction, but that place was not here, not with so many civilians caught in the line of fire, not when there was so much still to be learned from the capture of the rebel leaders, not when he had seen _him_ , the Shadow King, fleeing the scene so shortly after the explosion that destroyed the city. In the days that followed, Thrawn thought a great deal about the Shadow King, sought clues and information that could link the man to Nightswan or to the massacre that had happened here, but no matter how he twisted it, no matter the speculation, the evidence never fit. Obi-Wan had not done this, nor did he believe so when he had let the rebel go when he had flown the elusive _Umbra_ so close to the _Chimaera_ 's command deck.

It was a plea, an evaluation, an accusation that Kenobi had levied against Thrawn in that moment, a silent conversation between warriors both reeling from what had happened, both grasping at straws in the moment as they tried to discover who had done this terrible thing. Kenobi was, Thrawn surmised, down on Batonn for the same reason that Thrawn had journeyed to the surface himself. They were there to speak with Nightswan. Perhaps the renegade Sith was there to recruit the rebel and his insurgency to his own cause, or perhaps, like Thrawn himself, he was drawn to a man possessing rare talents that could be used elsewhere. More ominous, however, was the idea that, perhaps, Kenobi had sought Nightswan for information on the Empire's secret project, just as Thrawn had, desperate to collect pieces they were missing to form a clear picture of what it was they faced.

And now Nightswan's wealth of information was gone, along with the man himself, who Thrawn looked for and found among the dead. It was a tragic, unnecessary waste, though Nightswan's fate was sealed when he refused Thrawn's offer and opted to stay and fight beside his men. Though to die so pointlessly among so many innocent lives was certainly not what the man had expected when he faced off against the Admiral's forces, of that, Thrawn was certain. Perhaps Kenobi had been able to learn what Thrawn could not from Nightswan before he perished. Information that, in time, would be Thrawn's as well when he finally had the opportunity to catch the elusive Obi-Wan Kenobi.

The Admiral had kept silent about seeing the Shadow King that night, held that piece of information close to his chest in order to preserve the integrity of the investigation at Creekpath. Were knowledge of Kenobi's presence to be made known, the investigation would come to an immediate end, the difficult search for answers abandoned in favor of an obvious scapegoat, and while Thrawn knew that Obi-Wan was not responsible, he was certain the blame would very quickly be cast upon the dangerous rebel, his past pattern of behavior substituted for any real evidence to prove his involvement. As it was, there was little evidence to be found at Creekpath, the explosion contained by the city's blast shield exponentially increasing the damaged generated and effectively destroying any and all traces of evidence that might have otherwise been located and acquired by a thorough search.

And despite all of this, Thrawn strongly suspected that he knew the cause.

Governor Ahrinda Pryce had been suspicious even before the mission, had a personal investment in the situation at Creekpath that made the stubborn, ambitious woman forego all safety protocols in order to have her way. As an Imperial Governor, Thrawn had little control over Pryce's actions, and furthermore, she had already secured support from the Director of the ISB, making it nearly impossible to press his objections to her very personally motivated interference. The Governor's parents lived in Creekpath, and she had used this fact to give her cause to go down to the rebel stronghold with an ISB undercover agent, not just to secure and extract her parents, but to obtain what information she could about the facility.

She had been successful in her efforts to bring her parents to safety. But the information she had obtained, if she did manage to obtain any, was rendered immediately irrelevant when Creekpath was destroyed, just as her parents were, conveniently, brought to safety. Even more coincidental was that her ISB bodyguard had perished as well, effectively destroying the one man who could have bore witness to the truth of what had happened there. It was all too convenient, too coincidental, and whatever it was that happened down there, Thrawn was certain that Governor Ahrinda Pryce had a hand in it.

Not that he could have done anything about it, as she had so pointed out when he had, in private, began to levy accusations against her. He had no proof, no evidence, and in a situation where it was his word against hers, there was no question of who would come out the victor. An Imperial Governor, politically savvy and extremely well connected, against an Admiral, an _alien_ from the furthest regions of the galaxy who many in the Naval High Command were eager to see taken down. In this, Governor Pryce had outplayed him, and more over, she had known it, had made the case that Thrawn could only benefit from having her on his side to help him navigate a political game he had no talent in playing. Thrawn understood the truth in this, knew that his quick rise through the ranks was due in part to people smoothing his way for him, as much as he opposed the idea, as much as he asserted that politics had no place in the Navy, that advancement should be based on skills and results.

But it was not like that in the Empire.

Thrawn did not turn Pryce in, did not bring charges against her as he knew he should have, but it was not because of politics, and certainly not because she had made a good case to keep her close as an ally. He simply lacked the evidence to prove her involvement.

It was an unsatisfactory conclusion. Thousands of civilians killed alongside the rebel insurgents and Imperial personnel caught under the shield, with no physical evidence left behind to bring the one responsible to justice. It was a horrible waste, the message of fear spread by the destruction of Batonn hardly worth the resources wasted and the potential for further insurgencies to rise up in their place to fight against a bloody regime. This kind of chaos could only beget more chaos, not the stability and order that Thrawn worked to impose, but this was the outcome he was left with, an unsatisfactory, bitter result to a conflict that would have, _could have_ , ended far differently. All that was left to do was finish up with Batonn, tie up what loose ends he could grasp, and return to Coruscant to answer the Emperor's summons.

With the situation at Batonn settled, Thrawn now walked the halls of the Imperial Palace, his measured gait slow and deliberately meandering, much to the intense displeasure of the increasingly anxious Eli Vanto. His body heat was raised, his shoulders tense, his hands fidgeting with the hem of his uniform as he vacillated between swift, nervous steps in his haste to not keep the Emperor waiting, and sluggish foot-dragging to prolong the meeting he so dreaded. The Emperor often had this effect upon his officers, and the Lieutenant Commander was, in this, very far out of his depth, a nobody from Wild Space who had no business in the presence of an Emperor, and watching the man mentally battle with himself brought a faint, imperceptible smile to Thrawn's lips.

"We're going to be late..." Eli muttered under his breath once again, pacing away from the Admiral for a moment before he slowed to fall into step with the Chiss' slow stride once again. "We've kept him waiting, the Emperor's going to _kill_ us for keeping him waiting..."

"We received the directive to return to Coruscant a week ago, and we were only to return when the Batonn sector had been brought back under Imperial order," Thrawn quietly explained. "What is a few minutes more?"

"I don't reckon the Emperor will see it that way, sir..."

"Do you know the origin of this piece of art, Commander Vanto?" Thrawn asked, slowing to a stop before a large painting upon the wall of the long, dark hall, and with a heavy sigh, Eli dragged his feet to stand beside the Chiss.

"I don't..." Eli muttered, his eyes drifting over the sharp, angular shapes starkly painted upon the dark canvas. "Though I suspect that instead of meeting the Emperor with all due haste, you're going to tell me what it means, aren't you?"

"I am," Thrawn said crisply, pointedly ignoring Eli's exasperated sigh. His ridged brow drawing together as he looked over the work, Thrawn's glowing eyes drifted to the anxious man at his side, and suddenly feeling the weight of the Chiss' intense scrutiny, Eli looked up at the Admiral's blue face just as Thrawn looked back to the painting upon the wall. "What is it you fear about our summons, Commander?"

"I don't know..." Eli said with a shrug, an attempt to look more carefree than he felt, but the tightness in his shoulders betrayed his tension. "This isn't some court marshaling. Stars know I've gotten used to those by now. This is the _Emperor_."

"I have met with the Emperor on several occasions."

"Yeah, but I haven't!" Eli growled between clenched teeth, his shoulders hunching as two robed officials slowly passed them by, a deep flush staining the ruddy skin of his cheeks and neck as he felt their gazes upon him. "I don't know, he's just...the Emperor, you know?" Eli mumbled. "I still remember when we first brought you to him, I remember how it felt to be in his presence! He ain't _nothing_ like he's shown in the holos! Something just felt... _wrong_. Off, eerie, I don't know..." Eli peered up and found the glowing eyes of the Chiss upon him, and he sighed heavily, his shoulders slumping as he ran his fingers through his hair. "Just nervous, is all..."

For a moment, Thrawn was silent, his eyes flicking to the ground for a moment before he looked back at the art, his back straightening and his head held high, his hands clasped behind his back as they always were when he was fully confident in his understanding. "We have been summoned to battle," Thrawn whispered, his emotionless monotone sending a shiver up Eli's spine despite the chill in the air. "A different sort of battle from the ones you and I usually conduct, but a battle none the less. We do not know if we go to meet an adversary or an ally. We do not know his goals or his objectives. All we can do is arm ourselves with knowledge in an effort to anticipate his moves."

"...you think you can do that by looking at this here painting?"

"I do," Thrawn said firmly. "Tell me, Commander Vanto. What do we know of the situation of our impending meeting?"

"I don't know!" Eli huffed in frustration, and the unamused arching of Thrawn's eyebrow made the Commander sigh heavily, his gaze drifting up to the art they stood before, squinting to see if he could see even a fraction of what Thrawn saw there. As a hundred times before, he couldn't. Whatever it was that the Chiss saw in the lines and shapes and brush strokes was lost on Eli. "Well..." Eli said thoughtfully. "We got the order to return after our victory at Batonn, right?"

"That is correct."

"Even without the details, the initial reports were brutal," Eli said grimly."Don't need any exact numbers to know that. Way I see it, this could go one of two way. He could be calling you back to praise you for defeating the rebels, or to scold you for the messy job."

"It could be both," Thrawn quietly pointed out. "Or it could be neither."

"You think the Emperor called you here for something completely unrelated?" Eli asked.

"Perhaps..." Thrawn muttered, his chest rising with a slow, deep breath as he shifted his weight from one foot, to the other, and back to center, his eyes slowly running over the painting once again and drinking in the details. "Observe the lines of this piece," Thrawn said softly, his hand raising to trace the outline of the image in the air before him. "They are sharp and angular, devoid of any curves or soft lines. The colors are bold and flat, with no gradient fades or shading, chosen instead for sharp contrasts. Red, black, white," the Admiral said as he gestured to the corresponding swaths of color. "The realism of the event depicted is less important than the feeling invoked. You will find similar art produced by the Mandalorians."

"Another warrior culture, I take it?" Eli asked, and Thrawn nodded, the slightest imperceptible smile on his lips as his gaze flicked to the Commander at his side.

"Warriors, yes..." Thrawn mused. "Though that is not what is meant to be taken from this piece. Not all warrior cultures produce such stark art. In this, it is rather more a testament to the motivation and the mentality of the warriors and the society that produced them. The slightest frown touched Eli's lips, his brow wrinkling in his lack of understanding, and Thrawn slid the datapad out of his back pocket. "Allow me to explain," he said, dragging his finger across the screen and angling the device so Eli could see the image the Admiral had pulled up.

"Hey, I've seen that piece before!" Eli said, loud enough for his voice to carry down the long, stark hall, and he clamped his mouth shut, and embarrassed flush upon his face. "In Sundari Palace, on Mandalore," Eli said much quieter. "Moff Katan keeps it behind her throne."

"Very good, Commander..." Thrawn gently praised, gesturing at the painting on the wall with his free hand. "Like this work of art, the Mandalorian work depicts the slaughter of Jedi, however, the purposes of the pieces are vastly different. Here," he said, handing the datapad to Eli and tapping upon the screen. "Study the piece carefully. It is stark like the other, yes, but not in the same way. There is a very clear distinction in the piece between the subject, the Mandalorian warrior at the center, and the rest of the piece. The Jedi are drawn with thin, nearly unpracticed lines, the shapes distorted, the features grotesque, while the Mandalorian is composed of bold lines and a great attention to detail."

"Almost like two people drew it."

"Nearly, yes," Thrawn said with a slight smirk. "Though I can assure you that a single artist was behind this work. It speaks to the value of the subject and the purpose of the art. The shading, the starkness of the chosen colors, grays and blacks and whites..." Thrawn took a deep breath, his eyes closing as the painting seemed to come to life behind his eyelids. "This piece invokes triumph and victory, and exalts the indomitable will of the proud Mandalorian people, as much of their art does. A boastful celebration of the achievements of war in their history." He carefully took the datapad from Eli's hand and slid it back into his pocket, his eyes unmoving on the painting before them. "...a very different sentiment and purpose from this one."

For a long moment, silence lay steadily upon them, Eli looking expectantly at Thrawn and waiting for him to continue with his explanation. He had long ago stopped trying to guess at the hidden meanings within the colors and lines, a pointless thing to attempt when his conclusions were always just wrong enough to warrant an explanation from the Chiss. Likewise, Thrawn had never expected others to see the things within art that were hidden to all but him, to understand the rich history and culture within art that wove colorful, beautiful stories of the artist and their people. And so Eli remained silent, waiting for Thrawn to be ready to speak.

"This piece is much simpler," Thrawn finally said, a quiet solemnity to his low, flat tone. "Bold, solid colors, angular figures and shapes, the lines smooth, uninterrupted and certain, made without hesitation." He stopped, took a deep breath and held it, his sharp mind slowly churning over his observations and conclusions, and slowly released his breath. "This artist was confident in their work and their purpose, just as the culture they came from, just as the warriors they depict here. The slaughter of the Jedi and the innocent..." he said gravely. "Without hesitation or compromise or remorse. This piece is not about triumph or victory, or even about the conquest of an enemy. This piece..." Thrawn whispered, taking the slightest step closer to the mural upon the wall. "This piece is about fear."

"...what does that mean for us?" Eli asked, shuffling to stand beside the Chiss when the uncomfortable spike of cold lanced through him, the hairs upon his neck raising with the feeling that he was somehow being watched.

"A very great deal," Thrawn said, the assured confidence in his tone easing Eli's fears, though not alleviating them entirely. "What do you know about the Sith?"

"The Sith?" Eli wrinkled his nose, his brow drawing together in thought as he searched his memory, and then shook his head. "Nothing. I've never heard of them."

"That is not surprising," Thrawn said. "The Sith are the historic enemies of the Jedi, said to have been driven to extinction over a thousand years ago. They have long since become the thing of myth and legend."

"It's been a long time since the Jedi," Eli muttered. "And sounds like whatever stories there were about these Sith died with them. Unless..." Eli paused and pursed his lips. "You don't think the Inquisitors are the Sith, do you? That they somehow survived after all that time?"

"Perhaps," Thrawn said almost dismissively, and Eli sighed heavily despite himself. Things like _perhaps_ and _we shall see_ were always the things Thrawn said when he did not wish to speak further on a subject, when he was holding his cards close to his chest, when he knew something everyone else did not and was refusing to share. "But I do not believe the Inquisitors are Sith. They are...something else..."

"Okay..." Eli muttered, trying to gauge the Chiss' face for some hint of what he was thinking, what information he was keeping, but as always, his face was impassive and unreadable. "If the Sith are gone, what does that have to do with us now?"

"Art can be used to learn a great deal about the people and the culture that produced it," Thrawn quietly explained. "Similarly, the art a being chooses to display says a great deal about that being. Looking at this piece..." Thrawn was silent for a moment, his eyes narrowing as he gave the painting a swift glance. "If you are concerned about an official reprimand and incurring the Emperor's wrath, do not be. It is unlikely he will care about the loss of life on Batonn."

"All that from this here painting?" Eli asked, and Thrawn gave an imperceptible nod. "...why were we summoned here, then?"

"There is only one way to know for certain," Thrawn said firmly, his back straightening as he stepped away from the painting and turned to continue down the hallway. "Come, Commander. The Emperor awaits us."

They walked the rest of the way in silence, the Admiral's long stride occasionally slowing to a languid walk as they passed by sculptures and murals and paintings, each one more frightening than the last, and despite the differences in styles and mediums, now that it had been so expertly spelled out, even Eli could see the wildly different art all had a commonality. Fear, raw and primal burned within his chest at the very sight of them, as Thrawn had said, the culture less important than the feeling they invoked. Art created by the Twi'lek, the Chagrian, the Zabrak, the distinctive art of dozens of species on display, as different as they were the same. Artists of different species, and each and every one of them Sith, whatever they were, just as Thrawn had said.

Eli's heart began to pound when he caught sight of the distinctive red robes of the Emperor's personal guard standing outside a large door, the memories of his first visit to the Imperial Palace and his first meeting with the Emperor flooding his mind and filling him with the same uncomfortable fear he had felt back then. Nothing was as he believed it would be, nothing was as he had imagined it. The palace had been blain and simple when images of imperial might filled his mind with ornate and extravagant splendor, and instead of the kindly older man the holos depicted the Emperor as, the real man had seemed wizened and frail, his face heavy with wrinkles like scars or burns, his eyes an unnatural and odd that somehow felt as though they saw everything, knew _everything_ , and were filled to the brim with malice.

He wasn't eager to return to stand in the Emperor's presence.

Eli felt his impatient, nervous pace falter, his feet suddenly starting to drag at the sight of the robed guards and the knowledge of what sat in wait just beyond that door, and slowly, Thrawn started to pull away from him, his stride long and calm and confident, and Eli scrambled to catch up to him, his own stride much more hurried to keep up with the Chiss' longer legs. The long hallway felt much shorter than it actually was as he kept pace with the Admiral, and before Eli knew it, they were standing before the Imperial guard, the robed soldiers stepping out of their way and allowing them access into the throne room.

They were expected. Of course they were, but the thought of it now, here, without any of the security procedures or scrutiny, made Eli nauseous.

The hiss of the door sliding closed and bolting shut startled Eli so much he almost jumped, but he kept to Thrawn's side, his pace matching the Admiral's and his eyes fixed forward. The throne room was much as he remembered it, stark and simple, devoid of any ostentation or extravagance, so simple, in fact, that given new perspective from the impromptu art lesson the Admiral gave him, he looked at the room with new eyes, realizing that the throne room itself was in many key ways similar to the artwork displayed on their route through the palace. For just a moment, Eli wondered if this was simply a facet of Emperor Palatine's taste, a plain and simple man that came into great power at the end of the Clone Wars, or if there was something more to it, something deliberate and intentional in the scenery around him, something both sinister and secret and hidden in plain sight.

Much like the culture Thrawn talked about that Eli had never heard of. Much like the Sith.

Because of his vigilant, nervous survey of the still and silent throne room, Eli managed to notice the slightest hesitation in Thrawn's even stride, the smallest pause before he recovered his pace, but to Eli, who had worked closely with the unshakable Thrawn for many, many years and had never seen him surprised or confused or in any other state but complete control, it was alarming. Eli scanned the room again, this time with the purposeful intent of finding what had startled the stoic Admiral, looking for any hint of danger or threat, for something unexpected and out of place.

He quickly focused on the man that stood beside the throne, draped in rich burgundy robes, his skin blue and his head topped with large horns, a staff of office held in his hand. The Chagrian Grand Vizier Mas Amedda, Eli quickly recognized, wondering if his presence was unexpected enough to drag a reaction out of Thrawn, but quickly dismissed the idea as they drew closer. It may not have been expected for him to be there, but it was certainly not out of the realm of possibility that the ever important Grand Vizier be present, as Thrawn would have known. No, it had nothing to do with the Chagrian's presence.

It had everything to do with the throne being _empty_.

Eli blinked his eyes hard, squinted at the throne, remembering from his first visit how easily the Emperor's dark robes had blended him in, how it almost seemed as though the dark throne would swallow the man. But no, the throne was empty, of that there was no question, and as Thrawn drew up, his back straightening with the authority and command, Eli knew that was it. After all, it was indeed very strange and certainly unexpected for the Emperor to be absent from a meeting that he himself called for.

"Grand Vizier Amedda," Thrawn respectfully greeted, bowing his head as he stood before the Chagrian and the empty throne. "I am here to meet with the Emperor. Where is he?"

"The Emperor is not taking visitors at this time, Admiral," Amedda said in a haughty tone that set Eli's nerves on edge, though he said nothing, only stared at the ground, his hands clasped behind his back tightly squeezing together.

"It was the Emperor whom summoned me here, Grand Vizier," Thrawn said softly, a cold edge in his voice that wasn't there before. "Please inform him that I have arrived."

"As I said, the Emperor is not to be disturbed," Amedda growled, though Thrawn could hear the slightest waver in his voice, his black forked tongue darting between his teeth for a moment, the smallest rise in his body heat and a shift from one foot to the other that betrayed his uncertainty.

"You will take me to him," Thrawn said, "or I shall seek him out myself, and he will know of your attempts to prevent me from answering his direct command." For a long moment, there was silence, Mas Amedda tightening his grip upon his staff, his eyes narrowing with anger, and Eli held his breath, his eyes darting between the furious Chagrian and the calm, collected Chiss. As always, Thrawn's way of speaking ruffled feathers and landed him in trouble, and Eli was beginning to think he would never learn the tact necessary to handle politicians, certainly not ones as powerful as the Grand Vizier, as his high rank and position required. His results were hard to argue with, but more often than not, he had run into substantial trouble because his methods had angered the wrong people, only to be saved by people that understood that who you knew was just as important, if not more important, than _what_ you knew.

But his good fortune couldn't last forever, and the higher in the ranks he climbed, the bigger a target he became and the more political savvy he would need to be exert the influence necessary to hold his position from someone who was powerful enough to see him taken down.

Someone like Grand Vizier Amedda.

"One moment..." Amedda bitterly hissed, turning from the Admiral and gesturing to the Royal Guard behind the throne with a swift flick of his hand, and the guard silently left through the door to the side of the throne, the three watching in silence as he left before the Chagrian turned angry eyes back on Thrawn. If the Admiral noticed the Grand Vizier's fury, he showed no sign of it, only inclining his head slightly to him.

"Thank you..."

"You have a fine way of speaking to people, Admiral," Amedda snarled, taking a menacing step closer to Thrawn, though the Chiss did not back away, only looked at the Vizier with cold indifference. "Speak to the wrong people that way and it's liable to see you fall very, very far..."

"Do you mean to suggest, Grand Vizier, that your word holds greater importance than the Emperor's word?" Thrawn asked softly, and Mas Amedda stood taller, his back and shoulders tight and his jaw clenched. "It was not my intention to offend you, but if you are insulted, you may join the line of those who desire to levy complaints against me."

"Perhaps I shall, _Admiral_ ," Amedda spat bitterly, and Eli drew up, his eyes flicking to Thrawn for just a moment to see if the Chiss had seen what he did, recognized the tone and the implication of the Grand Vizier's threat, a threat that Eli had seen once before, many years ago. If it was what he believed, Thrawn wasn't here just to see the Emperor, he was called to Coruscant to receive some honor, not unusual for him anymore, but at the rank of Admiral, Eli wasn't sure how Thrawn was capable of reaching higher. Thrawn's gaze slowly drifted to look at Eli as well, and Eli found understanding in the Chiss' glowing eyes, and something else, though Eli couldn't identify what that could be.

"Yes..." Thrawn muttered, looking back at the Grand Vizier, the door at the side of the throne opening once again, allowing the robed Royal Guard to step through and walk toward them with long, purposeful steps. "But not today." He gave Mas Amedda a short, respectful nod. "If you would excuse me, Grand Vizier. I have an appointment to keep with the Emperor."

"Admiral Thrawn?" the Royal Guard cut in before Mas Amedda could raise yet another objection. "You will follow me." The helmeted head turned slightly to look directly at Eli. "Alone."

"Of course," Thrawn said. "You will wait for me at my shuttle, Lieutenant Commander Vanto. I will return as soon as my business is completed."

"Of course, sir," Eli said, his tone crisp and formal, though his shoulders sagged with a silent sigh of relief. Without another word, Thrawn turned from the commander and the vizier and followed the Royal Guard out through the door at the side of the throne into a long, dark passageway that he had walked several times over his years of service to the Empire. These passages led to the Emperor's personal quarters, where Thrawn had previously meet with him to discuss matters regarding the Unknown Regions in absolute privacy, mostly regarding how to navigate the dangerous area and the manner of species and resources that made their homes in that tumultuous part of the galaxy.

As per their arrangement when he had first been accepted into the Empire's military, Thrawn had provided Palpatine with maps of the regions, including the known hyperspace corridors, though many of those maps remained incomplete or unexplored, and Thrawn had very deliberately left out all information regarding his people, their outposts, bases, and the boarders of the Ascendancy. He was certain the Emperor knew that he was omitting this vital information, but he had made no mention of it, appearing to have been satisfied with what he had been given.

Thus far.

It was possible it would not remain so, that one day, the Emperor may demand more of him, and with the unknown threat of the Empire's secret project that had been kept so well hidden to the common eye, the day may come when his relationship to the Empire would have to be reevaluated. But not today. Today, he was disquieted, his swift mind racing with questions that demanded answers, and now, if his predictions were correct, he would be presented the opportunity to get answers to many of those questions. And he would. His path moving forward demanded upon the answers to these questions, more vital now than ever before with the unexpected, diverging roads he found himself approaching.

"Is the Emperor well?" Thrawn asked the guard quietly when they had turned down the last hallway, a single, black door at the far end. The guard was silent for a moment and made no move to look toward his charge.

"You shall see soon enough," the guard said in a gruff, impatient voice, and Thrawn's pace slowed slightly, his mind moving swiftly through the various outcomes and possibilities that this new information presented, eliminating some as unlikely and separating others out with higher probabilities of hitting on the truth. The guard's non-answer suggested that the Emperor was not, in fact, well. Be it in health or in circumstance, Thrawn was uncertain, though there were many reasons such a thing was a guarded secret. Hiding physical weakness or failure was common among those in power to preserve the illusion of infallibility, and Palpatine certainly made the effort to make every failure seem inconsequential, every setback a part of a greater plan.

As for what it could have been...Thrawn did not know, though whatever it was could not have been terribly serious. Serious illness would have had the entire palace in a frenzy, as the Emperor was an old man, and such things could prove fatal for the elderly, even with advanced medical care, and any significant failure Thrawn would have already heard about, as news and gossip spread exceedingly quickly through the military channels. Unless, of course, this failure was smaller, secret, personal...

A small smile touched the edge of Thrawn's lips. Somehow, he suspected this had to do with the Shadow King.

The door to the Emperor's personal chambers slid open, an the Royal Guard gestured for him to enter, and nodding his thanks to the guard, his hands folded behind his back, Thrawn entered the dark chamber, the door bolting shit behind him leaving him in a dark room lit only by the night sky and the lights of Coruscant pouring in from the window across the room. Thrawn spotted the Emperor quickly, the darkness of the room nothing before Chiss vision which edged into the infrared spectrum, the body heat of the Emperor lighting up like a beacon in his eyes, and the Admiral slowly walked toward him, bowing respectfully when Palpatine turned to face him.

"Welcome, Mitth'raw'nuruodo," the Emperor said, his voice low and hoarse, and with a wave of his hand, the lights upon the walls turned on, dim, but enough to light the room. Thrawn looked down at the elderly man and saw a pale face, paler than usual, near translucent and clammy, the wrinkles upon his face deeper and heavier than before, his eyes sunken and a sickly pale yellow, not the eerie, glowing amber they had been in the past. Thrawn's assumption had been correct. Palpatine was, in fact, ill. Very ill, from the look of it.

"My Emperor..."

"I have heard about your victories at Sammun and Batonn," Palpatine said, stepping toward the Chiss and gesturing for him to follow as he made his way across the room, his pace shuffling and slow, his shoulders hunched and, for once, very much seeming to be a man of his advanced age when before, Thrawn always felt he possessed the vigor of a much younger man. "A fine display of the might of my Empire, and a credit to your effectiveness at destroying the enemies that threaten the peace."

"Thank you, Your Majesty..." Thrawn said quietly, his own steps short and slow to keep pace with the Emperor as he hobbled toward the small office off the main room. He thought for a moment to mention that it was not the victory he wished for, that the destruction of the Creekpath Mining Complex was not, in fact, his work, so the credit for the victory by rights belonged to another, but he opted for silence instead, standing still before the Emperor's desk and watching as Palpatine slowly lowered himself into his chair.

"An excellent day for my Empire," he continued, pulling open one of the desk drawers and reaching inside. "An excellent day for you. Though perhaps not all shall see it that way." He pulled his hand out of the drawer, his gnarled fingers opening to reveal an insignia plaque resting upon his palm, an impressive thing made of twelve tiles in blue, red and gold. The Admiral's plaque upon his chest, six red tiles over six blue, seemed small in comparison. He had never seen its like in his service to the Empire. He took a slow, deep breath, his eyes looking between the plaque in the Emperor's hand and his pale, sunken eyes.

"Congratulations, Grand Admiral," Palpatine said, offering the plaque to Thrawn, but the Chiss made no move to take it, only stared at the plaque for a long moment before he respectfully bowed his head.

"Thank you, my Emperor..." Thrawn said quietly. "I shall endeavor to ease the hearts and minds of those who would oppose this distinction." He took a deep breath, held it for a moment as he looked at the plaque and weighed his options, and slowly exhaling as he resolved himself, he looked up to meet the Emperor's intense, amused stare. "But first I must calm my own heart and mind."

"Must you now..." Palpatine said slowly, the satisfied smirk upon his lips fading into displeasure, his gnarled fingers slowly closing around the rank plaque. "Very well...speak your mind, Grand Admiral."

"Tell me about the Death Star," Thrawn said calmly, and he watched as the remaining amusement drained from the Emperor's sickly face, the displeasure swiftly warping into malice.

"How did you hear of that project?" Palpatine growled, the soft tone of his voice conveying threat and danger, though Thrawn did not turn from it.

"It took many years, but I have deduced the size and power of the project from resource allocations," Thrawn said. "I have recently learned the name from unguarded dispatches. I would now learn from you its purpose." The danger faded from the Emperor's face, amusement and triumph taking its place, though there was a weariness about him, born of the mysterious illness he suffered from, by Thrawn's estimate.

"Your thoughts are laid bare, Mitth'raw'nuruodo," Palpatine rasped, taking in a slight, wheezing breath as he leaned back in his chair, his hands folded in his lap. "You fear that once I have purged the rebels from my Empire, I shall turn my unstoppable weapon against the Chiss."

"That is part of it..." Thrawn said quietly. "I would not like to see my aid to you and your Empire subverted into conquest and destruction."

"I have no designs against your people," Palpatine said with a dismissive flick of his hand. "But this is only part of your concern."

"Yes..." Thrawn muttered, his gaze falling for a moment before he looked back into the Emperor's sickly pale eyes. "I would caution against diverting too many Imperial resources into such massive projects. A flexible navy of capital warships and starfighters is the most efficient method of establishing and maintaining security across the Empire, while a project such as the Death Star can only bring the Imperial presence to one system at a time."

"There will soon be no need to spread the Imperial presence across the galaxy," Palpatine said, amusement and triumph coloring his voice. "Once the Death Star is fully operational, its very existence will suppress all opposition."

"Fear is a powerful motivator..." Thrawn said grimly. "Though not always as intended."

"You have something else in mind," Palpatine said, a statement, not a question, and gave a permissive wave of his hand. "Speak."

"I do..." Thrawn said slowly, measured as he weighed his options and chose his words. "The Imperial standard TIE fighter is a fast, maneuverable starfighter, but the lack of essential systems makes them highly susceptible to combat damage and are easily destroyed."

"We have a great many of them."

"Yes..." Thrawn quietly agreed. "But a good tactician knows that being outnumbered is not the same as being outmaneuvered. A clever strategist can find victory against superior numbers. Nightswan did." He was silent, his eyes flicking to the ground for a moment before he looked back into the Emperor's intense gaze. "The Shadow King continues to do so."

For a moment, there was silence, tense and heavy with anger and offense, and Thrawn saw the Emperor's muscles tense beneath his robes, his jaw tighten, his body heat rise. It was not the reaction of a man confident that the threat that Kenobi posed was under control, as he had been that last time, when Palpatine had ordered Thrawn to disengage with the renegade and divert his attention elsewhere. There was offense here, raw and recent. Thrawn had been right. Somehow, the Shadow King played into this.

"And your plan?" Sidious rasped, his chest heaving with silent coughing as he seemed to sink into his robes, the shadow of his hood falling over his eyes.

"An improvement to the standard TIE fighter," Thrawn said, his back straightening as he stood taller, more confident before the Emperor. "Modified and outfitted with heavy laser cannons, deflector shielding and a hyperdrive system."

"You seek to build a larger ship."

"I seek to build a _better_ starfighter," Thrawn corrected. "Fast and maneuverable like the standard TIE without the weaknesses of one."

"An expensive ship, then," Palpatine said quietly, and the slightest smirk touched the Chiss' lips.

"No more expensive than the Death Star..." Thrawn said in a calm, monotonous voice, and from beneath the shadow of the Emperor's hood, the Chiss could see an amused smirk on Palpatine's lips. "With proper allocation of Imperial resources, the Navy could be outfitted with a superior starfighter, one that could effectively enforce the security and stability of the Empire. One that a rebel threat would have a very difficult time combating."

"And you believe that one small ship can bring this change?"

"Your Majesty, victory and defeat are often determined by the smallest detail," Thrawn said firmly, and the amused smile on the Emperor's face became wider as he held out his hand, the Grand Admiral's rank plaque resting on his palm. This time, Thrawn took it.

"Good..." the Emperor said, soft and sinister as he leaned back in his seat, his fingers steepled together as he watched the Chiss study the rank plaque in his hand. "You will assume command of the Seventh Fleet," he said when Thrawn's hand closed around the rank insignia, his glowing eyes returning to look at Palpatine. "Governor Pryce of Lothal has personally requested your aid in dealing with the rebel insurgency in her sector. She tires of Admiral Konstantine's repeated failures, as do I."

"I see..." Thrawn said, his eyes flicking to the ground for a moment as he slowly exhaled. He had suspected that the Governor would come to call upon him again, and while he was in no hurry to work with the overly ambitious, manipulative politician again, it was true that the Lothal sector was plagued with a highly effective rebel cell, one that had recently become associated with the elusive Shadow King. The Phoenix Squadron had proven to be very costly to the Empire. They needed to be destroyed before they could cause further damage. "I will depart for Lothal with all due haste."

"One thing more, Grand Admiral," Palpatine said, his raspy voice lowering in tone and pitch, a grave seriousness and bitter anger in his expression. "I have a mission for you of great importance." The Emperor was silent for a moment, his jaw clenched tightly and his eyes brimming with focused malice. "You will hunt the rebel menace Obi-Wan Kenobi. He has been a hindrance and an insult to my Empire for long enough. You will bring him to me, living or dead, I care not which, so long as you destroy the threat he possesses."

"The naval high command seemed confident they could achieve victory over him when they ordered me to stand down," Thrawn said softly. "As did you when you commanded I not engage him. Has he escalated the frequency and severity of his attacks?"

"The situation has changed, yes..." Palpatine snarled, a bitter menace in his voice, his shoulders stiffening as he tightly grasped the arms of his chair. More than anger, Thrawn decided. His assessment had been correct, this was a personal insult.

"For some time, I have believed him to be working in close association with the Phoenix rebels of Lothal," Thrawn said calmly, grasping his hands behind his back, carefully reading the Emperor's face, but there was no change, no reaction. It seemed as though he knew this already.

"How fortunate, then, that you shall be answering Governor Pryce's request for aid by bringing the Seventh Fleet to Lothal."

"Indeed..." Thrawn said flatly, the slightest wry, knowing smirk on his lips. "May I assume, then, that Kenobi is responsible for the major assault on Lothal, the destruction of Grand Moff Tarkin's Star Destroyer, and the recent theft of the ISD _Subjugator_ over Ryloth?"

"Among other, lesser known things," the Emperor said, soft and dangerous. "Most recently, he has hunted and killed the last of my Inquisitors."

"They are all dead?" Thrawn asked, his eyes narrowing slightly, and a displeased sneer marred the Emperor's face. "A waste of a valuable resource..." Thrawn muttered. "You have my condolences for their loss."

"You will see to it that justice is done," the Emperor said, the anger gone from the lines of his face, but the malice in his pale eyes remained. "Go now, Grand Admiral. Show these rebels the full might of the Empire."

Bowing respectfully, Thrawn turned and left the room, two Royal Guards falling in step beside him as they led him away, and Sidious leaned back in his seat, his features hardening as he watched the Chiss go. For the first time since he had been a student himself, the future was clouded and uncertain. The Force was turbulent and wrathful, a roiling sea in a storm, the vision of Lumis' defeat that had been so clear, so certain before gone like a wisp of smoke. A Jedi Master was slain, and yet, Yoda was not dead, the brightness of his presence leaving the Sith Master ill and blinded, the Dark Side still screaming with the pain of burns from the Jedi's touch. But he would recover soon enough, and when he did, the Force would once again bend to his will. Lumis lived on borrowed time. Thrawn would see to that.

* * *

It was taking longer than Eli had expected. When he returned to the shuttle, he got to work, flipping through his datapad at the secure transmissions that had come through, trying to glean an idea of what was happening around the Empire and where they could be headed next. He had expected Thrawn to have returned in that time, and when he did not, Eli moved to looking again at the reports from Batonn, combing through what information and data they had managed to salvage from the destruction on the ground, but there was little to be found beneath the death of so many civilians. Still, even after he had finished with that, Thrawn hadn't returned, and the Lieutenant Commander nervously began looking for other things to do.

Fifteen minutes became thirty, thirty minutes became an hour, an hour became two as Eli busied himself with going over the _Chimaera's_ inventory logs and maintenance reports and talking to the crews servicing the Lambda shuttle, his nerves getting the better of him and his worries mounting as time passed with no sign of the Admiral. If this was a commendation or an honor as Eli suspected it was, then Thrawn should have returned long ago. After all, in the years Eli had known Thrawn, both promotions and court marshals had become commonplace for the Chiss, a routine thing that saw him rushed out as swiftly as he had been brought in. They had never taken long, and he didn't see why it should take so long now, unless something had gone horribly wrong.

As he paced outside the Lambda, he convinced himself that there was a perfectly reasonable explanation for how long it was taking the Admiral to return, that perhaps the Emperor was not so eager to see the resoundingly successful Chiss quickly dealt with as the increasingly frustrated naval high command was. After all, Thrawn had, from time to time, been summoned to meet with the Emperor, part of the terms of his induction into the Imperial Navy, no doubt, so it was entirely likely that the Emperor had just kept him longer, using that time to discuss other matters while Thrawn was in his presence.

But the nagging fear lingered, a horrible, awful thought in the back of Eli's mind that whispered that, somehow, both Eli and Thrawn had gravely misjudged the situation, that the Emperor was displeased with the way the bloody handling of Batonn went. That even now, Thrawn was imprisoned, or worse, already dead, executed for the atrocity of his latest victory, the senseless slaughter of all those civilians too grievous to overlook.

Just as he had convinced himself to go looking for his missing Admiral, Eli caught sight of Thrawn calmly walking toward the Lambda from the other side of the hangar. At first, he was uncertain it was the Chiss, the white uniform the man wore instead of the gray-green of the navy making him believe it was an agent of the ISB, but as he squinted to see, took a few steps closer, he saw it was indeed Thrawn, the royal blue of his skin unmistakable. Eli felt relief wash over him before the confusion struck, wondering for a moment if the Chiss had been relieved of his position and taken up Yularen's offer to join the ranks of the ISB he had been offered so long ago, but as Thrawn's relaxed pace drew him closer, and as Eli walked swiftly to meet him, he quickly saw that this was not the case.

The uniform was unlike anything that Eli had ever seen in the Imperial navy, pristine white with gold shoulder bars and silver collar insignia, the rank plaque on his chest an impressive array of twelve blue, red and gold tiles that set him apart from other Admirals. Even from the Fleet Admirals, Eli noted when he got a closer look at it as he met Thrawn on the walkway and silently fell into step beside him. He didn't recognize this arrangement. This was something new. Something different. Something _significant_ , he belatedly noted. Against all reason, Thrawn had been promoted _again_ , but this time, to something far beyond the standard chain of command.

"Another promotion, sir?" Eli asked timidly, the Chiss beside him silent, his eyes downcast and contemplative as he slowly nodded.

"Indeed..." Thrawn whispered, his languid pace slowing even further as he unclasped his hands from behind his back to reach up to his chest and run his finger over the rank plaque fixed to the left breast of his uniform. "To the rank of Grand Admiral."

" _Grand_ Admiral?" Eli gasped, his eyes widening as he looked the Chiss over once again. "I've never heard of a Grand Admiral...c-congratulations, sir."

"Thank you, Commander Vanto..."

"Guess High Command's gonna have a real hard time pushing you around now, huh?" Eli said as they stepped up the ramp of the Lambda, a wry smirk on his lips that was subtly mirrored on Thrawn's lips when his glowing red eyes flicked to the man at his side. "They're gonna _hate_ this when they find out."

"I do not believe many of them will be overly pleased, no," Thrawn said, nodding to the crew at attention when he entered the shuttle, and the men and women swiftly set to their tasks to prepare for takeoff, the codes swiftly punched into consoles that retracted the ramp and sealed the forward hatch.

"So...we got ourselves a new assignment?" Eli asked as he followed Thrawn into his personal stateroom, the floor beneath his feet thrumming with the thrust of the engines as they lifted off from the palace hangar. "New ship to go along with your fancy new uniform?"

"Same ship," Thrawn said quietly, a faint, fond smile on his lips as he sat himself at his desk in the corner, and Eli couldn't help the knowing smirk that settled upon his face. For all that the Chiss was dedicated to logic and practicality, he was indelibly fond of his ship and his crew, though if asked, Eli knew Thrawn well enough to know that the Admiral - the _Grand_ Admiral - would explain it away as a matter of efficiency. His crew knew him and his unconventional command style, and it would take time to build that same trust and understanding aboard a new ship.

"The _Chimaera_ ," Thrawn continued, "will now serve as the flagship of the Seventh Fleet. We have been assigned the task of hunting and destroying the rebels known as the Phoenix Squadron."

"The Phoenix Squadron..." Eli repeated, a slow, excited grin spreading across his face as the information sunk in. "The Emperor's sending you after the Shadow King, isn't he?"

"He is..." Thrawn confirmed, his hands folding together on the desk, his expression somber enough for the grin to swiftly vanish from Eli's face. "But for you, Commander Vanto...I would propose an alternative assignment."

"A...what?" Eli asked, staring at the Chiss with a mixture of confusion and disbelief, obediently sitting down in the chair opposite Thrawn when he gestured to it. "You're...sir, are you sending me away? Am I being reassigned?"

"Yes..." Thrawn said gravely, still for a moment before he respectfully inclined his head. "Provided you are agreeable to the assignment. You must understand, you are under no obligation to accept. This is not an order."

"Then what is it?" Eli asked nervously, swallowing hard as he tried and failed to read the Chiss' impassive face, and felt his chest tighten when a faint smile touched the edge of Thrawn's lips, the briefest flash of emotion in those glowing red eyes that Eli could have sworn was pride, though something about it seemed somehow sad.

"An offer, Commander," Thrawn said, his tone slow and measured as always. "I believe you have attained the greatest height that the Empire will allow, though your talent and potential reaches far beyond what they are willing to offer." Eli was silent, speechless for a moment as he stared at Thrawn, trying to decide if he was sincere, where this was coming from, what this meant, but he came up with nothing. He had missed something, but he was uncertain what it could have been.

"I'm...content with where I am, sir..." Eli stammered, uncertain what it was that Thrawn wanted to hear. "It's where I'm meant to be."

"Perhaps," Thrawn said. "Perhaps not." He was silent for a moment, his gaze dropping to his hands before he took a deep breath and looked back up at the bewildered, suspicious Commander. "Eli," Thrawn said quietly. "I offer you a position among my people. With the Chiss Ascendancy."

For a long moment, Eli was silent, his breath held and his eyes wide as he stared at Thrawn, his mind feeling as though it were slowly grinding the information he had been given and all the implications that went along with it. "You...weren't exiled, were you?" Eli asked carefully, and Thrawn closed his eyes, a slight gesture of his hand conceding that the Commander had the right of it. "...so, when we found you on that planet-"

"We had attempted twice before to attract the Empire's attention," Thrawn whispered. "Our third attempt brought the _Strikefast_ , and you, to my location." He gestured dismissively. "You are well aware of the rest."

"...are you a spy?"

"No," Thrawn answered, swift and firm. "You were present when I offered knowledge of the Unknown Regions in exchange for being allowed to study the Empire, and being presented with the opportunity to observe the Imperial Navy by serving in its ranks was too advantageous to decline." Thrawn took a moment to observe Eli, his muscles tight, his body heat elevated, though he was leaning forward. Listening. "If I did not support the Empire, I would have left it long ago. I agree with the ideals of a powerful Empire as a stabilizing force for order." Thrawn sighed softly, his eyes flicking away from Eli for a second. "But I will always serve my people."

"And what if the interests of the Empire oppose the interests of the Chiss?"

"The two are not incompatible."

"Humor me, then," Eli said between grit teeth. "Suppose the Empire turned on your people. What then?"

"I will walk that path once I come to it..." Thrawn said, the strange monotone of his voice suddenly seeming colder, carrying a weight of finality that made it feel as though this wasn't just a possibility, but a road that he was certain he would one day travel. "But you come upon a divergence in your path now," Thrawn continued, the dangerous edge in his voice gone as if it hadn't been there at all. "The Chiss face forces far more evil than anything that exists within the Empire. I offer you an opportunity to combat these threats."

"What makes you think I'm capable of doing that!" Eli asked, louder than he intended, and he was answered only with the slight quirking of one of Thrawn's eyebrows, a subtle expression on the Chiss' face that said Eli knew damn well why he would believe he could do this thing. Words like talent and potential ran through his mind, ideas of remaining at his station or reaching beyond it just within his grasp, and he swallowed hard and looked at the man that had been his commander for so many years. "...do you really think I can do this?" Eli asked timidly.

"I would not have offered if I did not have full confidence in your abilities," Thrawn said quietly, and Eli swallowed hard, his heart pounding in his chest with nervousness and more excitement than he cared to admit.

"Would the Chiss have me?"

"Is a human among the Chiss more improbable than a Chiss among humans?" Thrawn countered, and a wry smirk spread across Eli's face, the tension of before vanishing swiftly under the onslaught of memories from their time in the Imperial Academy.

"It's all pretty improbable if you ask me," Eli said with a soft chuckle. "You've always been a bit of a fish ashore."

"Perhaps..." Thrawn muttered as he leaned back in his seat, a small, genuine smile tugging at the edge of his lips. For just a moment, there was silence, relaxed and comfortable, and for all the years he had served under the cold, dutiful Chiss, this was the first time Eli had felt warm in his presence, something more than a Captain, a Commander, a Commodore, an Admiral and his aide.

It felt like friendship.

"I'll do it," Eli whispered, more to himself than anything as he looked into Thrawn's searching gaze. "I'll do it," he said again, louder this time. "I'll serve your people as well as you served mine."

"You honor me..." Thrawn said, inclining his head toward the Commander. "I will contact my people at once and inform them of your decision."

"At once?" Eli asked, arching a single eyebrow as he watched Thrawn's fingers freeze upon his datapad. "No time at all to celebrate? Not everyday a non-human gets promoted to Grand Admiral in the Imperial Navy."

"A similarly rare occurrence for a human to join the Chiss Defense Fleet," Thrawn said as he pushed the datapad away. "Very well. I shall contact my people in the morning."

"Guess I can't convince you to get drunk in celebration, can I?"

"...I am on duty, Commander Vanto."

"When aren't you on duty, I knew it was too much to ask," Eli said with a roll of his eyes, looking out the viewport on the wall at the _Chimaera_ hanging large and imposing in space before them, the ship's mythological namesake engraved beautifully and intimidating upon the hull. "...I'm going to miss this..." Eli muttered, the sudden tightness in his chest forcing him to tear his eyes away from the Star Destroyer and flash Thrawn a quick smile. "You'll give the Shadow King hell for me, won't you?"

"Yes..." Thrawn muttered, his gaze drifting out toward his flagship. "You can be certain of that."


	58. Steps into Shadows

**AN:** **I don't think the next chapter's going to be as long as this one, so fingers crossed that the next one gets up a bit quicker.**

 **But really, this chapter is LONG.**

 **Only a few notes this time, guys, the first being that I, an Idiot, have been spelling Chimaera wrong THIS WHOLE TIME. One day, I'll go back and correct all the old, wrong spellings, but that day is not today, and from now, I'll do it right. I'm sorry I did you wrong, Thrawn. I'll do better next time. Don't want that error to become a mistake, NOW DO WE?!**

 **The other note here being that, if you can't tell from the setup of this chapter and the past few, I'm taking a hack saw to Season 3, which I don't do lightly, as I dearly love season 3, but we're gonna be seeing some real changes happening pretty soon. Just a heads up for all the people that like to yell at me for, um...deviating from canon? Because I'm not doing enough of that already? Yeah, I don't know either. Get your pitchforks and megaphones ready, kids! It's about to get dangerous in this dumpster fire!**

 **Let me know what we're feeling, lovelies, you know I love to hear it!**

 ** _Chapter 58: Steps Into Shadow_**

Luke sat at Ezra's bedside, the unconscious boy's hand gingerly clasped in his own while a 2-1B medical droid put the final touches on Ezra's cybernetic leg. It had been weeks since the mission to Malachor, weeks for the limited medbay on their base at Atollon to stabilize the severely wounded Ezra and begin to heal him, the cost of the precious time wasted in their difficult escape from Malachor making his recovery a delicate, prolonged affair. It had taken time to procure the things they needed to properly treat him, even longer to obtain the expensive components necessary to build a proper cybernetic leg, a frustrated and worried Hera often leaving the base to secure the materials herself in order to see them personally delivered as quickly as it was possible.

And now, three weeks later, Ezra had been taken off the critical support systems and his new leg completed, a sleek, beautifully crafted duranium alloy shell encasing orderly array of wiring and mechanics and synthetic nerves, a custom-built improvement over the standard upgrades that Luke had worked on himself. He had hardly left the medical wing at all since they had returned from Malachor, leaving him to wander and worry endlessly as he staved off guilt and anxiety and depression and hopelessness until the first shipment of parts arrived and he could busy his mind with something other than the weight of crushing loss.

It was senseless to think that way, Luke knew. After all, the mission to Malachor had been a success, the objectives that they set out to accomplish were achieved. The Inquisitors were dead, all of them, and without the ability to effectively track Kanan and Ezra, their Atollon base was secure, giving them a sense of safety and security that they had never had before. True, they still had to worry about the Lords of the Sith, and even now, the ghastly sight of Darth Vader's visage was burned into Luke's mind, but after three weeks and no sign of the Empire, it had seemed as though they had wriggled free of the hook, the tight line the Emperor had upon them as he reeled them in for capture snapped, allowing them to retreat into the depths, more cautious this time for their close brush with certain destruction.

But it had come at a cost.

Luke's hand tightened around Ezra's as he bit down on his lip to fight the tears that stung his eyes. The mission may have been a success, and they may have obtained a rare and valuable Sith holocron to boot, but they had been trapped, captured, and only freed because someone came to slice the rope that coiled around their necks, and had done so at the cost of his own life. Luke hadn't been there, he hadn't seen it, but he had _felt_ it, the crippling wail of the Force as it was sundered. Though he hadn't known what it was at the time, the panic and fear for his father trapped and alone with the Emperor and his Sith apprentices made him believe that the violent disturbance had been the brutal death of Darth Lumis, slain by the Emperor so that the rest of them could escape, leaving an agonized Luke to clutch his sister tightly as they both mourned the sudden loss.

It wasn't until later that they learned the truth from Ahsoka when the woman had returned to the base a few hours after them, following her very sudden departure once she had secured their safety aboard the _Umbra_. She had returned with an unconscious Obi-Wan, his body limp and broken and barely alive, her entire being grave and somber as she patiently waited for the overjoyed and relieved twins to calm themselves before she told them of Yoda's sacrifice, the Jedi's life freely given to save the life of a Lord of the Sith.

Yoda had been a part of Luke's life for as long as he could remember. Some of his earliest, fondest memories of being on Dagobah, leaping from stone to stone to cross the swamps, swinging from vines, running through the massive trees and studying the Force, all under the watchful gaze of the Jedi Grandmaster. Luke had learned a great deal of the Force from Yoda, had sat with him for long hours learning from him while Leia would run off on some adventurous whim, would listen to the ancient Master long into the night as he recounted his early missions, his time with the Jedi, the places he'd been and the things he had seen. Those stories were all that was truly left of the Jedi Order, and Luke treasured each and every one of them.

And now Yoda was dead and gone like the rest of them, and though part of Luke knew that to rejoin the Force was not a cause for sadness, that for one as ancient and powerful as Yoda, he was never truly gone, for as much as the spirit of Qui-Gon Jinn comforted and assured him that the tiny Master lived on in another form, just as he did, it didn't make it hurt any less. He knew Yoda had learned the secrets that Qui-Gon had, that one day, maybe even one day soon, he would wake to find the ghostly figure of the last Jedi watching over him. But there was something... _final_ in knowing that Yoda would never again ride upon his shoulders, that the peaceful days on Dagobah were at an end.

Luke hadn't experienced death before, not like this, not when it was so close and so personal that he was left distracted by a wound that ached and bled that he didn't know how to heal. He wondered how long it would be before he saw Yoda again, and if seeing the tiny, ghostly form would bring him peace or simply make the wound hurt anew. He was grateful to Yoda for what he had done to save his father's life, but he was just as saddened that it had to come to that, that Yoda had to die to make it so, and Luke couldn't help but chuckle softly to himself as he wiped tears from his eyes when he thought of what the tiny Master would have said to see him like this.

With a heavy sigh, Luke looked up, his gaze drifting to the other side of the room lit by the soft blue glow of a bacta tank where his father floated within the thick, healing gel, a mask fixed over his nose and mouth and an array of sensor nodes and wiring interspaced along his arms and torso, sending vital information to the quietly beeping monitoring systems that surrounded the tank. Nobody knew yet what had happened between Obi-Wan and the other Lords of the Sith. He had already been defeated by the time Ahsoka arrived with help, and they likely wouldn't know anything until he woke up.

 _If_ he woke up.

The physical damage was bad enough. His body was covered with new, welted lightning burns that splattered across his skin like spider webs, burns that soaked deep into his skin and damaged muscle and nerves. Those had been easy enough to repair, the long soak in the bacta tank soothing and healing charred, blistered skin into smooth scars. But the greatest damage was on his back, a deep black line sliced deep into his skin through muscle and bone, severing the delicate connective tissue that allowed his arms to move. It was a difficult procedure to attempt to repair and reattach the muscle to bone, and while the surgical droids and the bacta did their work well, they wouldn't know for certain how successful they were.

The black scar of the saber burn that crossed his back lined up perfectly with the similar scar on his chest, a perfect band around him that looked as if it had been done in a single stroke, a lethal bisection separated by years into two brutal cuts. But it was not the physical damage and repairs that kept him unconscious in that tank. Something else had happened to Obi-Wan in the temple on Malachor, something that went far beyond the physical, and it only took the slightest brush of the Force to feel the gaping wound of a shattered mind. It was as if Lumis' powers had been turned against him, a brutal mental domination that left everything within him crushed and broken , the very essence of his being forced so far into the void that even he could not claw his way back out. Whatever it was that was done to him, Obi-Wan was lost in the wrathful torrent of the Force and couldn't find his way back to himself, and Luke knew all too well that it was far too dangerous to make the attempt to brave that void and find him, the risk of being lost as well far too great.

Kanan had said that his Jedi Master had been in a similar state, that she had faced Darth Lumis in battle and come out the other side broken beyond repair, her spirit seemingly absent from her body for over a year while she was suspended in bacta, hoping that the constant healing would somehow draw her back to them. Nobody was certain how she returned to them, only that she did, a thing not accomplished by medical attention so much as the Jedi believed it to be the will of the Force, but none of them were willing now to remove Obi-Wan from the bacta tank, just in case. It certainly couldn't hurt.

Luke bit down on his lip once again as he looked away from his father, tears stinging his eyes and running down his cheeks. He knew very well that Obi-Wan may never return to them, that he was already dead and keeping his body in medical suspension was just a grim reminder of what they had lost, but he couldn't help but hope that he would somehow find a way to return to them. He didn't want to wait a year like Kanan had, he wanted his father back _now_ , but if waiting was what it would take, Luke would wait as long as necessary. Perhaps his presence would help his father find his way. Perhaps Qui-Gon could reach him and guide him back. Perhaps Yoda could. There were a thousand, thousands ways back, and Luke was certain his father was fighting to find them. He'd return to them. Luke _knew_ it.

Ezra's hand twitched and tightly grabbed hold of Luke's hand, and Luke's attention swiftly shifted to his injured friend, leaving his heavy thoughts behind him as he was given something else to focus on. One shuddering breath and a pained groan later, Ezra's eyes squeezed shut, his body shifting slightly under the thin sheet before a stab of pain stilled him, his teeth grinding together as he winced. Luke laid his hand on Ezra's sweat-slicked forehead, brushed the hair away from his eyes and muttered quiet assurances to the boy that it would be alright, his heart beating faster when Ezra's eyes squeezed tightly together again before he slowly began to open his eyes, squinting against the light.

"Ezra..." Luke said, trying to be quiet and calm, though his voice shook with excitement, a wide grin spreading across his face for the first time in weeks, and he pressed his hand to Ezra's cheek, his thumb running over the high arch of his cheek bone. "Ezra, come on. I'm here, you're safe."

The boy's eyes shut again for a moment, his chest rising and falling with rapid, uneven breaths, and with a groan, Ezra slowly opened his eyes once again, the world hazy and unfocused for a moment as his gaze vacant drifted around the room. The world slowly brightened, the images around him sharpening, and with the return of his sight came confusion as he looked up into the hopeful, smiling face of Luke. With a groan, he tried to sit up, but a gentle hand upon his chest pushed him back onto the bed he lay in.

"No, don't get up," Luke said firmly. "You just take it easy, Ezra."

"Where..." Ezra started, his voice tight and cracked, his throat dry, and Luke swiftly pressed a glass to his lips so he could drink. The first swallow was painful, the next less so, the third a welcome relief, and before he knew it, Luke was filling up another glass and Ezra was drinking from that one too. He was more thirsty than he had thought.

"Where am I?" Ezra asked in a hoarse whisper, his tongue thick in his mouth and his thoughts slow and blurry and sluggish, a loopy, unfocused grin on his face when he looked up at the refreshing sight of Luke and felt the other boy brushing back his hair.

"We're back at Chopper Base," Luke said quietly, and Ezra frowned, his mind churning clumsily through his memories for understanding, but there was none to be had. He wasn't even sure what Chopper Base was for a moment before his fumbling recollection found what he was looking for, though it was all still very hazy.

"Chopper Base?" Ezra slurred. "How did...how did I get here?"

"You don't know?" Luke asked calmly, patiently, and Ezra slowly shook his head. "What's the last thing you remember?" For a moment, there was silence, Ezra closing his eyes as he searched the thick fog of his memories, his jaw clenched in concentration, his hand tightening around Luke's, before he once again opened his eyes, his gaze distant and unfocused.

"Malachor..." Ezra whispered. "We were on Malachor, looking for Kenobi's holocron. Did we...did we get it?"

"We did..." Luke muttered, a small, sad smile quivering on his lips as he raised his hand, and the small pyramid flew gently into his hand, the golden capstones encasing the dull red etched glass, and Ezra reached out and gently took it, the faintest glow flickering beneath the frosty glass for a second before it faded once again.

"Wow..." Ezra muttered, turning the pyramid over in his hands. "Have we learned anything from it?"

"Not yet..." Luke said with a heavy sigh. "Most of us can't open it, and those that can are too afraid to touch it." Ezra frowned, confusion creasing his brow as he began to speak, and was silenced swiftly when Luke pressed his fingers to his lips. "What else do you remember?" Luke asked quietly. "Think. Take your time."

For a moment, Ezra thought about raising objections, a thousand questions buzzing in his mind that frantically demanded answers, but he ultimately decided to do as he was told, closing his eyes and taking a deep calming breath to calm his mind as he tried to remember. The memories were, at first, fast, rushing by with such speed that they were painful to look at, a piece of him screaming to look away from them, to keep them fuzzy and out of focus, but the feel of his hand in Luke's grounded him and gave him the courage to push past the rising fear he felt and peel back the haze that obscured his memories.

He saw Malachor, dark and cold and ethereal, the petrified monuments of the dead scattered about a battlefield in a ruined city that glowed with the presence of shimmering, restless specters. He saw the Sith Temple, dangerous and foreboding and intriguing as they wormed their way deep into the heart where the holocron rested. He remembered the elation and satisfaction of a successful mission, abruptly ended in a flash of red and a surge of fear, and then...

And then he remembered only pain.

Ezra opened his eyes, his hand in Luke's beginning to tremble as his other fingers curled tightly around the holocron, the edges of the pyramid digging into his palm as it responded to the roiling, sickening churn of fear and dread and pain with a faint red glow. He felt nauseous, his skin paling and slicking with cold sweat, his chest tight and his lungs burning as he tried and failed to breathe, his throat constricting like he was suffocating. He swallowed hard and looked at Luke, those blue eyes filled with sympathy and understanding and care, a hand that Ezra could not feel resting upon his leg.

"We didn't know if you were going to make it..." Luke said quietly as he carefully pulled down the sheet covering Ezra's body, revealing the cybernetic leg attached to the middle of Ezra's thigh where the flesh ended. "We did what we could to fix the damage. I know it's not the same as a real leg, but...well, you're alive. And Kanan and Hera got the best components and materials they could find to build this," he said, a small smile on his lips as he tapped the cybernetic leg. "It'll be like you never lost it."

Ezra didn't respond, only sat silently as he looked at the polished sheen of the dark, blue-gray metal that now formed the majority of his leg. He lightly ran his finger across the junction where metal met scarred flesh, barely breathing as the last traces of haze in his shock fogged memory cleared, the slow crawl of the ambush that took his leg occupying his every thought, his teeth clenching hard at the memory of the blinding pain he had felt when he fell to the ground. He wondered if they could have done it differently, if they had made a mistake or an oversight that allowed them into that situation, but he could think of nothing. They had known going in that it was likely a trap, and it was a risk they were all willing to take.

"The Inquisitors?" Ezra asked quietly as he dragged his fingers over the metal leg, and he scoffed when Luke nodded. "Guess I was pretty useless..." he sighed, staring at his leg for a moment before he looked up again at Luke. "Did they at least die for doing this to me?"

"Yeah, they're dead," Luke muttered, a brief, hard edge in his voice. "All of them. There are no more Inquisitors left to hunt us."

"Good..." Ezra growled as he sat up, and with a grunt of effort, swung his legs over the side of the bed, giving the cybernetic leg an experimental shake, and a bright grin spread across his face when it swiftly and smoothly responded. "Guess all we need to worry about now is the rest of the Empire and the Sith Lords, huh?" There was something in Luke's eyes, something so fast that Ezra didn't quite manage to catch it, but whatever it was, it made the slight smile on his face seem fake and his eyes seem sad and distant. "What?" Ezra asked quietly. "What is it?"

"...a lot happened while you were out, Ezra," Luke whispered after a moment of silence. "The Inquisitors weren't the only ones on Malachor. The Sith were there too."

"The Sith..." Ezra mindlessly repeated, swallowing a lump in his throat that came with the sudden dread. "More than just ours, I take it..."

"More than just ours, yes..." Luke quietly confirmed, his eyes distant and unfocused as he stared past Ezra. "They were all there, Ezra. _All of them_. Maul, Sidious..." He swallowed hard, a look of fear passing over his face as he looked back at Ezra. "Vader..." Luke said in a weak, shaking voice. "We knew it was a possibility, but I didn't think...I _never_ thought they would all be there to see the trap close around us..."

"But they failed, didn't they?" Ezra said, a slight smile on his face as he laid his hand upon his worried friend's shoulder. "We got away." He stopped, the creeping dread rising as he looked at Luke's face and saw loss. "...h-how did we get away?" he asked in barely a whisper, unable to stop himself from asking.

"Not all of us did.." Luke said in a voice that cracked with the strain of emotion. "My Father did as he said he would. He stayed behind so we could escape."

"...h-he's dead?" Ezra squeaked, his heart suddenly jumping to pound in his chest. "My vision, I-it came true?"

"No..." Luke said, looking again behind Ezra, and this time, he turned to see what he was looking at, and he found himself unable to breathe through the tightening in his chest. Behind him, suspended in the light blue liquid of a bacta tank, was Obi-Wan, his body covered in both faint and dark scars, all of them healed, though something about him felt wounded and worse for ware. Ezra always had difficulty feeling the Sith Lord through the Force, a confusing weave of the energies around him making it seem as though nothing was there, even though he could clearly see the man, but now, there was an emptiness that didn't exist before, a void where nothing should have been, a hole in what should have been a pristine surface. It was so unsettling that Ezra couldn't believe he hadn't felt it until now.

"We don't know what happened..." Luke continued. "He was alone with the other Sith for a while before Ahsoka went back for him. She said when she got there, he'd already been defeated."

"...did Kenobi kill any of them?" Ezra asked, and Luke averted his eyes and shook his head. "How did Ahsoka get away?"

"With a little help," Luke said with a sad smile. "Master Yoda went with her, and he died so they could escape."

"...Y-yoda?" Ezra stuttered. "Yoda's dead?"

"A life for a life..." Luke said bitterly, his eyes once again drifting toward the bacta tank. "Ahsoka said he took my Father's place in that vision. The Force demanded a sacrifice, and Yoda denied the Dark Side that victory by willingly giving himself to the Light."

"...a lot of trouble for such a small thing," Ezra whispered as he looked down at the holocron in his hand. "I hope it was worth it."

"Yeah..." Luke said, his voice cracking slightly, and he swallowed back the lump in his throat. "I hope so too..." Clearing his throat and wiping his hand over his eyes, Luke flashed Ezra a small smile and grabbed a roll of tools from the table behind him. "Come on. You've been in bed long enough. Let's see how that new leg of yours works."

Offering him his hand, Luke helped Ezra slide from the bed, the boy wincing at the hard, metallic sound of the cybernetic leg hitting the floor, and he grabbed tightly for Luke's arm when he felt himself pitching off balance on unsteady legs. Taking a moment for his atrophied muscles to adjust to standing once again, Ezra took an unsteady, shuffling step forward with his flesh leg, his cybernetic one dragging behind him with a grating scrape, making both boys wince at the screeching sound. After another few attempts, Ezra slowly steadied, and with a boost of confidence from Luke's reassuring hand upon his back, he managed to lift the cybernetic leg to take an effortless step.

The movement was fluid, natural in a way that Ezra didn't believe possible, and after a few limping steps as he grew used to the strange feel, he slowly realized that he was limping because of his weakened flesh leg, not the new mechanical one. Gradually, Luke released him, allowing him to slowly walk around the room on his own, and Ezra made his way over to the bacta tank, laying a hand upon the warm glass as he looked at the Sith Lord within. Without saying a word, Luke knelt next to Ezra, opened a panel on the side of the leg, and went to work making adjustments, making Ezra lean against the tank for support when the cybernetic leg made his muscles contract without warning.

"Sorry..." Luke muttered under his breath. "This will just take a minute..." He looked up at Ezra and smiled, unconsciously reaching out to run his fingers down the glass of the bacta tank before he returned his attention to the inner workings of the cybernetic leg. "I saw a hitch in the extension of the knee when you're stepping backwards. I can fix it."

"You sure do know a lot about this leg," Ezra said slowly as he watched Luke work. "Did you build it?"

"No," Luke said quickly, his face and the tips of his ears turning a bright red that Ezra decided was endearing. "Well, not _all_ of it. The medical droid did most of the work, I just helped with the inner mechanics. K2 helped too." He paused for a moment, bit down on his lip, and looked up at Ezra, though his fingers never stopped moving among the circuits and wires and hydraulics. "HK suggested we install rocket launchers in the knee, but...well, we didn't."

"Of course he would," Ezra said with a roll of his eyes as he softly chuckled to himself, his mood sobering considerably when he looked back inside the bacta tank. "...how long was I out?"

"Three weeks," Luke said with a shrug as he sealed up the leg's maintenance compartment and affectionately patted the metallic knee, and he smiled quietly to himself when Ezra began stammering and gawking.

"T-three weeks?" Ezra repeated. " _Three weeks_?! I've been in here for three weeks?!"

"And two days," Luke added as he stood, and with a last look at his Father in the tank, he took Ezra's hand and led him toward the door. "Come on. Everyone else will want to see you."

"I can't believe it..." Ezra muttered, allowing himself to be led from the room and only stumbling twice as he stepped out into the corridor. "Stars, what have I missed?"

"Not much, actually," Luke said quietly, waving at each droid and medic they passed in the hall on their slow walk through the building. "We've been laying low after all that happened. The Spectres have been running small missions around the sector, mostly supply runs, some of those being to get the medical supplies needed to heal you and Father and to get the components to build your leg. But outside of that..." He shrugged. "There hasn't been much. Most of the work has been in intelligence, finding allies, gathering information." Luke smiled slyly. "Ahsoka's been busy. Says a few of her agents have something big."

"How big?" Ezra asked excitedly, and Luke simply shrugged.

"Very. Though I don't know what it is. You know how Ahsoka can be."

"Yeah I do..." Ezra drawled with a knowing smirk. "I bet that's killing Sabine." He smiled softly to himself as he looked down at his feet and watch the slow, even tread of his feet upon the ground, his mind swimming with thoughts about his family on the _Ghost_ before his eyes flicked back to Luke. "Did everyone else make it?"

"Yeah," Luke said quietly. "Vitios and Vehemis have been out exploring the planet. They say the feel something out there."

"Something?" Ezra asked, his nose wrinkling with scepticism. "Something like what? Something dangerous?" Luke said nothing, only shrugged. "Well, have you felt anything? I don't feel anything." Again, Luke said nothing, only shook his head. "...are they just going crazy?" Ezra asked with a sly smile that made Luke chuckle and roll his eyes. "I hear the Dark Side will do that to a person."

"I think..." Luke said slowly, carefully measuring his words before he spoke. "I think that whatever it is that's out there is calling to them, not us. If they are meant to find it, they will."

"Hmm..." Ezra's already slow pace slowed even further as he closed his eyes and stretched out with the Force, the swell of warmth slow and sluggish for not having touched it in so very long, but as he felt the gentle breeze around him, it came back like an old, familiar friend, warm and comforting as it embraced him. "...what about Leia?" He asked after a moment of silence. "She alright?"

"...I suppose so," Luke said after a brief hesitation. "She came back and immediately took command. She's been the one coordinating the missions and sending the patrols out. We always knew she was made for command, but we didn't know how well it would suit her." A small, genuine smile touched Luke's lips, his chest swelling with pride. "It took her no time at all to become a leader around here. Father will be so proud of her." Luke's smile faltered, and Ezra could feel the Force ripple with grief. "She blames herself for what happened on Malachor," Luke whispered. "She says we wouldn't have been there if she hadn't led us there. She feels like what she saw was somehow part of the Emperor's design to lead Father to him."

"...is that possible?" Ezra asked, and Luke's gaze fell to stare blankly at the floor.

"Anything's possible," he muttered. "And if the Lords of the Sith shape the Dark Side and bend it to their will, it's certainly possible that the Emperor's hand guided her visions. But we'll never know for sure." Luke's step faltered, his gaze shooting up and focusing down the hall, and a slow smile crept across his face. "Speak of the Sith and they will appear..." he muttered under his breath, and just before a confused Ezra managed to ask Luke what he was talking about, he saw Leia round the corner and walk down the hallway, her step swift and purposeful, her gaze intense and focused. When she saw them, she stopped for only a moment before she ran to them, a displeased sneer crossing her face as she muttered something under her breath and returned to her slower, more purposeful walk.

"Glad to see you up and about, Ezra," Leia said, giving him a short and business-like nod when they met before she turned her attention to Luke, a hopeful look on her face. "Is Father-"

"No," Luke quickly interrupted, and Leia's jaw tightened, her hand clenched by her side, and Ezra felt the Force quake with disappointment and guilt before it once again fell calm, the swell of emotion safely hidden once again behind the protective walls Leia constructed around her. Luke had been right. The girl had seemed a different person now than she had been before, less the impish girl and more the stalwart commander.

"Maybe he'll return to us soon," Leia said, taking a deep, calming breath as she looked between Luke and Ezra, the slightest flicker of a teasing smirk on her lips before it was swiftly banished. "Ezra waking up bodes well for Father, I hope." She drew up taller, brushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear and regarding Ezra with a slight, sly smile. "It's good to have you back, Ezra. You should let the others know you're awake. They'd love to hear from you."

"I will," Ezra said, nodding his head at the girl as she walked past them.

"Any idea where they are?" Luke asked his twin, and Leia spun to face them, though continued walking backwards down the hallway.

"Everyone's meeting in the command center," Leia said shortly, that impish smirk playing on her face once again. "We're gearing up for a mission. A big one. A _real_ one."

"Really?" Ezra asked excitedly, and Leia's smirk only grew.

"Really..." she replied. "Get there quick enough and we'll see if we can't get you two lovebirds on board."

"Leia, how many times have I told you..." Luke said with a roll of his eyes as he reeled around to face her. "We're not..." She had already left, her figure retreating swiftly and purposefully down the hallway, and Luke sighed and hung his head. "Oh, forget it, why do I even bother..."

"The first real mission since Malachor..." Ezra said tightly, his voice strained with excitement. "My timing couldn't have been more perfect!" He took an experimental hop forward, and his leg buckled as he landed, and Luke was quickly at his side to catch his arm to steady him.

"Easy now..."

"We're going, right?" Ezra asked, taking a moment to test his knee before he continued walking, the pace slow again as he carefully flexed the cybernetics, feeling the impulses run through the stump of his leg as he made the metal replacement move.

"I can't promise that we're be involved in the mission, but yes, we're going," Luke muttered. "Like Leia said, the others will want to see you."

"Yeah..." Ezra cast a sidelong glance at Luke, a devious smirk on his face. "Race you?" he asked, grinning from ear to ear when Luke sighed heavily, though the faintest smile touched the tired boy's lips as he nodded, stopped, and took off down the hallway beside Ezra.

By the time they were out of the compound and running across Chopper Base's airfield, Ezra was running swift and smoothly, his breathing hard as he focused on catching Luke as he pulled just ahead of him, his cybernetic leg completely forgotten. He only slowed when his lungs began to burn and a bitter, metallic taste filled his mouth, his breathing heavy and labored as he stopped to place his hands on his knees and spit on the ground as he took large, greedy gulps of the hot, dry Atollon air. Within moments, he felt Luke's hand upon his back, the warmth of his touch spreading across his skin and seeping deep within him to calm his pounding heart and soothe his burning lungs, the gentle pulse of the Force healing the weight of his exertion.

"Too much too soon, huh?" Ezra asked between heavy pants, and Luke slowly nodded as he helped the boy upright.

"You were bed-ridden for weeks," he quietly agreed. "It'll take a little time." He tapped Ezra's thigh. "How's the leg feel?"

"Like I never lost it," Ezra said with a soft smile, feeling his face flush under the gentle expression on Luke's face.

"I'm glad to hear it." Luke pointed at the multi-storied building at the end of the airfield. "Almost there. Come on."

They took their time the rest of the way, silent as Ezra caught the breath he lost and swallowed the acidic taste of over-exertion in his mouth, his eyes wandering over the ships that lined the airfield and grinning at the sight of pilots and mechanics and droids all working upon them. They passed by half a dozen different types of ships, freighters and larger carriers and starfighters, and for the first time since he had joined Kanan and Hera, Ezra felt like he was part of something bigger. Their base had grown since he had been out, and now, they looked like an actual rebellion.

As they drew closer to the command center, he could see Luke and Leia's X-Wings, the sleek jet black bodies standing out even among all the other ships, polished to a fine sheen and free of even the slightest hint of dirt or scratching. Ezra's stride lengthened, breaking into a slow jog when he saw the _Ghost_ a little way behind them, elation and excitement turning his jog into a run as he rushed toward the ship that had been his home for so long.

Rapidly slowing to a stop and gasping for air as he stood before the lowered cargo ramp, Ezra grinned broadly when he saw a few droids pushing hovercrates down the ramp, the unloading supervised by Chopper, and at his approach, the little astromech's head turned and emitted a series of sharp electronic groans, its body swiveling around as it wheeled its way to Ezra.

"Hey, buddy!" Ezra said excitedly, brushing the hair out of his face at Chopper's approach, its side ports opening to unfurl it's claw like service arms, and with an admonishing, grinding whir, the astromech struck Ezra's cybernetic leg with its wrench-like appendage. Beside him, Luke tried and failed to stifle his laughter. "Alright, I'm sorry!" Ezra said, his hands raised before him as he backed up, the little droid pointing its utility arms in a menacing way and continuing with it's irritable reprimand. Chuckling quietly, Luke knelt beside the fussy droid and laid a hand on its flat head, and Chopped stopped flailing its service arms.

"He'll be more careful in the future," Luke said softly, and with a last pointed shake of its service arm and a burst of grumpy, muffled grinding, Chopper spun around and wheeled its way back up the ramp of the _Ghost_.

"Some things don't change..." Ezra muttered as he rubbed the back of his neck and looked sheepishly at Luke. "Chopper doesn't like anyone, how'd you get him to like you?"

"It's all in how you talk to him," Luke said with a shrug. "And I've always been good with droids. Father always said..." He stopped, looked down at the ground before he cleared his throat and flashed Ezra a small smile. "It's very different from Father, he hates droids."

"Yeah, I never got that..."

"I never did either," Luke said with a roll of his eyes. "Honestly, you'd think the former leader of the Confederacy's droid army would feel differently, but we had more than one trip with him when we were younger when he would just tear through entire warehouses of droids and I rarely saw him happier."

"...your dad's a weird guy, Luke," Ezra said wryly, and a bright grin spread across the other boy's face, only wavering slightly as he looked away from him and toward the command center."

"Come on. We don't want to keep the others waiting."

Ezra quickly fell into step beside Luke, smiling as he cast a final glance back at the _Ghost_ , though the smile faded with a twinge of pain at the sight of the _Umbra_ in the space beside the _Ghost_ , the sleek black ship missed entirely in his exuberance. It sat silent and still in its place, no droids working maintenance, no activity surrounding it, no people in the vicinity, and Ezra suspected that nobody had gone near the Sith Lord's ship since they returned from Malachor. The silence between him and Luke suddenly felt uncomfortable and melancholy, and Ezra tried to find something to talk about to break the silence, but for all the hundreds of questions that sprung to his mind like a flood, not a single one didn't relate back to Kenobi or the mission where it had all went wrong.

"I'm not special..." Luke said as they entered the command center, breaking the silence between them and looking sheepish when he realized that Ezra had no idea what he was talking about. "With Chopper, I mean," he clarified. "He likes Hera and Kanan and Sabine too, and he weirdly likes my Father." A small smile crossed his lips as he looked at Ezra. "He likes you too, he was just worried. He came by just about every day to see you."

"...he did?"

"Yeah, everyone did," Luke said with a smile as he rested his hand on Ezra's shoulder. "They're your family, Ezra, of course they did."

"Yeah, I just..." Ezra sighed, smiling softly to himself. "I know..." he said quietly. "I haven't forgotten."

"I know you haven't," Luke said, patting the other boy on the back and nudging him forward. "Come on, I know you're anxious to see them."

And he was, each step they took through the command center making Ezra's heart beat faster with excitement, looking around to peek inside each room and observe each person, hoping to see someone he knew and uncertain of exactly where they were going. The base had only just been established when they left of Malachor, and it had come a long way since then, the entire building hardly recognizable for all the equipment that had been moved in.

It didn't take them too long to reach their destination, the two of them climbing a flight of stairs instead of taking the service lift up, Luke walking behind Ezra to observe the way his cybernetic leg moved in case further adjustments needed to be made, but from the way Luke was grinning, Ezra suspected that all was well. They walked down a short hallway at the top of the stairs, stopped before a heavy, secured door, and Luke laid his hand on the console on the wall, a green light making four sweeps over his palm before the console chimed and the door slid open, admitting them into the same room where they had hatched the plan to hunt the final Inquisitors on Malachor. Suddenly nervous, all the mounting anticipation getting to him, Ezra stumbled over his own feet when he stepped inside the room and he could barely breathe as he looked up and was met with half a dozen familiar faces.

For a moment, there was silence. In the next, Ezra was quickly surrounded.

Ezra found himself choking back tears when Hera tightly hugged him, his head falling to her shoulder and trying to calm his shuddering breaths before they parted, but she drew away too quickly, stepping aside to make room for the next. Before he could rub his arm over his eyes, Ezra gave a startled cry when he was lifted off the ground by a pair of strong, furry arms, and he quickly struggled in the Lasat's grasp when the powerful chest rumbled with laughter.

"You put on weight, Ezra," Zeb grunted, dropping the boy back to the ground and grinning wildly when the flustered teen quickly straightened his hair. "They said you'd lose weight, just laying around and doing nothing for weeks, but I said you'd just get fat." The Lasat grinned wider when Ezra's jaw tightened and his face flushed. "Kanan, you owe me a hundred credits, I _told_ you so!"

"How many times do I have to tell you, I never took that bet," Kanan said with a roll of his eyes, stepping up from behind Hera and ruffling the teenager's recently straightened, earning him a quick glare from Ezra before it faded into a smile. "Glad to see you're up," the Jedi said quietly, laying a hand on his student's shoulder. "Doing alright?"

"Yeah," Ezra said with a nod. "Hungry, though, and I'm ready to do something again."

"Oh, _please_..." Sabine scoffed as she pushed Zeb out of the way and punched Ezra's arm, a sly smirk on her face when he rubbed the spot she hit. "You never did anything before." She lightly tapped Ezra's metal leg with her foot, her head tilted as she examined the smooth casing, the junction of cybernetics to flesh hidden beneath the torn leg of his pants. "For all the work and expensive components that went into that leg, I'd have thought it would look fancier."

"It's a leg, Sabine," Luke said with a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose, a conversation they had clearly had before. "It looks like a leg so it can function like a leg. I know it isn't as flashy as the weapons you build, but it _isn't_ a weapon."

"And isn't _that_ a shame," Sabine sighed, flashing Ezra another smile. "I know you didn't choose to have a boring leg, Ezra. Mind if I paint it? I had some great ideas, but, you know..." She pointed at Luke. "He wouldn't let me."

"I-I'd love that..." Ezra stammered, smiling as the Mandalorian patted his shoulder and turned away from him to return to her seat around the holotable, the others following her, and with a playful nudge, Zeb pushed Ezra to do the same. Moving around the table, he caught sight of Ahsoka, the woman silent and focused as she bent over her datapad, her gaze flicking to Ezra as he came closer and the slightest smile on her lips as she nodded to him in acknowledgment and gestured to one of the free seats.

"Welcome back, Spectre Six," Ahsoka said quietly, folding her hands on the table before her. "Good to have you join us."

"I'm glad to be back," Ezra said as he dropped into his seat and grinned when Kanan sat beside him and slid his lightsaber and a ration bar to him.

"Can't do too much about the hunger right now," Kanan said, his fingers drumming on the table and smirking slightly as the teenager clipped his lightsaber onto his belt, tore open the ration bar and took a too large bite out of it. "But we can get you doing something again." Chewing quickly, Ezra swallowed long before he should have, grimaced as the hard lump went slowly down his throat, and looked around the table at the Spectres seated around him, at quiet Ahsoka in the command seat, at Luke as he sat beside his sister opposite him. Vehemis and Vitios were conspicuously absent, as were the others that called the _Umbra_ home, and Ezra's eyes flicked toward the empty seat beside Ahsoka and couldn't help but wonder if the Sith Lord would ever come back.

"Luke said there was something going on," Ezra muttered, shaking the oppressive, unpleasant thoughts from his mind and focusing on the task at hand. "Something big?"

"Something big," Ahsoka confirmed quietly, her eyes downcast for a moment as she stared at her datapad and carefully swiped the displayed files away. "Though that something is for another time."

"Are you kidding me?" Sabine groaned, leaning back in her seat and crossing her arms over her chest, petulant despite the glares from Ahsoka and Hera, though Ezra couldn't help but grinning. He _knew_ she'd be unhappy. "We didn't come here just so you could _not_ tell us what you know!"

"And when it is ready to be told, you will hear of it," Ahsoka said calmly. "Right now, we don't have anything we can act on. What I can tell you is that one of my Fulcrum agents has made contact with someone we've had our eyes on for a very long time. Someone very, _very_ important, and that's all I can tell you." Sabine huffed as she sunk down in her chair, but she said nothing more about it. She wasn't happy, Ezra could tell, but it didn't seem like she was going to raise any more objections.

"So what are we here for..." Zeb grumbled, and Leia put her own datapad on the table, tapped her finger a few times upon it, and the holotable lit up, the holographic field in the center flickering as it was activated.

"You're here for the other thing," Leia said as she stood from her seat, the galactic map flashing before them and swiftly zooming in a small, remote system of the Outer Rim. "Not so big as Fulcrum's developments, but just as important to our immediate concerns. The last mission Zeb and Sabine ran yielded results."

"It did?" Zeb asked, sitting up straight in his chair and his ears perking up.

"It did," Leia said with a nod. "The tip Hondo gave us panned out, you were right to take the risk to rescue him." A few more taps on the datapad, and the hologram zoomed in again, this time on a large, gaseous planet. "This is the planet Yarma," Leia said, gesturing to the planet in the holographic field. "And orbiting within it's atmosphere is Reklam Station, an Imperial reclamation platform that is well hidden from view and long range scanners by the gasses that Yarma is composed of."

"A secret Imperial station?" Ezra asked as he leaned forward. "What are they doing there?"

"It's basically a salvage yard," Leia answered. "Worth a look just for the components and materials that come out of places like that. Scrapped tech could give us very necessary components we need to repair our ships, weapons, and generators, but there's something more valuable there." A few more taps on her datapad and another image flashed inside the holographic field, a clunky ship with a wedge shaped cockpit and two heavy engines on a central spar behind it. "This is a BTL-A4 Y-wing starfighter, a ship that saw heavy use by the Republic forces during the Clone Wars."

"Y-Wings?" Hera asked, her nose wrinkling as she looked at the image. "Those are kinda old. Can they fly?"

"Rex believes so," Leia said confidently. "And Cody seemed appropriately irritated by the idea of them, so it sounds to me like they gave the Confederate forces a fair bit of hell. A solid, effective ship," she said, a devious smirk upon her lips as she looked around the table. "And Hondo says there are _thousands_ of them passing through Reklam Station for dismantling."

" _Hondo_ says," Kanan said with a roll of his eyes. "Hondo says a lot of things, and when those things aren't outrageous lies, which they _often_ are, they're highly exaggerated."

"You don't need to tell me that, Kanan, I know that well first hand," Leia said with a roll of her eyes as she looked at Luke. "We didn't take him at his word. Ahsoka's latest Fulcrum agent confirmed the information for us."

"We have a new Fulcrum agent?" Hera asked quietly, and Ahsoka nodded.

"That would be my other 'something big,'" the Togruta said quietly. "A very, very well placed informant, better than I could have hoped for. If they say the information's good, it's good."

"We sent Rex and Cody out to scout the station so we have a better idea of what we're working with, and they also confirmed Hondo's information," Leia said, a sly smirk on her lips. "There are indeed Y-Wing bombers at Reklam Station, though not in the numbers Hondo claimed."

"No, of course not..." Hera said with a sigh, her eyes running slowly over the image of the Y-Wing floating in the holographic field. "If we could steal a squadron's worth, they would be key to building a strike fleet. We need those ships."

"I agree," Leia said, swiping her finger across her datapad. "I'm sending the mission data to the _Ghost_. Hera, you and your team are to rendevous with Rex and Cody at the edge of the Yarma system and go together to Reklam Station to steal whatever Y-Wings you can. Commander Sato aboard _Phoenix Nest_ is standing by with two attack cruisers to lend you aid and bodies to fly the bombers, if you have need of them."

"With any luck, we won't have need of them," Hera said as she stood from her seat, her hand on Kanan's shoulder as she looked over at Ezra. "You up for stealing a few starfighters, Spectre Six?" she asked, and all Ezra could do was grin. He was _definitely_ ready.

* * *

Grand Admiral Thrawn stood before the viewport of the observation deck on the Star Destroyer _Chimaera_ , his hands folded behind his back as he looked out into the blackness of space. For nearly three weeks, he had been observing the rebel activity here in the Lothal sector at a distance, keeping his presence unknown to both the insurgents and the Imperial forces as he quietly collected data and came to understand the current situation that saw him summoned here. His initial assessment had been correct. Something had, indeed, changed, though what that change was fell outside of his expectations.

In the wake of the destruction of Nightswan's rebel insurgency on Batonn in addition to the splinter cells on Denash and Sammun, he had expected Lothal's Phoenix Cell to pull back and move more cautiously than before, which they had, but given his suspicions after his meeting with the Emperor, he had expected the nature of their activities to be different than what he had found. Under the influence of the Shadow King, he expected small precision strikes against Imperial outposts, small ways to loosen the grip upon the sector in which they operated. In recent years, Kenobi had become more dangerous and more visible, the nature of his attacks increasing in magnitude as he slowly tested the will of the Imperial forces, though with the destruction of Nightswan, it was likely that even the bold and brash Shadow King would pull back, becoming more a nuisance than a threat as he had been before, though those attacks had always resulted in humiliation for those that failed to stop him.

Those attacks, more often that not, were extremely personal, directed specifically at the Emperor himself, and designed to be taken as direct insults, and from the bitterness of the Emperor's disposition during their last meeting, Thrawn expected to find that cunning Kenobi had done just that. Something small and subtle, something that cut deep, something that shamed and insulted the Emperor personally in a way that none of his other attacks have. This went beyond the nuisance of before, beyond the destruction as of late, beyond mere insult, and with how well Thrawn had come to know the Shadow King over the years, he had expected to be drawn immediately toward the center of what had angered the Emperor.

But he found nothing. The Phoenix Rebels, for all their creativity and cunning, had been reduced to mere supply runs, periodically coming out of hiding to abscond with scrap and supplies from poorly guarded convoys or warehouses. It was uncharacteristic for the emboldened rebels, and while the destruction of Nightswan did account for increased caution, it did not explain their current behavior. In the past, it was not unheard of for Kenobi to lay low for long periods of time, emerging only periodically to cause just enough chaos to make certain he stayed fresh in Imperial thoughts, but his presence could still be felt in other ways, his touch like a fingerprint on every one of the many missions he had a hand in.

But here, _now_ , in this group of rebels he was known to be part of, Thrawn saw nothing of the renegade Sith Lord's influence, no touch of his upon these petty missions, no hand in the planning or design. These raids, these paltry supply runs, these rough sketches of the Phoenix Rebels were drawn by another hand. This was not the work of Obi-Wan Kenobi. His hand was not present at all, like he had disappeared entirely from the planning and execution of the insurgent activities, a thing Thrawn knew that the Shadow King's vanity and unerring confidence would not allow. Missions could be run and planned by others, but even then, Kenobi's hand could be seen in the details, like a master subtly correcting a student's work. But now, in these missions, it was as if Kenobi had been entirely absent.

 _Something_ had happened. Thrawn had been correct about that.

It became necessary to test these rebels so that he might observe their actions and come to know how they think and plan. He would know their strategy before moving in, and the perfect window of opportunity to do just that presented itself when the Phoenix Rebels made a move with their characteristic boldness, once again devoid of Kenobi's hand, but very clearly the work of the Spectres Garazeb Orelios and Sabine Wren. The Imperial prison on the planet Naraka had been infiltrated by a small team of insurgents, and they had escaped with the pirate Hondo Ohnaka, a man Thrawn knew to be at least occasionally in league with Kenobi.

The reasons for his rescue were unknown, given that Kenobi very likely was not involved in the mission, but after briefly looking into the situation surrounding the current rebel activities and the pirate's imprisonment conditions, Thrawn determined the likely next course of action of the Phoenix Cell. Having studied them closely for the past few weeks, having become familiar with their tactics, it was time to test them and see how they preformed under pressure, and if Kenobi would come out of hiding when his rebels were caught in a trap, as he always did.

Thrawn didn't move from his spot when he heard the distant door to the observation deck hiss open and the quick clip of boots on the ground striding purposefully toward him. He had been expecting the company, and judging from the number of distinctive gaits he could hear, three, if he was not mistaken, they had arrived, though he had not been expecting them so soon. Glancing down at the floor for a moment, Thrawn looked back out the viewport at the thousands of stars scattered across the blackness of space. He had been lost in thought, and more time had passed than he had realized.

"Admiral Konstantine," Governor Ahrinda Pryce said to the Imperial officer beside her as Thrawn turned to face them. "This is Grand Admiral Thrawn."

"Grand Admiral..." Konstantine said hesitantly, looking at the Governor, the woman's head held high and very pointedly not looking at him, and then back at ISB Agent Kallus who had accompanied them, his eyes downcast. Swallowing hard, he faced the Grand Admiral. "Congratulations on your promotion, sir," he began meekly, knowing full well that this alien's presence here meant that High Command was displeased with his progress at best, and at worst, found him incompetent.

"Thank you, Admiral," Thrawn said quietly with a slight bow of his head, taking note of how the Governor seemed to stand taller, arrogant and prideful. "Governor Pryce, Agent Kallus, I am pleased to see you again."

"Thank you for coming to our aid, Grand Admiral," Pryce said, her voice tight and clipped as she cast a disparaging glance back at Konstantine. "Given your recent victory at Batonn, I thought you to be the best suited to deal with Lothal's rebel problem."

"Civilian casualties at Batonn outnumbered the insurgent's," Kallus said in a slow, measured tone, and the look Pryce gave him seemed to suggest that they had discussed this matter before.

"Acceptable margins," Pryce said disdainfully, Thrawn giving her a cautious, examining sidelong glance, "for there are no longer rebels in that sector. We could use results like that on Lothal." She shot a pointed look back at the Admiral. "The rebels we have are out of control as it is without them becoming a larger threat."

"A larger threat..." Konstantine scoffed. "They are hardly a threat at all!" He turned to face Thrawn, bold and brash and offended, his body stance becoming more confident with offense. "Grand Admiral, I'm certain that Governor Pryce is overestimating how organized this particular resistance is. While it's true that there are pockets of rebellion, there's never been evidence of a larger scale operation."

"There have been major assaults on Imperial installations within the Lothal sector and in bordering systems," Thrawn said coldly, his eyes slowly roving over the fidgeting Admiral as he watched every expression and movement Konstantine made. "A Senator and a notable holonet reporter had been publically executed by a rebel leader, Grand Moff Tarkin's Star Destroyer was brought down over Lothal, Lothal's Minister was abducted by insurgents, your own flagship destroyed by a small group of insurgents in an asteroid field, in addition to numerous large scale and damaging conflicts in the streets of Capital City over the course of the last year." Thrawn paused, his eyes narrowing as he took a menacing step forward to loom over the suddenly cowering Admiral. "That is to say nothing of the theft of the ISD _Subjugator_ and a Quasar Fire-class cruiser-carrier over Ryloth, the heist of millions of credits from the vaults on Muunilinst, the battle above Bandomeer and a dozen more like it throughout the Outer Rim, all carried out by ships known to be used by your Lothal insurgency..." Thrawn stopped, silence hanging heavy within the large room as he cooly observed the three humans that stood before him before turning his dispassionate gaze back on Konstantine. "Shall I go on, Admiral?"

"N-no need, sir..." Konstantine stammered, suddenly so fearful for his position that he could not bring himself to lift his gaze from the ground. "Your point is well taken..."

"I trust you have a course of action to deal with these rebels?" Kallus asked, and Thrawn shifted his gaze to observe the ISB Agent, the human's posture stiff and straight, his expression attentive, and Thrawn slowly nodded, his hands folding behind his back as he walked to the observation deck's command chair and touched a few of the controls on the arm, activating a holofield before them.

"For the past few weeks, I have been studying all activity that could potentially be linked to the rebel insurgents originating on Lothal and the larger group known as the Phoenix Cell they have been known to be associated with," Thrawn said in his calm, even monotone. "For longer than that, I have been studying and following the activities of the insurgent known as the Shadow King," he said, a few more taps upon the controls pulling up the life sized image in the holofield of a man clad in distinctive black and red Mandalorian armor blended with heavy black robes and distinctive, sloping horns cresting his helmet and a red lightsaber and a strange black blade blazing in his grasp.

"You know this man," Thrawn said, a statement, not a question, his critical gaze observing the three humans as they shifted uncomfortably at the imposing image projected before them. "His bloody attack on Capital City is not so soon forgotten. I believe you were present, Admiral Konstantine. Your failure to comply with his demands led directly to the violent deaths of Senator Trayvis and Holonet reporter Alton Kastle."

"He left me no choice!" Konstantine growled between tightly clenched teeth. "What was I supposed to do, surrender to him and allow him to conquer Lothal without a fight?!"

"It would have been a prudent tactical choice to retreat to a better position," Thrawn said coldly, raising his hand for silence when the Admiral sputtered in defiant outrage. "At the time, he did not have the resources available to him to take Lothal from Imperial hands. Your refusal to bear insult allowed him the ability to cause significant damage to Imperial assets and give him an opening for escape when you would have maintained the advantage by holding your position and laying siege to him."

"If you had been in my position, you-"

"Would have done _exactly_ that," Thrawn said quietly, a hard edge in his otherwise monotone drawl that immediately set the other Admiral on edge. "I did not ask you here to lecture you on tactics and strategy," he said dismissively, tapping a few more buttons, which minimized the image of the Shadow King in the holofield and displayed a sleek, black ship. "This is the _Umbra_ , the Shadow King's personal starship," Thrawn quietly explained. "It has been seen as a part of numerous rebel operations throughout the Outer Rim and had been most predominantly witnessed beside this ship," he said, another press of a button displaying a VCX-100 light freighter. "The _Ghost_ , the primary ship of the Spectre rebels led by the Jedi Kanan Jarrus of the Phoenix Cell. I believe," Thrawn said flatly, "that we can safely assume with absolute certainty that the Phoenix Cell and the Shadow King are very closely linked."

"But what do we _do_ about it?" Pryce demanded, and Thrawn didn't so much as glance at her as he tapped the buttons on the arm of the command chair, the images clearing away and displaying a map of the region, several dozen red points flashing upon different points throughout the sector, a great deal of them concentrated around the vicinity of Lothal.

"These are the sites of attacks upon Imperial installations over the course of the last year by your insurgents," Thrawn said calmly, another tap of a button causing a handful of blue lights to begin flashing, these ones much further away from Lothal and more tightly grouped together than the spread out array of the red lights. "These are the points of their attacks during my observations these past few weeks," Thrawn said quietly. "Attacks devoid of the usual boldness typical of the Shadow King's influence."

"Is he not involved with them anymore?" Konstantine asked. "Could he be dead?"

"Perhaps..." Thrawn muttered. "Whatever the case may be, something has happened to cause the Phoenix cell to begin operating independently of his designs, and based upon the fairly consistent pattern and distance of their attacks, we can surmise that they have established a permanent base of operations."

"So we find and destroy their base," Pryce said smugly. "That should be simple enough."

"Not so simple if we can't find their base..." Kallus said, his voice tight with annoyance as he crossed his arms over his chest. "There are thousands of systems in the Lothal sector, any one of which the rebels could be hiding in, assuming they're in this sector at all."

"Yes..." Thrawn said absently, his glowing eyes fixed upon the map. "That was certainly the case before. But now..." A tap of a button cleared the red points from the map, leaving behind only the loose cluster of blue over the sector. "Now we have a discernable pattern that we previously lacked, and using the distances and spread of the recent strike points in the wake of a dramatic change to their methods, we can narrow down the location of their base from any number of a thousand systems to approximately one hundred, and I know with near certainty that they are hiding within one of those systems." Eyes narrowing, Thrawn turned from the holographic image to face the humans. "Yes, Agent Kallus," he whispered, "they are in the Lothal sector, and it is only a matter of time before I have them."

"So..." Konstantine said, fidgeting uncomfortably under the Chiss' gaze. "Do you have an idea of where to begin?"

"I do," Thrawn said quietly, another press of a button clearing all the blue points save for one, the point glowing brighter as the relevant data was displayed beside it. "This is Naraka prison, an Imperial detention center our rebels recently infiltrated in order to rescue this pirate, Hondo Ohnaka." The image of an aging Weequay appeared beside the data, a long list of his offences recorded beside his image, and with another press of a button, another blue point appeared. "Within the past twenty four hours, mining guild ships reported the presence of an Imperial Lambda class shuttle passing through the Sereeda hyperspace waypoint."

"That's hardly unusual, we have patrols and convoys passing through there all the time," Konstantine said dismissively, but swiftly fell silent when Thrawn looked at him, a hard edge in those glowing red eyes.

"Given the recent attack on Naraka and the current trend of strikes upon supply ships, I took the liberty of cross checking Imperial records with all naval activity through travel corridors passing through systems our rebels are active in and found that the Lambda shuttle in question was not deployed by any Imperial ship." Thrawn was silent for a moment, his gaze slowly returning to the map on display in the holofield. "Taken separately, they may seem unrelated, but given their recent trend of activity and an analysis of Ohnaka's detainment conditions lead us here." Another point lit up on the map, this one in red. "A starfighter reclamation plant in the Yarma system, one jump point away from the Sereeda waypoint, and Ohnaka's cellmate was previously a laborer at the station."

"You believe the rebels intend to raid the station?" Kallus asked skeptically.

"I am certain of it," Thrawn said firmly. "Every ship they add to their arsenal increases their threat to our own armada."

"Surely you don't believe that a few old starfighters could truly be a threat to the Empire," Konstantine scoffed, and Thrawn remained still, unmoving as he looked at the map.

"I do believe that, Admiral," Thrawn said softly. "The fact that you do not is why I was brought in. I will start my operations here," Thrawn said, cold and dispassionate in his unwavering monotone, "and pull the rebels apart piece by piece. They will be the architects of their own destruction."

* * *

The sight of the Imperial Lambda shuttle nearly sent the rebels running before the ping of the tight beam communication from a familiar code set them at ease, and with a wide grin, Kanan answered the call.

"Gotta say, I'm impressed that you two managed to occupy a ship together without crashing it into the nearest planet," Kanan said with a lazy drawl as he watched Rex and Cody curse, the two clones jostling to be front and center of the com feed.

"It wasn't for lack of trying!" Cody shouted from the floor when the larger Rex managed to bump the scrappy clone out of the seat with a satisfied smirk. "Believe me, Jarrus, death would have been preferable to dealing with this kriffing insufferable slave!"

"Don't mind him, he's just mad that I got to fly the ship," Rex said smugly. "Everyone knows you don't let traitors fly the ship."

"Man, some things never change, do they?" Ezra said with a roll of his eyes, and a wide grin spread across Rex's face, and moments later, Cody muscled in next to him, the two clones pressed close together in the holocom's visual field.

"Is that _Bridger_?" Cody asked, and an identical grin spread across the two clones' faces when they saw Ezra come into the transmitter's range, draping himself over the back of Kanan's chair and waving at them. "Kriffing hell, Bridger's on the mission. We're all doomed."

"Good to see you, kid," Rex said. "How you holding up?"

"I'm alright," Ezra said with a smile. "Ready to steal some ships. What have we got?"

"Didn't you read the mission briefing, you little shit?" Cody said with a roll of his eyes. "You said it, Bridger, some things never change..."

"Y-Wings," Rex said between his teeth as he once again pushed Cody out of the transmission field. "A lot of them, but within the last hour, they've begun destroying them at an alarming rate."

"As one does at a reclamation plant," they could hear Cody grumble from the side.

"We tried to get a message through to Fulcrum, but we haven't heard back," Rex said tightly, the previous good humor fading from his face and replaced with a soldier's resolve. "If we're going to have a chance at getting any of those ships, we need to go now."

"I'll contact Commander Sato for his reenforcements," Hera said, swiftly tapping in the com code into the communications array. "I want to make sure he's in position to deploy people to take more ships, if we can, and ready to cover us if we find trouble." She glanced up quickly at Rex. "Well, what are you waiting for? Lead the way."

With a swift salute, Rex shut off the feed and the Imperial shuttle's engines powered on, the engines roaring to life as the Lambda shot through space, the _Ghost_ following closely behind it. It didn't take long for them to reach Yarma, a swirling gas giant of drab grays and browns and yellows, and after taking a quick scan of the surrounding area for surveillance droids or patrolling ships, the Lambda and the _Ghost_ dove into Yarma's gaseous atmosphere.

"I can't see a thing..." Sabine muttered, frowning as she looked at the scanning display and saw only static. She reached over and opened communications between the _Ghost_ and the barely visible Lambda before them, the static, unstable image of Cody appearing over the center console. "Cody, our scanners aren't picking up a thing, you sure this station's around here?"

"Yeah, it's here," Cody said, his voice muffled by the poor connection. "They put this place in here for a reason, finding it without getting the coordinates directly from the control tower is...less of an exact process and more of a series of estimates."

"That doesn't sound promising," Hera muttered, flicking a few switches upon the console to increase the range and power of the scanning systems. "You sure you can find it?"

"Positive, Captain," Rex said. "We recently observed the station, it should-"

"Wait, I see it..." Hera said, squinting as she leaned forward in her seat to gaze out the viewport at the hazy image in the gas before them, and with a hand on the acceleration, she pushed the _Ghost_ faster toward the shadow, the floating Reklam Station becoming clearly visible as they drew closer. They kept low on their approach, diving beneath the floating station and coming up from underneath to avoid detection from the control tower and hoping that interference from the gasses in the atmosphere would be enough to help conceal their presence. There was no sign of any activity as they slowly drew closer, no patrolling ships, no indication on their displays of any scans that had picked up on their presence, and secure that they were undetected, Hera docked the _Ghost_ beneath the main platform on an unloading hatch for much larger ships.

"Chopper," Hera said to the droid as her crew climbed up the ladder to file out of the hatch. "Stay here and keep the ship running in case we need to make a quick escape. You know what to do." A few short, grinding bursts from Chopper's vocabulator, it's utility arm hitting the ladder as Hera climbed upon it, and the pilot stopped, her hand patting the blaster it's holster on her hip, and she flashed a quick smile at the droid. "Don't worry, we'll be careful," she promised, and climbed the rest of the way out of the ship to pull herself up on the station's long docking walkway.

Ducking behind a high stack of crates with the other members of her crew, they watched as the Imperial shuttle flew up next to the walkway and Rex jumped out, the clone landing with a hard thud and immediately sprinting toward their position, keeping to cover as much as he was able as the Lamba swiftly flew away from the station.

"Cody's going to keep watch," Rex whispered as he ducked in next to the others, peeking over the crates they hid behind. "I don't see anything. Think we're undetected?"

"We can hope..." Kanan muttered. "They're destroying those Y-Wings pretty fast, we need to move."

"Hold it," Hera hissed, grabbing hold of Kanan's arm when it looked like he was about to run for a ship. "These Y-Wings are scheduled for incineration, and fuel is valuable. Not even the Empire is so stupid or wasteful to destroy ships filled with fuel, those tanks are going to be on empty. We're going to need to refuel them first."

"Damn it, of all the..." Kanan frowned, peeked up from behind the crates once again, his eyes narrowed as he swept his gaze over the long walkway and the rickety, jarring conveyor that started up once the incinerator was empty and stopped once again when the next one was loaded in. "We're not going to have time to refuel them so long as that conveyor's going. Sabine." The Mandalorian snapped to attention. "Find the control panel and stop that conveyor. Zeb, you're in charge of refueling, get that nozzle to each ship as quickly as you can, we're only going to be able to fuel one at a time."

"I'm on it, boss," Zeb said with a firm nod.

"This is going to attract attention," Kanan quietly warned. "Hera, Ezra, Luke, get in those ships and prepare to take off as soon as you're fueled up. Rex and I will be covering you guys in case we've got company."

"Let's hope luck's on our side today, we need a win like this," Hera muttered, quickly checking over the crates for any sign of Imperial activity and nodding resolutely when she saw nothing. "Time's wasting. Let's go, kids."

Without another word, they scattered, Sabine sprinting as fast as she could down the long walkway toward the incinerator's controls, while the rest of them peeled off toward the starfighters, each of them running to a ship and quickly ducking behind it and moving with them when the jolting mechanical conveyor moved them closer and closer to the incinerator where they were destroyed. Peering out from behind one of the ships, Zeb's ears perked up when he saw the bulky fueling station, and with a quick look at Kanan and Rex, the Lasat made a dash for it, the Jedi and the clone following quickly behind him.

Taking a look at the rusty control panel, Zeb frowned and wiped his hand over an old, cracked display, growled softly when the information shorted out, and with a few heavy taps upon the screen, it flickered back on. After a few experimental flicks of switches and presses of buttons, Zeb managed to change the settings from draining to refueling, and flashing a quick grin to Kanan and Rex, he hoisted the heavy nozzle out of it's locked slot, his eyes fixed intently on the Y-Wing Hera was standing beside and waiting for his opportunity to begin refueling when Sabine got the conveyor to stop.

He didn't have to wait long. With a grinding screech, the conveyor slowed to a shaking stop, the loud sound of whirring mechanics powering down filling the air right before they heard the heavy thud of the incinerator closing, and throwing the heavy hose over his shoulder, Zeb wasted no time in rushing toward the Y-Wings. By the time Zeb reached Hera's Y-Wing, Sabine had run back from the incinerator, breathing heavily from her long sprint as Kanan and Rex guided her to one of the unclaimed ships, their weapons in hand and ready to deal with any trouble that might find them.

The ship took longer to fuel than they would have liked, and as soon as the nozzle snapped shut when the Y-Wing's tank was full, Zeb wrenched the hose away from that ship and brought it to the next one in line, leaving Hera to close and seal the tank and run the final checks necessary to make sure it was ready to fly. Hoisting herself up into the cockpit, she quickly looked over the controls and began the pre-flight sequence, and she couldn't help but smile to herself when she felt the thrum of the engines. These ships, despite their age, were in good condition, and would make fine editions to the Phoenix Squadron. They had always planned to return to Lothal and liberate it from Imperial rule, a task that was insurmountable without a proper strike force. These ships would be the first step to making that happen.

By the time the engines had warmed up and the ship's computer had completed the pre-flight checks, Zeb had already moved on to fueling his fifth ship, the fueling process speeding up as the old fuel pump warmed. In the next ships over, Ezra, Luke and Sabine all sat in the cockpits, running their own pre-flight sequences, and Hera very slowly stood, the cockpit hatch raising as she released the lock, and she looked out at the Imperial control tower and the roiling gaseous clouds of an otherwise empty sky. Cursing quietly under her breath, she jumped out of Y-Wing, taking off running toward Zeb, Kanan and Rex the second her feet hit the ground.

"What is it?" Kanan asked swiftly when he saw Hera approaching, nervousness immediately gripping him at the look of concern upon the Twi'lek's face. "Is something wrong?"

"No," she muttered as she looked around. "And that's exactly the problem. We've caused a lot of commotion here, and we haven't seen one Imperial patrol. This mission is going _too_ well, it's too quiet."

"I didn't want to question our good luck, but you're right..." Kanan mumbled as he looked down the walkway toward the control tower. "Not seeing us creeping around down here is one thing, but not noticing the incinerator shutdown and the engagement of the fueling station is another thing entirely."

"Maybe those Imps up in the control tower aren't paying attention?" Rex suggested. "Can't imagine this being a prestigious position, out here in the most ass backwards part of the galaxy, and seeing as how this station is so well hidden, I don't think they see a lot of action." He shrugged. "Maybe they're just a bunch of data-pushers up there, sleeping on the job. There's a hundred reasons they wouldn't have noticed us."

"But there aren't many reasons why they'd notice us and not do a thing about it," Kanan growled. "And none of them are good."

"I'm going back to the _Ghost_ ," Hera said quickly. "Get those ships in the air, I'll escort you. Rex, contact Cody, see if he sees anything up there. If we're flying into trouble, I want to know about it."

"Good call to have Commander Sato nearby with reenforcements..." Rex muttered as he snatched his comlink from his belt. Before he even had a chance to call Cody, the comlink gave a sharp burst of static before it fell into the smooth, electronic hum of a connected call, leaving Kanan, Hera and Rex standing tense and still as they looked at the device.

"Oh...hey guys..." Cody's voice drawled lazily over the com. "Our friends decided to show up."

"How many _friends_?" Rex asked between clenched teeth, and was answered by a tense, nervous laugh.

"You're asking the wrong question," Cody said as he cleared his throat. "It isn't a matter of how many, it's a matter of _who_." There was silence for a moment so tense they could feel it in the air thicker than the gaseous atmosphere. "The _Chimaera_ 's here..." Cody quietly said. "It's Thrawn."

"Oh, what _kriffing_ _fantastic timing_!" Kanan snapped, his gaze shooting over to the teenagers waiting in the ready ships, their heads sticking out of the cockpit and alertly looking at them. "Exactly how dangerous is this guy?"

"Kenobi seems to think he's extremely dangerous," Hera said quickly. "They've been playing mind games with each other for years, but we escaped the last time we came in contact with the _Chimaera_."

" _Barely_ escaped..." Kanan mumbled.

"We sure it's the actual _Chimaera_?" Rex asked, and Cody laughed bitterly.

"Oh, it is..." the clone said gravely. "I'd recognize this ship anywhere after last time. This isn't just the ID transponder, boys, it's the actual thing, engraved hull and all. I'm sure. It's _Chimaera_."

"Well, shit..." Kanan hissed as he ran his hand through his hair and quickly eyed the idling ships. "Guess it's safe to assume he knew we'd be here and this is a trap. I want to know _how_ he knew."

"A good question for another time, love," Hera said swiftly as she started running toward the _Ghost_. "We need to go."

"Right. _Zeb_!" Kanan shouted as he ran toward the Lasat and the ship he was fueling. "Get in a ship, we've got company and we need to get gone before it's too late."

"Where's Hera going!" Zeb asked, gesturing to the retreating Twi'lek.

"She's getting in the _Ghost_ to cover us."

"But I fueled seven ships!" Zeb said indignantly as he dropped the hose, and quickly patting his shoulder, Kanan flashed him a wide grin and jumped into the nearest ship. "Karabast..." the Lasat growled, and ran over to his own ship.

The cockpit shield slid over Kanan's head as he dropped into the pilot's seat and he quickly flicked the switches on the console, the Y-Wing rumbling as the engines powered on and the pre-flight sequence began. Impatiently tapping his foot, Kanan looked out to either side of his ship and saw Zeb and Rex in the cockpits of the two ships beside his, both of them rushing to do exactly as he was and prepare the ships for flight. Catching a flash of movement out of his periphery, Kanan looked up into the sky to see the _Ghost_ flying overhead, and with a swift curse, he cut the pre-flight sequence short, grabbed hold of the controls, and lifted the ship up into the air, quickly followed by the three teens and then by Rex and Zeb a few moments later.

"Alright, kids," Hera's voice said over Kanan's com, and with a small smile, the Jedi took the com off his belt and placed it on the console. "Everyone check in." A cascade of codenames and status updates sounded over the com, Kanan giving his own response once the other five had checked in. "We have a situation up there," Hera continued. "The _Chimaera_ is in orbit. Everyone prime your hyperdrives, and with any luck, we can get away without much trouble once we clear Yarma's gravitational field. I'm sending you the coordinates."

"Negative, Spectre Two," Luke said calmly. "These Y-Wings don't have hyperdrives."

" _What_?!" Ezra snapped, and a moment later, a chorus of curses came crackling through the com. "Oh, this is _garbage_."

"Hyperdrives are valuable, they must have removed them before they were sent to be destroyed," Sabine groaned. "It's a wonder these ships fly at all, we're lucky they weren't entirely gutted."

"So what are we supposed to do now!" Ezra asked frantically.

"We call in Commander Sato..." Hera sighed. "I was hoping to keep him out of it. If this is a trap, we're asking him to walk right into it."

"It can't be helped," Kanan said firmly.

"No, it can't," Hera agreed. "New plan. We bring the Y-Wings to _Phoenix Nest_ and set down in hangar bay two."

"Sure is handy to have that carrier," Zeb chuckled. "And Kenobi didn't want to steal it."

"Spectre Two, I can help see the rest of the squad to safety," Luke said. "If there's trouble up there, you're going to want me covering you."

"That isn't a good idea," Cody said quietly, his Imperial shuttle just coming into view as they flew higher up through the atmosphere. "Any idea how angry your Father's going to be if something happens to you?"

"My Father isn't here," Luke said coldly. "I don't know if my Father is going to come back at all, but Phoenix Squadron needs me _now_." Luke's Y-Wing broke out of formation to loop around and come up to fly beside the _Ghost_. "I'm ready to cover you, _Ghost_."

"Try not to do anything reckless," Hera said, and was answered by a soft, amused chuckle.

"Don't worry," Luke said coyly. "I won't do anything I can't handle."

As soon as they broke past Yarma's gaseous atmosphere and into space, they saw it, the Imperial Star Destroyer looming in the distance, large and imposing, a swarm of TIE Fighters released from the hangar bays rapidly closing in on them. Suddenly, the TIEs swerved wildly off their path, and in the space between the Y-Wings and the _Chimaera_ , Commander Sato's _Phoenix Next_ blinked out of hyperspace, followed quickly by two attack cruisers. Without wasting a moment, the cruisers opened fire on the TIE Fighters, and the chaos of battle erupted around them.

Keeping close to the Y-Wings, Luke and Hera carefully corralled them toward the four massive hangars of _Phoenix Nest_ , weaving between the lines of red and green laser fire that filled the previously empty space around them, occasionally having to peel off from the group to destroy a TIE Fighter that drew too close for comfort. They were about halfway to _Phoenix Nest_ when a lone fighter dispatched from one of the carrier's hangar bays, and the Spectres watched as the black and blue X-Wing's wings opened up into attack formation, their coms crackling with a triumphant shout from Luke as the new fighter launched at one of the TIE attack patterns, causing the group to scatter when the lead ship was destroyed, the persistent X-Wing taking off and gunning down another two before they formed back up.

"Is that who I think it is?" Ezra asked, and was answered with excited laughter.

"You better believe it is!" Luke said, his Y-Wing pulling away from formation, the ship's nose pointed toward the distant X-Wing and the TIE squadron it was engaged with. "I'm going to go help her," he said firmly. "We're going to take the fight to them."

"Luke," Hera said sharply. "We need you here to-"

"The TIEs can't attack the bombers of we take them out," Luke interrupted, his ship drifting further away from the group. "We'll give them something else to focus on. I'll see you back on _Phoenix Nest_ , Spectres." Cutting his end of the com feed, Luke grabbed hold of the bomber's controls and shot away from the other Y-Wings, testing the limits of the starfighter as he accelerated and grinning wildly when he felt himself pressed back against the pilot's seat. It didn't accelerate as quickly as his X-Wing and it wasn't nearly as responsive, but when he hit top speed, it wasn't much slower than his own ship. Brow drawn in concentration, Luke reached out with the Force, using it to warn him of incoming danger and adjusted accordingly as he wove between laser fire, spinning and looping off his course to deal with the occasional rogue TIE Fighter.

By the time he pulled up behind Leia's X-Wing and destroyed the TIE on her tail, Luke had familiarized himself with the more bulky Y-Wing and had managed to coax the old ship into smooth spins and precise flips to increase its maneuverability, noting how the ship responded to his commands so he could help other rebel pilots learn how to get the most out of the outdated fighter, though it would take a capable pilot to get the most out of it. He smiled softly to himself when his com gave a short burst of static and the X-Wing fell back to fly beside him, his smile becoming a wide grin when he looked over and saw his twin through the other starfighter's cockpit canopy, and he enthusiastically waved at his smirking sister.

"I've never seen you in an uglier ship..." Leia drawled, a teasing lit to her voice that made Luke roll his eyes. "Whatever will Father say when he finds out you've been slumming it with that Spectre boy?"

"It honestly isn't something I want to think about."

"I can hardly blame you," Leia said with a shrug. "Can that box of yours even fly? Doesn't look like it can fly."

"It handles like a sleepy Hutt, but it flies well enough to save your ass," Luke said, earning a short scoff from his sister. "You ready to take the fight to the Imperials?"

"What do you think I've been doing?" Leia said dismissively as her X-Wing pulled out in front of him. "Try to keep up."

The X-Wing's engines blazed and the ship took off, Luke following as close as he was able as they shot toward a TIE squadron harassing one of the attack cruisers, picking off three of the small fighters before the squadron scattered. Luke hung behind Leia, picking off the two TIEs that fell into close pursuit behind her, and as he flew through the debris of the destroyed TIEs, Leia took a wide, looping flip and fell behind Luke to destroy his attackers. They continued on like this, flying from ship to ship and destroying the attacking TIE Fighters as they covered each other, and before long, they had the full attention of the scattered squadrons weaving through the rebel ships.

Accelerating to full speed, Luke and Leia flew beside each other away from the rebel cruisers, spinning and circling around each other as they deftly evaded the stream of green laser fire being shot at them from the trail of TIE Fighters that followed closely behind them out into open space. Taking a wide turn in the opposite direction from each other, Luke and Leia looped around to fall in behind the TIEs, selecting and following their targets as the group scattered, formed back up, and immediately began a full speed retreat back to the _Chimaera_.

The followed the group, trying to pick off what fighters they could, but the TIEs were faster and quickly began pulling away from them, and with a deep, calming breath, Luke pulled back on his yoke and flipped his ship around, beginning his own retreat back to _Phoenix Nest_. Leia did not do likewise, continued her pursuit of the enemy fighters, and with a quiet curse, Luke pressed the button on his com to open up the communications with his sister.

"Break off the attack," Luke sternly commanded. "Any closer and you're going to be in range of that Star Destroyer."

" _I know_!" Leia snapped between clenched teeth. "But don't you think something's wrong here? They have a _Star Destroyer_ , and instead of firing up those ion cannons, they threw a few TIE squadrons at us. They could have easily destroyed our entire fleet with that one ship!"

"Maybe they're trying to lure us to them," Luke said. "Sort of like what they're doing to you _right now_."

"Sith Hells..." Leia growled, and Luke breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the X-Wing bank hard left and circle around to join him on his retreat. "I'm contacting Commander Sato and signaling the retreat," Leia muttered as she pulled up next to Luke. "When you dock in _Phoenix Nest_ , stay in your ship until we give the all clear."

"You got it..." Luke muttered, pulling up hard on the acceleration to slow the ship as he entered the second hangar bay of _Phoenix Nest_ and landed his Y-Wing in the first empty space. The moment his ship powered down, he felt the familiar lurch as the carrier escaped to lightspeed.

* * *

Thrawn stood at the viewport on the bridge of the _Chimaera_ , his hands folded behind his back as he stoically and silently watched the rebel ships blink out of existence as they fled to hyperspace. For a long while, the only sound in the air was the soft hum of the engines and the rhythmic beeping of the multiple stations in the crew pits, but even without looking at the officers that sat at their stations behind him, Thrawn could feel their tension.

Usually after one of the Chiss' unconventional operations, and there have been many just like this one over the years, the crew was calm, their confidence in their victory assured, even if they could not understand the path they took to get there. But now, in the presence of an Imperial Governor, another Admiral, and an ISB agent, the bridge officers were anxious and uncertain, not for the decisions of the Grand Admiral, but for how the visitors would react.

The silence was only broken when Admiral Konstantine, in a weak, confused voice, asked, "We're letting them go?" All eyes turned to the Grand Admiral, who remained unmoving and silent at the viewport. "We're letting them go?" Konstantine asked, stronger this time, insult and anger creeping into his voice. "I don't understand! The Imperial Navy, retreating from such a meager force! Our ships could have easily destroyed the rebel fleet-"

"That is not the rebel fleet," Thrawn said coldly, finally turning away from the viewport to face his three guests. "I was not called here to chase small victories while the greater war is lost, Admiral Konstantine. I came here to back the entirety of your rebel cell into a corner so that they may be utterly destroyed."

"We can't do that if we let them escape!" Konstantine insisted. "We cannot win the war if we keep losing battles!" There was silence for a moment as glowing red eyes stared intently at Konstantine, the Admiral shifting slightly and swallowing hard as he wondered if he had crossed the line. But Thrawn merely inclined his head, and gestured to the Admiral.

"What do you know of our enemy, Admiral?" the Chiss asked calmly, and Konstantine clenched his fist, his teeth grinding together at the mere thought of his struggles against the illusive insurgents.

"Rebel scum, they-"

"Specifics, if you will," Thrawn interrupted, and Konstantine seemed to choke on his words, drawing up taller and sputtering with a dozen half started sentences before Thrawn held up his hand for silence. "To defeat an enemy, you must know them..." Thrawn said slowly, turning back toward the viewport and gesturing out to the empty ships where only minutes ago, the rebel ships were. "I have spent a great deal of time studying the Shadow King and his associates. I know their histories, their patterns of behavior, their strengths and their weaknesses, the things they love and the things they have lost, and knowing such, I can predict and anticipate their actions in nearly any situation."

"And knowing all of that, you _still_ allowed them to escape?" Konstantine asked, confused and bewildered, and Thrawn looked over his shoulder, his glowing red eyes narrowing as he glared at the man for a moment before he turned back to the viewport.

"Things have changed," Thrawn patiently explained. "Their pattern of behavior has shifted, and new elements have been introduced. It requires further study."

"If you know them so well, how much could one thing change?" Konstantine scoffed, and for the briefest moment, Thrawn's shoulders tensed, his hands clasped behind his back tightening, and then, like it hadn't happened, the Chiss stood relaxed once again.

"It changes everything..." Thrawn muttered, his eyes fixed out on empty space. "As I mentioned before, the Shadow King is, indeed, gone. Where the _Ghost_ goes, the _Umbra_ is nearly always certain to follow, and while we did see the _Ghost_ today, the _Umbra_ was absent." He paused, his shoulders slowly rising with a slow, deep breath. "Those pilots..." Thrawn whispered, deep in thought as he stepped closer to the viewport and laid his hand upon the cold transparisteel. "The ships they flew were vastly different models, and still they flew as if they were one being..."

"Do you think we've seen those pilots before?" Governor Pryce asked, and Thrawn bowed his head, the slightest smile touching his lips.

"Those were no pilots, Governor..." Thrawn said softly. "They were artists. And they have my full attention."

"So what do we do now?" Konstantine asked, and after another silent moment of consideration, Thrawn turned from the viewport and walked down the command walkway.

"Now, we test the rebels so that I may further study them," Thrawn said in his flat, inflection-less voice. "I shall see if I can draw the Shadow King out of hiding. Our victory against the Phoenix Cell is incomplete if he is not destroyed with them, and should he manage to evade our grasp, his eventual retribution could be very costly in lives and resources." He stopped before the visiting trio, his eyes slowly drifting between them before he settled on Konstantine. "Admiral," he said coldly. "You will return to Coruscant for reassignment."

"I... _what_?!" Konstantine gasped, and the Chiss' eyes narrowed as he looked down upon the man.

"Your ship, the ISD _Relentless_ , has been destroyed," Thrawn said slowly, his voice quiet and icy, which was far worse than any kind of temper the man could have visited upon the reeling Admiral. "An Admiral without a ship is no Admiral at all."

"T-the rest of my fleet is still blockading Lothal!" Konstantine stammered. "I've been-"

"A temporary assignment," Thrawn said firmly. "One you have now officially been relieved from. Your continuous failures against these insurgents is indicative of your stubborn refusal to see the bigger picture, and in your relentless pursuit of meager victories, you have allowed the rebels to slip out of your grasp time and time again. You will be of no use to me as I move forward in my operation against the Phoenix insurgency. Your talents will be better suited elsewhere."

"High Command gave this assignment to me!" Konstantine growled, and the indifferent Chiss calmly turned away from him and sat on his command chair.

"And the Emperor assigned the mission to me," Thrawn said coldly, his fingers pressing together as his eyes ran over his hard at work bridge officers. "I will return to Lothal so that I may oversee the instillation of a new project in the armory complex. You will accompany us, and then you will check in at the Imperial complex and get on the next shuttle back to Coruscant." He looked over his shoulder at the fuming Admiral. "If you mean to question me further, you may take that as a direct order, Admiral."

"...understood, sir," Konstantine said between tightly clenched teeth, and Thrawn looked away from him and leaned back in his seat, and with a quick order to the _Chimaera's_ captain, he watched as the stars became a burst of long lines of light as they made the jump to hyperspace.


	59. The Antillies Extraction

**AN: So...this was actually going to go up the first. And then life played an April Fool's joke on me and gave me the flu. And strep. At the same time. Is this an excuse? Maybe? But really, what delayed this chapter was my mindset going into this thing. It started with "Oh boy! A simple chapter for a simple episode! No problem, done in a week!" Which quickly became not so simple, because I kept having ideas. Like...all the ideas, guys. All of them. Before I knew it, this damn chapter was over forty pages in my word document and I was seriously beginning to wonder what I'm doing with my life. So, here you go. A one off episode of Rebels turned into a massive, pivotal moment in this dumpster fire of a fic. You're welcome, and I'm sorry.**

 **Also, wondering how long you need to wait for the next chapter? Yeah, I am too. Because I can go one of two ways with it. One which can get done fairly quickly, two weeks tops, and one that's...um, significantly more complicated, which will make it another massive expedition like this one was. I haven't decided which yet. Either way, it's gonna blow your collective minds, I promise you that.**

 **Anyway! Enjoy, lovelies! As always, let me know your thoughts, I love to hear them!**

 _Chapter 59: The Antilles Extraction_

"Do you think I should cut my hair?"

Sabine looked up from where she sat on the floor, her detailing paint pen between her fingers, and saw Ezra running his hand through his hair, a contemplative look on his face as the thick, dark strands slid between his fingers. She frowned when he looked down at her, gave a non-committal shrug, and returned to detailing the stylized Loth-cat she had painted on the round joint plating of his knee.

"Wouldn't hurt to try a change," she muttered. "What's the worst that can happen? Just grow it out again if you don't like it."

"Maybe asking the girl that changes her look every few months isn't the one you should be going to for cosmetic advice," Zeb said with a laugh, and with a tired sigh, Sabine rolled her eyes and gave the lounging Lasat a devious look.

"I think it makes me the _most_ qualified," Sabine said with a smirk. "I've got the most experience with trying different looks, and my expert opinion, _Zeb_ , says that you'd look _excellent_ in green."

"W-what, me!?" Zeb sputtered as he shot up from his bunk where he had been lying, and Sabine simply shot him a devilish grin, placing her hand on Ezra's chest to keep the other teen from moving as he stifled his laughter, lest he disturb her work on his leg.

"Yes, you," she said slowly, her eyes falling back down to the cybernetic leg as she continued her careful work. "Were I you, Zeb, I'd keep my mouth shut, unless you'd like to wake up one morning as my latest work of inspiration. I shouldn't need to remind you that I know the code to your room."

Zeb swallowed hard, and looked on the wall behind him, where one of Sabine's works was painted upon the wall of the quarters he shared with Ezra, the inspiration striking the Mandalorian on a mission where he and Ezra had overcome their differences and began to work together. He knew very well that when inspiration struck, there was no stopping Sabine. Grumbling as he shuffled to the edge of the bunk, Zeb did as he was told and kept quiet as he watched the artist finish up the work on Ezra's new leg.

If before the leg was sleek and elegant, the very look of it attesting to it's fine craftsmanship and state of the art inner workings, it was now a splash of color, deeply personal and stylistic in a way only the creative Sabine could have done. She had been at work on the leg for the past five days, for hours and hours at a time, as long as Ezra could sit still and sometimes for longer than that, when she managed to muscle him into capitulating to what she wanted. It was nearly complete now, the artistic Mandalorian putting on the final details on the various drawings across the metal leg, and while Zeb had relentlessly teased Ezra for the colorful mess of the work in progress, now that it was nearing completion, even he had to admit it was beautiful.

On the front of the mechanical thigh, in a background splash of orange and green, was Sabine's Starbird in deep red that had come to represent the Phoenix Squadron, on the back, in a burst of black and white, was the ancient symbol of the Jedi, a pair of outstretched wings surrounding a blazing saber that she painted in bright blue, the design of it described to her in great detail by Kanan, who remembered it from his childhood with the extinct order. On the back of his calf, in stark white upon smooth orange, was the symbol of the rebellion's Fulcrum agents, the distinctive diamond patterns that Ahsoka herself bore upon her forehead.

The Temple of Malachor was drawn upon his shin, deep black with a sinister red capstone, the sketchy backdrop done in deep purple and wispy blues that made the whole thing feel spooky and ethereal, a reminder of the place that had taken so much from all of them. Each of the two joint plates upon the sides of his knee were painted as well, the inside one with a green and orange, blocky number six, his Spectre callsign, upon a checkerboard pattern much like the one Sabine had upon her own armor, and the outside one painted with a tan and black Loth-Cat, the simplest representation of Ezra's home on beautiful Lothal. It was busy, nearly every inch of the leg's casing covered in paint, a beautiful, organized chaos that just felt so very Ezra.

"I think we're done..." Sabine said quietly as she sat back on her heels, carefully examining her work, and with a satisfied nod, she patted the metal leg and stood, offering her hand to Ezra to help pull him out of the chair. "Give it a few hours to settle before you wash it so the detailing has time to settle. And don't forget, we can change anything you like at any time."

"I think I'd hate to change it," Ezra said as he placed his foot on the chair to get a look at the Mandalorian's work, grinning as he wiggled his unpainted, cybernetic toes, his foot the only significant part of the metal casing that remained uncolored. "I think it's prefect. Thanks, Sabine. This was a great idea."

"I told you, Ezra, all my ideas are great ideas," Sabine said with a cocky shrug. "You should listen to me more often." From his spot on the bunk, Zeb scoffed, and Sabine flipped the painting pen between her fingers and pointed it menacingly at the Lasat. "Remember, Zeb," she said quietly. "You could be _green_ tomorrow."

"I didn't say anything!" Zeb said with a nervous chuckle, his hands raised in surrender, and with a nod, Sabine holstered the pen in the small sleeve beside her blaster. "So..." Zeb muttered awkwardly, rubbing his head and looking for ways to change the subject. "You still want to cut your hair, Ezra?"

"I'm still thinking about it," Ezra said with a frown, again running his fingers through the long strands and pulling his pant leg down over his cybernetic leg. "I thought I'd ask Luke for his opinion. Wanna come with me to find him?"

"I've got nothing better to do," Sabine said quickly. "I wanted to ask him about the modifications he's made to his X-Wing anyway."

"Rex says you sound like a battle droid, stomping around the way you do," Zeb said with a grin as he jumped up from the bunk. "Wanna play a game while we look for the kid? You hide, and I jump you if I can hear you clanking around. You win if you don't get beaten."

"You're on, Zeb."

Sabine groaned and rolled her eyes when they stepped out of the room and the Lasat promptly slammed Ezra into the wall, the young Jedi student cursing and shouting as he rushed after the laughing Zeb as he sprinted through the _Ghost_ and out into the dry, afternoon air of Atollon. They quickly made their way around the base, Ezra ducking behind ships and starfighters with Zeb in close pursuit, the game becoming combat training in the few times that Zeb managed to catch the slippery teen until he was able to escape the Lasat once again. They had expected to find Luke out by the ships among the mechanic droids and pilots, and when they found no sign of the boy out on the airfield, they took a turn toward the medical ward on the other side of the compound.

Slowing to a walk and biting back their laughter as they entered the stark white halls of the medcenter, the three Spectres stuck close together as they passed by the occasional person and the one valuable medical droid they had on the base, stopping briefly to speak to the droid so that Ezra could thank it for caring for him in his weeks there and so that he could answer some brief questions for the droid's records. Moving on, Ezra peered into each door, looking for Luke, though he had no need to. The second they entered the compound, Zeb and Sabine knew exactly where they would find him. Turning through a series of identical halls, they finally came to the solitary room at the back of the compound, the door tightly closed, and slowing their purposeful walk and silencing their conversations, they quietly opened the door.

They didn't just find Luke inside, but Leia as well, the twins standing close together beside the bacta tank, one of each of their hands upon the warm, smooth glass, an oppressive, somber feeling hanging thick in the air, the room lit in the soft green glow of the bacta tank. Whatever conversation the twins had been having ended immediately as the they looked toward the door, and Ezra promptly forgot the reason he had come here, but whatever it was now seemed irrelevant. Quietly stepping inside the room, Ezra closed the door after the three of them had entered and he slowly stepped forward, slashing a small, tight smile at Luke and Leia.

"H-hey..." Ezra stammered, pointing at the tank where the Sith Lord was suspended. "Any good news?"

"Does it _look_ like there's good news?" Leia sneered, and Luke quickly laid his hand upon her shoulder and gave her a withering look before he looked at the Spectres and shook his head.

"Nothing yet," Luke said quietly, an unsteady, hopeful smile upon his lips. "Maybe soon."

"I hope so," Sabine said. "We could use the good news." A sharp, short ping cut through the air, and the Spectres stood taller, hoping that something on the bacta tank's monitors had changed, something to give them the good news they had asked for, until Leia rolled her eyes, cursed under her breath, and pulled the comlink from her belt.

"What is it?" Leia asked sternly, silent as she listened to the incoming call through her earpiece, her fingers slowly tracing the Sith holocron that sat atop one of the monitoring systems beside the bacta tank. She was silent for a moment, the irritation on her face fading as her brow creased with skeptical disbelief. "How is that possible?" she asked firmly. "Are you sure?" There was silence again, the disbelief morphing into wide eyed shock, her jaw slack as she intently listened. "Understood. We'll be right there."

"Not the good news we wanted, I take it..." Luke said quietly after Leia switched off the com, sighing heavily as she pressed her forehead against the glass of the bacta tank.

"No, not the news we wanted..." Leia muttered as she closed her eyes, still and silent for a moment as she gathered her thoughts and listened to the soft, rhythmic beeping of the monitoring systems. "Our supply run to Teralov failed."

"It...failed?" Sabine asked quietly. "They were intercepted?"

"No, they were destroyed," Leia said between clenched teeth. "The transport ship and all six of the A-Wing escorts. And if _that_ wasn't enough!" she snarled, snatching the holocron from where it rested as she turned to face the group. "We lost contact with one of our Corellian corvettes and a Hammerhead corvette around one of the Mandalorian outposts on Phelbos. Our recon ships just got back from investigating." Leia closed her eyes, her hand tightly grasping the holocron. "Both ships destroyed. No survivors."

"Kerabast..." Zeb growled, his ears flattening against his head. "This keeps up, we aren't going to have a rebellion."

"This keeps up and we aren't going to have anyone to fly our ships," Ezra said. " _Six_ A-Wings? We only managed to steal six Y-Wings from Yarma. That mission was supposed to put us ahead, not have us break even!"

"It didn't even do that," Luke muttered. "We're down six starfighter pilots. All the ships in the galaxy won't matter if we have nobody to fly them."

"The Empire's getting better at predicting our movements..." Leia said quietly as she held out her hand, the holocron lifting off her palm to float before her. "Come on..." she whispered. "Give me something, _anything_ , a weapon, knowledge we can use to defeat our enemy. You came to us for a purpose, don't let the only reason I led my Father to Malachor be to see him to his death, _please_..." The strain of the Force intensified, the air becoming colder as the Dark Side threaded through it, but the holocron remained unresponsive to the clawing and prying upon its surface, no red glow to acknowledge the power of the Dark Side, only the slow, gentle spin in the air. With a snarl of fury and frustration, Leia snatched the holocron out of the air and slammed it back upon the top of the monitor beside the tank. With a shuddering breath, her shoulders slumping in defeat, she laid her hand once again upon the bacta tank.

"We need you, Father..." Leia whispered, her voice trembling with emotion that she couldn't fail to repress. "Come back to us, _please_..." Moving to stand beside her, Luke gently put his hand on Leia's back, the two of them standing silently together for a moment, their eyes closed as they reached out for their father as they had so many times before, and felt nothing in return.

"Ahsoka called?' Luke asked quietly, and Leia nodded. "Then we need to get to the command center. Come on." Drawing up taller and nodding, Leia ran her hand along the glass before she turned away from the tank and strode past the Spectres and out of the room without a word, and with a heavy sigh, Luke thrust his hands into his pockets and nudged Ezra with his shoulders.

"You guys too," he said with a tight smile. "Leia's speeder is outside. If we take too long, she'll leave without us."

Quietly mumbling their agreement, the three Sprectres followed Luke out of the medical compound, and after being briefly reprimanded by a waiting Leia for taking too long, they climbed into her XP-38 landspeeder and shot off across the airfield toward the command center. They arrived in short order, the group quickly jumping out of the speeder the second it set down and quickly making their way through the command center toward the briefing room, the droids and personnel that walked through the halls clearing out of their way as they approached.

When they reached their destination, Ahsoka, Kanan and Hera were already standing around the holotable, speaking in hushed tones as they studied the map on display, red points indicating the sites where the Empire had attacked and destroyed their ships. Kanan looked up when they entered, nodded briefly in acknowledgment, and gestured for them to join them, and they quickly filed in around the table, Leia quickly making her way to stand beside Ahsoka.

"Please tell me we have a way to minimize our losses," Leia said, biting down on her lower lip as she studied the map. "Something beyond grounding our ships and laying low for a while."

"We can't just ground our ships," Hera said firmly. "The people on Teralov are still in need of aid. If we-"

" _We're_ in need of aid!" Leia interrupted, leaning over to look in disbelief at the Twi'lek. "You can't seriously be considering attempting that supply run again. The Empire is obviously in the area, and they're looking for us."

"The _Ghost_ was made for runs like this, I've been sneaking past Imperial lines for years, this is a standard run for me and my crew," Hera calmly explained. "I'll go myself. I'll see to it that Teralov gets the aid it needs."

"We have bigger, more pressing matters to discuss before we decide what to do about Teralov," Ahsoka said, cutting in before Leia had a chance to fire off a biting retort to exactly what she thought of Hera's plan. "The _Chimaera_ ," Ahsoka said grimly, clearing the map from the holofield and displaying the image of a Star Destroyer with a stark, intimidating engraving of a terrifying beast upon the ship's hull. Beside it flashed the image of a man, nearly human, with blue skin and red eyes and wearing the uniform of an Imperial Navy officer. "We need to talk about Thrawn."

"The blue guy?" Zeb asked, scratching his head, "I didn't think the Empire let aliens in their military."

"They don't _officially_ have a policy against recruiting non-humans," Ahsoka said with a frown. "But there's a reason you don't see alien officers." She pointed at the image. "But Thrawn's different. His talents have overcome even the prejudices against him, despite the High Commands best efforts to see him fail." She shrugged. "I suppose they find it difficult to argue with his results."

"That good, huh?" Ezra asked, and beside him, Sabine scoffed.

"We got away from him easily enough the other day," Sabine said flippantly.

"We got away so easily because he let us go..." Hera muttered quietly. "Something about that entire mission felt wrong, the whole thing was too easy. Getting there, stopping the conveyor, fueling the ships, all without attracting attention from the control tower at the station?" Hera shook her head. "No, the entire thing was a trap."

"It's a poor trap that doesn't catch its prey," Sabine said confidently.

"Yes..." Ahsoka agreed, her brow drawing together as she ran her eyes over the information displayed beside the image of the Admiral, far too little information for her liking. "But _we_ were not the prey the trap was intended for. That, or he saw something that made him let us go, and _that_ is much more distressing." There was silence in the room, the feeling oppressive, heavy and nervous, the Spectres shifting uneasily in their seats as they leaned forward and studied the face of their until now hidden enemy.

"Kenobi talks about this guy a lot," Kanan said, breaking the tense silence. "They have kind of a... _thing_ going, but they haven't really been directly engaged, have they? He says he's dangerous, and I believe him, but none of us have _actually_ faced this guy. How dangerous is he?"

"He was the commander responsible for the extermination of Nightswan's rebels on Batonn," Ahsoka grimly said, a swipe of her datapad calling up the report from that battle, the number of listed casualties staggeringly high, and most of them supposed civilians. "If that isn't enough, even Kenobi thinks twice about engaging him, and anyone that can give a Sith Lord pause is dangerous enough for me."

"He's been hunting Father since we were kids," Luke put in gently. "Leia and I got caught up in a..." He paused, biting down on his lip as he cast a sideways glance at his sister, the girl somber and thoughtful as she studied the information presented before her. "We got involved in a _thing_ ," he continued. "A dumb thing involving Hondo that Father said was a trap set by Thrawn."

"I don't understand..." Zeb growled softly, scowling as he looked at the projected ship. "How long does this guy need for his traps to actually work? We sure he's as smart as we think?"

"A lot of the things we're calling traps are actually tests," Ahsoka said tersely, another swipe of her finger pulling up several more files of information, including the detailed report from their battle at Bandomeer, where they first encountered one of many Star Destroyers disguised as the _Chimaera_. "These traps aren't designed to capture people, they're designed to gather information."

"So..." Ezra muttered, looking around the table. "How much does he know?"

"Given how many ships we've lost in the past few days, I think it's safe to say that he knows us _very_ well," Leia grumbled, placing her hands on the holotable as she stood and looked at the Spectres. "Father always said Thrawn was coming, and now that Nightswan and his rebels are dead, Thrawn's _here_. We saw that over Yarma, that was the _Chimaera_. I think it's safe to say that Thrawn's moved into the sector."

"Safe to say," Kanan agreed. "So how do we beat him? How do we fight this guy when every battle against him is a trap in his favor?"

"There aren't many traps that can't be turned against their creators," Hera said thoughtfully, carefully reading over the information in the holofield. "What do we know about this guy?"

"Not enough..." Ahsoka said, gesturing to the data. "We have his military record, so we know how he generally conducts himself. He has a history of being deployed to difficult, lose-lose situations and pulling victories out of them, so we know he's a brilliant tactician and strategist. He's also been known to make an effort to limit casualties."

"Except at Batonn..." Zeb said, pointing at the report.

"Except at Batonn," Ahsoka quietly agreed. "Though that case is atypical for him. So much so that Kenobi believed it wasn't his doing."

"What do you believe, Ahsoka?" Luke asked, and the Togruta crossed her arms over her chest, her sharp eyes quickly surveying the data presented before her.

"I think it's irrelevant," Ahsoka said slowly. "Thrawn's dangerous, and we know little else, and against an enemy like this, it isn't enough." She sighed heavily and closed her eyes, silent for a moment before she looked back at the image of the Imperial Admiral. "The appearance of the _Chimaera_ at Yarma and the failure of our last two missions isn't a coincidence. He already knows us, and we are late to a game he's been playing for years. We need Obi-Wan."

"Until we get him back, we're going to have to make do," Hera said firmly. "If we know every situation we're walking into is a trap, maybe we can better prepare for it, but we can't do much of anything if our entire operation is grounded." Reaching over to Ahsoka's datapad, she swept her hand across it and the holofield was cleared, the sudden disappearance of the information of their enemy making all eyes suddenly snap to focus on the commanding Twi'lek. "We need pilots," Hera said slowly. "Any ideas?"

"Could we ask for more pilots?" Ezra asked. "We have that other base on Yavin, right? That's a _much_ bigger base, they've got a lot more of everything. Surely they have pilots to spare."

"That base is the combined efforts of nearly twenty years of careful planning," Ahsoka said quietly. "We can't risk those assets, especially not if our victory isn't assured. Remember, Thrawn's watching us, and if or Yavin base is discovered by him, it's all over, not just for Phoenix Squadron, but for the entire rebellion."

"Kenobi's got a Star Destroyer," Zeb said with a low growl, his ears flattening against his head. "Can't we borrow his TIE pilots?"

"It's a good temporary solution, but that isn't getting us more pilots," Ahsoka said quietly.

"Well, can I help train pilots?" Luke asked timidly, and he looked over at Hera, a shy smile on his lips. "Hera's probably one of the greatest pilots in the galaxy, and I'm not bad in a starfighter myself. A hundred average pilots aren't worth a dozen great ones. If she and I could turn out even a handful of quality pilots, we can make that go a long way."

"Now that sounds like a plan we can accomplish," Ahsoka said, a knowing smirk on her lips. "Sounds like we're going to be recruiting, and as it so happens, I have a promising lead on exactly that." A few taps on her datapad and the holofield flickered before a large, black monolith appeared before them, a massive, floating tower shaped like the pointed blade of a sword, an intimidating thing, even by the stark, Imperial standards. "This," Ahsoka said almost proudly, "is Skystrike Academy, an elite starfighter academy on the planet Montross. Only the best, most promising Imperial cadets are sent there for training, and one of my Fulcrum agents reports that there are several cadets there who wish to defect."

"Is the information good?" Kanan asked, and Ahsoka flashed him a sly smile.

"It's good," she said quietly. "What you mean to ask is if this is a trap." Ahsoka shrugged. "Given what we're up against, yeah, it probably is, but the information is genuine. There are cadets that wish to defect from Skystrike, and skilled pilots with current information on Imperial military procedure are almost too good to pass up."

"You think Thrawn is suspecting this?" Kanan asked, and for a moment, Ahsoka fell silent, her eyes closed and her brow creased in thought before she looked over at the Jedi.

"I think," Ahsoka said slowly, "that sending someone directly into a highly secure Imperial academy is a bold move that isn't typical of how we've been conducting ourselves as of late. Yes, I believe he's watching, but if we're smart, if the infiltration we conduct is small enough, we might be able to slip past any notice. It's worth the risk, if we have someone right for the job, and we do." A sly smirk spread across Ahsoka's lips, and she slowly looked over at the Mandalorian. "Sabine, you're it."

Sabine was silent for a minute, leaning forward to place her elbows on the table and rest her chin on her palms as she looked at the intimidating, fortress-like academy and read the information beside it, slowly, she leaned back in her seat and gave Ahsoka a quick nod and a confident, "I can do it."

"Alone?" Ezra asked nervously. "I don't know if that's a good idea, Ahsoka. I've infiltrated Imperial military programs before, I could-"

"You are well known, not just as a rebel, but as a Jedi," Ahsoka sternly interrupted. "Our enemy knows your face, and they'll certainly be looking for you. But Sabine is still fairly unknown, and there's a good chance they won't know her on sight like they'll know you."

"I was a cadet in the Imperial Academy on Mandalore for many years," Sabine quietly offered, her eyes averted and hesitation in her voice that suggested she was ashamed of it. "I knows their procedure and protocols, I can blend in with the rest of the cadets there. It won't be hard for me to remain undetected."

"In a place like Skystrike that drawn from experienced recruits, that knowledge will be invaluable," Ahsoka said. "We wouldn't be sending her if we didn't believe there was a good chance for her to succeed."

"Y-yeah, but-"

"Do you not trust Sabine?" Kanan asked calmly, and Ezra bit his tongue, his face flashing hot with embarrassment.

"I do! Of course I do, I just-"

"Then _trust her_ ," Kanan said. "She says she can do it. Have faith in her abilities that she can."

"We'll have a small team nearby to provide backup when she needs it," Ahsoka quickly cut in, giving Ezra a reassuring smile. "She's going to need assistance to escape with the defectors. A lot can go wrong out there."

"How are we even planning on getting them all out?" Zeb asked cautiously. "If this is an elite starfighter academy, it's going to be filled with very, very good pilots and a lot of starfighters for them to fly. Seems to me like escaping from a place like that won't be easy."

"You said it yourself, Zeb," Hera said, a wry smirk on her lips. "It's an academy. It won't just be all simulations, they're going to have to take to the air for practical experience. When they do, Sabine can call us in and we'll come to pick up her and the defectors." She nodded at Sabine. "At Sabine's discretion, of course. She'll get a feel for what's going on in there and adjust the plan accordingly."

"We're still going to have to deal with a lot of fire from a lot of TIEs," Luke said, drawing the attention of all those around the table despite the soft tone of his voice. "These are elite pilots, and an effective squadron can easily take out one of our cruisers, and that's to say nothing about the fact that every second our new recruits are out there increases the chances of them being destroyed. We need a ship big enough and strong enough to withstand a substantial attack long enough to get the pilots loaded up and escape."

"That's easy enough," Leia lazily drawled with a wry smirk and a roll of her eyes. "We take the _Subjugator_."

"Kenobi's Star Destroyer?" Ezra nearly shouted, his jaw slack as he stared at the smirking girl. "You want to take Kenobi's _Star Destroyer_?"

"A ship big enough to withstand a substantial attack, with it's own squadron of fighters, room in the hangar for our new pilots, and more than enough to create confusion and chaos among the Imperials." Leia pressed her fingers together and leaned forward, a dastardly grin upon her face. "We haven't utilized the Star Destroyer yet, and it's big and brash enough to not be expected. We want to keep things unpredictable for Thrawn, don't we?"

"It's crazy enough to work," Ahsoka said slowly. "Think you can handle it, Sabine?"

"Do you even need to ask?" the Mandalorian drawled, leaning back in her chair and linking her hands behind her head.

"I'll get K-2SO to draw up some fake credentials. Leia, Luke, Kanan and Ezra will be aboard the _Subjugator_ to cover you." Ahsoka turned to the Twi'lek at her side. "Since you're so keen on completing that supply run to Teralov, Hera, take Zeb and get it done." Ahsoka quickly raised her hand to silence Leia when she began to speak, and the teenager reluctantly shut her mouth. "I have heard your concerns, Leia, but I trust Hera enough to know she will get the job done right, and you should as well."

"I-I know," Leia snapped, harsher than she meant to. "I do, I just..." She sighed, leaned back in her seat and pinched the bridge of her nose. "We've lost a lot of people this week. I don't want Father to wake up and find himself in an unwinnable situation. He _just_ escaped from one trap. I don't want him trapped in another."

"I've known your Father a long time, Leia," Ahsoka said gently. "I've seen him pull victory out of defeat more times that I'd like. Believe me, when the odds are against him, Obi-Wan Kenobi's at his best." Leia bit down on her lip, silent for a moment before she gave Ahsoka a slight nod, and the Togruta laid her hand on her datapad, clearing the screen and shutting off the holofield. "Alright, rebels. Let's get this mission started."

* * *

Sabine passed through Skystrike's security with no issue, and she pocketed the fake credentials and willed her rapidly beating heart to slow as she followed the group of new cadets to the orientation briefing. K-2SO had fussed the entire time he was creating the credentials for her and spared no detail in describing exactly how low the odds of this ruse were of working, at how advanced Imperial security was because it was constantly being modified and updated, and how she was _certainly_ going to be found out, captured, and executed. But the former Imperial security droid had been programmed to know those systems well, and at the end of the day, K2 had done good work, and she was admitted into Skystrike without question.

The orientation hall was filled when her group filed in, not just with new recruits, but with experienced cadets, officers and instructors, the entire space buzzing with nervous and excited whispers that instantly set Sabine on edge. Something was going on, something out of the ordinary, and listening in on the conversations of other cadets as she passed them only revealed that they knew as little as she did.

The room silenced immediately when a group of sharply dressed officers stepped on to an elevated platform, the academy's Commandant among them, as well as the all too familiar ISB Agent Kallus, and Sabine repressed a groan when she saw the man. His presence was an irritation, an indication that the Empire caught word of dissension among the ranks here at Skystrike, but in truth, for as many times as they had slipped through the agent's grasp, he was little more than an inconvenience to be avoided.

Things fell apart quickly once the Commandant began speaking.

"Cadets," the Commandant began proudly, his hands folded behind his back and his chest swelling. "We are being honored with a visit from Imperial High Command." The hairs on the back of Sabine's neck stood on end as she watched another Imperial officer enter, flanked by two Death Troopers, the officer's uniform a very non-standard white, his rank plaque impressive and unlike any Sabine had ever seen. She hardly noticed that she had stopped breathing as she stared at the blue skinned alien.

"Grand Admiral Thrawn," the Commandant continued, "is here to assess the cadets and officers here at Skystrike for the skills and aptitude to be involved in a top secret Imperial project." He rose his hand when an excited buzz rose from among the crowd, and silence slowly fell once again. "Anyone, regardless of rank, age, or experience may possess the qualities he is looking for, and I am certain each of you will put forth your best effort to show the Grand Admiral exactly what Skystrike Academy had to offer."

Another officer stepped forward and began addressing the group, but Sabine had stopped listening, the entirety of her focus on the Grand Admiral standing still and silent between his guards as sharp, glowing eyes carefully surveyed the crowd. She needed to find a way to contact Kanan as soon as possible and warn him. With Thrawn's presence, the entire plan had been derailed. They had suspected a trap, had known that he would likely be watching their movements, but none of them expected the incredible bad luck of having him _personally_ overseeing Skystrike.

With Thrawn here, it would be damn near impossible to locate the defecting cadets, the additional scrutiny that came with the presence of a member of the Naval High Command no doubt enough to silence dissenting voices for fear of being caught. Did Thrawn somehow know there were cadets wishing to defect to the rebels? If a Fulcrum agent discovered that information, surely the Imperials could have as well. Was that the true purpose of this visit? Was he here to root out treasonous pilots, or use them to lure in the Phoenix Squadron, knowing they would come because they were desperate for pilots after their recent losses?

Sabine frowned. Or was he actually here recruiting for some secret project? That was, perhaps, and even more distressing notion than knowing she had walked so eagerly into a trap. Was this project the one that Kenobi and Ahsoka had been so fixated on for so long? Or worse, was this something different, something new, something even worse? Whatever it was, they needed to know, and if she wasn't able to identify and rescue the cadets she was sent to find, she could, at the very least, gather what information she could about this secret project. So long as she kept her head down, she was just like any other cadet here. He could stay hidden and get lost among the others.

The officers continued talking, their speeches seamlessly becoming the orientation for the new recruits as the seasoned cadets and officers filed out of the hall, though Thrawn remained, a silent observer as the Commandant boasted and bragged and put forward his best effort to impress the Grand Admiral, a thing that got the gathered recruits wrapped up in the excitement of being there. It had gone on longer than Sabine would have liked, but eventually, they were split into groups and led out by a young officer to be taken to their quarters, and casting a final glance back at Thrawn, she silently followed her assigned group, listening to the excited chatter around her.

They eventually made it to the barracks, and Sabine threw her pack onto a bunk in the room she would be sharing with five other girls, each of them reminding Sabine a bit too much of herself when she had first entered the Imperial Academy of Mandalore, ambitious and eager to prove themselves. She took her time unpacking her belongings, a few regulation issue flight suits and a Naval cadet uniform for off-duty hours, the standard, accepted gear for new recruits, and already she could feel restlessness settling in as she looked at the bland uniform, each the same as every other. It was a small part of why she had left the Empire to begin with, her own eclectic style and artistic soul smothered by Imperial efforts to crush individuality for conformity.

Promising her bunkmates that she would join them shortly in the mess hall, Sabine waited for a few minutes in silence after they had left, checking for security cameras and audio recorders and listening carefully at the shuffling and conversations in the halls fade from an excited buzz to muffled quiet before she opened the chest at the foot of her bunk, reached into the breast pocket of one of her flight suits, and pulled out her encoded comlink. Taking a deep breath as she tuned and cloaked the comlink's frequency, Sabine tried to get a grasp on what it is she'd tell Kanan, how best to warn him of the danger that lurked so very close by, but by the time the Jedi answered, her careful plan immediately fell apart.

" _Thrawn's here_!" Sabine blurted out in a quiet hiss, her heart suddenly leaping in her chest, her calm focus breaking into a swell of sudden anxiety for having finally given voice to the threat that now oversaw Skystrike. "They said he's here recruiting for some secret project and I _saw him, Kanan_!"

For a long while, Kanan was silent, only the static of the open connection heard over the comlink, and the nervous tension Sabine was feeling peaked, the little device shaking in her grasp despite her best efforts. Swallowing hard, she took hold of her previous confidence, taking deep, calming breaths to remind herself that they had recently faced Thrawn's forces and escaped, that for all the years he had been watching Obi-Wan, he had failed to successfully catch the Shadow King. Still, she could not banish her apprehension. He was dangerous, Ahsoka had said, and while he had lost the only direct confrontation with the Spectres, he cast an intimidating shadow, and it was enough to make Sabine fear him.

"What project?" Kanan finally asked, calm and composed, and Sabine let go a breath she didn't realize she was holding, her hand running through her hair, recently dyed her natural black for the mission.

"I don't know, they didn't say," Sabine whispered. "You need to get out of here, Kanan. If Thrawn doesn't know you're out there now, he's gonna know real soon, if he's half as smart as Ahsoka seems to think. A Star Destroyer isn't exactly subtle."

"We're a jump away from the Montross system," Kanan quietly explained, just as calm as before. "Far enough that we won't be detected by any long range scanners. We're fine, and we're not leaving without you. Can you complete the mission?"

"Kanan, it's too-"

"Can you complete the mission?" Kanan asked again, and Sabine closed her eyes, her teeth grinding together as the muscles in her back and shoulders bunched together.

"Yes..." Sabine said through clenched teeth. "Yes, I can complete the mission, but it's going to take time. More time than I thought. Thrawn's presence in the Academy's got everyone on edge, our... _friends_ are going to be more cautious than usual."

"With good reason..." Kanan muttered. "If we got word that Skystrike cadets are looking to defect, it's pretty reasonable to assume others heard about it too. You can bet Thrawn isn't just there for a singular purpose. Although..." The Jedi paused, a thoughtful silence hanging between them, and Sabine couldn't help but smile. She could almost see the Jedi stroking his chin as he thought. "I'm interested in what this project of his is. Keep your ears open, see of you can't find out anything about it."

"I will," Sabine promised. "You might want to reconsider our escape plan. I didn't see it when they shuttled us in, but if the _Chimaera_ 's in orbit, well...that could complicate things."

"We'll be sure to scout ahead," Kanan said, his voice becoming distant for a moment as he turned away from the com and issued the scouting order to Luke. "Thanks for the warning. You be careful down there."

"Promise, _dad_ , I will," Sabine said with a roll of her eyes, feeling a great deal better for having spoken to Kanan. Shutting off the com and tucking it back inside its hiding place, Sabine straightened her hair and left the room to go join the others in the mess hall.

* * *

"This is TIE SS36, on patrol at point 149, awaiting wingman," Sabine said in a clipped drawl, her hands grasped loosely around the flight controls. Simulated flight exercises were standard practice, a chance to give cadets a feel of being inside a TIE Fighter without actually going up into the air and putting expensive equipment in the hands of untested students, but after a few days of hours upon hours of running through the training and procedural cycles, Sabine was beginning to get bored. Between formation drills, escort assignments, brief dogfights with underwhelming malcontents, and an unbroken string of protocol and procedure, there was little to catch the girl's interest.

Since that first day, she hadn't seen any sign of Thrawn and she hadn't been able to find out anything about that project of his, though his hand could certainly be felt in her otherwise monotonous routine, the cadets and officers still buzzing with ambitions excitement, even a week later. It was just enough that she had been unable to discover who among her many, many peers were looking to leave, though it was possible that she simply hadn't come across them yet. There were hundreds of training groups here at Skystrike, and while she had interacted with a good number of them during her classes, combat training and simulated flights, there were many, many more she hadn't even encountered yet.

"Copy that, 36. This is TIE SS25," a male voice said over her intercom, her flight partner for this exercise finally entering the simulation, his TIE appearing on the screen in space before her. "You can call me Wedge. What's your name, cadet?"

 _Wedge_? A slow, sly grin crossed Sabine's face, her hands tightening around the controls as she moved her TIE to fly beside her partner's. In the time she had been here, this was the first time she had seen any sign of individuality, any break from protocol, and during an observed training session, no less. They would certainly be reprimanded for this, but Wedge had her attention.

"I'm Ria Talla," Sabine answered quickly before the supervising officer had a chance to shut down the conversation, and sure enough, a second later, the disgruntled officer's voice came over the com.

"Don't break protocol, com numbers only," the stern, clipped accent said, and in the safety of her helmet, Sabine grinned, the accent just close enough to Kenobi's own aristocratic drawl that she couldn't help but imagine how different it would be to have devious Obi-Wan trying to teach these uptight Imperials. It would certainly be more fun.

"Copy that, command," Wedge immediately replied, relaxed and easy, and with the cadets back in line, the commanding officer gave them their mission parameters, intercept rebel ships that had crossed into the Imperial sector, the most interesting simulation Sabine had to date. With a quick acknowledgment from Wedge, Sabine fell in behind them as they made their way to the given coordinates and quickly found the targeted ships. Four Y-Wings, much like the ones that they had stolen from Reklam Station, and Sabine couldn't help the sudden tightening in her stomach as she wondered if this was a standard simulation, or if the Imperials had adjusted their training programs based on Phoenix Squadron's activities.

With a swift word from the commander to eliminate all targets, Sabine and Wedge moved to follow the command, the two flying in close formation as they approached the heavily armed ships. The com remained open between them, the two constantly trading information on the attacking ships and adjusting their strategy accordingly, keeping each other covered while they launched an offensive against the four ships. They were outnumbered, but Sabine was quick to realize that Wedge wasn't only proving to be a good teammate, but he was also a great pilot.

Falling in behind the Y-Wings, she and Wedge finally split when the rebel ships separated into pairs, and falling in behind them, Sabine opened fire, destroying one and evading the debris with a slight pull of the control yoke as she followed her remaining one.

"Good kill, 36," Wedge said, his own TIE flying past her field of vision, and with a frown, Sabine looked at her scanner and saw that the other pilot had already destroyed both his targets.

"Oh, one more and we're even, 25," Sabine said, her hands tightening around the controls as she pushed the ship forward faster, her heart beating faster with the thrill of competition. She liked this Wedge. They were going to have to have a talk after this simulation was over. She had a good feeling about him, and was willing to bet that TIE Pilot SS 25 was one of the hopeful rebels that she had been looking to recruit.

"36 and 25," the commander said as soon as Sabine had destroyed the final Y-Wing. "Proceed to the transmitted coordinates and destroy the rebel vessel located there." Pulling the TIEs around, Sabine and Wedge flew toward the new coordinates, sacrificing caution for speed as they made their way quickly toward the next rebel ship, though they both pulled back on the yoke when they saw the ship hanging dead in space before them, smoke billowing from the rear thrusters. The moment's hesitation slowed them significantly, and when they approached the ship, it was cautiously, Sabine's eyes glued to the monitors and readings around her. This was a test, she was certain, but she didn't know yet how best to proceed.

"No power readings..." Sabine muttered quietly. "It's disabled." Her com bursted with static, a high pitched whine sounding for a moment as she picked up the unstable signal, and again, her TIE slowed with her hesitation.

"Please, do not fire, we surrender!" a frantic voice said over the com, the voice broken with static, but the fear was palpable. "We're heavily damaged and have wounded aboard. Repeat, we surrender!"

"Destroy the vessel as ordered," the commander said, calm and cold, and Sabine's jaw clenched. It was just a simulation, she knew, but it was programs like this that trained young Imperial soldiers to mindlessly commit murder at a command, and Sabine was never one to blindly follow orders. Not after her own service to the Empire on Mandalore.

"But Imperial protocol is to board-"

"Destroy the vessel as ordered, 36!" the commander swiftly interrupted, his tone harsh and angered with her defiance, and Sabine hissed in irritation, her hands tightening around the yoke, and looked out to see Wedge's TIE and noticed that he hadn't moved to destroy the vessel either.

"Is breaking protocol part of the test?" Sabine mumbled under her breath to herself, but the helmet's sensitive speakers picked up the sound.

"What was that, 36?" the commander demanded.

"Um, com malfunction, sir." Wedge said swiftly before Sabine had the chance to respond herself, and Sabine looked over to the TIE beside her, letting out a soft sigh of relief and feeling a smile creep upon her face. That settled the matter for her. Wedge was her rebel, and he could certainly take her to the others. The mission was as good as over, and not a moment too soon. She was getting restless, and it would be good to be back home.

"Hold on," the commander said quickly, the matter of the disabled freighter all but forgotten with the presence of something new. "New target, coming in at point 17." Looking out her viewport, Sabine saw the new target immediately, a rebel ship flying swiftly out from behind the damaged ship, and a cold pit instantly formed in her stomach as dreaded recognition slammed into her. It was the _Ghost_ , clear as day, cutting through space swiftly and gracefully like Hera herself was piloting it. An Imperial training simulation was the absolute last place Sabine expected to see the ship she called home, and the shock, for just a moment, paralyzed her into inaction.

"Look out!" she finally managed to shout, too little, too late as she watched Wedge's TIE explode in a burst of flame and debris, and in the next moment, the _Ghost_ was upon her, its powerful forward cannons firing at her, and her screen flashed white as she was struck and her own starfighter was destroyed.

"Simulation complete," the commander said over the com as the cockpit filled with the low whine of the pod powering down. "Cadets, exit your pods. Deport for debriefing." Sabine took a deep breath to calm her racing heart and willed herself to banish the shaking in her hands as the pod settled back into its mount. She recovered quickly, eased effortlessly back into a neutral state, and when fear and shock had worn off, she turned toward irritation toward how the entire simulation went. Being ordered to fire upon a surrendering ship had gotten to her, and nearly as much as that, this was the first simulated test that Sabine had failed, and her competitive nature took offense at the loss.

The hatch opened, and she climbed out of the TIE cockpit and on to the boarding ladder, and when her feet touched the ground, she took her helmet from her head, a scowl on her face as she marched to the briefing table, Wedge close at her side. He said nothing, though Sabine could tell that he was tense, and while he looked properly disappointed for how the simulation went, an expected reaction for an Imperial cadet, there was a certain grimness to him that did not escape her notice.

"What kind of rebel ship was that?" Sabine asked the officers standing around the briefing table, irritation in her voice despite her best efforts. "That was no transport!"

"Ah, but you are wrong, cadet," one of the flight instructors said in a strong, commanding voice, his hands folded behind his back as he stood straight and tall, sharp eyes carefully observing the two cadets. "That _was_ a rebel transport, called the _Ghost_ , which has been modified for combat. The rebels are a desperate group of extremists. They'll fight with any ship, using any means necessary to undermine our authority." He took a menacing step toward Wedge and Sabine, his intimidating presence looming above them, and Sabine could feel defiance tightly grip her. " _That_ is why orders must be followed without question. Insubordination like yours will get you and your wingman killed. Understood?"

"Yes sir." Wedge said quietly, but Sabine stayed silent, biting back the retort on her tongue by keeping her mouth shut, but the instructor was having none of it, his eyes fixed on the Mandalorian.

" _Understood,_ cadet?" he asked again, and this time, Sabine looked up at the man, unable to conceal the bold defiance in her eyes.

"Yes sir," Sabine ground out, and much to her relief, the instructor was satisfied with that, turning away from the two of them to return to the briefing table to give other pairs of cadets notes on their own simulations. Sabine didn't follow, instead looked down at the flight helmet she held tightly between her hands and quietly wondered how many others ran the same simulation as she did, and how many others fired upon the transport without question.

"I see you don't just take risks while your flying." Sabine looked up quickly and found Wedge beside her, his expression as grim as before, though there was something else in him that she couldn't quite place. She suspected that he was one of the pilots she was looking for, and now, she had the opportunity to confirm that.

"Well, I trust my gut," she said quietly, laying a hand over her chest, "and I know right from wrong."

"I respect that," Wedge replied, his features darkening as he began to return to the group of cadets at the briefing table. "A lot of people here won't." It was enough, and as Sabine followed the boy back to the group, she began planning for a way to get them out of there as quickly as possible. Skystrike sent students up in TIEs for actual flight experience on a regular basis. If she could get Wedge and his friends up in the air with her, she could call in her backup and they could make their escape. Provided there wasn't a Star Destroyer hanging over the Academy, a quick extraction wouldn't be too difficult to pull off, but if they weren't so lucky and the _Chimaera_ just so happened to be in orbit, well...

Thrawn hadn't found her yet. If she had to wait for the Grand Admiral to depart, she would.

"Cadets, back in your pods," the commander ordered. "Keep your current wingman. We'll run a new simulation and see if you learned from your previous mistakes." With a chorus of acknowledgments, the cadets in the group split up into their pairs and headed back to their pods, and Sabine fell in beside Wedge as they crossed the short way from the briefing table to the boarding ladders, the round TIE cockpits sitting open and ready for their pilots.

"Watch yourself in there," Wedge whispered to Sabine just before she began climbing up the ladder. "You know they're going to be keeping an eye on you. Don't do something stupid."

"Yeah," Sabine said with a sigh, putting her helmet on her head and grabbing the rung of the ladder. "I won't." With a small smile cast in her direction, Wedge didn't say another word as he put his helmet on and climbed up into the pod, and Sabine climbed up her own ladder and dropped into the cockpit, immediately initiating the pre-flight sequences that sealed the cockpit and initiated the simulation.

"Initializing the simulation," the commander said as stars scattered across her screen, a large, red planet in the distance and an Imperial Star Destroyer looming above her. Off to her side, she could see Wedge's TIE materialize, and she grasped hold of the yoke, ready to get the simulation underway and eager to make up for her previous error.

"SS25 and SS36, your mission is simple," the commander droned. "Rebel insurgents have captured an Imperial depot on one of the moons of the nearby planet. You are to accompany-"

The transmission cut, and the screen before her shut off, leaving Sabine in the dark cockpit and staring at a blank screen, and she gave the control console an experimental tap to see if she had somehow lost power. The switches and buttons responded as they were supposed to, and Sabine frowned and tapped her helmet.

"Uh, hello?" Sabine said cautiously. "This is SS36, I think a power surge knocked me out of the simulation."

"I'm out of the simulation too," Wedge's voice came over her com, and Sabine breathed a sigh of relief to hear him before the nerves crept back, making her shift uncomfortably in her seat as she sat in the dark, silent cockpit.

"Cadet Antilles and Cadet Talla," a calm, monotonous voice said over the com, not the voice of the commander or the imperious flight instructor, but a new man, the even tone chilling and devoid of any inflection, and Sabine found herself holding her breath as she intently listened to the new voice. "This is Grand Admiral Thrawn. I have aborted your assigned simulation and am issuing you a new one."

For a long moment, Sabine was silent, her jaw slack as she stared blankly at the dark screen before her, a creeping chill slowly making its way up her spine. Did Thrawn know? Had she somehow been found out? Certainly she couldn't have been the only cadet to fail a simulation or to question the instructors, so why was he here now? The smallest flicker of hope sparked in her chest, and Sabine swallowed hard and tightly gripped the yoke. Maybe, _just maybe_ , Thrawn didn't know. Maybe she had him fooled. Maybe he was here because he was looking for something other than mindless obedience for that project of his. Maybe this was her chance to find out exactly what that project is.

"Uh...is there something wrong, Admiral?" Sabine stuttered, feeling stupid for how nervous her voice sounded to her, though she suspected that was to be expected from a cadet. It was normal for young recruits to be nervous around high officers, and a Grand Admiral was certainly the highest ranking official anyone in Skystrike had encountered, short of the Emperor himself, though she didn't think good old Palpatine left Coruscant to visit flight schools.

"Not at all," Thrawn responded in that flat, expressionless voice. "Your previous simulation was designed to test your adherence to strict orders in the face of uncertainty. I wish to observe...something else." Before Sabine had the opportunity to object, reluctant to be thrown into Thrawn's game, the screen before her flashed on, the black monitor becoming peppered with stars as the new simulation was loaded.

"Obedience," Thrawn's voice said calmly through the com, "must be instant and complete. Such automatic response relies on trust between the commander and the commanded. You have experienced the results of your hesitation in the previous simulation. A commander may choose to share the details of their plan. Often, they may not, but in either case, obedience is necessary."

"Sir, I _won't_ fail again, I-"

"I have already observed your faith in your commanders, Cadet Talla," Thrawn quietly interrupted. "I would now observe your actions when you are deprived of your command." The screen began to change as the simulation was loaded, a beautiful blue and green planet materializing large in the viewport before her before walls closed in around them, the projection of a Star Destroyer's hangar was built up around them, pilots and mechanics attending the other TIEs frozen in time as they waited for the Admiral to begin the simulation.

"What's our mission, Admiral?" Wedge asked, and Sabine nearly jumped in her seat. He had been so silent, and she had been so focused on Thrawn that she had forgotten that he was there as well.

"This is Bandomeer," Thrawn said, the even pitch of his voice somehow becoming more commanding. "Rebel insurgents have captured a heavily armed Imperial mining facility down on the surface. The rebels are armed and dangerous, and in addition to Imperial forces, there are civilian workers trapped inside the facility with the rebels."

"Have they taken hostages?" Wedge asked.

"The status of the civilians is unknown," Thrawn replied. "The rebels have attacked the facility at multiple points, and it has created chaotic conditions. They have disabled the compound's security systems, so the information we are receiving from the forces on the ground is unreliable. Your mission is to aid the ISD _Malevolence_ in recapturing the facility."

"Understood, Admiral," Wedge said, his voice filled with determination and resolve. "You ready, Ria?"

"Y-yeah..." Sabine said quietly, willing herself to calm her pounding heart, but it wasn't working, and she was certain that fear came across in the slight shaking of her voice.

"Good fortune, cadets," Thrawn said, and in the next moment, the scene before them came alive, pilots rushing to climb into their TIEs and mechanics quickly finishing their checks as the Star Destroyer prepared for battle, their helmet coms coming alive with barked orders from command and the swift check-ins from the other pilots. The hangar doors opened up, the blue environment shield covering the open entrance into space, and the TIE Fighters around them rose and swarmed out of the hangar, Wedge and Sabine waiting for their departure clearance before they too followed the rest of the fighters into space and rocketed toward the given coordinates of the occupied facility.

Sabine flew in tight formation with Wedge, her jaw clenched tightly and her hands gripping the yoke so hard her forearms burned. This wasn't just a simulation, this was a recreation of a real battle, one Sabine recognized instantly, though now, in the cockpit of a TIE Fighter, she was seeing it from a different point of view. She knew this battle because she had _been there_ , and though she hadn't been in the air, she had been down on the ground inside the facility to capture one of two powerful ion cannons the complex possessed to defend itself from frequent pirate raids. She knew this fight, knew what was about to happen, and she grimly wondered if Thrawn knew that.

The question now, of course, was what it was Thrawn was looking for. What was he hoping to see by putting them through this simulation? Was this a trap, an exercise meant to confirm what he already knew? Or was this an unlucky coincidence, the costly Imperial loss at rebel hands an ideal test of the qualities he was looking for in the recruits for his project? Or was it something else entirely, something she had no ability to understand? She didn't know, and that was the worst thing at all. Without any idea of what the Admiral was looking for to inform her decision on how to act, all she could do was act the good little Imperial and do her best to pass this simulation, and that would have to be good enough.

Listening to the frenetic commands of the commander barking a continuous stream of orders in her ear, Sabine broke formation when the target appeared and had to quickly wrench the yoke sideways to avoid a barrage of red laser fire from an enemy ship, one that Sabine didn't recognize, but knew it to belong to Hera's wingman during this fight, the Mandalorian Boba Fett. Spinning her TIE to avoid the falling debris of four destroyed starfighters, Sabine reoriented herself, checked to be certain that Wedge was with her, and tersely acknowledged the commander when he ordered her squadron to execute an attack run on the facility below.

Their rush to the facility on the ground was quickly aborted when a flash of green light gave them only a fraction of a second of warning before a wide, green beam shot up from the facility and lanced through the sky, taking out a long line of TIE fighters that didn't react quick enough or simply didn't see the warning signs of the attack. Despite herself, Sabine couldn't help but smirk as she deftly spun out of the way, the energy beam only just missing her, green light flooding her cockpit as she flipped around. _She_ had fired that weapon during the actual assault on Bandomeer. She had no idea it had been so destructive.

"Was that an _ion cannon_?!" Wedge gasped into the com, his own TIE spinning to fall in beside hers. "The rebels have captured an _ion cannon_?!" A second beam fired, and Wedge and Sabine pulled up hard and fast, flipping upside down as they looped and spinning out of the flip to pull up higher into the sky.

"Looks like they have _two_ ion cannons," Sabine said wryly, earning a tight laugh from Wedge, a tense, nervous thing that couldn't quite conceal the boy's excitement.

"This just keeps getting better, doesn't it?" Wedge asked flippantly, his own TIE settling into formation beside Sabine's. "We're going to have to take those out if we want to have a chance at winning this thing. If we can neutralize the insurgents, we might be able to get a team down to rescue the civilians."

"I was thinking the same thing," Sabine said, shooting her TIE higher into the sky before she took a sharp turn and dove for the right ion cannon. "Shore up with me for an attack run, Wedge, let's get this thing done."

"Right with you, Ria."

Together, they closed in on the complex, their TIEs screaming as they sliced through the air, the two pilots deftly avoiding another blast from the ion cannons and promptly responding to the commander as he barked orders over the com system, the same orders as before, along with the assurance the reenforcements were on the way. Just before they got within firing range of the ion cannons, Sabine's console blared with warning alarms, her scanners frantically warning her that her ship had been locked on to, and hissing a curse under her breath, she pulled up hard, her ship spinning out of the way just as red laser fire shot past her viewport, and as she spun out of the way, she managed to catch sight of the _Ghost_.

" _What_?" Wedge gasped, his TIE exiting its own spin and taking evasive actions to fall in to cover Sabine, both their ships flying high up above the complex, the _Ghost_ in close pursuit of Sabine as Wedge tried and failed to fall behind the rebel ship, not another TIE Fighter in sight. "We had four entire squadrons of fighters out here, how could they all have been destroyed by two ships?!"

"Must be a hell of a pilot..." Sabine said between clenched teeth, throwing the accelerator back to rapidly decrease her TIE's speed, allowing the _Ghost_ to shoot past her as she fell in next to Wedge, and the two immediately fell into attack formation. They were forced to break off the attack not a second later when the other rebel ship caught them from behind, and breaking off from each other, Sabine once again found herself being pursued by the _Ghost_.

"We're never going to be able to complete this run so long as these two ships are dogging us!" Wedge snapped. "Command, we need to abort the mission and retreat until reenforcements arrive!" For the first time since the simulation began, the com was silent, and cursing quietly, Wedge tried to call command again, only to be met with more silence.

"Looks like we're on our own..." Sabine said tersely as she took a sharp turn in an effort to get behind the _Ghost_ , only for the rebel ship to almost effortlessly follow and keep on her tail, forcing her to take a random, almost frantic course through the air as she evaded the shots fired at her.

"What the hell is going on up there?!" Wedge snapped, flying his TIE right between Sabine and the _Ghost_ , and both pursuing rebel ships were forced to pull off the attack to keep from colliding into each other, giving the Imperial cadets a brief chance to return to their formation. "I know what our orders are, but-"

"Given the circumstances, those orders are _idiotic_ ," Sabine growled. "Yeah, I agree. We need to retreat and regroup. We can't take back the facility if we're dead."

"And something's definitely wrong at command," Wedge muttered, following Sabine's TIE as they raced high up into Bandomeer's atmosphere, away from the complex and back toward the _Malevolence._ "We can't do anything here, but we might be able to help up there."

"Right. Let's get this done, Wedge."

The two rebel ships peeled off their pursuit, allowing Sabine and Wedge to escape to safety, and after a few minutes, they had cleared the atmosphere and entered the blackness of space, and were immediately faced with yet another battle. Swarms of TIE Fighters from the newly arrived reenforcements filled the air, the blackness of space filled with bursts of green laser fire and more powerful plasma charges from the Star Destroyer's ion cannons. Two Interdictor cruisers and hung above Bandomeer, the reenforcements that had been promised, and as they drew closer to the battle, Wedge's TIE hesitated, hanging back cautiously as he realized what Sabine already knew.

The Imperials were fighting _each other_.

"What the hell is going on here..." Wedge muttered as he pulled up beside Sabine once again. "Are they...are they attacking our ship?!"

"Well, that's what it looks like..."

"Could rebels have infiltrated the _Malevolence_?" Wedge asked.

"That, or our reenforcements aren't actually Imperial," Sabine muttered, and she could hear Wedge quietly groan.

"...what do we do?"

"I-I don't know..." Sabine stammered. "This looks to me like a lose-lose situation, I don't think there's any winning here."

"I think you're right..." Wedge muttered, his TIE shooting past Sabine's as he took off toward the newly arrived Star Destroyers. "Let's try to get in contact with the command of the other ships, if we could-"

Wedge was suddenly cut off and Sabine watched in horror as his TIE was engulfed in a flash of light as it exploded, and she quickly tore away from her course to avoid the debris of the destroyed TIE, her eyes darting to her scanners to find...nothing at all, no ships in range, no stray fire, not anything that could have destroyed her wingman's ship. This threat was invisible, and just as Sabine realized what she was up against, just as she, for the briefest moment _saw_ the sleek black ship materialize before her, her screen flashed white before the pod's power died, leaving her in darkness, the simulation ended when the stealth ship _Umbra_ destroyed her.

When the pod settled in its base and the hatch unlocked, Sabine hoisted herself out of the seat with a sigh and climbed out of the cockpit, descending the ladder to find Wedge already waiting for her, his helmet tucked under his arm and a sheepish smile on his face. She was nervous, she could tell, and he had good reason to be. They didn't preform badly in the simulation, all things considered, but being under the scrutiny of the Grand Admiral had them both on edge. No doubt their instructors would be displeased with them, for their informality over the com, their failure to keep to their orders, their retreat from the two rebel ships, or a hundred other things, but neither of them knew what Thrawn would think, and they both knew that a single word from the man could be the end of them.

"Well...how do you think we did?" Wedge asked quietly as Sabine took her helmet off and tucked it under her arm.

"As good as we could have..." Sabine mumbled, the two of them slowly beginning to shuffle toward the briefing table where the instructors stood, their arms crossed and hard expressions upon their faces."I don't suppose they're gonna agree."

"What do you suppose they're most angry about?" Wedge asked, a slight smirk on his lips as he glanced at Sabine out of the corner of his eye. "I think it's that we turned tail and ran from rebel ships."

"Really?" Sabine asked wryly. "I think it's gonna be our disregard for our com numbers." Wedge snorted to stifle his laughter as they reached the table, the instructors red faced and glaring at the two cadets, and Sabine had to bite down on her tongue to keep from laughing herself.

"Do you think this is _funny_ , cadets?" the commander sneered, stepping slowly toward them, his shoulders tight with anger and menace. "Is this a game to you? These may just be simulations, but the wrong move in a real situation will get you killed, and you two have had more than enough failure today!"

"We did the best we could given the circumstances, sir," Wedge began. "But there was no winning that simulation, we-"

"If that is the best you can do," the commander said in a low, dangerous voice, "than you two do not belong at Skystrike."

"I disagree." There it was again, that calm, monotonous voice, and Sabine instinctively drew up, her breath held and her shoulders tense as she saw glowing red eyes in the darkness, and a moment later, stepping into the holographic light of the briefing table, was Thrawn, the instructors and commanders snapping to attention and stepping away to give him space, though Sabine could see anger and displeasure and offense on the commander's face.

"A warrior's life is built upon obedience and leadership," Thrawn continued. "A balance of both is necessary to be successful in the field of battle, and while your students are quick to obey, their leadership qualities are...lacking." He gestured to Sabine and Wedge. "Cadets Antillies and Talla have demonstrated initiative when deprived of their command. Such actions should be enforced, not reprimanded."

"They _retreated_!" the commander sputtered, outraged and insulted, and fell silent quickly when the Chiss' gaze flicked to him briefly.

"The only sensible course of action," Thrawn said calmly, his fingers running briefly over the controls of the briefing table, and the holographic field flashed with the mission report of Sabine and Wedge's simulation, the bold declaration of _Mission Failure_ printed neatly in red at the top of the report. They felt themselves bristle, could feel the angry glared of the instructors and commanders upon them, and despite herself, Sabine felt herself looking to calm, emotionless Thrawn to soothe her nerves.

"Do you have any questions, cadets?" Thrawn quietly asked, and for a moment, Sabine and Wedge said nothing, the hard looks of the other Imperial officers making them hold their tongues, their luck already pressed enough that day as it was. But Thrawn didn't move, didn't speak, only looked at Sabine and Wedge expectantly, waiting patiently for a reply, and beside her, Sabine felt Wedge relax, set at ease by the Chiss, just as she had felt before.

"I don't...understand what happened," Wedge said hesitantly. "When did we lose our Destroyer? Did the rebels have a second team that somehow managed to take it from us? Or..." He paused, biting his lip and looking at the ground for a moment before he turned his gaze back to the Admiral. "Or was that ship always under rebel control? Were we unknowingly fighting for the insurgents?"

"An interesting thought..." Thrawn said, his hands folding behind his back. "I wonder, Cadet Antilles, how would you determine if that were the case?"

"I..." He stopped again, considered the question for a moment, and he shook his head. "I-I don't know." Red eyes turned on Sabine, and she instinctively touched her hip for her blaster, and suddenly felt naked without it. If it were on her, it would have been well worth the consequences for an opportunity to kill this threat to the Phoenix Cell.

"And you, Cadet Talla?" Thrawn asked evenly, and Sabine held her breath, her eyes locked with the Chiss' glowing red.

"It _wasn't_ the case," Sabine said tightly. "The ship was taken during the battle."

"How did you reach this conclusion?" Thrawn asked, and Sabine ground her teeth together, her eyes flicking to the failed mission report in the holofield as she thought for a moment, wondering exactly how much the Admiral knew, since he was not present at this battle.

"The com chatter died halfway through the mission," she said with an indignant huff, her arms crossing over her chest. "And we _did_ encounter rebel resistance at the facility. One of the ships in the air was the same one we saw in our previous simulation."

"An astute observation, Cadet Talla," Thrawn said, inclining his head and looking the two cadets over carefully. "How, then, was the _Malevolence_ captured?"

"...I don't know," Sabine muttered, and beside her, Wedge stood up straighter.

"Could there have been a traitor on the Destroyer?" Wedge asked, frowning as he stroked his chin, and then swiftly shook his head. "No, it seems too improbable for one traitor to be able to take over an entire ship. Something's wrong, something's not adding up..." There was silence for a moment as Wedge waited for the Admiral to fill in the information he was missing, but Thrawn remained silent, motionless as he simply observed. "Maybe..." Wedge hesitantly continued. "Maybe that isn't the right question. _Maybe_ we should be asking ourselves what the rebels were after."

"Maybe it doesn't matter," Sabine grumbled as she leaned in toward the briefing table, her eyes narrowing as she looked at Thrawn through the hologram. "Because that battle was lost before we even got there, wasn't it?"

"Yes, it was," Thrawn said quietly, the pitch of his voice lowering slightly, though it kept it's flat intonation, his fingers moving to brush over the controls of the holographic table, clearing away the mission report and bringing up another file, the information quickly expanding into a detailed report on the _actual_ battle of Bandomeer, and Sabine felt her chest tighten when images of the Spectres appeared around the projected image of the destroyed _Malevolence_. To her instant relief, her own picture had her in her armor, her face concealed by her helmet, but the information crawls were hidden, their individual files closed, and she wondered exactly what the Empire had on them.

"The simulation is based on a real conflict nearly a year ago with the rebels of an insurgency group called the Phoenix Squadron," Thrawn continued, a flick of his hand bringing up the details of the battle. "This two-pronged assault led to the theft of thousands of credits worth of valuable resources, the destruction of two Interdictor cruisers and severe damage to three reenforcing Star Destroyers before the _Malevolence_ was destroyed, resulting in the deaths of thousands of people."

"So..." Wedge began, his lips pressing together in thought. "This simulation was designed as a test to reverse the outcome of this battle?"

"No," Thrawn said, a quiet finality in his voice as he once again folded his hands behind his back. "As Cadet Talla said, this battle was lost before you arrived. It is, indeed, unwinnable. The outcome of this engagement is the result of a failure of obedience, leadership, and strategy at the command level. At your position within the conflict, it is impossible to achieve victory."

"If the TIE Fighter squadrons did their jobs and initiated a bombing run on the complex," the commander said between clenched teeth, angry and bitter over what was clearly a sore subject, "than the rebels would have been destroyed!"

"At the expense of valuable resources, an instrumental mining and refining institution, and the lives of nearly two hundred civilians trapped inside," Thrawn said coldly, his glowing red eyes narrowing as he looked at the commander. "Even if your pilots successfully destroyed the rebel ships protecting the facility, which they failed to do in your own attempt at the simulation, the _Malevolence_ is still captured and destroyed by the second insurgent team."

"So, what's the point of putting us through an unwinnable simulation?" Sabine asked, and Thrawn looked back at her, regarding her in silence for a moment before he inclined his head.

"The actions chosen in the face of an absolute no-win scenario reveal a great deal about the subject's character, strategy, and aptitude," Thrawn explained respectfully despite the bristling of the instructor's beside him at yet another challenge to authority by this cadet. "Based on your actions in the previous simulation, I was interested to see how you would approach this challenge."

"And did we preform to your expectations, sir?" Wedge asked, and for a long moment, Thrawn was silent, his gaze darting between the two cadets as he studied and analyzed their expressions and the way they stood, a thing that made Sabine shift uncomfortably from foot to foot.

"Your actions are congruent with what I have previously observed," Thrawn said slowly. "The decision to retreat so that a second attack may be launched at a later time with greater strength speaks well of your tactics. Information is a weapon that can make a small force seem like an armada, a thing that is often forgotten by those in positions of greater strength." Brushing his hand across the controls, the holotable switched off, and he briefly inclined his head toward Sabine and Wedge. "I will be watching your progress with great interest, cadets." Without another word, the Admiral turned from the briefing table and walked away, Sabine's eyes fixed on him until that pure white uniform disappeared from view into the darkness of the simulation deck. With the Admiral gone, the instructors turned their eyes on the two cadets that stood before them, and Sabine could practically feel bitterness and offense in the air, the displeasure from having their duties overtaken by their alien superior palpable.

" _Dismissed_ , cadets," one of the instructors hissed, and Sabine and Wedge didn't was a second to turn away from the briefing table and leave the room, their strides long and fast and purposeful in their haste to get away from the officers' scrutiny. They slowed as they stepped out into the starkly lit corridors of the academy, the both of them exhaling breaths they didn't realize they had been holding and pulling the tight flight suit hood off their heads, sly smiles spreading across their faces as they glanced at each other, and finally allowed to relax, the two of them softly began laughing.

"Big day, huh?" Wedge said with a grin when they turned into an empty corridor, their pace slow and relaxed as they ambled through identical industrial halls toward the TIE hangar. " _Weird_ day. Who would have thought we'd get the Admiral's attention."

"He's not like other Imperials, that's for sure," Sabine muttered, smiling brightly as a door hissed open and they stepped out on to the TIE hangar, an open air platform that was bathed in the golden light of Montross' twin setting suns, the dry, warm air carrying the slight hint of oil and ion engines and the crisp scent of the atmosphere. The leaned against the railing of one of the walkways, silent as they stared out into the endless sky, and when she looked up at Wedge, she found the boy's brow furrowed together in thought.

"Something wrong, Wedge?" Sabine quietly asked, and the boy tensed as he swiftly looked at her, as if he had forgotten she was there, and quickly flashed her a reassuring smile.

"No. Why?"

"You just look nervous." Brow furrowing once again, Wedge looked away from her, silent for a moment before he sighed, his shoulders slumping.

"Actually, I've been thinking about what happened in our first simulation today," Wedge quietly confessed, his eyes searching Sabine's face before he decided to continue. "It...didn't sit right with me."

"Me neither," Sabine said swiftly, her heart pounding in her chest with the excitement of being given a real lead from her new friend. "Look, I want to do my part for the Empire, but firing on unarmed ships wasn't what I had in mind." She stopped, bit down on her lip as she looked up at Wedge. "What about you?"

"I was flying cargo ships when the Empire recruited me" Wedge said with a soft chuckle, a fond smile on his lips as he closed his eyes. "At the time, I figured, why not? Seemed a whole lot more exciting than hauling spare parts around the galaxy." His smile wavered, his shoulders hunching forward as he sighed and looked down at the rows of TIE Fighters hanging from their mounts in neat rows beneath them. "But if this is what the Empire's becoming, I don't know..."

"You ever think about getting out?" Sabine asked quietly, and Wedge gave a small, bitter laugh.

"That's...not really possible, is it?" Wedge asked, and a sly smile crossed Sabine's lips.

"Maybe more possible than you realize." Wedge looked at her, his eyebrow arched, and Sabine ran a hand through her hair, and checking that they were alone on the deck, she leaned in closer to him. "I work for the rebel cell, the Phoenix Squadron," she whispered. "I was sent in to get you out."

"So the rebellion did get my message!" Wedge gasped, his eyes wide with excitement and a bright smile spread across his face, and though she felt her heart skip, she calmly raised her hand for caution and drew closer to him.

"Yes, but I heard there were other pilots that want out too," Sabine whispered, and Wedge quickly nodded.

"There are."

"Okay, we need to leave as soon as possible, before the Empire finds out about us," Sabine said in a hushed whisper, looking over her shoulder to make certain they were alone. "Can you get them ready?"

"I'll talk to them," Wedge quietly promised. "What's your plan?"

"They send students up in TIEs for practice dogfights pretty regularly," Sabine said quietly, looking over the railing down at the rows of starfighters. "If we can get on one of those flights together, I've got a team ready to get us out."

"Can they do it?" Wedge asked. "I mean...there's sort of an Imperial big shot here right now keeping a watch on things. Is it safe? Would we be better off waiting until he leaves?"

For a long moment, Sabine was silent, her lips pressed together and her brow furrowed in thought as she looked out at the sky. It was a good question, one that she herself had gone back and forth on since her first day in the academy, and she truly didn't have a good answer for it. On the one hand, Thrawn was dangerous, and every day she stayed there increased her likelihood of being discovered, so getting away as quickly as possible was absolutely imperative.

On the other hand, though, Thrawn hadn't found her out _yet_ , so far as she could tell, and with the Admiral's eyes on her now, it would certainly be safer not to make any moves that would alert him to the rebel under his nose. But even more than that, with Thrawn's attention came the possibility of learning more about his secret project, and knowing what that could be was vital information that their rebel cell needed in order to stay ahead of the cunning Admiral. If she had the opportunity to get that information, she had to take it.

"You saw in the simulation today that Thrawn's got eyes on my rebel cell," Sabine whispered. "He's smart. _Too_ smart. You saw how different he was from the other Imperials here. I think..." she said slowly, biting down on her lip for a moment as she decided on a course of action. "I think it would be a bad idea to give him the chance to find us. We leave, as soon as possible."

"You sure your friends can get us out?" Wedge asked. "The Admiral's just here recruiting for his project, right? Once he's done, he'll leave, and getting out will be easier, right?"

"Maybe so, but..." Sabine groaned slightly as she rolled her eyes and ran her fingers through her hair. "It would be really useful to learn about that project of his."

"And I think we might be in line to be recruited for it," Wedge said, the slightest edge of excitement creeping into his voice.

"I think you might be right..." Sabine muttered, rubbing the back of her neck for a moment as she thought before she felt resolve tightly grip her, Ahsoka's warnings clear in her mind. "But getting close to him means he has a better chance of learning what we are, and he's too dangerous. We...need to retreat to live another day."

"A sound strategy," Wedge said with a slight smirk. "Think the Admiral would approve?"

"In this case, I don't think he will," Sabine said, a cocky smile on her lips as she pushed away from the railing. "Come on. I want to meet your friends."

* * *

They only needed to wait four days before Sabine, Wedge, and two other defectors, Hobbie and Rake, got on the flight schedule, and as Sabine climbed into the cockpit of her TIE Fighter, she sent a brief message to Kanan, and then they were underway, her TIE screeching through the atmosphere as she followed the squadron in formation up into space, three instructor's in the new TIE Advanced Fighters following them up.

"Squadrons, prepare to break formation," the commander over the com said as they reached their coordinates high above Montross. "You will engage in a simulated dogfight. Your lasers have been nullified, but your hits will still be registered and scored." Inside her TIE, Sabine rolled her eyes. The ships, of course, couldn't be firing real lasers, but it would have been so much easier to escape if she could fight off her pursuers. At the very least, much to her relief, Sabine didn't see any sign of Thrawn's Star Destroyer, which was going to make it much easier for them to get to safety when Kanan arrived in the _Subjugator_.

"Beginning on my mark," the commander said, the countdown beginning, and when he reached zero, the TIE Fighters peeled off in separate directions into their battle groups, Sabine keeping her TIE close to Wedge and his friends, her eyes fixed on the space around her as she eagerly waited for the rebels to arrive. The TIEs buzzed around each other, green laser fire filling the space around them, and Sabine wove between the other fighters, firing her own volley and hitting a TIE that passed in front of her. The com was alight with chatter, the cadets barking commands to their teammates and wingmen and congratulating each other on successful hits, and not once did command interrupt to snap at them to keep chatter to a minimum, or any other directions to not break protocol. They were on their own, and to Sabine, it almost felt like freedom.

She didn't need to wait long for the rebels to arrive, and in the empty space before her, an Imperial Star Destroyer blinked out of hyperspace, and Sabine's heart jumped in her chest with momentary panic, fear that this was the _Chimaera_ filling her. The panic turned into rapid relief when she flew her TIE around to get a look at the ship and saw that it lacked the distinctive engravings marking it as Thrawn's, and on the console before her, her personal com pinged with a transmission, a slight burst of static coming from the speaker as the connection was opened.

"Took you long enough, Sabine!" Ezra said smugly, and Sabine grinned as she listened to frantic confusion over the TIE's com as the students asked what was going on and the instructors tried to assert order and barked for answers from command for the reasons for this unscheduled interruption. For a moment, command was silent, stunned into inaction, Sabine thought, before the commander told them all to standby, and without a moment wasted, Sabine turned her TIE toward the _Subjugator_.

"Come on boys!" Sabine said as she pushed the accelerator forward and sped toward the Star Destroyer in the distance, a ways off, far enough that the ship could safely jump back into hyperspace from its position, but with their head start on the confused Imperials, the swift ships could easily make their escape.

"Here we go," Wedge said, pulling his own TIE off the group and following close to Sabine. "Hobbie, Rake, on me." Following closely behind Sabine, the group of three defectors and their rebel leader shot through space toward the Destroyer, her heart pounding in her chest with the thrill and rush she always got when she gave the Empire the slip, grinning wildly as she looked at her scanner and saw the three TIE Advanced Fighters the instructors were piloting pulling away from the group to give them chase. The _Subjugator_ was heavily armed, and she knew that Kanan and Ezra would be ready to defend them at a moment's notice, making the Imperial pursuit a waste of time, the confusion in the ranks no doubt keeping the Imperials from firing upon them, though from the way her three charges were flying, she didn't think it would be a problem even if they did. These three weren't just good pilots, they were great, a thing easily seen from the effortless way they circled around each other while keeping formation, a difficult evasive maneuver that spoke well of their ability to work together under pressure.

The would make fine editions to the rebellion.

"Cadets, return to base immediately," the calm, even voice of Admiral Thrawn said over the previously silent intercom, and Sabine could feel her heart jump in her chest, her hands tightening around the yoke with no intention of diverting her course. "This is your only warning."

"Negative, Admiral," Sabine said in a smug drawl, her heart racing as she drew closer to the rebel Destroyer, well out of range of the other TIE Fighters and the pursuing instructors. "You're going to have to come and get us."

"Very well..." came the cold, quiet reply, and as the com fell silent, Sabine's TIE suddenly jolted, a swift shudder running through the cockpit as the consoles suddenly went dark, the yoke moving uselessly in her hands, and as her starfighter spun, she looked horrified out her viewport to see the wings of her TIE drifting into space, the circular cockpits of her fellow rebels' ships discarding their wings as well as they too lost power.

Their TIE's had been rigged.

As her cockpit lost speed and began to drift, the _Subjugator_ suddenly seemed so very far away, and with a frustrated scream, Sabine tore her helmet off and slammed it upon the powerless console, snatching up her personal comlink and swiftly opening the channel.

"Ezra, Thrawn knew the entire time, this is a trap!" Sabine shouted into the com. "Abort the mission, get out of here!"

"We aren't leaving without you, Sabine," Ezra growled back. "We took this ship because it's easy to defend. Hang tight, and we'll get you in range of the tractor beam."

"You know _very well_ from working with Kenobi that a Star Destroyer isn't indestructible!" Sabine snapped back. "Get out of here before-"

A sudden force pushed Sabine's cockpit off its aimless course, her entire body jolting sideways, and when she righted herself, a shadow had fallen over her disabled ship, and she looked up through the viewport to see the fearsome, engraved hull of the _Chimaera_. She stared slack jawed at the ship for a moment, uncertain where it had come from, or _how_ it had managed to make such a risky, precise jump but there it was. The _Chimaera_ , the only thing between herself and her escape.

She saw another Star Destroyer blink into existence in the distance far behind the _Subjugator_. Then another. And then another. Green flashed across her viewport as the _Chimaera_ opened fire upon the _Subjugator_ , the extremely close range making nearly no shot miss, the nose of the Destroyer facing the _Subjugator_ 's flank making it a much smaller target for return fire, but despite the very close fire fight, all Sabine could do was watch in horror as the other Star Destroyers slowly began to close in.

"We need to get out of here!" Sabine heard Kanan shout over the com, the sounds of alarms blaring in the background.

"We aren't leaving without Sabine!" Ezra snapped back.

"We're caught in a trap and it's closing around us!" she heard Leia say in a commanding voice. "Our shields won't hold out much longer, and if we so much as scratch the hull of this ship, my Father's going to kill us all!"

"We don't have a choice, Ezra!" Kanan said, hard resolve in his voice. "We can't help her if we're dead! K2, get us out of here!"

The com held tightly in her hand, Sabine watched out the viewport as the _Subjugator_ turned, its engines blazing as it dove in an effort to escape the closing trap, and under heavy fire from the enemy Star Destroyers, the rebel ship tore out of space as they made the jump to hyperspace. Even though she had been left behind, Sabine felt a sense of satisfaction in knowing that her friends had once again escaped Thrawn's trap and hoped that they'd be wise enough not to come back.

"Captain Skerris," Thrawn's voice said calmly over the com, even and unaffected as if he hadn't just lost the enemy ship, and Sabine felt herself burn with anger that the infuriating Admiral didn't give her the satisfaction of being humiliated or furious, like she knew other Imperials would be. "Lock on to the selected targets and destroy them."

A pit dropped into her stomach, and Sabine unfastened her restraints and scrambled up onto the console to press her face against the viewport, terror gripping her hard when she saw one of the TIE Advanced Fighters screeching toward her and her rebel defectors. Green laser fire shot from the TIE's forward cannons with deadly accuracy, and Sabine watched as the TIE pilot destroyed one pod, then the next, than the next, the mournful, terrified screams and cries of Rake, Hobbie, and Wedge filling her cockpit before they were silenced. When the TIE Advanced reached her, she closed her eyes, tears slipping down her cheeks as she cursed the Empire, and waited for her end to come.

But it never did.

Pealing off from its attack vector as it drew near, the TIE Advanced flew away from her, no further shots fired, and collapsing into the pilot's seat, Sabine put her face in her hands and took slow, deep breaths as she tried to calm herself, willing the tears to stop falling. It didn't take long for her cockpit to shudder as the feel of drifting into space came to an abrupt end, the odd feeling of gravity asserting itself filling the small space. A vicious sneer on her face, Sabine looked up through the viewport at the belly of the _Chimaera_ , the massive ship growing larger and closer with each passing second. She was trapped in the Destroyers' tractor beam, and with no weapons at her disposal, surrounded by the might of thousands aboard an Imperial flagship, Sabine knew it was over.

* * *

Only a few hours had passed before a pair of imposing Death Troopers arrived at Sabine's cell, but to her, it felt like an eternity. She sat there in silence, binders clamped tightly around her wrists and staring blankly at the wall as she wondered when they would come to drag her away to be tortured and eventually executed, her thoughts drifting inevitably toward Rake, Hobbie and Wedge. Brave men that had pointlessly died because they dared to take a chance and do what's right, because the Empire was so cold, so unfeeling, so uncaring that it offended their morals and sparked a need to seek justice.

And now they were dead, and Sabine knew it was her fault.

She didn't know Hobbie and Rake well, but she had spent time with Wedge, had felt kinship and comradery with him in the simulations they flew together and in the long nights they spent talking in hidden corners of the academy where nobody was watching. They had only known each other for five days, but they had bonded closely in that time, became fast friends in the restrictive environment the Empire imposed upon them, united by a need to do what was good and right. Wedge had been coming out of his skin there at Skystrike, had a fire inside him that burned bright in the stark halls they walked, was a pilot of rare skill, a kind soul that ached for justice and would have been a great asset to the rebellion.

And now Wedge was dead.

Grief hung heavy over her when the Death Troopers came for her, and when she saw them enter her cell, grief turned to rage as she looked upon them, and without thought, she found herself jumping from the hard, cold bench and throwing herself at them, throwing a swift kick at one of the soldier's knees and yelping as pain shot up her leg, the trooper's leg barely buckling under the force of her attack. Any further attempt to attack the guards in her efforts to escape ended swiftly when the second trooper wrapped a hard hand around her upper arm, hard enough that she could feel her skin bruising beneath the armored gloves.

The staccato static of the Death Trooper's coded, indecipherable speech echoed in the small room as the two soldiers briefly conversed, and when they were done, the soldier Sabine had kicked grabbed her other arm, and she was dragged from the room and out into the halls of the Star Destroyer by the two intimidating troopers. They were silent as they went, their stride long, swift and purposeful, and more than once, Sabine's feet were dragged on the floor when she was unable to keep up. Every hallway looked the same, every door identical, and before long, Sabine was entirely turned around, uncertain if they were headed up or down, which complicated her plans for escape.

Looking up at the silent Death Troopers and feeling the bruising grasp upon her arms, Sabine felt bitterness and anger roil in her gut, defiance and obstinance steeling her nerves, and deciding to make things as difficult as possible for her guards, Sabine stopped moving her legs, allowing herself to hang limply in the troopers' grasp, a petulant frown upon her face. They stopped for a second before hoisting her up and continuing on, but their pace had slowed significantly to hold the girl between them, and Sabine felt the slightest touch of satisfaction. If they were going to take her somewhere, she was going ti make them work for it.

It had taken some time, but they eventually reached their destination, one of her guard inserting a coded cylinder into a high security door, the codes taking a moment to be read and approved by the security measures before the door slid open with a smooth hiss. The hall they entered was the same drab gray walls, the same stark white lighting as the maze of other halls they had navigated through, but this one was unexpectedly different. Evenly interspaced along these walls were podiums atop which strange, alien art sat displayed, a shockingly personal touch for the otherwise impersonal conformity of the Empire, and Sabine found herself planting her feet on the ground in an effort to stop herself from being dragged so she could get a closer look.

The Death Troopers didn't allow it, and they continued to drag her down the hall, past the eclectic array of artwork before they inserted the code cylinder into another wall panel. The door slid open, and Sabine planted her feet against the ground and pushed back away from the threshold of the dark room, sudden fear gripping her tightly as she struggled against her guard. Their grasp tightening around her arm, the troopers yanked her forward and into the room, an office, from the look of it, a desk shaped like half a ring sitting before a wall with an alcove, the statues of two reptilian creatures displayed within it. She was forced to sit in one of the seats before the desk, struggling as much as she was able as her binders were undone and reclasped to her wrists behind her, locking her to the chair, and when they were certain she was secured, the two Death Troopers turned and left, the office door sliding closed behind them and leaving Sabine in silence.

Without eyes upon her, Sabine kicked her legs as she renewed her struggle to free herself and quickly found the efforts futile as her thrashing began to pull painfully at her shoulders, the edge of the binders cutting into her wrists and rubbing the skin beneath them raw. Stilling herself and taking a deep breath to calm herself, willing away her fear as best as she was able, Sabine slowly began to look at her surroundings and found them much like the hallway that led here. Artwork hung upon the wall and carvings, statues and artifacts sat displayed upon the desk and every other available surface, some things she recognized, like the helmet of a clone soldier, much like the one Rex had, but most which seemed foreign and strange to her.

Except one thing, and it was _intimately_ familiar.

On the side of the room sat a large, flat slab of stone wall, the edges jagged and uneven like it has been salvaged from the rubble of a building, which it likely had been. Upon it's flat surface were drawings, writings and designs in splashes of bright, wild color, stylistic graffiti of Loth-cats and Stormtrooper helmets and in the center, large and bright and bold in gradient reds and oranges and yellows, was a drawing of a starbird, warm and familiar, the very symbol Phoenix Squadron had adopted as its symbol. The very symbol that Sabine had painted upon her own armor.

These drawings had all been done by Sabine herself.

Sabine had been a prolific and subversive graffiti artist for many years, since before she joined the Spectres, but this piece was recent, done within the last few years. While she couldn't remember when she did this particular defacement of public property, she did know it came from Lothal. Someone had to have gone to great lengths to acquire this, gone through the rubble of a demolished building or picked through the remains of an explosive fire fight with the occupying Imperial forces and then dragged this considerable slab of stone to its final location.

It was an absurd amount of effort, and Sabine couldn't begin to understand why.

She wasn't certain how long she sat staring at her artwork in silence, but her solitude ended with the soft hiss of the door, the calm, even footfalls of an easy stride as the Imperial walked around the desk to sit in the seat behind it, and Sabine found herself staring at the blue skin and glowing red eyes of Grand Admiral Thrawn. They stared at each other in silence for a long while, and though Sabine's heart was pounding furiously in her chest, the silence didn't feel tense or oppressive. Instead, the Chiss seemed to regard her with curiosity, his ridged brow furrowing slightly as those eerie eyes carefully studied her face, her body, the way she sat, the speed of her breathing, and Sabine briefly found herself wondering if those alien eyes could see something that humans couldn't.

"Sabine Wren," Thrawn said quietly. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you."

"Can't say the same about you," Sabine snapped, jolting forward to once again pull at her restraints. "You're a _murderer_! They were disabled, you could have captured them!" she shouted, her teeth grinding together when she felt tears sting her eyes.

"I have found that those bold enough to attempt to defect in such a manner are rarely salvageable," Thrawn said calmly, his hands folding neatly on the desk before him. "There would have been little purpose in detaining them when it would only lead to sabotage or further escape attempts that would result in the bolstering of your rebel ranks. I regret that the need for death was necessary, but make no mistake, it was necessary."

"Like destroying our ships and transports was necessary?" Sabine bit out bitterly, but Thrawn did not react to the accusation. He simply inclined his head.

"Just so," he said under his breath. "Phoenix Squadron must be truly desperate if the destruction of a few ships leads you to infiltrate a high security Imperial instillation in search of pilots."

"...you knew this whole time, didn't you?" Sabine asked quietly, trying to shake the rising dread she felt creeping up her spine. "You didn't go to Skystrike to recruit for a project, you went because you _knew_ we'd be there."

"I was informed that there were potential defectors among the ranks of Skystrike's cadets," Thrawn replied. "Given the recent attacks on your vessels, there was a fair probability that your rebels would send someone to extract them."

"...when did you know it was me?" Sabine asked meekly, the bitterness and anger fading and leaving her feeling foolish.

"I had my suspicions when I reviewed your simulation records," Thrawn said quietly. "I knew for certain when I had you run through my simulation. Your style is...very distinct," he said, the slightest smile tugging at the edge of his lips as he gestured to the slab of stone at the side of his office. "I would recognize it anywhere."

For a long moment, Sabine stared at the Admiral before she slowly looked back to her artwork. There was something she was missing, a disconnect between Thrawn's suspicions and his conclusions that she was entirely ignorant of. It was unsettling, and she felt her stomach tighten and churn with a heavy, sickening feeling at the thought that somehow, Thrawn was using her artwork against her. It was beyond her understanding, she didn't understand _how_ , but the moment the thought snuck into her mind, she knew it was true. Her art was about freedom and rebellion and individuality, a stark contract to the Empire's gray conformity, and Thrawn had taken it and turned it to serve the Empire's purpose.

Suddenly, the sight of her art in this Imperial's office was making her feel ill.

"My style," Sabine said through grit teeth as she looked back at the Chiss, "is nowhere to be seen. I had to strip myself of it the get in here!"

"Yes..." Thrawn whispered, his eyes flicking away from his captive to stare at his hands for a moment. "It was difficult for you to do so. Simply existing in this environment is stifling for one such as yourself." Red eyes once again looked at her, and Sabine could feel the hairs rising on the back of her neck. "A good enough disguise for most. Not for me. New colors may be added to a work of art, but the artist's touch cannot be concealed, and your touch is very distinct, Sabine Wren," Thrawn said, his already quiet voice lowering, and Sabine found herself leaning in. "You are so very Mandalorian."

"What would you know of Mandalore!" Sabine snapped, a sudden swell of anger washing away the nerves and fear and confusion that had filled her before and left her feeling indignant. Thrawn remained unimpressed, that slight, insufferable smirk at the edge of his thin lips making it all too clear to her that her outburst had proved his point.

"Ni cuy' nayc ures kar'tayl guuror bid birov," Thrawn said, and Sabine's jaw dropped as she stared at him, his soft, inflectionless tone touching even this other language, but Sabine recognized it none the less in an instant. "I know a great deal about your people, Sabine Wren."

"Y-you speak Mando'a?" she squeaked in a small, uncertain voice.

"I do," Thrawn said, firm and confident. "Your people have been of a particular interest to me, and I have spent the past several years studying them. Which brings me your interrogation," he said, his hands flattening on the desk. "Your Shadow King," Thrawn whispered, a cold chill in his voice that made Sabine hold her breath in nervous anticipation. "Where is he."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Sabine said quickly, _too_ quickly, and it was obvious that the Chiss didn't believe her.

"His activities in the past few years since he joined with your Phoenix Squadron have become more frequent and more destructive," Thrawn continued as if Sabine hadn't spoken at all, her reactionary comment quickly dismissed as the lie it was. "The attack on Bandomeer, the assault on Imperial forces above Ryloth, multiple cases of highly destructive strikes on Lothal, the heist of the Galactic Banks on Muunilinst, the systematic execution of the members of the Inquisitorius among many, many other acts of sedition..." Thrawn's hand brushed slowly over the smooth surface of the desk before him, his eyes never leaving the increasingly defiant eyes of the Mandalorian sitting opposite him. "And then, nothing." The Chiss folded his hands before him once again and leaned in toward his captive, his eyes narrowing as he studied her features. "For over a month, there has been no sign of him, no mark of his touch upon your activities."

"Sounds like you haven't studied him at all," Sabine said with a roll of her eyes, a condescending smirk upon her face. "He has to lay low all the time, a month is nothing to him. And that _was_ his Star Destroyer that came for me..." she drawled, glowering when the Chiss' expression didn't change at all. "You know, before you murdered my friends..."

"His ship, yes..." Thrawn muttered quietly, his hands pressing together and his fingers touching his lips as his eyes flicked to the white and gold mask that sat displayed upon his desk. He was silent for a long moment as he studied it, and Sabine shifted uncomfortably in her seat as she wondered what that alien mind could possibly be gleaning from such an artifact. "His ship," Thrawn said again as his eyes returned to Sabine, his clasped hands once again laying upon the desk. "But not him. Another was in command of his ship."

"You can't possibly know that."

"I can," Thrawn said, so swiftly and so confident that Sabine couldn't help but wince, confirming what the Chiss clearly already knew. "It was a bold move to bring a Star Destroyer for a simple extraction, a strategy certainly worthy of the Shadow King, though they lacked the confidence of his command." He paused for a second, his eyes swiftly darting to look at something behind her, though Sabine didn't dare look to see what, instead kept her gaze fixed on the Chiss' thoughtful expression. "No," the Admiral continued quietly, "this commander is young and inexperienced, though almost certainly trained by the Shadow King."

"Like you said, we've been working with him for a while," Sabine said with a sneer. "We're bound to pick up some of his tricks."

"Yes..." Thrawn quietly agreed, the serenity of his voice at odds with the way his eyes narrowed. "But not like this. This commander is new, and I have possibly only witnessed them once before in your raid of the reclamation station in the Yarma system. Curious, that they should only appear once your Shadow King is gone, so I will ask you again. Where is he?"

This time, Sabine couldn't help the flicker of sadness that passed over her face as her thoughts drifted to Kenobi still in the healing tank with no sign of returning to them any time soon. She banished it quickly, grabbing hold instead of the anger for what had happened and her own guilt that she hadn't been there to help her Mand'alor when he most needed it, but it wasn't enough. Thrawn had seen that flicker of sadness and doubt and insecurity, the prideful Mandalorian uncertain and lost, and his ridged brow drew together as he leaned back in his seat. For the first time since she had been in his presence, Sabine saw the hint of emotion on the impassive Chiss' face, and it looked like regret.

"So it's true then..." Thrawn whispered. "The Shadow King is gone. You have my condolences."

"Yeah, I'm sure I do!" Sabine hissed bitterly as she glared at the Admiral, the moment passed and his face was unreadable as it had been before. "You got what you want. You win. So what happens to me now? Are you going to kill me?"

"You are no use to me dead," Thrawn said as he ran his fingers over the desk, the slightest brush causing a control panel to light up upon the smooth black surface, and he lightly tapped a few commands into the console. "When I am finished with you, you shall be returned to Mandalore. I happen to be very interested in maintaining a close connection to Moff Kryze."

"And you think you can accomplish that by turning me over to her?" Sabine scoffed. "You're sadly mistaken. Traitors aren't welcome on Mandalore!"

"We shall see..." Thrawn said almost dismissively, as if he knew something she didn't, and before Sabine had a chance to see if she couldn't draw more information out of the Imperial, the door behind her slid open and heavy footsteps struck the ground as the Death Troopers returned, one roughly grabbing her shoulder as the other unlocked her from the chair, a hard hand beneath her hand dragging her to her feet.

"I thank you for your cooperation, Sabine Wren," Thrawn said with a respectful nod of his head as the Death Troopers dragged Sabine out of the office. "You have been...most informative."

* * *

With nothing to do but stare at the plain, blank walls of her cell, time slowed to a crawl, and Sabine quickly grew restless. Her thoughts swung wildly between plans for escape, heavy sadness for the senseless loss of three promising young pilots, and contemplative reflection on her meeting with Thrawn, though more than once, she found herself imagining how she would paint the drab walls of her cell. There wasn't much she wouldn't give for her supplies, if only to have a way to pass the time until Thrawn once again dragged her from her solitude.

When he was finished with her, he had said, but he hadn't elaborated on what exactly it was he had planned for her, and each time Sabine thought of what that could be, it only grew worse and worse in her increasingly desperate mind. He had said he didn't want her dead, but he could have been lying, though supposing that was true, the alternatives were by far worse than death. She could endure interrogation and torture, and she was certain she would be subjected to exactly that in Thrawn's care, but far, far worse than that was that she would be used as bait to lure her friends into a trap. She knew there was no question that they would come for her. Worst of all, Thrawn certainly knew as well.

And when she was returned to Mandalore, _if_ she was returned, what would her family do? After what she had done as part of the Empire, and after she stood against it and became a traitor to the family that had abandoned her...what would become of her? When she has briefly met with Bo-Katan on Concord Dawn, she was clearly Kenobi's ally, perhaps even more than that, and she had said her mother missed her, though she didn't forgive her. Would she be welcomed back? Or would bitterness over her betrayal once again make Sabine a prisoner of Imperial Mandalore? Bo-Katan may be a secret ally of the rebels, but that didn't mean her mother was.

And most foreboding of all, did Thrawn know about Bo-Katan's allegiances?

Sabine's thoughts were interrupted when her cell door slid open and Agent Kallus walked inside, and despite the unpleasantness of his presence, she couldn't help the smug smirk that spread across her face at the sight of the ISB Agent's dour countenance.

"Well..." Sabine drawled as Kallus shut the door behind him and dropped the TIE pilot helmet he had tucked under his arm upon the ground. "Looks like they finally found someone that can do your job."

"And I bet you wish you were still dealing with me," Kallus said with a roll of his eyes.

"Did you just come here to gloat?" Sabine snapped as she leapt to her feet, and when Kallus' hand touched the blaster on his hip, she scowled and slowly lowered herself back down to sit on the cell's hard bench, unable to do anything with her arms restrained behind her back. "You haven't won yet," Sabine growled. "The Empire's never been able to hold me, and now's no different. You know better than anyone that I won't be left behind. They'll come for me."

"I believe you," Kallus said quietly between clenched teeth as he took a step closer to the rebel, his hand closing around her arm as he dragged her to her feet, and just as Sabine began to thrash in protest, she stopped moving, the tight pressure on her wrists and the uncomfortable pull in her shoulders releasing as the restraints clattered to the ground. Gently rubbing the chaffed, red skin of her wrists, Sabine turned to face Kallus, not bothering to hide the confusion she felt as she watched him pull a small comlink and a code cylinder from his pocket and pressed them into her hand.

"The code cylinder belongs to a lieutenant and should get you access to everywhere you need to go from here to the main hangar," Kallus whispered. "The comlink has coordinates on it that will lead you to your rendezvous point with the _Ghost_. There's a shuttle scheduled to leave out of the main docking bay that you shouldn't have trouble getting on, but it's up to you to get there safely, so don't try anything stupid."

"You're...helping me escape?" Sabine asked in a small voice, and was only answered by the agent bending down to pick up the helmet and shoving it and his blaster into her grasp. "I-I don't understand..."

"Tell Garazeb Orrelios that we're even," Kallus said quietly as he opened the cell door and without another glance in the rebel's direction, he disappeared out into the hallway, leaving Sabine alone in the quiet cell. Taking a moment to collect her scattered thoughts, Sabine quickly checked over the comlink and the code cylinder, and satisfied that they weren't bugged, she slid them into the breast pocket of her flight suit, holstered the blaster and put the helmet on her head. For the first time in what felt like an eternity, Sabine felt hope catch fire deep inside her chest, making her heart pound with excited determination as she approached the closed door of her cell and listened carefully for the sound of anyone patrolling the halls.

Hearing nothing, she slid the code cylinder from her pocket, inserted it into the reader, and much to her relief, the door opened without delay, and she swiftly stepped out into the hall, her stride long and purposeful as she walked down the halls. Keeping her vision trained forward, Sabine passed by Stormtroopers on patrol and officers in the halls, though her step never faltered, and not one questioned her presence or purpose, either by some rare stroke of luck, or because the confidence of her step was enough to deter them. She didn't know which, but she wasn't about to question it, not when her escape from this impossible situation seemed so close at hand.

She had been walking for a few minutes before she turned into a vacant hallway, and quickly checking to be certain that there were no troopers or officers or other personnel coming her way, she inserted her code cylinder into a nearby terminal and was quickly granted access. For a moment, she was tempted to sift through the files and test her security clearance to see just how much information a lieutenant could access, putting her in a position to get valuable Imperial information on Thrawn, his activities and his projects, but Kallus' warning cut through her mind. With a resigned sigh, Sabine left the temptation to access secure data and instead pulled up a map of the _Chimaera_.

She wasn't far from the main hangar that Kallus had directed her to, and after she oriented herself to her surroundings and the most direct path ahead, she pulled her code cylinder from the access port and continued her way toward her destination. Her path through the Star Destroyer became significantly easier when she caught sight of a group of TIE pilots all headed in her direction, and jogging to catch up, she silently joined the group, the only resistance to her inclusion an off-handed comment about someone _always_ being late.

They entered the hangar together, and Sabine looked around in wonder at the size of it, at the rows and rows of TIEs that sat ready to deploy, at the towering AT-AT Walkers being serviced at the far side of the massive deck, at the hundreds of engineers and techs and pilots that were checking and maintaining a rich array of different vehicles. All this and more on one Star Destroyer, and Sabine knew very well that Thrawn had a fleet at his disposal, at least three other Star Destroyers that she knew of, each likely possessing the same compliment as the _Chimaera_ , and suddenly, Phoenix Squadron felt very, very small in comparison.

She caught sight of the Lambda shuttle out at the forefront of the dock, its engines idling and its crew running the last minute checks, and Sabine quietly parted from the group of pilots and headed toward the shuttle. It wasn't the first time she wished she was gifted with the Force, just enough to influence a mind the way Kenobi and Kanan could, instead of having to rely on quick thinking, ingenuity, and a whole lot of luck. Though even with her reservations, Sabine's mind was quickly working through her options, the feel of the blaster at her hip a welcome comfort despite being seriously outnumbered and outgunned.

Drifting off her direct course to pass by one of the many portable workstations around the hangar, Sabine discretely grabbed a tool belt from the top of an empty station, slung it over her shoulder, and made her way back toward the shuttle. It was a risky gambit, she knew, but she didn't have many other options, and while _Chimaera_ 's commander may have been brilliant, certainly his observational skills didn't trickle down to the low level Imperials under his command. There was enough going on aboard a Star Destroyer, enough codes and information floating around, enough personnel that Sabine could certainly slip through the cracks, even aboard Thrawn's ship.

"Aren't you in the wrong place, pilot?" one of the techs asked Sabine as she strode past them and began to walk up the Lambda's boarding ramp, and with a bored, heavy sigh, Sabine readjusted the tool belt on her shoulder and turned to face him, a young, fresh faced man that looked to be barely out of the Academy.

"Security sent me to double check the weapon systems," Sabine said with a lazy drawl, pointing her thumb over her shoulder at the ship behind her. "They seem to think the rebels might be planning another attack."

"This is the first I heard of it..." the tech muttered, wiping oil off on the pants of his jumpsuit and scrolling through his datapad, through he looked back up at Sabine when she audibly groaned.

"Look, I'm just doing what I was told," Sabine said tiredly. "I don't want to get in trouble for disobeying some lieutenant just because he couldn't be bothered to update the service orders." That seemed to do the trick, the tech dropping the datapad and nodding as he picked up a scanner from his workstation.

"Just be quick," the tech muttered as he returned to the open panel at the side of the ship. "Shuttle's scheduled to leave within the hour, and people have been coming and going getting it ready to go. You really don't want to get in their way."

"Officers?" Sabine asked, and the tech looked up at her, a shy smile on his face as he nodded. "You got it, boss," she said brightly, turning away from the young tech and walking up into the hold of the Lambda.

Much to her relief, there were few people in the shuttle, only a pair of Stormtroopers securing hovercrates into the cargo hold, a tech with her arms elbow-deep in the hyperdrive console, and a pilot and copilot in the cockpit checking the secondary systems. Briefly running a cursory check on the weapon systems, Sabine waited until the Stormtroopers had left before she quickly made her way to the crates they had been securing, opened one of them, and much to her relief, found it empty. She quickly jumped inside, swiftly disabling the locking mechanism before she curled up and pulled to top over her, leaving her in absolute darkness.

Switching on her helmet's light, she touched the blaster at her hip and pulled the comlink from her breast pocket, turning it over in her hands. Even if things went badly, even if she ended up a prisoner on this ship instead of taking it like she hoped to do, she'd be able to put out a signal that the Spectres could use to find here. Hopefully. If her luck was good, and so far, it had been a bit hit and miss that day. But the fact that she had even made it that far, that she would find an unlikely ally in the heart of her enemy's domain, was incredible enough for her to hold on to the hope that she could make it back home.

All of it, the tragic deaths of her rebel pilots, the arrival of Thrawn, help in the form of Agent Kallus, the possibility that this could all be an elaborate trap...all of it had to be pushed aside in favor of escape. She could deal with it all when she returned safely home.

Or when she had been returned to her prison cell.

Sabine stayed still and silent within the crate for a long while, listening intently to the shuffling outside as Stormtroopers finished loading cargo and techs completed their repairs and checked the systems. Before long, Sabine could hear the engines powering on and felt the vibrations beneath her, and her heart began pounding in her chest when she felt the familiar sensation of the ship rising from the ground and entering space. Against all odds, this insane plan was working, and as she carefully pushed the top off the crate, her blaster in hand as she looked around the vacant hold, she wondered how much her success had been because of Kallus lining things up for her.

Climbing out of the crate and priming her blaster, Sabine took a few deep breaths as she double checked the hold, and satisfied that she found nobody there, she inserted her code cylinder into the reader beside the door and walked into the brightly lit corridor of the Lambda. She made her way slowly through the transport, carefully checking for troops or officers or techs, anyone that could get in the way of her escape, but she found nobody, which was odd, but it was not unheard of for Star Destroyers to dispatch lightly staffed shuttles. It was a thing that the Spectres had taken advantage of on numerous occasions.

Quietly standing beside the closed door of the cockpit, Sabine slid her code cylinder into the reader on the wall, and she quickly stepped inside when the door hissed open and shot the pilot and the copilot before the two men had a chance to turn around. Pulling the pilot's body out of the seat, Sabine jumped into the chair and quickly turned on the comlink, connecting it into the communication's array and dropping the shuttle out of hyperspace. They hadn't gone far, the navicomputer placing them on the outermost edge of the Calimari sector, the next system over from the Lothal sector, and Sabine breathed a sigh of relief as she uploaded the coordinates of her rendevous point.

Disabling the Imperial locator beacon as she waited for the jump to be calculated, Sabine Activated the main computer and tried to find a mission objective or any other information she could find on the project Thrawn was supposedly recruiting for, but the codes in the lieutenant's cylinder didn't unlock anything. She reached down and took the code cylinder from the pilot's jacket, and slipping it into the reader, she managed to find that the shuttle was en route to Stygeon Prime, the location of the Spire, the Imperial prison where she and the Spectres first met Obi-Wan. Not a place that she was in any hurry to return to.

The navicomputer chimed when the jump was calculated, and with a few flipped switches and pulled levers, the shuttle jumped to hyperspace, the stars blurring to the soothing blue and white spiral of the travel corridor. Using the pilot's codes, she searched the computer for any more information, but she found nothing else of value. No mention at all of the purpose of the trip to Stygeon Prime, no information on Thrawn's project, no data on the _Chimaera_ or its crew, nothing that could have been of any use at all to them, and with a heavy sigh, Sabine laid back in the seat and watched the swirl of hyperspace.

It wouldn't be long before she arrived at the rendevous, and with her freedom so close at hand, weariness finally began to settle upon her shoulders. She felt physically and mentally exhausted, her eyes stinging from a lack of sleep and from the time she had spent crying alone in her cell, her shoulders sore and heavy from the tension she had carried during her time at Skystrike surrounded by the enemy, her heart feeling sluggish when compared to the pounding pace caused by the nerves of being in Thrawn's presence. She felt relief and mourning, overwhelming joy and hopeless depression, a strange and confusing mix of emotions that left her feeling turned around and pulled so very thin. It was a great deal to handle at once, and now that things had calmed, she was finally feeling the weight and strain of the intense emotional swings.

She held up her hands in front of her, her lip trembling and far too tired to fight the tears that slid down her cheeks, and all she could think about was how good it would be to be in her armor again.

Sabine had stopped crying by the time the Lambda had lurched out of hyperspace, and for a long moment, she simply looked down at the console, her fingers sliding through her hair, her eyes closed as she took deep, slow breaths. There was a slight burst of static from the communication's array as her plugged in com picked up a tight beam signal, and Sabine smiled before she even heard the voice on the other end.

"Spectre Five, this is Spectre Two," a warm, familiar voice - Hera's voice - said, commanding and warm and so, so welcome. "Do you read me, Spectre Five?"

"I've never been so glad to hear you," Sabine said, her voice cracking with emotion as she opened her eyes and looked out the viewport to see the _Ghost_ hanging in space before her.

She was finally going home.

* * *

There was a traitor among them.

Thrawn sat in silence, his hands pressed together and his fingers to his lips as he observed the artwork projected around him, a wide variety of styles, from propaganda to classical landscapes originating from Coruscant, Lothal, Onderon, and Lasan among a dozen others, some he had studied at great length before this moment, and others he was now seeing for the first time, though all of them he was now studying with a new eye. He was certain that the _Chimaera_ hadn't been breeched, certain that no rebels save for Sabine Wren had boarded his ship, and with the way the security systems had failed, with the way the Mandalorian had escaped his grasp, he was confident that this had been an inside job.

While security monitoring had been sabotaged and prevented him from recovering a visual of Wren's escape, other security recordings had remained in tact, and all the data collected in conjunction with the rebel's escape named one Lieutenant Yogar Lyste as the man who had opened her cell and paved the way to her escape. A native of Garel, Lyste had previous experience with the Phoenix Squadron before, most notably had been the man in charge of a particularly humiliating failure of security when a delegation from Alderaan visiting Lothal had their ships stolen by the infamous insurgents. And now, the young Lieutenant had his name directly tied to the rebels once again, and the security officers that arrested him didn't believe such a thing to be a convenient coincidence.

But Thrawn did.

Lyste was innocent, of that, he was certain, and the closer Thrawn looked at the Lieutenant's record, the more he became convinced that the man was targeted _because_ of this convenient series of coincidences. At a glance, he looked extremely guilty, the records of his code cylinder opening Wren's cell damning enough on its own, but his previous record of major losses to Phoenix Squadron could seem deliberate and planned when looked through a different lense. And Thrawn was certain that his traitor was counting on exactly that. Lyste was ideal to frame for Wren's escape, as he was almost comically unlucky and out of his depth, and as such, he became the obvious culprit for a crime that was quickly and easily solved.

However, even the slightest closer look would show Yogar Lyste to be too inexperienced and naive to mastermind the events that had transpired, both on Lothal and on the _Chimaera_. Like so many others, the Phoenix Squadron had made a fool of the young officer, and the traitor among them was clever enough to use unlucky Lyste as a scapegoat for their own activities. With Lyste exposed as a rebel, the traitor would be secure in their secrecy and continue to aid the insurgents by passing along Imperial secrets, as they had presumably done with the word of defectors at Skystrike, and before even that with the destruction of the Y-Wings on Yarma.

It was the perfect opportunity to identify the traitor and use them against the rebels they served.

The door to the Admiral's quarters quietly slid open, though Thrawn did not move from where he sat studying the art around him. He didn't need to look at the newcomer to know the heavy tread belonged to a man, the uninterrupted confidence of his stride characteristic of Agent Kallus. Confident, he thought, even in light of the loss of Sabine Wren. Confident even though he came to report a dismal outcome to a superior officer, a thing that would make most cower, even if they were faultless, and there was no question in his mind that they had been unable to locate their escaped rebel. The Phoenix Squadron was far too skilled at vanishing once they had slipped through the Imperial grasp.

"Sir, I regret to inform you that we were unable to locate the rebel, or the Lambda she stole," Kallus said quietly, his voice filled with regret, strangely at odds with the confidence of his step. "Lieutenant Lyste has not yet confessed to his role in her escape, but he will."

"Yes..." Thrawn said thoughtfully, unmoving from his position as he examined the holographic art that hung before him. "I thank you for your aid in this traitor's swift apprehension, Agent Kallus."

"Unfortunately, not so quick that we could catch him before he helped the rebel girl escape," Kallus apologetically muttered. "My sincerest apologies, Grand Admiral. You have my word, it will not happen again."

"We may have lost Sabine Wren, but we managed to secure an important victory today," Thrawn said calmly as he stood from his seat to face Kallus, his hand running over the back of his command chair. "The exposure of an Imperial traitor is of greater value than the capture of any one member of Phoenix Squadron. Against any enemy, the greatest weapon is information, and we have deprived them of an effective method of acquiring it."

"Hopefully Lyste didn't manage to pass along too much..."

"He did not," Thrawn said confidently. "Being an informant among the enemy requires a certain amount of discretion, lest he risk exposure, and our traitor does not have the ability or the knowledge to pass critical information to the Phoenix Squadron."

"If he did, he wouldn't be in our custody now," Kallus said, his back straightening and the slightest hint of pride touching his voice.

"...just so," Thrawn whispered, turning away from Kallus and looking once again at the art around the room. "You have my thanks, Agent Kallus. You are dismissed."

Kallus saluted quickly before he turned and walked from the room, and Thrawn listened to the smooth, easy confidence of the Agent's stride as he left, his glowing red eyes fixated on a rough, jagged painting in stark blacks and reds and purples depicting the catastrophic battle that led to the complete destruction of Lasan.

* * *

After being interrogated at length by Ahsoka and Hera about her time in Skystrike and the absolute disastrous turn her mission had taken, Sabine left the command center late the afternoon she returned to Atollon, and wearily made her way passed the long line of ships on the airfield for the solitude of the medcenter. She ran her fingers through her hair, re-dyed gradient white and lavender, and rolled her shoulders to revel in the light, comfortable feel of her armor, so unlike the heavy, bulky flight suit she had been trapped in for the past few weeks, and despite the persistent sting of failure that refused to stop nagging at the back of her mind, it felt good to be home.

Taking a deep breath of the warm, dry air, Sabine drifted in closer to the ships to walk beneath the shadow of the _Ghost_ , her pace slowing and a slight smile playing across her lips as she heard the loud clanging and growled curses of another one of Zeb and Chopper's frequent disagreements through the open loading ramp. An array of tools came clattering down the ramp, and a moment later, Chopper went speeding down the ramp after them, a grinding string of explicatives emanating from the cantankerous little droid as he shook his utility arms at the Lasat that came stomping out of the ship after him, deep purple fur covered in oil and a bitter scowl on his face.

Upon seeing Sabine, Chopper quickly sped to her side and ran into her leg, his utility arm gently tapping her thigh as he exclaimed a series of short, rude reprimands, and with a heavy sigh, she laid her hand upon the droid's flat dome. Flashing Zeb a tight smile, the Lasat lumbered toward her, his ears flat against his head, and gently laid a large hand upon her shoulder, only to have the teenager lean against him, the three of them standing together in comfortable silence.

"Agent Kallus says that you two are even now," Sabine whispered, tilting her head up to peer at the focused, thoughtful look on Zeb's face when his strong arm tensed.

"Did he now..."

"Yeah, he did." Sighing softly, Sabine pulled away from the Lasat, and with a sly smirk, snatched a hanging cloth from the man's belt to wipe off the oil he had smeared on her armor when he had embraced her. "I know Kenobi was, you know, royally pissed that you didn't kill him when you had the chance, but if you did, I'd still be Thrawn's prisoner, so, you know..." She shrugged, tucked the rag back on to Zeb's belt, and punched the Lasat's arm. "You did good."

"Yeah, well, Kenobi's not always right about everything," Zeb mumbled, rubbing his head awkwardly and flashing the Mandalorian a sheepish smile. "I know you had it rough out there. You alright?" Zeb asked, and the slight smile on her lips wavered ever so slightly. She wasn't alright. She had watched three young men die, had walked stupidly into a trap, had gazed into the face of their enemy and had been powerless to do a thing against him. The mission, _her_ mission, was a failure in nearly every possible way. She was the furthest thing from alright.

"Yeah, I'm alright," Sabine chirped, a cocky smile on her face as she crossed her arms over her chest and stood up taller, though she could tell from the quiet, sympathetic smile on Zeb's face that he didn't believe her. Patting her once again on the shoulder, Zeb gently nudged her back on her way and turned to get back to his work on the _Ghost_ , and Sabine couldn't help but feel a deep gratitude and appreciation for her friend. He didn't press or pry like others would have. Zeb just gave her space, and she knew that when she was ready, _if_ she was ever ready, he'd be there for her when she needed him.

She took her time walking to the medcenter, walking close to the edge of the constructed barrier and looking at the native, spider-like krykna scurrying across the planet's red sand a healthy distance away from the base. Even from here, Sabine could see the top of the elevated bridge of the _Subjugator_ just over the ridge of the plateau that Chopper Base sat upon, much closer than the ship had been before, and she couldn't help but wonder how much damage the Star Destroyer had sustained in her failed rescue. It was still odd to think that a Star Destroyer filled with Imperial soldiers was working with their rebellion effort, an easy thing to forget since the ship was kept so far away, but now, with the ship closer then ever, it felt like they were part of things.

The medcenter was quiet when Sabine entered, the lights powered down to their night time settings and only a few smaller, older droid models managing the desk and roaming the halls, though none of them stopped her when she walked past them. She knew her way to the isolated room at the end of the hall despite it seeming as if it was tucked away among a series of identical hallways. She had been there many times before, had spent a great deal of time there when Ezra was still recovering, and now, with her frightening confrontation with Thrawn fresh in her mind, she felt the need to return. She had become the first of their rebellion to see the alien Admiral in person and directly deal with him, and it was wasted on her.

Reaching the room, she quickly imputed the code into the console and the door slid open with a smooth hiss, allowing her to step inside the dimly lit room, and she sighed in disappointment when she found it to be exactly as it was when she last left it. Kenobi still hung suspended in the gently glowing bacta, no sign of being any closer to consciousness than he had been before. In a seat right beside the tank sat Luke, a collection of components and wires and tools floating in the air before him as he manipulated them with the Force, pieces of metal snapping together as the unfinished mechanical device rotated.

On the other side of the room, Leia sat cross-legged on a chair with the Sith holocron floating between her hands, the gold capstones picking up the glow of the bacta tank and the smooth, glass sides a strange clouded black. It was odd to see Leia as anything other than a commander after she had taken charge after Kenobi had fallen, but here she was in this informal setting, a child even younger than Sabine was, still lost and grief-stricken over the loss of her parent and mentor. Sabine knew all too well what that was like, felt it keenly after her family supported the Empire over her, again when the Protectors shot Hera's ship down and they all thought they had lost her, and again when Kenobi was brought back thoroughly defeated from his mission to Malachor.

She suspected this wouldn't be the last time they would be left feeling this way.

"It's good to see you, Sabine," Luke said quietly, a small smile on his face as he looked up at the Mandalorian and watched her lay a hand upon the bacta tank. "For a while, we didn't think we'd ever see you again. That you returned to us means the mission wasn't a total loss."

"We didn't gain anything either, the mission was a failure..." Sabine muttered, leaning her forehead against the glass with a heavy sigh. "Three men are dead because I made the wrong choice."

"There wasn't a right choice, Sabine..." Luke said quietly, his floating components gently dropping onto a side table as he stood and put a hand upon her shoulder. "But I don't think giving Thrawn more time to study you would have been a good idea. You were right to try and get out of there quickly."

"It wasn't a complete loss, in any case," Leia said as she plucked the holocron out of the air. "A chance to observe Thrawn in person was well worth the losses we incurred, we've been waiting for this opportunity for a long time."

"It was _not_ worth the loss of those pilots!" Sabine growled through clenched teeth, glaring at Leia through narrowed eyes. "Wedge was-"

"A fine pilot and a good man, I'm sure," Leia said calmly, the holocron once again floating above her palm, and flicking one of the edges with her finger, it began to rapidly spin. "Two things that ceased to mean anything the moment he entered Thrawn's game, which was likely before the good Admiral even arrived at Skystrike." She extended a finger to tap the holocron, the little pyramid's spinning slowed, and Leia gave Sabine a pointed look. "Your friend was likely dead before you even met him."

"Leia, that's enough," Luke said firmly, his hand tightening on the trembling Mandalorian's shoulder.

"I wasn't..." Leia protested, biting down on her lip as she snatched the holocron out of air once again and sighed. "I wasn't trying to be cruel, Luke..."

"You were."

"You're right," Leia muttered. "I'm sorry, Sabine. All I meant was that this wasn't your fault. I...truly don't believe that anything you did could have saved your friends. But what you learned in there..." she said, her voice lowering secretively as Leia pointed the holocron at her. "Your meetings with Thrawn can help us save people in the future. If we can understand him, we can keep ahead of him."

"I don't know if I can help you," Sabine said with a shake of her head. "I could barely understand him myself, I don't think I'd be able to help you understand." With a heavy sigh, Sabine turned around and leaned against the bacta tank, her arms crossing over her chest. "I already gave my report to Ahsoka and Hera, I don't know what else I could tell you."

"Try," Leia said, her voice soft and earnest as she swiftly jumped out of her seat, and with a flick of her hand, her chair scraped along the ground, stopping just before the tank, and Leia vaulted over the back of the seat to land upon the chair once again. "Please. Anything at all. How he thinks, how he acts, what he looks for. Anything."

"Anything..." Sabine mumbled, holding her breath as she looked down at the ground at Leia's foot as it bounced excitedly upon the ground. "You know what I thought was weird?" she said after a moment of thought. "His office is filled with art. All kinds of art. _My_ art, among a dozen others."

"Got yourself a fan, Sabine?" Leia asked with a sly grin. "How's it feel to be famous?"

"Not like I thought it would..." Sabine grumbled, her arms crossing tighter over her chest as she glowered at the other girl. "I don't understand what he did, but somehow, he..." She paused and bit down on her lip as she looked away from Leia, her thoughts swimming with the impossibility of it all and how absolutely insane it made her sound, and decided that if anyone would believe in impossible things, it was Kenobi's twins. "He's using my art against me," she whispered. "I don't know how, but somehow, he looked at my artwork and used it to pick me out at Skystrike from all those cadets. We've never met, and he knew _everything_ about me."

"And you think he used your art to do that?" Leia asked, sitting up straight in her seat and shooting her brother a swift, concerned look.

"I know he did," Sabine said bitterly. "He said as much."

"I wonder..." Leia mumbled, looking down at her hands for a moment before she stood and placed the holocron back on top of the bacta tank's monitoring system. "Do you think Thrawn has the Force?" she asked Luke, holding up her hand and wiggling her fingers. "If he does, if he has powers similar to mine-"

"Or maybe he's just _that smart_ ," Sabine interrupted in a biting, impatient tone. "If we start pinning his successes on the Force, we're going to underestimate his intelligence. That's a mistake we can't afford to make."

"We aren't underestimating him, Sabine," Luke calmly said. "But if we're going to beat him, we need to take every possibility into consideration. You can't feel the Force, so we can't discount that possibility." He smiled softly at her, and despite herself, Sabine felt the tension leave her shoulders. "We don't want one of his assets to go unnoticed, do we?"

"...n-no, I suppose not..." Sabine muttered, slowly shaking her head. "I just don't know what to make of him."

"None of us do," Luke whispered, looking back at the Sith Lord in the tank. "Father would know..."

"Father isn't here, Luke," Leia snapped, getting up from her seat and brushing the hapless chair aside with a wave of her hand. "Come on. It's enough to talk to Ahsoka about. We've got Thrawn in our sights. We can't let him go."

"We won't," Luke said, tugging on the Mandalorian's arm as he watched his sister storm out of the room. "Come on, Sabine. We need you there too."

Sabine followed Luke without a word, the pair walking out of the open door and into the hallway after Leia. The door hissed closed, the room left dimly lit by the light of the bacta tank, and the swirling, inky black within the depths of the holocron began to glow red.


End file.
